George Schulte, my Great-Grandfather, served in the AEF during World War I.

Leo Schulte, my Grandfather, was on Okinawa and Iwo Jima.

Joe Schulte, my Great Uncle, was killed in a plane crash in Korea.

Deli Huegen, another Great Uncle, was in the jungles of Papua New Guinea.

All of these men have passed on, and not one of them would have considered themselves heroes. I do, however. And I thank all of those Veterans out there, living and dead, who were willing to sacrifice their lives for this country.

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Remember Our Veterans

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080712737X
• ISBN-13: 978-0807127377

Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862-1865
by Thomas Lawrence Connelly

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807127388
• ISBN-13: 978-0807127384

The Confederacy’s other army.

The Lost Cause Tradition revolves around Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.  Most of books written on Civil War history are about battles that occur in the Eastern Theater.  This was the case during the war and has not improved in the years since.  If the Confederacy had a chance to win, if they had heroic figures they were in the battles and leaders of the AoNV.  From 1861 to the end of the war, a second army fought and died for the South.  These men gave as much as the men in the East without inspiring leadership.  Time after time, they saw victory taken from them.  Often they endured forced marches to save themselves only to repeat the cycle of defeat.  Their story is largely ignored or told as the “other army” in histories of Union armies.  The was the Confederate States of America’s Army of Tennessee, brave men badly lead who saw the war through.

Army of the Heartland, first published in 1967, is the history of the building the army.  Isham Harris, the CSA governor of Tennessee delivers an army to hold his state.  Jefferson Davis sent Albert Sidney Johnston, his best general, to lead it.  However, the army was not much more than an unarmed semi drilled mob.  Johnston was unequal to the task and Leonidas Polk demonstrated a willingness to do his own thing.  Facing them was an unknown Union General named U.S. Grant.  This is the story of Grant’s move to Corinth Mississippi as seen by the army he defeated.  After Johnston’s death, Braxton Bragg assumes command.  Bragg is a close personal friend of Jeff Davis, who has great confidence in him.  However, Davis is even closer to Leonidas Polk and has great confidence in William J. Hardee.  Add in an endemic of “Kentucky Fever” and we have the Perryville Campaign.

Autumn of Glory, published in 1971, takes us from Perryville to Nashville.  While the AoT still existed after Nashville, it was no longer an army.  The author covers this time but rightly considers the survivors to be more a collection of veteran units than an army.  This is the years when they fight and lose central Tennessee under Bragg.  The Georgia campaign under Joe Johnston and the return home under Hood.  1862 to 1865 are the years of the big battles and the political infighting that paralyze this army.  No American army was ever as poorly lead or suffered government indifference on this scale.  Richmond was paralyzed unable to choose between pro and anti Bragg factions.  Unable to consider removing either faction, Davis dithered, as Tennessee was lost.  This is a hard book to read as the army is doubly damned for not winning and for losing its’ supply base.  In the end, John Bell Hood leads this army to death in the largest charge of the war at Franklin and destruction at Nashville.

Connelly wrote these books years ago.  The maps are not great and they are not highly detailed.  They are one of the most readable army histories ever written.  Classic is a very over used word and one we see often.  This is one of the few times that it applies and should be used.  On publication, these were seen to be special and needed books.  That has not changed and shows no sign of changing.  The only improvement would be to publish them as one book.  You can do that with a single purchase and reading one after the other.  Enjoy them; they are a great and informative read.

Editor’s Note: Jim is a Top 500 Amazon.com reviewer.

Check out Beyond the Crater: The Petersburg Campaign Online!

Check out Brett’s list of the Top 10 Civil War Blogs!

Read many Civil War Book Reviews here at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog!

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Review: The Army of Tennessee by Thomas L. Connelly

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November 2009

James Durney

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New Releases

A Dangerous Stir: Fear, Paranoia, and the Making of Reconstruction by Mark Wahlgren Summers should be in the stores this month.  Reconstruction policy after the Civil War is shaped not simply by politics, principles, and prejudices. Also at work were fears–often-unreasonable fears of renewed civil war and a widespread sense that four years of war had thrown the normal constitutional process so dangerously out of kilter that the republic itself remained in peril.

