The Civil War on the River Lines of Virginia, 1862-1864 ― Decision on the Rappahannock and the Rapidan Rivers

This book analyzes and evaluates the struggles between the Union and the Confederacy on the river lines during the Civil War. The bloody engagements on the river lines were the most important battles of the Civil War in the East, far surpassing even the dramatic contests at Antietam and Gettysburg in significance.

Author David F. Trask holds a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University (1958). He taught history at several colleges and universities, including Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska (Lincoln), and SUNY at Stony Brook. He served as the Director of the Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State (1976-1981) and the Chief Historian of the United States Army Center of Military History (1981-1988). He is the author or editor of five works on World War I, The War with Spain in 1898 (1981), the leading study of the subject; Victory Without Peace: American Foreign Relations in the Twentieth Century (1968); a co-compiler of two major bibliographies; co-author of a textbook on American foreign relations; and author of numerous articles and essays. He was a member of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (1976-1981) and the president of the Society for History in the federal government (1981-1982).