| List of Maps | p. ix |
| Acknowledgments | p. xi |
| Policy and War | p. 13 |
| The Sinews of War | p. 22 |
| The Border States: Policy, Strategy, and Civil-Military Relations | p. 44 |
| McClellan on Top: Union Strategy, July 1861-October 1861 | p. 52 |
| The Foundations of Naval Strategy | p. 93 |
| The War in the West: Breaking the Cordon | p. 107 |
| The Tyranny of Time | p. 185 |
| Facing the Arithmetic: Escalation and Destruction | p. 207 |
| The Enormous Proportions of War | p. 231 |
| The Cruel Summer of 1863: The Gettysburg Campaign | p. 277 |
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| Union Strategy: November 1861-March 1862 | p. 69 |
| Mr. Lincoln Goes to War | p. 36 |
| Confusion in the West: The Summer of 1862 | p. 169 |
| Vicksburg and Exhaustion | p. 261 |
| A New Year-and a New Strategy | p. 119 |
| War in Virginia | p. 139 |
| The Autumn of 1863: Playing the Deep Game | p. 307 |
| The Siren Song of Tennessee: The Winter of 1863-64 | p. 332 |
| Decision and Desperation, 1864 | p. 351 |
| The Full Fury of Modern War | p. 334 |
| War Termination | p. 395 |
| Conclusion: In War's Shadow | p. 405 |
| Abbreviations | p. 419 |
| Notes | p. 421 |
| Index | p. 482 |