It has take a century and a half to finally get a real expose' of the brutality and barbarism of Lincoln's hords visited on the citizens of the Confederacy. The American army has never stooped to this level before or since. Because the winners of a war write the history it has been a century and a half before someone has written the truth about the rape of the Southland.
Dale Roberts, author of Tales of Travis Hawkins McCleod

Sherman told the city fathers of Atlanta before he finished burning it, (a process started by the rebels), for the past two years he had seen tens of thousands of Southern civilians fleeing into Union lines in search of food, shelter and the basics of life, many of whom had never wanted any part of a war. "You deprecate its horrors," he told those who hoped to save Atlanta, "but did not feel them when you sent car-loads of soldiers and ammunition, and moulded shells and shot to carry war into Kentucky and Tennessee, to desolate the homes of hundreds and thousands of good people who only asked to live in peace in their own homes...."

When writing about war crimes, one should do so as a lawyer- being very careful to define the war crimes, and then weighing the acts committed in light of the definition. That chance was missed here. Walter Brian Cisco produced a fine biography of States Rights Gist a few years ago. I had high hopes that he would provide new insights into the atrocities toward Southern civilians that have been so often alluded to, but so seldom documented, in Civil War literature. I am sorry to report that he doesn't. It appears from the book that every petty act that offended Southern sensibilities is a "war crime". Thus, everyone from the boys who spread the jars of jam on the walls of the homes of Athens, Alabama, to whoever set the fires that burned Columbia, South Carolina (and that is an open question) are fair game here as war criminals, and none less than Lincoln and the other policymakers who set up the harsh war doctrines that governed the war after the summer of 1862. This would be a great topic for a book. Many civilians in the South suffered greatly. Many were treated in a way that most serious historians would consider "war crimes." But for meaningful study, we need to define and limit what we talk about, and then do the necessary research to show what happened. Mr. Cisco offers no definitions, and without them he can provide no analysis of problems.

Once we understand what he means by a "war crime", other questions could be answered. Who committed the crimes? Could only Union soldiers do so? What about the vigilantes who rooted out loyal Americans (also Southern civilians) caught in the South when the war started? Could Southern Union men and women be the victims of such crimes? Were they? (Sherman certainly thought so.) That ugliness must remain hidden and undiscussed if the fiction that the Civl War would have been kinder, gentler, and more civilized has any hope of being believed. We should never get caught in the trap so easy to step into, of thinking that the Civil War was or could have been somehow different than other wars, that soldiers then should have adhered to some standard of behavior that did not govern other wars. Wars, all wars, were and are hell, and we should never forget it. On the other hand, Mark Grimsley and other Civil War scholars have amply demonstrated that Civil War soldiers did in fact demonstrate a remarkable degree of restraint and self-control during the entire course of the war, even by Sherman's bummers in Georgia. I remember what one Revolutionary militiaman said when asked what he did to win the War of Independence: "We dragged Tories out into the woods, and chopped them up."

Most people who are well read on the Civil War have come across in one form or another the different accounts of Union atrocities found in Cisco's book. Gathered between two covers, however, their impact is magnified. We get a concentrated dose of the antics of the military geniuses like Uncle Billy and Little Phil, who preferred burning property and killing livestock to fighting armed soldiers.

When you wage war against civilians, it helps your cause tremendously to describe your actions in memorable expressions like "the hard hand of war" or crows carrying their rations across the valley. Of course, the surest way to get away with war crimes is to be on the winning side.

Thank you, Mr. Cisco, for putting all of this information into a single volume.

As you can imagine, those who win the war get to write the history. Great book to have around and pass on!

I have sometimes wondered if my paternal grandmother should have instilled in me such an intense antipathy toward Lincoln and the North by telling me the stories she heard firsthand from her grandmother who suffered some of Sherman's savageries in South Carolina, but after reading this book I realize that she was much too moderate. "War Crimes Against Southern Civilians" should be required reading in all courses on America's most uncivil war. We've always known that it's the winners who write history, but lovers of the truth should thank Walter Brian Cisco for his important effort in setting the record straight.

