Exploring Civil War History
Author and historian Patrick O’Donnell describes irregular guerrilla warfare that altered the course of the Civil War and inspired the origins of America’s modern special operations forces. This was a vital shadow war that raged amid and away from the major battlefields that was in many ways equally consequential to the conflict’s outcome. O’Donnell focuses on Lincoln’s special forces, the Jessie Scouts, and their deadly contest with Confederate partisans from 1863-65. Patrick K. O’Donnell has written 13 critically acclaimed books, including “The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware,” and “Washington’s Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution.”