Also in the stores is Punitive War Confederate Guerrillas and Union Reprisals by Clay Mountcastle.  This is a look at how guerrilla attacks and Union reaction drove a cycle of violence contributing to a punitive war.  The author is a member of the US Army, currently in Korea, who has taught military history at West Point.

This is a 96-page soft cover magazine available November 1, on newsstands.  Moorshead Magazines Ltd. is releasing of a special edition titled, Life During the Civil War. Written by author David A. Norris.  This looks beyond the major battles and famous generals of the Civil War to examine what American of the 1860s saw, heard and felt.  The publisher feels these articles highlight the large and small aspects of everyday life, giving the reader a better understanding of how average Americans experienced the Civil War.

Dave Powell’s The Maps of Chickamauga: An Atlas of the Chickamauga Campaign, Including the Tullahoma Operations, June 22 – September 23, 1863 from Savas Beatie will be available for general sales in late November.  David Friedrichs did the cartography.  This is a 336-page book with 128 full color maps and is the third book in SB’s Military Atlas series.

They launched Years of Change and Suffering Modern Perspectives on Civil War Medicine edited by James M. Schmidt and Guy R. Hasegawa with a book signing on October 3 at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine Conference.  All of this book’s royalties are being donated to Civil War medical heritage preservation, if you need an additional reason to consider buying this book.  Lincoln’s Labels in paperback should be in the stores when you read this.

Ten Roads Publishing’s The Alexander Dobbin House in Gettysburg: A Short History by Dr. Walter Powell should be available.  They expect the book Gettysburg Bicentennial Album by William A Frassanito to be for sale in late October.  Look for Fight as long as possible: The Battle of Newport Barracks, February 2, 1864 by Eric Lindblade about now.

The Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863 by Scott L. Mingus, Sr., made its’ October date.  I last listed this author for his excellent Flames beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863 and Gettysburg Glimpses: True Stories from the Battlefield.

The University of North Carolina Press has scheduled Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign by William Shea for November. Prairie Grove is one of the more important small battles in the Trans-Mississippi.  This will complement his excellent Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West. In late October, Amazon lists this book as available with a two to five week delivery.

On November 18, look for Edward Longacre’s Cavalry of the Heartland: The Mounted Forces of the Army of Tennessee.  The book is based on a wide array of research materials including the unpublished writings of more than 300 officers and enlisted men.  This is the only book-length study of the strategy and tactics of the Army of Tennessee’s mounted forces from its inception in the spring of 1861 to Bentonville, four years later.  Numerous campaigns and battles are described in full detail, including Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro (Stones River), Tullahoma, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Nashville, and the Carolinas.

While not Civil War history, Slavery and the Supreme Court, 1825 – 1861 by Earl M. Maltz rates a look see.  The book covers eight major cases involving slavery that came before the Court in the years leading up to the war.  This is due in November from University Press of Kansas.

In December, look for Brooks D. Simpson’s Civil War In The East 1861-1865: A Strategic Assessment.  His The Reconstruction Presidents is available in paperback.

UNC Press scheduled Blue and Gray Diplomacy A History of Union and Confederate Foreign Relations by Howard Jones for January 2010. In this examination of Union and Confederate foreign relations during the Civil War from both European and American perspectives, Howard Jones demonstrates that the consequences of the conflict between North and South reached far beyond American soil.

Sam Davis Elliott’s newest book: Isham G. Harris of Tennessee: Confederate Governor and United States Senator is on Amazon with a January 2010 publication date.

In March 2010, Clint Johnson’s A VAST AND FIENDISH PLOT – The Confederate Attack on New York City should be in stores.