It was of Dee Brown's Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee that The Times wrote: "Calculated to make the head pound, the heart ache and the blood boil". Well, calculated or not, Walter Brian Cisko's documentary volume - for this book is all fact without embellishment - of the Northern `liberators' of the South is certainly capable of no less. Reading the historical record of politicians and armies making war upon civilians leaves one seething with impotent rage. Whether or not one believes the war upon the South was justified - and this reader for one firmly believes it was not - the havoc that Northern armies wrecked in the South, the shameless and inhuman cruelty they were guilty of, is a slap in the face of humanity and will forever remain an affront to the ideals that gave rise to the American Republic. There is a double shame on America here: first, that the crimes described in this book happened at all, with the approval of a President shameless enough to define his Administration (and his war) as "with malice toward none", and second, that it was covered up, first by military occupation, later by embarassment, and finally by today's political correctness that blindly and stupidly demonizes anyone and anything even remotely connected with the Confederacy. It has been said that every decent person should be ashamed of the government he or she lives under. That was, and will forever remain, never more true than for Northerners under Lincoln. Reading this book shows why.

When did our republic start bearing some dark shades of hypocrisy that most Americans will agree exist? Was it the destruction and displacement of the Native Americans? Was it the removal of Japense Americans to holding camps during WWII? Was it the censurship and witch hunt of the McCarthy years? When did it begin?

The War for Southern Independence. The most obvious hypocrisy is that the same striped banner that fought against England for causes that they felt justified independence, in 1861 it would rise above an army and government deadly bent on crushing the independence of another seceded territory. The north as much as it said then continues to say today that the difference between their invasion and England's was that their cause of crushing independence was more justified. Every war-causing country in the world sings the same melody.
Then there is the case of Scott Key's grandson who, by only writing pro-Southern opinions in a paper in Maryland, was jailed without charges or trial in no place other than Fort McHenry. For no other crime than expressing his opinions, he was held in prison for over a year under the very flag that so inspired his grandfather.

This book, War Crimes Against Southern Civilians by Walter Cisco is a cause for true historians to celebrate. So very little has ever been written on these unsung crimes against humanity.
I began and continue this review under the theme of hypocrisy because as proved in our history books, the eye witness accounts of the holocaust and the proud testimonies of our grandfathers who liberated Europe, lest we forget that the U.S. government and armed forces between 1861 and 1865 inflicted many of these same cowardly and hellish acts against unarmed civilians as did the Axis in WWII.
This book reveals a priceless cache of historical fact, very, very well researched.
And on another note, these pages do not include the plushy unnecessary opinions, theories, and modern-day judgments on the past that fill too many of the pages of many recent Civil War biographies and writings like for example works by James McPherson and William Davis. Rather, War Crimes Against Southern Civilians is cover to cover solid fact and testimony from the past. There exists in it a vital wall between 1865 and today that a book on history must respect.

I highly recommend it. Many of the true tales included are almost impossible to believe. But whether you embrace the truth or choose to ignore it, it exists all the same. And for those of us who embrace it, we celebrate that in book, it is shared on every page!

I would like to include a few quotes that I have personally researched from war-time documents relating to this almost forgotten (for most, hopefully soon forgotten) period in history...

"...I will see you...and every man woman and child in the State of Missouri dead and buried," warned Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon while addressing Missouri's governor,Claiborne Jackson, on behalf of President Lincoln.

I witnessed the barbarities inflicted on the aged, the widow, and young and delicate females. Officers, high in command, were engaged tearing from the ladies their watches, their ear and wedding rings, the daguerreotypes of those they loved and cherished.
A lady, a personal friend, was compelled to strip before them, that they might find concealed watches and other valuables under her dress. A system of torture was practiced towards the weak, unarmed, and defencseless, which, as far as I know and believe, was universal throughout the whole course of that invading army.-Rev Dr. John Bachman Charleston, SC 1865

There is a class of people (in the South), men, women and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order. -German W. Sherman, US

Living here in the North East we seldom received in school anything but negative history concerning the South. The North was Righteous and the South was Evil, period.

Well, if one was to look into the truth we would find a completely different view than the one we have been brain washed into believing.

The South had every right to secede. Whether or not that was a smart move is a topic for another day, but their people spoke and they left the Union they voluntarily joined. Lincoln's aggression and his un-Constitutional acts are a story rarely told. This book has brought to light the great atrocities committed by Mr. Lincoln's henchmen like Grant, Butler, Sherman etc..

