Gone for soldiers

Description

In Gone for Soldiers, Jeff Shaara carries us back 15 years before the momentous conflict he has so brilliantly chronicled, to a time when the Civil War's most familiar names are fighting for another cause, junior officers marching under the same flag in an unfamiliar land, experiencing combat for the first time in the Mexican-American War.In March 1847, 8,000 soldiers landed on the beaches of Vera Cruz, led by the army's commanding general, Winfield Scott-a heroic veteran of the War of 1812, short tempered, vain, and nostalgic for the glories of his youth. At his right hand is Robert E. Lee, a forty year-old engineer, a dignified, serious man who has never seen combat.In vivid prose that illuminates the dark psychology of soldiers trapped behind enemy lines, Jeff Shaara brings to life the familiar characters, the stunning triumphs and soul-crushing defeats of this fascinating, long-forgotten war.

Description

"In March 1847, the U. S. Navy delivers eight thousand soldiers on the beaches of Vera Cruz. They are led by the army's commanding general, Winfield Scott, a heroic veteran of the War of 1812, short tempered, vain, and nostalgic for the glories of his youth. At his right hand is Robert E. Lee, a forty-year-old engineer, a dignified, serious man who has never seen combat.". "Scott leads his troops against the imperious Mexican dictator, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Obsessed with glory and his place in history, Santa Anna arrogantly underestimates the will and the heart of Scott and his army. As the Americans fight their way inland, both sides understand that the inevitable final conflict will come at the gates and fortified walls of the ancient capital, Mexico City.". "Cut off from communication and their only supply line, the Americans learn about their enemy and themselves, as young men witness for the first time the horror of war. While Scott must weigh his own place in history, fighting what many consider a bully's war, Lee the engineer becomes Lee the hero, the one man in Scott's command whose extraordinary destiny as a soldier is clear."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Genres

• Fiction.

Other Editions

• Gone for soldiersBallantine Books2000-01-01
• Gone for soldiersBallantine Books2000-01-01
• Gone for SoldiersElectronic resourceRandom House Publishing Group2000-01-01
• Gone for soldiersRandom House Large Print2000-01-01
• Gone For SoldiersAudio CassetteBooks on Tape, Inc.2000-06-06
• Gone for SoldiersAudio CassetteListening Library2000-12-01