Scheduled for 2010 is Thunder Across the Swamps, the second book in the Louisiana Quadrille series, covering the war for the lower Mississippi from February to May 1863.

We can look forward to a complete history of the Iron Brigade from Lance J. Herdegen.  Those Damned Black Hats!, about the Iron Brigade during the Gettysburg Campaign won The Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Operational Battle History.

Eric Wittenberg reports The Battle of Brandy Station, June 9, 1863: North America’s Largest Cavalry Battle will be part of The History Press’s forthcoming sesquicentennial series on battles of the Civil War.  This is a 68,000-word manuscript with 50 maps and illustrations.  He feels that we have “a reasonable chance” of seeing this book in June 2010. The Civil War Preservation Trust and master cartographer Steve Stanley have given permission to use Steve’s excellent maps in the book.  Clark B. “Bud” Hall will work with Eric to put together a tour for the book.  A second project for The History Press entitled The Battle of Yellow Tavern: Jeb Stuart’s Last Battle. This will be a study of Phil Sheridan’s May 1864 raid on Richmond, with particular focus on the May 11, 1864 Battle of Yellow Tavern, where Jeb Stuart received his mortal wound.

Savas Beatie has published their Spring 2010 schedule.  In May, expect Valley Thunder: The Battle of New Market by Charles R. Knight.  This is a 264-page book with eight maps covering the “complex prelude” and the battle.  In June The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, Volume 1: South Mountain is due.  This is the Ezra Carman manuscript edited by Thomas G. Clemens.  This is a 694-page book with ten maps covering the action leading up to Antietam.

In April, we can look for a full-color hardcover edition of The Maps of Gettysburg by Bradley M. Gottfried.  Those Damned Black Hats! The Iron Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign by Lance J. Herdegen, Sickles at Gettysburg by James A. Hassler and Saratoga by John Luzader are being released as paperbacks.  Saratoga is American Revolution but it is outstanding military history and a great read.

Savas Beatie is working on a two-volume set on The Petersburg Campaign, taken from a series of unpublished battle studies written by Ed Bearss.  Bryce Suderow is the editor on this.  This will be a major event in the historiography of the Petersburg Campaign.

***********************************************************

Rumor Mills

Edinborough Press had some serious distribution problem this summer.  Rumor says these problems are over; their distribution system is functioning normally.  We hope this is the case; this house has a number of interesting titles in the works.

******************************************************

Bringing on the War

Kansas became the test case of allowing residents to decided free or slave state.  The idea may have been a good one, if residents had not been encouraged to move into the area.  Breecher Bibles, emigrant aid societies, Jayhawkers and Red legs made sure Kansas was a prequel to the war.  This month, we are looking at books on Kansas during this time.  All of these books deal with events in Kansas prior to the Civil War.

Just on the shelves is Seeding Civil War: Kansas in the National News, 1854-1858 by Craig Miner, draws on newspapers and magazines articles from all parts of the country and of all political persuasions.

Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War Era by Nicole Etcheson, published in 2006, argues that participants on both sides of the Kansas conflict believed they fought to preserve the liberties secured by the American Revolution and that violence erupted because each side feared the loss of meaningful self-governance.

War to the Knife: Bleeding Kansas, 1854-1861 by Thomas Goodrich provides “”A violent tale of insurrection, rioting, drunkenness, principle, politics, and self-interest”.  First published in 1998, this is currently a paperback published in 2004.

****************************************************

The new kid on the block

In 2009 by Eric Lindblade and Jim Glessner formed Ten Roads Publishing with an aggressive publishing schedule of Gettysburg related books by experienced authors.  Located in Gettysburg, the publishing house’s name comes for the number of roads leading into the town in 1863.  Their mission statement says, “The mission of Ten Roads Publishing is to publish the highest quality contemporary works, in terms of the standard of product and scholarship, in addition to reprinting classic titles of historical significance.”  If you are on Facebook, become friends with Eric and follow his efforts to maintain an aggressive publishing schedule.

