Irvin McDowell was a major actor in the Civil War for a short, but critical time, and his life history deserves to be told and remembered. Like so many others, he was caught up in that national calamity. He was a dutiful, dependable, and diligent military officer. But perhaps unlike some others, early in the Civil War he was called upon to perform duties which, in retrospect, may have been beyond his capacity and only served both to enhance his peculiarities and shine light on his shortcomings.
This book is the first attempt to make the journey of searching for Irvin McDowell and trying to understand him and his role in the Civil War era via a full-length biography.