we have a request for abbott's description of stonewall jackson.age 138. >> i will remind people that they people that they face up to love, her imagined love. she spends quite a bit of time. i don't think her feet were as pretty as her. stonewall jackson had just turned 30 acres sold and what some said more scarecrow than human with eerily bright blue eyes and amid the brown massive beard. his preferred uniform consisted of a single coat, left over from the service, a broken visor and a tear for the size for a fee. his worst day of the home everyone else called little seurat fled only 15 ties and jackson wrote him to avoid dragging them on the grounds. he spoke seldom and almost never last year and on the rare occasions when he did come he talks about his head and made no sound whatsoever. once an injured northerner captured by jackson's men asked to be lifted out to catch a glimpse of the general, he stared for a moment and then in disbelief and disgust exclaimed, oh my god, lay me down. jackson was as idiosyncratic as he was human. the hobbits f

stonewall jackson might have proved to be a great army commander, but he was never given that chance with a real field army. among the officers entrusted with army command, i would put beauregard close behind lee. thatig difference is beauregard is constantly feuding with richmond and feuding with braxton bragg, and thereby, he is nullifying his ability to bring his great talents to the theice of the confederacy same way that mcclellan and rosencrantz and other union generals by feuding with washington reduced or nullified their ability to serve the united states in the war. as to the exhaustion, certainly cold harbor is the culmination, but i would suggest it's really the almost incessant fighting that begins on may 5 in the wilderness and continues through battle of the first the weldon railroad that just wears out the armies physically and psychologically. grant recognizes this, and that is one reason that petersburg becomes the siege and that he doesn't continue always moving by his left flank in the mobile warfare that had carried the armies all the way from culpepper county dow

johnston, stonewall jackson and a good many others. these were some of the most talented officers in the whole united states army and they were making a commitment now to bleed the new confederate states army. so davis, even though the north had more than twice the population and several times the industrial resources, commercial resources if our nation is going to mobilize for war the south had advantages which made it possible for davis although he expected a difficult and long war also to be confident that the south actually could win in the sense of surviving. >> host: the firing at fort sumter, lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the intercession and the secession of former state senator lincoln called for 75,000 troops. after that happened what was the planned? did david sit down with his top generals in cabinet and say all right what's our plan? how do we fight and how do we win the? what were his first strategic moves? >> guest: the first strategic move was to mobilize an army and to train on army, a point the offi

stonewall jackson, a good many others. these were some of the most talented officers in the old united states army, and they were making a commitment now to lead the new confederate states' army. so davis, even though the north had more than twice the population and several times the industrial resources and commercial resources that are valuable if a nation is going to mobilize for war, the south still had a lot of advantages which made it possible for davis -- although he expected a difficult and long war -- also to be confident that the south actually could win in the sense of surviving. >> host: well, after the first opening moves, the firing on fort sumter, lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to suppress an insurrection and rebellion against federal authority, the secession of four more states after lincoln called for the 75,000 troops, after that happened what was the plan? did davis sit down with his top generals in his cabinet and say, all right, what's our plan, how do we fight, how do we win? what were his first

lee, joseph johnston, stonewall jackson and a good many others. these are a good many talented officers and they are making a commitment now to lead the new confederate states army so even though the north had twice the population and industrial resources and commercial resources that are valuable if the nation is going to mobilize they still had a lot of advantages which made it possible for davis although he expected difficult and long war and also to be confident that they could win in the sense of surviving. >> host: after, the call for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the insurrection and rebellion the secession after that happened what was the plan did he sit down with his top generals and to see what is our plan and how did we win? what were his first strategic moves? >> guest: to mobilize the army and train the army and point the officers and the administrators to station the troops as they begin to come in and of the confederacy had to rely on the state militias or volunteer his regimens. they didn't have a core of the army. it was the unite

johnston, stonewall jackson and a good many others. these were some of the most talented officers in the old united states army and they were making a commitment now to lead the new confederate states army. so davis, even though the north had more than twice the population and several times the industrial resources, commercial resources that are valuable as a nation is going to mobilize the war, the south still have a lot of advantages, which made it possible for dave s. and although he expected difficult and long war also to be confident that the south actually could win the defensive surviving. the >> new york universities peter blair henry side town to discuss his book "turnaround" in which he argues the u.s. and countries can learn how to become more prosperous by setting the example set in many developing countries today. professor henry was interviewed and c-span's new york city university studio. this is part of new york universities college series. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2. wear up in our new york city studio and i

why stonewall jacon? >> jackson, i think, has been forgotten a ttle bit, because what he did in the war was etty extraordinary. the l war was a story of great transformationand the one we all pbably know as ulysses s. grant. he's leaning on a m just before the war and he becomes ulysses s. grt. jackson was kind of this hyteacr before t war he was an odd duck a decent man butan odd duck. and a bit of a loser, you might say. 14onths later, he was thet famous militar man in the western world. 14 months latere waseing compared to napoleon. so you had ts -- what he had ne is what was calledhe valley campaign where he had taken 12 or 14,000 men and aten 1000-plus union armi l over the shenandoah valley in virginia. to me what w so interesting about h was the transrmation was so fa a it was so dep and so profound, and much more so than anyone else, bause by the time stonewall is famous, nobo has heard of lee yet. lee is still a sidekick to jeff das, grant h still not made his rise. so 14 months after the war stts, itas new

