Counter-Thrust: From the Peninsula to the Antietam
By Benjamin Franklin Cooling
(September 2008 Civil War News)

Illustrated, maps, notes to pages, bibliographic essay, index, 354 pp., 2008. University of Nebraska Press, 1111 Lincoln Mall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0630, $45 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Scott C. Anderson
Scott C. Anderson has a B.A. in history and M.A. in social sciences from Edinboro University. He has spoken for the Smithsonian Associates, written articles and is a volunteer research librarian at Antietam National Battlefield.

Review:
Imagine having a brief glimpse into the past through a looking glass. This work is such a look into the Civil War and the summer of 1862.

President Abraham Lincoln’s war is going poorly, his administration is in disarray and he desperately needs any type of Union victory to boost troop morale and garnish support on the home front. His cabinet is feverishly working to oversee a quagmire of military problems and to defuse a strained relationship between Union Commander Gen. George B. McClellan and Old Abe.

From July to November 1862 the war continued on, steamrolling down an incline towards certain disaster, and this work goes the distance in describing the details of what took place.

One can say the fortunes of war that occur so often in the field have been written about over and over again. Yet, that is not the case and in this instance the author does a remarkable job in detailing the climactic changes that took place leading up to Antietam.

Cooling gives the reader an understanding into the thoughts of McClellan and how he remained convinced that he saved the Union at Antietam. The bloodiest single day in American history went down in his mind as a glorious defeat of Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy. In truth it certainly gave Lincoln a squeaky opening to put forth the Emancipation Proclamation but certainly not give a death blow to the Confederacy.

The writing is first rate and the clarity of battle tactics and command strategy complements the excellent primary source material noted within this work. It certainly adds to Francis Winthrop Palfrey’s The Antietam and Fredericksburg that was published in the early 1880s.

The addition of the black and white images in the center of the book helps define the men who fought during the war and gives a beautiful portrayal of the George B. McClellan with his wife Mary Ellen. I wish the author had have added more maps, but referencing the Carmen Cope Maps from Antietam along with several other online sites will fill in any strategy questions that arise.

The Civil War will unfold in front of the reader, whether a grizzled historian or a wet-behind-the-ears armchair historian. The work will hit home with much needed information. It is very well put together and highly recommended.