*******************************************************

Introducing Scott Mingus Sr.

This name is constantly in this column lately.  My introduction to Scott was Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863 from Ironclad Publishing.  LSU Press has just published his The Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863. Ten Roads Publishing chose his Gettysburg Glimpses: True Stories from the Battlefield for their first book.

Paying the bills involves working as Global Director of New Product Development for P.H. Glatfelter in the paper and printing industry.   He is the author of six books, several magazine articles and several booklets on miniature war gaming for an impressive body of work.  Scott and his wife Debi publish Charge the leading international fanzine for ACW miniature war gaming.

He is a native of southeastern Ohio and a graduate of Miami (Ohio) University, class of ‘78.  He and his family live near York, Pennsylvania where he is very active in preserving the history of the area, giving talks, running war game conventions and writing.

***********************************************************

Editor’s Note: Jim is a Top 500 Amazon.com reviewer.

Check out Beyond the Crater: The Petersburg Campaign Online!

Check out Brett’s list of the Top 10 Civil War Blogs!

Read many Civil War Book Reviews here at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog!

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November 2009 Civil War Book Notes

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Fellow CWRTs,

Please read and react to this accordingly.  Two days ago a proposal from the Nashville Metro Parks to layoff several employees to help balance a budget for the department was leaked to the Nashville Tennessean newspaper.  It seems that the Parks director bungled $1 Million of his budget by overspending and the word has gotten out about it.  One of the employees proposed to be let go is the museum specialist who runs Ft. Negley Park.  Ft. Negley is the largest remaining Civil War fort of its kind in the nation and was to have been a centerpiece of Civil War tourism for Nashville.  If the museum specialist, Krista Castillo, is let go she would be replaced by a transfer from one of the other parks sites of the city who knows nothing about Civil War history.

Not only is the current director of Ft. Negley a good friend of mine, she is also about to graduate with her Masters of Military History from Austin Peay State University and has worked as a museum registrar.  She is highly competent, experienced and a dedicated Civil War historian who has done some fine things since starting at Ft. Negley a year ago. Through more tours, programs like Silver Screen Saturdays where old Civil War movies have been shown to Haunted Ft. Negley, Krista has done an outstanding job trying to put Ft. Negley into the Civil War spotlight of Middle Tennessee.  She has built a lot of support from  the Civil War groups of Middle Tennessee.  She is a member of the Clarksville CWRT and is president of the Nashville CWRT, which currently meets at Ft. Negley and would probably have to move to a new location if she loses her job.

A backlash in the local historical community is building but I think it would be great if the Mayor of Nashville, Karl Dean, would get some emails from you and your members letting him know that Ft. Negley is not just a local or Middle Tennessee Civil War site – but one with national interest and support.  The more the mayor gets from folks out of state the more he will come to understand that the national historical community values its slowly vanishing treasures and does not take lightly a slipshod manner of running such sites.  Krista is the first Ft. Negley director to really connect with the Civil War community and that will probably stop if she is laid off.

Please send this around to your members and ask them to take a few moments to email Mayor Dean.  His email is: mayor@nashville.gov

Please be polite but firm in your emails and let him know how much you value Ft. Negley as a Civil War site for the entire nation.

Thanks for your support.

Greg Biggs
Clarksville Civil War Round Table

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A Threat to Nashville’s Ft. Negley Park

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November 1864

• The biggest news is the election of Lincoln & Johnson on the eighth.  The popular vote was almost 500,000 higher for Lincoln, about one out of eight votes, but the Electoral College cast 212 votes for Lincoln and 21 for McClellan.  This victory ends any hope of the war ending in anything but a Confederate defeat.

• On the second, Secretary of State Seward tells the mayor of New York that Confederate agents are planning to burn the city.

• On the fifth, General N.B. Forrest ends a very successful raid into Tennessee.  The Union Army lost equipment having a value of over $6.7 million.  Forrest ends the raid to join J.B. Hood in what will become the Nashville Campaign.

