True Crime in the Civil War

“Reconstruct[s] Civil War cold cases and crimes through the people who lived to tell about them . . . a unique history.”—MLive

“Crime did not take a holiday during the Civil War, far from it. As Tobin Buhk shows in this fast-paced narrative, the war created new opportunities to gain profits from illegal activities, to settle old scores against personal enemies under the cover of fighting the nation's enemies, to pillage, plunder, and murder amid the carnage and destruction that seemed to offer license to legitimize such crimes. Students of the Civil War will find new information in this readable account.” —James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom

This history of the rampant crime that took place in both the North and South amid the chaos of the American Civil War examines cases including currency counterfeiting; the tyrannical actions of Gen. Benjamin Butler; the murder of Gen. Earl van Dorn; the Detroit Draft Riot; the Rebel plot to burn New York City; raids by William Quantrill’s Bushwhackers; the Fort Pillow Massacre; the horrific prison conditions at Andersonville; the fate of the Lincoln assassination conspirators; and more.

Includes photographs