Great gambles of the Civil War

by Philip R. N. Katcher

In war, every decision is a matter of life and death: take a gamble and you may succeed gloriously ... or fail disastrously. And, no conflict illustrates this better than America's Civil War, which was littered with cavalier actions by individual officers and entire units. These 13 dramatic "throws of the dice" show how all levels of command seized upon desperate chance in hopes of victory. Included are battles at Manassas, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Lexington, and Yorktown.