• In Chicago, on the sixth, authorities arrest over 100 Copperheads and CSA sympathizers.  They are part of a plot to disrupt the coming election and burn the city.  None of those arrested are even tried.

• On the 12^th, a landing party from the USS Hedrick Hudson & Nita attack salt works near Tampa, FL.  Cavalry manage to drive the party away prior to the destruction of the salt works.

• On the 14^th, President Lincoln accepts General George B. McClellan’s resignation from the army.  Philip H. Sheridan becomes a Major General.

• Sherman departs Atlanta on the 15^th, starting his famous March to the Sea.  O.O. Howard commands the right wing (XIV & XX Corps), Henry W. Slocum commands the left wing (XV &XVII Corps) with the cavalry under Judson Kilpatrick.

• As Sherman heads toward Savannah, on the 16^th, J.B. Hood’s army starts marching toward Tennessee.

• Jefferson Davis instructs General Howell Cobb to use the Georgia militia to oppose Sherman on the 18^th.  The next day, John Brown orders all men between 16 & 45 to join the militia.  General William J. Hardee commands this “force”.

• On the 22^nd, the Georgia legislature flees Milledgeville as Slocum approaches.  At Griswoldville, showing more bravery than good sense, the Georgia militia attacks Kilpatrick’s cavalry.  The militia suffers over 600 casualties while inflicting only about 100 on Kilpatrick.  This is the biggest battle of the March to the Sea.  In Tennessee, Schofield marches northward to escape Hood’s approaching army.

• On the 25^th, New York has ten fires set in hotels by CSA agents that entered from Canada.  One agent is captured, tried and executed.  In Texas, Colonel Kit Carson is defeated at the battle of Adobe Wells.  He manages to withdraw his command to safety without undue losses.  This is the largest Indian battle in Texas.

• In Tennessee, Hood forces Schofield to withdraw from the Duck River after several days of maneuvering.  Schofield finds Hood has most of his army North of the river and in position to cut him off from Nashville.  On the 28^th, preparations to withdraw begin.  On the 29^th, Schofield marches his army past Hood at Spring Hill reaching safety in Franklin.  What happened, who is responsible, why this happened are still hot topics and “The Spring Hill Affair” enters into history.

• November 30^th, Hood angered at the failure to trap Schofield orders the largest charge of the Civil War.  About 4 PM, three divisions charge over two miles of open ground at entrenched Union veterans.  Six Confederate Generals are killed, six other badly wounded along with over 6,200 solders.  The Union line holds and that night Schofield withdraws to Nashville.  He suffered just over 2,300 causalities in the Battle of Franklin.  The Confederate Army of Tennessee never recovers from this battle.  Among those killed is CSA General Patrick Cleburne, the Stonewall of the West, leading his division at the focal point of the attack.

• November is almost the close of the active campaign season.  Sherman is marching through Georgia.  Grant & Lee remain locked together at Petersburg.  Hood is badly battered but advancing on Thomas entrenched at Nashville.  Lincoln’s election indicates the North’s resolve to see things through to total victory.  Jefferson Davis is insisting that the CSA will accept no terms but independence and that no vital area is conquered.  This is starting to ring hollow as desertions from the army and desperation at home take a larger toll.  The war is not over and will not end in April 1865 either.

Check out Beyond the Crater: The Petersburg Campaign Online!

Check out Brett’s list of the Top 10 Civil War Blogs!

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The Civil War 145 Years Ago: November 1864

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1) The insistence that the North is good and the South bad can be a warning sign, just as an insistence that the South was good and the North bad is a warning sign of Lost Cause Mythology.  Most accept that the North’s position was the right one and that the United States should not have allowed secession.  However, an insistence that the Northern position was 100% right and the South’s 100% wrong isn’t historical or likely.  Both sides missed opportunities to avoid the war and both sides did things that brought the war closer.  The South has the majority of responsibility for causing the war but the North is not the innocent victim.  An excellent indication that you are talking to a PCMer is when they equate the Confederacy and /or owning slaves with the Third Reich.

