The American Civil War and the Origins of Modern Warfare: Ideas, Organization, and Field Command (Midland Book)

Rating:
Summary: One for the specialist ...
Review: I enjoyed this book, but must admit it comes behind Archer Jones, Bruce Catton, Peter Cozzens, Paddy Griffith and the other great historians who have tackled military aspects of the Civil War. It is rather dry, but one can see how the US army became one of the best equipped armies in history with an enormous logistical 'tail' compared to (say) the Russian, Chinese or British armies. What Hagerman showed for me the falsity of the claim that the Civil War was the first 'modern' war - e.g. while railways were important, away from the railhead, the armies depended on horses and oxen, much as Napoleon did. McClellan does emerge as somewhat of an innovator in his proposal for 'flying columns' living off light rations. Oddly enough, Grant put this experiment to an end when he became commanding General - perhaps he felt that with such hard fighting ahead, it might be unwise to cut the amount and variety of rations. Similarly, while there were innovations in staff organisations (Jackson, for example, make very effective use of his staff), there was no revolution such as was then taking place in the Prussian army. I suppose the Civil War was on the 'cusp' of a military revolution - neither exactly the last of the old wars, not the first of the new. An engaging book, but one for the specialist, I'm afraid.