This is a must reading for all who wish to enlighten themselves with the truth of Northern Aggression against limited Government and States Rights.

Anyone wishing to understand why USA Southerners continue, to this day, to fly the colors and participate so heavily in Civil War reenactments, should read this book. It should be required reading in USA colleges and Universities.

A must read for USA history buffs and genealogists.

Too much history is taught from the Northern, elitist point of view. Every American should be required to read this book, and others like it. Then maybe we would have a better view of what the Civil War really was all about.

Slowly but surely the history of the War of Southern Independence is being rewritten to expose the Union war plans after Sharpsburg and the defeat of Republicans in the elections of 1862. That strategy created a great hatred which continues to this day, and the North continues their propganda campaign against the South.

The crimes committed against Southern civilians are akin to the crimes committed by the Nazi Army in the Second World War and all done in the name, and with the full agreement of Abraham Lincoln. This book will help to dispel the myth that has surrounded the 16th President for far to long. He was not benign, certainly not to the Southerners who dared oppose him. Read and be amazed and disturbed at what went on during the American Civil War in the name of the "Union".
Alan Lowe. BA. Manchester Metropolitan University.

This is a book which tells the story as it was, from the side of the invaded.

Most books written about the Civil War were published in the North. Why? Well, the first thing that was burned along with the homes and barns and smoke houses and cotton gins, were the publishing houses. Even Church printing presses and the smallest of weekly Newspaper presses were burned after the presses were destroyed. Anything that could print what was happening to the civilians left behind by their Fathers, Grandfathers and son's who joined the Confederate Army. The women were left to bear the brunt of the advancing Army of the Union. As well as "bummers", ex soldiers who deserted their ranks to loot, rape and plunder at will. These were the stories which could not be published in those days.

Now even the course of History is being slowly changed before our eyes. I can see it. Even in my short 51 years of life it has been noticeable. I know that is not easy to believe, but if you read carefully, you will see it. And yes, I read both sides of the story. I realize the truth lies always somewhere between the stories of two witnesses to the same crime. The true story is not in your children's History books though. The true horror is that it is not even the same History that I was taught in the 70's! It is slowly being changed to be more politically correct, more friendly to the USA and more hostile to those "horrible secessionists". Which still happens to be half of this country. It is not true that the War is over, not when it is still going on by people who would destroy even the History of this country. Truth is not always pretty, not dear. But dearly bought truth still needs to be told.

Yes, read this book. War is a dirty, difficult and painful ordeal. But it should never be purposely committed against elderly men, women, or children. Nor should the wounded be attacked while they lay helpless, while they are being cared for by these same women, as there were few Doctors available.

Chaska

Simply put, War Crimes Against Southern Civilians severely ruptures the very foundation put forth for decades by government-schooled liberal academics, subjective would-be historians, and pseudo-conservative "Party of Lincoln" justificationists alike. For nearly a century-and-a-half, the "approved" version of the War of Northern Aggression (it was never a "civil war" at all; the South fought for independence, not control of the federal government!) has indoctrinated generations of school children. Now, thanks to authors like Cisco and DiLorenzo, the sugar-coated, saintly facades of the "Great Emancipator," the "war to end slavery," and the "Great General Sherman," the Atlanta Campaign, and March to the Sea are stripped forever away, leaving Lincoln, his generals and his war laid open and bare. A truly open-minded and courageously objective mind now realizes the truth has been kept from Americans since the final shot at Appomattox Courthouse. To the victor goes the spoils, and most prized amongst them is the right to purport their version of historical events in the best manner to glorify the victor and demonize the vanquished. It is no wonder that authors such as Cisco and DiLorenzo are so despised by mainstream academia; they present a threat to the falsehoods so zealously taught for seven-score-and-two years now, and put the modern-day Lincolnites and quasi-historians precisely where they are most uncomfortable: on the increaingly historically weak defensive.