2) Slavery is wrong, was unkind and was the underlying cause of the war.  It was the most visible difference between the two sections but it was not the only difference.  The South lost national influence in the years leading up to the war.  This coupled with the differences between agricultural and industrial economies created tensions that led to war.  Southern slavery, while not kind, was not excessively cruel considering the standards in place.  An example of the PCM is the person on Yahoo Groups that stated slave owners would let a slave die rather than spend the price of a chicken on a doctor.  Considering the price of a slave was several years’ wages, the idea makes no economic sense.

3) Black support of the Confederacy is the one place the PCM & LCM meet!  Both are dedicated to showing that the CSA was an all-white operation.  The LCM simply ignored any contributions by Blacks expect as “the faithful slave” stories.  The PCM has decided that, the South being the center of evil and slavery being hell on earth, no Black could support the CSA in any way.  This has led to the assertion that any Blacks serving in CSA armies were really mixed race and somehow less Black.  I have had authors say that a history of the Battle of Williamsport cannot be written.  Black teamsters picking up rifles joined white troops in fighting off the Union cavalry.  While historical, this is not acceptable to the book buying public.  The SCV is accepting the contributions of Blacks and recognizing them as a valued part of the South’s armies.

4) Reconstruction; part of the PC Myth is the contention that the USA should have engaged in massive land distribution projects during Reconstruction.  These projects would have stripped those that fought for the CSA of land and given it to former slaves.  This idea seems based on the redistribution of land done in Russia and China after the communist revolutions and would have been completely out of character for the USA.

5) The failure of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow are blamed on racism and the refusal of Southern Whites to be reconstructed.  Books by Eric Foner follow this line, restricting the failure to racial issues and local politics.  Part of the popularity of this view is how well it works with the South being the center of evil, one of the most popular and widely held parts of the PCM.  This view holds that whites should have been denied civil rights for life and reduced to non-citizens for rebelling.

6)  The Reconstruction Klan is seen as a wholly rascist organization having no other reason for existence.  This view is more consistent with the Klan of the 20^th Century and ignores any excesses, real or perceived, that occurred during Reconstruction.  This view is consistent with the underlying theme of racial animosity that is so much a part of the PC Myth.

7)  Nathan Bedford Forrest and Fort Pillow occupy a special place in the PCM.  First, Forrest is the perfect Southerner for this group.  A slave trader prior to the war and founding member of the Klan afterwards, makes him the man they love to hate.  Fort Pillow is a massacre of surrendering members of the USCT directed by Forrest.  Richard Fuchs’ book scores very high with the PCM.  The lack of prosecution after the war and race relations between Forrest and the Black community has no bearing here.

John Brown is an iconic figure for the PCM.  Their history abounds with books lauding Brown for destroying slavery and being free of racism.  They see Brown, in Kansas, as shielding the anti-slavery group from violence initiated by the pro-slavery group.  Harpers Ferry is an act of civil disobedience, not insurrection, and is applauded as a blow against slavery.

9)  While not a defining trend, the PCM is more interested in the political, social and/or economic history of the war than the military history.  McPherson’s “Battle Cry of Freedom” is always the recommended general history of the war for this reason.

10) The Bleeding Kansas violence was caused by pro-slavery faction invading the area from Missouri.  These groups were responsible for 75% of the violence during this time.  The anti-slavery faction was just protecting their lives and responding to the violence committed against them.

11)  The South was incapable of changing their position on slavery and would never have grown to accept emancipation without the war.

12)  “Gone with the Wind” is hated and considered a rascist book and movie.  Those involved with the PC Myth will go to great lengths to deprecate GWTW.

13)  John Brown is a revered hero.  His actions in Kansas are always defensive and justifiable.  Harpers Ferry was a good plan, local slaves joined him and the drunken rascist locals forming a mob frustrated his plans and trapped him in the arsenal.

