Burke Davis

From commanding the Horse Marines in Peking to leading the Inchon landing, Puller became a legend in his own time. Now, Davis offers a no-holds-barred biography of this courageous hero--the only marine in history ever to win five Navy Crosses.

A New York Times–bestselling author’s account of the devastating military campaign that broke the Confederacy’s back in the last months of the Civil War. In November 1864, just days after the reelection of President Abraham Lincoln, Gen. William T. Sherman vowed to “make Georgia howl.” The hero of Shiloh and his 65,000 Federal troops destroyed the great city of Atlanta, captured Savannah, and cut a wide swath of destruction through Georgia and the Carolinas on their way to Virginia. A scorched-earth campaign that continues to haunt the Southern imagination, Sherman’s “March to the Sea” and ensuing drive north was a crucial turning point in the War between the States. Weaving together hundreds of eyewitness accounts, bestselling author Burke Davis tells the story of this infamous episode from the perspective of the Union soldiers and the Confederate men and women who stood in their path. Eloquent, heartrending, and vastly informative, Sherman’s March brilliantly examines one of the most polarizing figures in American military history and offers priceless insights into the enduring legacy of the Civil War.

From the Confederacy's first call to arms, to the Appomattox surrender, Robert E. Lee forged his reputation as perhaps the most daring soldier in American history, renowned for his shrewdness, courage and audacity.Gray Fox is the vivid chronicle of Lee's command, a book that humanizes this gentleman-soldier of tradition and makes him all the more awe-inspiring.

The New York Times–bestselling biography of the South’s most brilliant and audacious military commander With the exception of Robert E. Lee, no Confederate general was more feared or admired than Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. Once derisively known as “Tom Fool,” Jackson was an innovative battlefield strategist who struck terror in the hearts of Union army commanders and inspired Confederate soldiers to victory after victory in the early days of the Civil War. A fanatically religious man, Jackson prayed at the start and conclusion of every battle—yet showed no mercy when confronting the enemy. Eccentric, enigmatic, and fiercely intelligent, he became the stuff of legend soon after he died from wounds suffered during the Battle of Chancellorsville; his untimely death would help to change the course of the conflict. Based on a wealth of first-person sources, including Jackson’s private papers and correspondences, and the memoirs of family, friends, and colleagues, They Called Him Stonewall is a masterful portrait of the man behind the myth.

Wonderfully entertaining look at some intriguing oddities, unusual incidents, and colorful personalities connected with the Civil War. Includes 25 names the war was known by, personal quirks of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and more,

Here is a riveting chronicle of the nine final days of the Civil War, and anecdotal and intimate portrait of Grant, Lee, Lincoln, and the war's other notable personalities as they play out the end-game to America's bloodiest war.

From the author of They Called Him Stonewall . Definitive biography of the dashing Confederate general is history at its best: fascinating, colorful, provocative. Includes portraits of Stuart's early life, training at West Point, the fateful decision to side with the South and action-packed battle scenes. 7 maps. 8 pages of photos. 470 pages.

A panoramic and spellbinding history of the last days of the Confederacy and the flight, capture, and imprisonment of Jefferson Davis In April 1865, Richmond fell to the Union army and Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to his Northern counterpart, Ulysses S. Grant, at the Appomattox Court House. But the Civil War was far from over. Determined to keep Confederate dreams of secession alive, President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled the burning capital city. With Union troops in pursuit, the fugitives rallied loyalists across the South and made plans to escape to Cuba. In the aftermath of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, a $100,000 bounty was placed on Davis’s head. Finally captured in Irwinville, Georgia, the former US senator and secretary of war became a prisoner of the American government. The harsh treatment he received would inflame tensions between North and South for years to come. Meticulously researched and brilliantly told, The Long Surrender brings these dramatic events to vivid, unforgettable life and paints a fascinating portrait of Davis, one of history’s most enigmatic figures. By shining a light on this forgotten chapter of the Civil War, bestselling author Burke Davis examines the lasting impact of America’s bloodiest conflict on the national character.

Crispus Attucks is known as the escaped slave whose freedom ended when he died in the Boston Massacre, but there are many other lesser-known black men and women who made enormous contributions to U.S. independence. Readers will discover Edward Hector, the brave wagoner of Brandywine; artilleryman and slave Austin Dabney; William Lee, the aide and closest companion of George Washington throughout the war; and many others. Includes a bibliography, a foreword by Senator Edward W. Brooke, and an index.

With all the vitality and suspense of good fiction, Burke Davis talks the dramatic story of the campaign that ended America's fight for independence, based on hundreds of eye-witness accounts recorded in diaries, letters, journals, memoirs, and official records. The narrative is richly detailed, alive with vivid personalities.Washington is revealed as the French and his own troops saw him in moments of candor - now despairing, now raging, playing ball with his officers. The other principles are seen with equal intimacy: Papa Rochambeau, the gracious veteran where Washington was concerned, behaves towards his officers as in irritable and officious bear; Lafayette, a major general at 23 but mature beyond his years, shows himself uncertain about his capacities; Sir Henry Clinton, busy with his pretty mistress in New York and blind to the corruption of his staff, squabbles with Cornwallis while the Colonies are frittered away; and the proud, stubborn, short sighted Cornwallis, politically powerful, deals with London rather with Clinton.By turns humorous and tragic, always gripping, this brilliant account of the Yorktown action captures the spirit and sensations of the decisive months of our violent birth as a nation.

The story of the secret WWII mission to shoot down the plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto.

