Description
Drawing on a substantial assortment of sources, including American newspapers and the autobiographical accounts of Civil War soldiers, Speer recounts the savage acts of retaliation carried out against POWs. The justification for these acts and subsequent political effects are also described. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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The violent retaliation between sides in the American Civil War was perhaps most apparent in the taking of prisoners. Often, these retaliatory measures were enacted against the innocent-prisoners who were unfortunate enough to be in wrong place at the wrong time. Each chapter of this book undertakes to describe a specific event of retaliatory action. Lonnie Speer takes no sides as he points an accusing finger at both the Union and the Confederacy for their equal parts in treating the prisoners poorly. He explores this little-known wartime violence, focusing on the most notorious and well-documented cases of the practice.
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