14)  Robert E. Lee is dismissed as a traitor and responsible for prolonging the war unnecessarily.  In addition, much is made of the problems with freeing the slaves under his Father-in-law’s will and his having a runaway slave whipped.  Both are used to “prove” Lee was an evil person.

A defining trait of the PCM is the insistence that there is no such thing as the Politically Correct Myth of the American Civil War.  A second part of this argument is that there is no such thing as political correctness, just the truth.

Editor’s Note: Jim is a Top 500 Amazon.com reviewer.

Check out Beyond the Crater: The Petersburg Campaign Online!

Check out Brett’s list of the Top 10 Civil War Blogs!

Read many Civil War Book Reviews here at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog!

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Hallmarks of the Politically Correct Myth of the American Civil War

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Gary Yee’s Sharpshooter Page Up

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At seven in the morning on May 20, 1631, 18,000 soldiers loyal to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II stormed the ancient German city of Magdeburg. The Protestant city was in rebellion against its Catholic overlord but had only 7,000 defenders, almost half of whom were armed children. Plague had weakened the populace, and ammunition was low. By mid-morning, Magdeburg was overrun. By noon, it was ablaze. The thousand citizens who huddled in the cathedral were saved; but outside the flames lit hellish scenes of murder and rapine. Twenty-thousand corpses were eventually heaved into the Elbe River. Of 2,000 city buildings, only 200 survived. A year later, the ruins of Magdeburg sheltered less than 500 souls. The city’s destruction would go down as the most notorious atrocity of the Thirty Years War.

The war fought between 1618 and 1648 remains, by many measures, the most destructive in Europe’s history. During those years the Holy Roman Empire—which governed most of the European continent east of the Rhine—lost as many as eight million subjects, or a staggering 20% of its population. This amounted to three times Europe’s death rate during World War II. Whole swaths of central Europe were depopulated, abandoned to wild pigs and wolves.

The sack of Magdeburg was an extreme but by no means an isolated event. Armies of the time were “self-financed,” or to use a modern term, “privatized.” Many  army commanders viewed war as a business, and the kings who employed them expected them to supply and pay themselves from plunder, plus turn a profit. There were also many “free companies” who were in for whatever they could get by whatever means. In short wars this might have been marginally tolerable, but the repeated campaigns across central Europe over thirty years made parts of it a virtual desert. There were no rules—war was conducted on the whim of local commanders. The execution of prisoners was routine and the rape, torture, and plunder of civilians was commonplace. There is no need to elaborate, but if you want to see a contemporary representation you can take a look at artist Jacques Callot’s Miseries of War, which will tell you all you need to know. Callot was the precursor of the combat artist of the Civil War.

The period remains an important one because of the reaction to it. The nation-state emerged as the primary political entity and diplomatic relationships as we know them today were defined by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

For our purposes the other reaction was the emergence of the modern laws and customs of war afterward in an attempt to mitigate the horrors of the Thirty Years War. Henceforth armies (or at least the officers) were to be professional, to answer to and be paid by a sovereign and not let loose to plunder. In the Eighteenth Century armies were supplied by a system of magazines and held in check with harsh discipline. Prisoners were granted certain rights and the civilian population protected when possible. War between states had much more limited aims—the capture of fortresses, provinces or colonies—rather than the destruction of whole areas. Eventually these practices developed into what was generally known as the Laws and Customs of War, finally written down in the Leiber Code.

Thus, although the Civil War could be very harsh at times, Atlanta and Richmond—or even Lawrence—did not suffer the fate of Madgeburg.

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Thirty Years War

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (December 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807130885
• ISBN-13: 978-0807130889

Who is the enemy?

