Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West
    The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West
    The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West

    Written by Megan Kate Nelson

    Narrated by Cynthia Farrell

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History

    A dramatic, riveting, and “fresh look at a region typically obscured in accounts of the Civil War. American history buffs will relish this entertaining and eye-opening portrait” (Publishers Weekly).

    Megan Kate Nelson “expands our understanding of how the Civil War affected Indigenous peoples and helped to shape the nation” (Library Journal, starred review), reframing the era as one of national conflict—involving not just the North and South, but also the West.

    Against the backdrop of this larger series of battles, Nelson introduces nine individuals: John R. Baylor, a Texas legislator who established the Confederate Territory of Arizona; Louisa Hawkins Canby, a Union Army wife who nursed Confederate soldiers back to health in Santa Fe; James Carleton, a professional soldier who engineered campaigns against Navajos and Apaches; Kit Carson, a famous frontiersman who led a regiment of volunteers against the Texans, Navajos, Kiowas, and Comanches; Juanita, a Navajo weaver who resisted Union campaigns against her people; Bill Davidson, a soldier who fought in all of the Confederacy’s major battles in New Mexico; Alonzo Ickis, an Iowa-born gold miner who fought on the side of the Union; John Clark, a friend of Abraham Lincoln’s who embraced the Republican vision for the West as New Mexico’s surveyor-general; and Mangas Coloradas, a revered Chiricahua Apache chief who worked to expand Apache territory in Arizona.

    As we learn how these nine charismatic individuals fought for self-determination and control of the region, we also see the importance of individual actions in the midst of a larger military conflict. Based on letters and diaries, military records and oral histories, and photographs and maps from the time, “this history of invasions, battles, and forced migration shapes the United States to this day—and has never been told so well” (Pulitzer Prize–winning author T.J. Stiles).

    Editor's Note

    Overlooked yet pivotal…

    “The Three-Cornered War” is told through the diverse experiences of some of the people who lived it. Nelson weaves together the stories of an Apache chief, a Union army wife, a Texas Confederate, a gold miner, a Navajo weaver, and even the famous frontiersman Kit Carson. She also describes battles fought by the first multiracial forces. Their stories make for an eye-opening account of an overlooked yet pivotal moment in our country’s history.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateFeb 11, 2020
    ISBN9781797102412
    Author

    Megan Kate Nelson

    Megan Kate Nelson is a writer and historian living in Lincoln, Massachusetts. She has written about the Civil War, US western history, and American culture for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, and Smithsonian Magazine. Nelson earned her BA in history and literature from Harvard University and her PhD in American studies from the University of Iowa. She is the author of Saving Yellowstone, The Three-Cornered War, Ruin Nation, and Trembling Earth.

    Related to The Three-Cornered War

    Related audiobooks

    United States History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Three-Cornered War

    4.5/5

    20 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      The Three Cornered War was an easy and interesting listen/read, where the author Megan Kate Nelson, illustrated the US Civil War in the Arizona and New Mexico territories by focusing on key figures of the the conflict. I thought her approach was thoughtful, illuminating and useful for one to understand the region during this period. However, I also felt the book lacked a certain historical depth that could have made understanding the topic better. It was not until the conclusion that the author really laid out the raison d’etre of the book and thus, the story sometimes plodded along in an unclear manner. If you liked this, I would also highly recommend Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides, which focuses on Kit Carson and the Navajo nation in this period.
    • 5/5
      Extremely well researched. Momentous part of American history well told. The author keenly discusses cause and effect relationships between actions and non-actions. I appreciate the author’s giving detailed voice to essential players such as women and Native Americans, not properly covered in history lessons. This is one of the best history lessons I’ve ever received.