I'm not from the south and I'm not really a fan of things southern. So I have little patience with "Lost Cause" romanticizing. Moreover, I know something about the darker side of the Civil War, having been researching its atrocities (executions, dislocation of civilians, scorched earth policies, treatment of POWs, etc) for some years now. Mr. Cisco's account of war crimes in this book is really only the tip of the iceberg. The "Civil" War was most uncivil indeed, and what's truly surprising is that some of its more sordid episodes go untaught in schools and unrecognized by idiot reenactors who think the war was great and glorious. True, Cisco's book isn't as academically rigorous as it might be. But the negative reviews here strain too much to find fault with it. Is the lack of a bibliography really an unforgiveable sin, especially when footnotes are present? Are Cisco and DiLorenzo and other historians who offer nonconventional interpretations of the war really scoundrels and fools? And does it serve any real purpose to exaggerate Cisco's claims (I refer specifically to the reviewer who falsely says that Cisco claims that the depredations of the Union led to Hitler--not at all what he actually said)? Lost Causers who romanticize the war are bad enough. But Lincoln groupies who sugarcoat its horrors are even worse.

When you read these stories, that were never taught to us as children
(though we heard many stories from our grandparents that were passed
down which were of a similar nature) one starts to realize 'why' we have
the kind of government we have today with a "Patriot Act" etc. One then
can understand how civil liberties have slowly been eroding one by one.
You will start to feel dismayed at Washington DCs administration even more.
A nation forced to live under a government of which they have no desire
to be part of, only creates contempt from future generations.

Found this book very interesting. If you have read very much about the war, several of these instances may already be familiar to you. It is written by a Southerner, with a southern point of view. I wouldn't worry too much concerning the so called 'well read' reviews. If you found this book interesting, you may enjoy 'Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery'. If you have never read Shelby Footes three volume set, you may also want to check it out.

Another neo-confederate rant from a disgruntled rebel. This polemic can not be taken seriously by anyone well-read in the subject. The book lacks context or any attempt at objectivity. Notice the positive reviews all come from people like "Confederate" Bob from "occupied" South Carolina who believe that every white southerner supported the CSA, no one deserted, and the war had nothing to do with slavery (a "war crime" against those "other" southern civilians that Cisco's book neglects)

Did atrocities happen? Yes. Was there a systematic plan to "exterminate" southerners? No. This "book" is for the simple minded and easily led.

Many thanks to Mr. Cisco for writing this book. This part of history has been woefully omitted from the public/private school systems in this country for many, many years. It is so shameful to the United States that something happened like this and then is just basically ignored. Thank you especially for bringing to light what happened to the women and children of Roswell, Georgia. There was also another mill town (that has disappeared since Sherman burnt it to the ground) called Manchester which is located just West of the metro Atlanta area. All that is left is the foundations of a few of the mills. The women and children that worked in these mills suffered the same fate as those in Roswell, although I do not know where they ended up. One of my favorite things to do is to take a drive through the beautiful and bucolic Georgia countryside and take in the small shady towns and hamlets and the farmhouses, barns, cows and horses that dot the countryside of lush rolling hills and meadows and to think that just over 140 years ago (which is just a blip in the huge span of human history), an invading army of 50,000 soldiers (actually criminals in a uniform) laid it to ruin, wantonly killed livestock, murdered, raped, pillaged and destroyed. I cannot even imagine what it looked like then or how the Southern civilians must have suffered. I had a very difficult time reading this book. I would read a chapter and then put it down and think about it. The only items that I felt were omitted and I thought would make it more complete was that he left out the horrors wrought on Vicksburg, Mississippi during the seige. I have been obsessed with the War Between the States for the past several years and I realize that this book only contains not even half of what went on during that war--and this is no fault of Mr. Cisco's--it simply would be too much to put in one book. There would actually, I believe, have to be a volume written for each Confederate state. To all those reading this review, please read this book. God Bless you and thank you for reading this review.

Walter Cisco may have won an award for his biography of Wade Hampton, but "War Crimes" is bad history. It is little more than the outpouring of another frustrated Southerner determined to blacken the memory of Abraham Lincoln and the Union cause regardless of where truth may lie. He uses a tired argument when he states, "In withdrawing from the Union, they [secessionists] simply removed themselves from a government they did not want." False. The South wanted to remove itself from the men who had been constitutionally elected to run the government. The government itself was not the issue, and they proved it by forming a nation virtually identical to the one they left.

