By John F. Marszalek '63M.A., '68Ph.D. (Harvard University
Press)
General Halleck, the man known for his failure in leading the
Union troops from 1862 to 1864 as Abraham Lincoln's chief war
adviser, comes under the microscope in this biography. Halleck's
early achievements ranged from his service in Mexican War battles
to his writing on military theory to his highly regarded work
as a lawyer and as an entrepreneur. While these successes earned
Halleck an early reputation as a man of action, the author analyzes
what he sees as the psychological traits that led to Halleck's
inability to make important wartime decisions.
The author is a professor emeritus of history at Mississippi
State University and a prize-winning historian who has written
extensively on the Civil War.
(May 2005)
