The West Point History of the Civil War

October 1, 2014
A public-private partnership between the United States Military Academy and Rowan Technology Solutions reshapes the six chapters of the academy's History of Warfare on the Civil War to bring its specialist curriculum before a general audience. Edited by Rogers, Seidule and Watson, three current members of the academy's history department, the volume assembles contributions from five of the country's most distinguished historians of the Civil War: Mark E. Neely Jr., Joseph T. Glatthaar, Steven E. Woodworth, Earl J. Hess and James K. Hogue. "The Civil War was the most traumatic event in the United States Military Academy's history," writes Seidule in the introduction. "During the 1850s, the Academy changed from an institution that promoted nationalism to a bitterly divided school." The book begins with Neely's contribution on the border states and origins of the war and concludes with Hogue's writings on Reconstruction. Glatthaar and Woodworth divide the war in the East and West between them, and Hess takes on strategy coordination and the final phases of the war. Threaded throughout the text are campaign and battle maps and an extensive collection of contemporary illustrations, including portraits, cartoons, leaflets, newspaper reproductions and posters. The 50-plus maps in the collection provide campaign overviews as well as timelines and deployment details illustrating chains of command, numbers of troops by unit and special equipment. The series about Ulysses Grant's campaign in the West, with three maps on the Kentucky campaign, five on successive operations against Vicksburg, and two others including Chickamauga, are exemplary. Also included in the volume are full-page illustrations of significant leaders-including Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox and the only confirmed photograph of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg-and the uniforms of different branches of the service. The volume provides a richness of political context as well as showing how the war was transformed from an initial defense of the Union to a war for emancipation.

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Starred review from December 1, 2014
This is a lavishly illustrated and superbly written survey of the origins, course, and legacy of our national trial by fire. This is the first volume of a planned multivolume series on American military history designed for use by West Point cadets. It consists of a series of articles written by prominent Civil War historians, arranged in chronological order, proceeding from the 1850s through Reconstruction. There are well-done chapters on the roots of sectional animosity and on the aftermath of the war, but the strength of this work, as intended, is the detailed focus upon the military struggle. The text is admirably supported by photographs, highly informative maps and charts, and excellent images of artifacts, such as the loyalty oaths required to be signed by newly enrolled cadets. The text also includes brief biographical sketches of prominent soldiers and useful commentaries on diverse topics, such as uniforms and equipment for the common soldier. Beyond the targeted readership of West Point cadets, this outstanding work can serve as an ideal introduction to the topic for general readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

May 15, 2014

Here's a cadet's-eye view of the Civil War. West Point continually updates its distinctive text on warfare, The West Point History of Warfare, in use since 1847; the latest revision was particularly big, and this volume is the first evidence of that effort.

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