A military, political, religious, and family history, told against the backdrop of disunion, war, violence, and grief

For years the Ewing family of Ohio has been lost in the historical shadow cast by their in-law, General William T. Sherman. In the era of the Civil War, it was the Ewing family who raised Sherman, got him into West Point, and provided him with the financial resources and political connections to succeed in war. The patriarch, Thomas Ewing, counseled presidents and clashed with radical abolitionists and southern secessionists leading to the Civil War. Three Ewing sons became Union generals, served with distinction at Antietam and Vicksburg, marched through Georgia, and fought guerrillas in Missouri. The Ewing family stood at the center of the Northern debate over emancipation, fought for the soul of the Republican Party, and waged total war against the South.

In Civil War Dynasty, Kenneth J. Heineman brings to life this drama of political intrigue and military valor—warts and all. This work is a military, political, religious, and family history, told against the backdrop of disunion, war, violence, and grief.

"In Civil War Dynasty, Heineman examines the involvement and impact of this prominent family during the turbulent era of Americas nineteenth-century geographic and socioeconomic expansion. Employing a refined combination of expository skill and analytic precision, Heineman deftly examines the confluence of forces that produced the American Civil War." - Civil War Book Review

"Kenneth J. Heineman, a biographer of the Ewing family, believes Tom [Ewing] wanted to re-create in Kansas his father's rise to wealth and power a generation earlier on the Ohio frontier." - The New York Times: Opinionator

"The book is based on very sound research. In fact, Heineman has done a thorough job of searching out the archival sources, and many members of the Ewing dynasty left collections of unpublished papers at various archives. He also has covered most of the relevant published primary and secondary sources. Perhaps the strongest asset of the book is the writing style. Heineman sweeps through complicated subjects and ranges widely across a host of sub-topics with pungent phrases in an attempt to capture what he sees as the essence of the material he found in his research. This allowed the author to cover a great deal of ground in only 289 pages of text and it makes for a very good reading experience for students at the college level and secondary level....Highly recommended for Civil War students and scholars, and an apt reading assignment for classes dealing with the Civil War, Ohio history, or mid-nineteenth-century America, it is a welcome addition to literature." - The History Teacher

"Well researched...Civil War Dynasty does a good job of providing contextual information without losing the story. Heineman succeeds in pulling this prominent Ohio family from the historical shadows. This work joins a growing body of literature that focuses on the war from a Northern perspective and is an enjoyable read for both the casual and academic reader." - Journal of Military History

"The book helps fill what has been significant gap in central Ohio history" - The Columbus Dispatch

"Scholars of Civil War-era slavery and politics will appreciate Heineman's adept treatment of the Ewing's complex racial views and the context withing which they forged them, as will scholars of the emancipation, Reconstruction, and Civil War memory." - Civil War History

"Heineman's fast-aced narrative brings to life a now-neglected American family as they comes into their own against the complex backdrop of a nation struggling to overcome political and social differences." - Publishers Weekly

"A thorough, revealing history of an important political and military family from Ohio during the Civil War...As warm and enticing as an oral history." - Kirkus Reviews