Cisco's chapters on Missouri are a good example of his lopsided history and typical of the entire book. According to him, as soon as the war began, Union forces descended on Missouri determined to inflict the maximum pain on that state's helpless population. An historian would have delved into the context of these events and the reasons they occurred. Cisco didn't, and he tells us nothing of Kansas-Nebraska, Lecompton, John Brown, or any other contributing factor. An historian would have tried to verify the accuracy of quotes describing horrible events. Cisco merely accepted all of them at face value. An historian would have discussed the cruelty that secessionists inflicted on Unionists. Cisco didn't.

That the guerrilla warfare of Missouri and Kansas was out of control is not debatable. Lincoln tried but never could find the key to resolving the Missouri problem because he could not spare the manpower required to pacify the region. There can be plenty of indictments made against both sides, but balance and truth are not Cisco's goals. He's got a political point to make with a lot of spleen-venting to release.

That there were indictable offenses committed during Sherman's march also is not debatable, but it is naïve to think that civilians are non-combatants. They raise the food soldiers eat, make the clothing they wear, manufacture the arms they kill with, provide hiding places and succor, and sometimes tragically get in the way. Burnside shelled Fredericksburg because Rebel sharpshooters were hiding in buildings, killing his men, and preventing him from crossing the river. When Lee invaded Pennsylvania, his men took York and set up artillery all around town, threatening to shell it unless the town paid up. They did, $28,000 worth. John Gordon's men did shell Wrightsville. By 1864, the war had dragged on far too long, and it needed to end with a military victory one way or the other. A peaceful solution could have, within the real context of American history, destroyed the United States. But, of course, Cisco makes it clear that is what he wants.

There are other issues with Cisco's book. It contains no bibliography, and that is unforgivable. He resorts to the amateurish technique of turning indicting sentences into exclamations, as if shouting at his reader makes his point clearer. (As Claude Rains' Captain Renault character said, "I'm shocked!") Like that other purveyor of historical misinformation, Thomas DiLorenzo, Cisco draws ludicrous conclusions such as laying the blame for the Nazi's twentieth-century atrocities at the feet of Abraham Lincoln. After all, the French Revolution and the Crimean and Zulu wars were such pleasant experiences.

This book provides no new information and "blows the lid off" nothing. If you think it does, you are not well read in the subject.

Because the Confedercy lost, very little of the Union retribution toward the south was published during the period of reconstruction after the war, or during it. Now, with this book, the facts speak for themselves.
I amazes me that the period has never been addressed before. In fact, it has recently been published that Sherman did not burn Atlanta. Again, history is guided by the victor, but it has the ability to surface in time.This book will open some eyes.

Mr. Cisco's well-researched account of the crimes committed by Union troops in the Southern States during the War Between the States is a must have for any serious student of that era. It is totally engrossing, capturing both the heart and mind of the reader as he pores over each and every page, eyes widening at the horrific verbal images typed out on the paper. One cannot help turning from rage to grief and back again as the book goes on, discussing instances of rape and looting, of homes razed and graves dug up for the chance to find jewelry buried with the corpses and of crops burned after everything that could be taken by the interlopers had been gathered. This reviewer received the book in early May and could have finished it in days were it not for the fact that the book was continuously put down so that emotions could be put in check, images could attempt to be erased from the mind (an attempt that invariably led to failure), and so that the sailor talk would cease. Instead of those few days it took nearly a month to finish War Crimes Against Southern Civilians - a testament to the passion with which the book was written and to the horrible truths within. Please read this book. Get copies to your local libraries. Give other copies to friends and families as gifts. You won't regret it.

Once I started reading this work I could hardly put it down. Every page made me more annoyed with the tragic and brutal behavior of the federal empire in the 1860s. With every passing moment I grew more indignant on account of the misinformation I had received in my early years of training at the government school. If you want to know what really went on during the vicious and cruel war against civilians waged by Lincoln, Stanton, Grant, Sherman, Butler, Sheridan, Hunter and other beastly thugs who have donned a federal uniform and assailed noncombatant Americans, then do not hesitate to read this fine work. Cisco gets an A+ for this effort!

Author Walter Brian Cisco takes us on a tragic journey through the darkest days of American history. Any illusions the reader may have about the Civil War being a moral crusade to free slaves will quickly be dashed on the rocks of reality. This is the best work on the war crimes of the Union Army and should be read by all who want to truly understand the most defining era in our history.

