True Crime in the Civil War

Book excerpt: 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,Author of Battle Cry of Freedom • Examines criminal cases during the conflict • Cases include currency counterfeiting, tyrannical actions of Gen. Benjamin Butler, the murder of Gen. Earl van Dorn, raids by William Quantrill's Bushwhackers, the Fort Pillow Massacre, the horrific prison conditions at Andersonville, the fate of Lincoln the assassination conspirators, and more