On January 17, 1781, near Cowpens, a drover's camp on the old Cherokee trading trail in Carolina territory, Continental troops and horsemen under the direction of Daniel Morgan inflicted a stunning defeat on a crack British detachment led by the ruthless Banastre Tarleton, commander of Lord Cornwallis's cavalry. Although Tarleton fled the battlefield to avoid capture, the American victory effectively destroyed the light corps of the British army in the South. Stung by the loss, Cornwallis ordered a deliberate and dogged chase of the American rebels, a campaign that meandered through the wilderness and small communities of the Carolinas.After months of retreating, the Continental army under the command of Nathanael Greene, a Rhode Island Quaker, chose to confront the British army near Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina. Although they fought with tenacity, the Americans were forced to retreat, but Cornwallis's army had suffered casualties too heavy to pursue the Continentals and instead fell back to the port city of Wilmington. Discouraged by the guerrilla tactics, Cornwallis moved north, to his final defeat at Yorktown.In The Cowpens-Guilford Courthouse Campaign , Burke Davis provides an engaging account of the key battles in the American South, demonstrating that it was here that the strength of the Continental army's resistance to superior British forces laid the foundations for the final American victory.

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At the suggestion of a young girl, Abraham Lincoln grows a beard.

Four captivating and richly detailed Civil War histories from a New York Times–bestselling author. Award-winning author Burke Davis writes with “an eye for narrative detail that turns history into storytelling” in these four classic Civil War narratives (The New York Times Book Review). The Long Surrender: Though Jefferson Davis had planned to escape to Cuba after General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, a $100,000 bounty was placed on his head. This “marvelous” and “wonderfully written” account chronicles the Confederate president’s flight, capture, and imprisonment—while offering a panoramic history of the last days of the Confederacy (Denver Post). Sherman’s March: Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s infamous “March to the Sea” was a crucial turning point in the Civil War. Weaving together hundreds of eyewitness accounts, this riveting history is “bound to startle and inform even students of Civil War literature” (The New York Times). To Appomattox: Drawing on a wide array of firsthand accounts—from soldiers and commanders as well as ordinary citizens—Davis offers a “masterful” and intimately detailed account of the last nine days of the Civil War, from the Siege of Petersburg to the fateful meeting between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House (The Christian Science Monitor). They Called Him Stonewall: Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was an innovative battlefield strategist who struck terror in the hearts of Union army commanders and inspired Confederate soldiers to victory after victory in the early days of the Civil War. Based on a wealth of first-person sources, including Jackson’s private papers and correspondences, this New York Times bestseller paints “as definitive a picture of Jackson, the officer, and of his generalship, as anyone can hope to read” (Kirkus Reviews).

Book by Davis, Burke

'War Birds' is the first biography of the legendary Elliott White Springs - World War I ace, best-selling author, advertising genius, and maverick master of a textile manufacturing empire.

Recounts Washington's tenure as commander-in-chief of the Colonial Army, highlighting important decisions, actions, and events and profiling the noteworthy figures with whom the general came into contact

Describes the physical characteristics and life cycle of the eastern king snake.

Brigadier General William Mitchell's court-martial was the longest and most controversial in our history. This biography reveals for the first time, from the full transcript, what was actually said and done. In addition, Mitchell’s lengthy 201 File-his personal military records-has until now been unavailable to any biographer. This file contains frank personal evaluations of Mitchell by his superiors (including a psychiatric examination), his own detailed reports and prophecies, as well as official reaction to them. From such previously classified documents and reports, and numerous interviews and unpublished letters, Burke Davis has finally portrayed in the round one of the most fascinating of American heroes. The Billy Mitchell Affair concentrates on the years between 1919, when Mitchell returned from World War I to lead the crusade he felt was vital to America’s security, and 1925, when the battle was publicly joined in his court-martial. It recounts with authority and fresh detail Mitchell’s fight for a separate air force, and the colorful, controversial figures he encountered-Franklin Roosevelt, General Mason Patrick (who had several wigs, one mussed up for flying), Admiral Moffett, Hap Arnold, Jimmy Doolittle, Alexander de Seversky, Generals MacArthur and Pershing; testimony from closed hearings; the complete story of the dramatic bombing of old battleships in 1921 and 1923; the first accurate picture of Mitchell's behind-the-scenes conflicts with his superiors and his running fight with the Navy, which remains an open wound to this day. Here, too, is the first full account of Mitchell’s remarkable secret reports on European and Japanese aviation-in 1923 he predicted and outlined in detail Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and Clark Field-and how these reports were first ignored and then belittled. Finally, of course, Mitchell’s court-martial is narrated in full, with the most famous military figures of the time testifying on both sides. This extraordinary biography not only reveals at last the true story behind General Mitchell’s dramatic fight for air power, but also brings the man himself to life for the £irst time.

Davis traces railroad development in the South by a cast of remarkable entrepreneurs and the subsequent creation of the Southern Railway's network from the ruins of those early enterprises. This is also a full account of the many innovations wrought by the Southern's the first major railroad to convert to diesel power; a pioneer in mechanized maintenance of right-of-way; the use of gigantic box cars to carry bulky cargo; and the operation of coal trains in continuous shuttle.Originally published in 1985.A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Recounts the brief and near-disastrous history of the balloon created by the Confederate army to spy on Federal troops who had used the same means to observe Southern troop movements.

Traces the course of the last blast of the Revolution.

The tender and hilarious story of Fax Starling growing up in North Carolina tobacco country, 212 pages

A biography of the aviation pioneer who was the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic.

Contemporary photographs and drawings accompany a description of the final fighting of the Civil War and of Lee's surrender to Grant.

Brief biographies of the three Virginians who became "the trumpet, the pen, and the sword of the Revolution."

Follows the life cycle of an oak leaf from its budding state until it falls to the forest floor, emphasizing its ecological role.

Before there was an official United States Army there was the Militia. This volume details the exploits of these brave country folk whose charge it was to protect against any foe. Includes a 33 1/3 vinyl record of an actual militia muster with fife and drums and live firing of 18th century weapons.