From Ernest B. Furgurson comes this harrowing account of a pivotal and often neglected Civil War battle-the fierce, unremitting slaughter at Cold Harbor, Virginia. In June of 1864, the Army of the Potomac attacked heavily entrenched Confederate forces outside of Richmond, hoping to break the strength of Robert E. Lee and take the capital. Facing almost certain death, Union soldiers pinned their names to their uniforms in the forlorn hope that their bodies would be identified and buried. On hearing of his army's terrible losses, a grieved Abraham Lincoln said, "The heavens are hung in black." Furgurson not only vividly recounts this remarkably bloody battle, he also sheds new light on the personal conflicts that led to Grant's worst defeat and argues that it was a watershed moment in the strategic conduct of the war. Offering a panorama rich in detail and revealing anecdotes that brings the dark days of the campaign to life, "Not War But Murder" is historical narrative as compelling as any novel.

1st Vintage Civil War Library ed.,

Prologue: The Circumstances of the Case --3 -- 1 Rising Sun -- 6 -- 2 We Must Strike Them a Blow -- 26 -- 3 Rely Upon It the End Is Near -- 38 -- 4 Damn Them Let Them Kill Me Too -- 55 -- 5 Hold Cold Harbor at All Hazards -- 74 -- 6 Splendor of Our Victories -- 87 -- 7 You Cannot Conceive the Horror -- 99 -- 8 Richmond Dead in Front -- 116 -- 9 It Was Not War, It Was Murder -- 136 -- 10 A Simple and Absolute Impossibility -- 155 -- 11 All a Weary, Long Mistake -- 169 -- 12 You Kneed Not to Be Oneasy -- 181 -- 13 Like a Scene in an Opera -- 194 -- 14 Killing Without Any Battle -- 211 -- 15 A Nice Friendly Chat -- 220 -- 16 Heavens Hung in Black -- 232 -- 17 Across the Last River -- 243 -- Epilogue: Dust to Kindly Dust -- 257.