he was referred to as a stonewall jackson type of naval officer. but he died, and dahlgren succeeded him. >> farragut was pretty good, too. myu question. admiral dahlgren was a political admiral? >> in many ways. he was named by lincoln. he was a favorite of lincoln. the secretary of the navy did not want him, but under pressure from lincoln he went down. there was hope his knowledge of weaponry and that he knew more about the technology of the monitors. he joins with general gilmore, and general gillmore replaces a -- politicalcer officer, general hunter, at port royal. he will leave the army in the attack against ralston. -- charleston. gillmore is the top engineer in the united states army, the man who used rifle cannons. it is. between these technicians, dahlgren and gillmore, they can carry out a campaign that can destroy fort sumter, capture for sumter -- fort sumter, remove those obstructions and torpedoes between fort sumter and sullivans island, and that would have allowed the monitors to go into the harbor and capture charlson. it was tha

stonewall jackson and other confederate generals buried in lexington. when his horse, who was also famous, died, rather than burying him, some enterprising soul decided to stop him and put him in the museum. this was one of my favorite .useum artifacts with nothing better to do on my meanders home. history, by now, was flowing through my blood. as i got older, i started thinking of other ways to write. i definitely retained that interest in history. it was not until i was quite a bit older -- i majored in english in college, in wisconsin , and it all sorts of professional writing. but it was not until i got older and had kids and started reading all the great children's literature in our public library, like you may do yourself -- i reconnected with that genre and thought, i should see if i can write for children. i began experimenting. my kids are no grown-ups. this is a long ongoing experiment. they are in college. as i have watched them grow up, they have watched my career advance. i have had pieces in national geographic, including these about stubb

he was a stonewall jackson naval type of officer. but he died. >> but what about farragut? pretty good naval officer. i think that admiral was political. >> in many ways. he was a favorite of lincoln p reduce secretary of the navy did not want him. his knowledgeat of upper and re--- weaponry and he knew more about the knowledge of the monitors. replaces general hunter at port royal, and he is going to lead the army in this attack against charleston. gilmore is probably your top engineer, artillery man in the u.s. army, the man who used rifled canyons to capture port pulaski. so there were these two technicians. they can manage to carry out a campaign that would destroy fort sumter, capture fort sumter, remove the obstructions and those torpedoes that were between fort sumter and sullivan's island, and that would allow the monitors to go into the harbor and capture charleston. these twoht between commanders this could be done. the idea was to come down and use folly island which had been occupied earlier in the war, use that as a jumping off point to , bombardorris island fo

union major franklin's grand division pierced the first confederate defensive line of general stonewall jackson to the south but was finally repulsed. burnside ordered the tuitions of sumpter and hooker to launch multiple frontal assaults against longstreet's position on mary's heights, all of which were repulsed with heavy losses. burnside withdrew his army on the 15th, ending another failed union campaign on the eastern theater. everybody knows burnside launched futile frontal assaults against entrenched opponents. it was fruitless. and here again, if you understood how artillery should have been employed by those who were there, you can see an alternative view was possible. i'm going to read some excerpts of what henry hunt had to say, who, in his view, if he had played a greater role in orchestrating the battle, might have been able to orchestrate a victory. at a conference of general burnside with his grand division commanders to determine as to a battle at fredericksburg and how it should be fought, i undertook to put the army across the river on certain conditions, one of which was that

what he did and when he lost, but the speed with which he moved as stonewall jackson as the commandermarched his core 54 miles in two days before the second manassas. 54 miles in two days in the middle of the summer for those that were mostly barefoot and carrying their rifles and bayonets admonition and at a huge distance he counted all of that. when they eat all of their called their technique it was the and jackson. the germans knew more about the shenandoah valley then anybody does in this country. they studied it as if were a part of their own homes to read every single town, village, river, stream, fueled they the learned and the german military school. it's quite extraordinary. the he was an enormous genius. he had as i described in clouds of glory the serenity of genius that he relied on the genius and by and large, it served him very well indeed. ultimately the numbers tell and the ability to use the members and the determination to keep going towards where you want to go, he was forced to retreat again and again until it had become a long and painful siege. >> host: you've b

but his speed of maneuver, the speed with which he moved, stonewall jackson -- his brilliantly gifted corps commander -- marched his corps 54 miles in two days before the second manassas, 54 miles in two days in the middle of summer for men who were mostly barefoot and carrying their rifle, their bayonet, their ammunition and their powder. a huge distance. lee counted on that, he could move like lightning. the german generals when they evolved their technique, it was to lee and jackson that they looked. the germans knew more about the shenandoah valley than anybody does in this country. they studied it as if it were part of their own home. every single town, village, river, stream, hill they learned in german military staff school. it's quite extraordinary. lee was an enormous genius. he had, as i described it in "clouds of glory," the serenity of genius. he relied on that genius. and by the large -- by and large, it served him very well indeed. ultimately, however, numbers tell, and grant's ability to use numbers, his determination to keep on going towards where he wanted to go, thos

stonewall is famous, nobo has heard of lee yet. lee is still a sidekick to jeff das, grant h still not made his rise. so 14 months after the war stts, itas newall jackson. how was he able to do that. >> largely through sheer mitary rillnc heoveds fter than anybody even believed you could move them. >> bute had no backgroun to do that, rig? >> wel he did. he wt to westpointe. he g out of westpointe and he immediately foht in th mexican wa this was in 1887. so hwas a military guy but he had spent much of the peace time as thi physics teacher at virginia mitarinstitute lexington, virgia. he just hadt had that opportunity. the war does interesting thins. a lot of these ious senators and congressmen, businessmen, got to the warand becamest failures and coward and inmpetence. somehow the war pued out o him greatness that wasn't apparent before. even though he did know a few thin about the ar. >> sohen what happened? >> wl, so jacks, as isay, makes thncredible transformation, becos very faus. and th what happens, ally, is aartnership with rob e. lee th changes the war me than athing else. they had ts kind of high command teamwork that no o had seen before in