"A Politician Turned General offers a critical examination of the turbulent early political career and the controversial military service of Stephen Augustus Hurlbut, an Illinois Whig, Republican politician, and Northern political general who rose to distinction as a prominent member of the Union high command in the West during the Civil War.

Introduction: Yankee Heritage --The Making of a Carolina Yankee -- Lawyer, Whig, and Republican -- Suppressor of Rebellion: General Hurlbut Invades the Confederacy -- Military Ruler of Memphis -- Army Commander at New Orleans -- The Passing of a Diplomatic Partisan -- Conclusion: Evaluation of Generalship.