As a student of Southern history for over 40+ years, I found in Mr. Cisco's book that which is missing in many publication about that time in history "TRUTH."

An outstanding, well researched book, which I recommend all doubters read.

Tommy "PoP" Aaron

War Crimes leaves absolutely no doubt that Lincoln himself encouraged his generals to wage brutal war against civilians. After Col. Turchin was court-marshaled for encouraging rape and plunder in 1862("I see nothing for two hours" he told his men), Lincoln promptly rescinded the judgment, prompting him to Brig. Gen. instead.

The author documents the gratuitous pillage of Fredericksburg, the relentless shelling of Charleston, the sack of Athens, the burning of Atlanta, the deliberate destruction of Columbia,the ethnic cleansing of parts of Missouri, the rape of the Shenandoah, the looting of Louisiana, and murder and brutal occupation in West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

He pays special attention to the pattern of brutality,rape,theft and murder committed against helpless black southerners and the imprisonment and deportation of innocent white women and children.

This book is filled with first hand accounts of the victims of these atrocities, as well as the statements and the actual commands of the perpetrators themselves.

In fully documented gory detail, War Crimes proves, without a doubt, the truth of Richard M. Weaver's observation that "from the military policies of Sherman and Sheridan there lies but an easy step to total war of the Nazis, the greatest affront to Western civilization since its founding."

What an eye opener!

In this moving tale of human suffering, one may discover from first hand account the true meaning of terrorism. The Union troops who invaded the South in their bid for independence, unable (or unwilling) to win militarily, turned their attention to civilians of the South.

The murder, rape, theft, and willful destruction of personal property ought to cause any American to question the government school mythology of the wicked South and the righteous North. It's clear from this text who was fighting for freedom and who was fighting for conquest.

This book moved me from anger to tears and back again.

Cisco's attention to the treatment of African-Americans by Union troopers adds a new dimension to the already weighty cannon of catalogued war crimes cited in other works.

After reading this book, you will NEVER look at the American government and their war against the people of the South the same way again.

Thank you, Mr. Cisco, for bringing the material out of the dustbins and into the light!

When the Lincoln/Grant/Sherman/Sheridan apologists get a whiff of this one they are going to be apoplectic. The problem of course is that this is such a carefully researched, far-reaching collection of essays whose facts are so compelling what exactly will they criticize? Even more "balanced" northern historians have conceded the excesses from the mid-war on. But this demonstrates a war on civilians not only from the opening shots but across the entire region and across the entire war. The books' release on the eve of the History Channel's (HC) Sherman piece could not have been more timely. Sherman the "liberator"? Stay tuned for Hitler: the Hero of Eastern Europe. This book is a gift and should be mandatory reading in both High Schools and Colleges. It is social history and scholarship at it's best.

Like Cisco's other books, this one is very well documented. Short, succinct and to the point, I found it difficult to underline important passages - simply because nearly every sentence and every passage is imporant, and worth underlining. Read it and the next time you go to sing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", the words and notes will get stuck in your throat!

Mr. Cisco's flawlessly documented expose of Union Army war crimes rips the carefully constructed facade off Lincoln's "Army of Emancipators." Far from being an army of liberators, Union troops burned, raped, ravaged, and terrorized civilians from east to west. The brutality long overshadowed by federally-sponsored propaganda of Andersonville and Fort Pillow is at last revealed by newspaper accounts, letters, and diaries, many from Washington's own National Archives.

"We believe in a war of extermination," said Union Brigadier General Lane, whose heroic exploits include the arrest and deaths of wives and teenaged girls whose only crime were blood ties to Confederate guerrillas, the expulsion of tens of thousands of civilians from whole Missouri counties and the complete destruction of their property.

General Sherman deliberately turned his back as men pillaged Georgia cities, even allowing them to exhume graves in search of valuables. Free African-Americans as well as southern whites suffered the loss of homes and property, many their lives. The arrival of the northern army of liberation also meant rape and abuse for women of color. Regardless of color or gender, no southerner was spared.

Mr. Cisco's scholarly work is a must-read for serious students of the war and professional historians. Politically correct history cannot hide the sins of the past, and a true examination of facts must occur before complete understanding of America's most tragic war can take place. Five stars.