The war between general officers can be as interesting as the war between the armies.  Bragg’s problems as commander of the Army of Tennessee with Polk and Hardee, Hood undercutting Johnston in 1864, the often-contentious HR problems of the Army of Northern Virginia, the Pope McClellan feud and Halleck maneuvering against Grant are well known.  Each of these is the subject of books or devoted chapters in numerous histories of the war.  The concentration on the war east of the Mississippi misses one of the worst feuds between generals during the war.  Richard Taylor and Edmund Kirby Smith were both proud, competent men that were sure they knew what was best.  After the fall of Vicksburg, the Trans-Mississippi became Kirby Smithdom.  Isolated from the Confederacy, subject to conflicting demands and directives from Richmond that might be impossible these two men fought the Union Army and each other to a standstill.  This is their story both during and after the war.

Neither man seems to have had real warm feelings for the other.  Taylor was responsible for Louisiana and reported to Smith who commanded the Trans-Mississippi.  The author gives us a full and careful review of the two men, their war experiences and political support.  This allows the reader to fully understand the root of the problems and appreciate the extant of their bitterness.  Taylor’s handling of CSA forces during the Red River Campaign is brilliant.  He defeats a much larger combined arms force isolating each and almost destroying both.  Smith may or may not have robbed Taylor of victory by removing troops to defeat an army advancing in Arkansas.

This book assumes the reader knows very little and carefully explains the position of the parties, their options and the results of the choice made.  This is one of the strongest parts of the book and keeps the reader fully informed, allowing us to make informed decisions.  A second strong point is covering the post-war history of both men and how the story grew and changed.  This is being done more often in better histories, is well handled and very valuable.

Richmond is part of the problem and the shadowy presence over the Trans-Mississippi.  The source of power, Smith and Taylor supporters battle there too.  However, Richmond has an agenda that fully supports neither and causes problems for both.  In the end, as was done elsewhere, Richmond refuses to support either side.  This book is not an expose of the Confederate Departmental system but it shows all the problems this system caused and that Richmond refused to resolve.

This is not an easy read but it is a worthwhile read.  The author’s words do not jump off the page, grab you and pull you in.  They build a solid reliable narration that is full of information and is very logical.  This is a book that those interested in the Trans-Mississippi and/or the Confederate high command should read.

Editor’s Note: Jim is a Top 500 Amazon.com reviewer.

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Review: A Crisis In Confederate Command: Edmund Kirby Smith, Richard Taylor, And The Army Of The Trans-Mississippi

Related posts:

1. Review: Crisis of Command in the Army of the Potomac
2. Review: Army of the Potomac, Volume II: McClellan Takes Command, September 1861-February 1862
3. Review In Brief: Two Great Rebel Armies: An Essay in Confederate Military History by Richard McMurry

Touching on a piece of history that I think is too often overlooked, author Joe G. Bax successfully paints a vivid picture of a small Texas town during the tumultuous period that followed the Civil War.

With a wide cast of characters, ranging from the prosperous land owner to the poor share cropper, from former slaves to Kluxers, The General explores the turbulent and violent era commonly known as Reconstruction.

General Leander Wilhite, for whom the book is named, is a quiet, reclusive character, while John Ross, his grandson, takes the lead in the story. A former Confederate commander, General Wilhite returns to his plantation Catulpa to put the war behind him and try to come to terms with the momentous change that has been wrought on society. Through John Ross, the reader gets a glimpse of the emotions, the discord, the violence, and the fear that gripped the nation, and especially the South, after the war.

My only criticism would be that, for those like me, who enjoy long, meaty novels with well-developed characters, this one falls short at only 168 pages. For those who enjoy quick reads, this is good historical fiction, a well-crafted story of race relations, revenge and retaliation by an author with a unique voice and authentic writing style.

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Review: The General and Monaville, Texas

Related posts:

1. Review: Fire in the Cane Field – The Federal Invasion of Louisiana and Texas January 1861-January 1863
2. Review: Fire in the Cane Field: The Federal Invasion of Louisiana and Texas, January 1861-January 1863
3. Review: The Last Confederate General: John C. Vaughn and the East Tennessee Cavalry