Searching for Irvin McDowell

“The subtitle says it all: Irvin McDowell has been a forgotten Civil War general for too long. Now, thanks to great research and writing by Frank Simione and Gene Schmiel—not to mention Hal Jespersen’s incredible maps—readers will better understand McDowell the man and his impact on the Civil War. This is an important book that should open many eyes to McDowell’s life, career, and legacy.” ~Benjamin T. Arrington, author of The Last Lincoln Republican

“Defeated at First Manassas, the unhappy pawn of Washington strategists who sought to check the influence of George McClellan, and a critical contributor to the second Union defeat at Manassas, Irvin McDowell was rarely far from the center of controversy during the first two years of the Civil War. Curiously, for over a century and a half there has been no full-length biography of this enigmatic, but unquestionably important, officer. In Searching for Irvin McDowell, Frank P. Simione Jr. and Gene Schmiel provide a study of the general, his endeavors during the war, and the controversies that surrounded him that will be useful to anyone seeking to understand the first two years of America’s bloodiest war.” ~Ethan S. Rafuse, author of From the Mountains to the Bay

“Overall, Searching for Irvin McDowell does a solid job of establishing the significance of the general’s role in the war and fairly describing and assessing those considerable leadership flaws and battlefield mistakes that have contributed to his enduring low standing among the war’s prominent generals.” ~Andrew Wagenhoffer, Civil War Books and Authors

“This book is valuable because it starts to fill what had been a void and may spark further analysis into Irvin McDowell’s role in the Civil War.” ~Emerging Civil War