The document summarizes and compares the arguments made by James McPherson in Battle Cry of Freedom and those made in Donald's collection of essays Why the North Won the Civil War. It finds the contingency theory argued by McPherson, that the outcome of the war was not inevitable and depended on a few key battles, to be flawed and not convincing. In contrast, it presents the essay by T. Harry Williams in Why the North Won as having a more persuasive argument that the North's superior military leadership, especially that of Grant and Sherman, ensured Northern victory as they adapted their strategies to modern war in a way Confederate generals like Lee did not. The document concludes that Why the North Won has a more convincing overall argument about the reasons for Northern victory