Sixty years ago today the guns that thundered round Fort Sumter
    began the third and greatest modern civil war fought by
    English-speaking people. This war was quite as full of politics
    as were the other two--the War of the American Revolution and
    that of Puritan and Cavalier. But, though the present Chronicle
    never ignores the vital correlations between statesmen and
    commanders, it is a book of warriors, through and through.
    I gratefully acknowledge the indispensable assistance of Colonel
    G. J. Fiebeger, a West Point expert, and of Dr. Allen Johnson,
    chief editor of the series and Professor of American History at
    Yale.