Excerpt: Kennesaw Mountain, by Earl J. Hess
The assault of June 27 was a significant departure from Sherman’s mode of operations during the Atlanta campaign.
Archive of posts filed under the Military Studies category.
Rod Andrew Jr.: Wade Hampton, One of the Last Confederate Generals to Surrender
Before the war began, few would have foreseen Hampton emerging as a die-hard Confederate. After President Abraham Lincoln called for troops to suppress the Southern rebellion, however, Hampton no longer hesitated.
Southern Gateways: essential southern reading that makes a great gift
Our Holiday Sale is now underway! If you need some gift ideas for the folks on your list, our Southern Gateways catalog is a great place to start. Southern Gateways is where we collect of all our general interest books about this region we call home.
Excerpt: With a Sword in One Hand and Jomini in the Other, by Carol Reardon
Military theory is an intellectually sophisticated and complex form of cultural expression. At the start of the Civil War, the U.S. Army and the people it defended barely had begun to demonstrate an interest in developing a capacity to think about war as an element of national life. They had done little to institutionalize such study. As a consequence, when the Civil War broke out, Northerners had few resources to turn to for insights on an American way of war, and they had no choice but to look to the military classics from across a cultural divide for the intellectual authority they sought.
First African American Marines Honored with Congressional Gold Medal
Today, 70 years after those first African Americans joined the Marines, Montford Point veterans are being formally honored with the Congressional Gold Medal.
Excerpt: Battle Hymns, by Christian McWhirter
He ordered them to leave the camp as soon as possible, but they received permission to stay one more day because of bad weather “if they behave themselves properly.” They did not.
Andre M. Fleche: Why an International Perspective is Important in Understanding the Civil War
For too long, popular interpretations of the Civil War have portrayed foreign-born soldiers as hirelings and mercenaries, similar to the hated “Hessians” who had fought for the British during the American Revolution. It is high time to acknowledge that they had as many ideological reasons for fighting as their native-born counterparts.
Excerpt: The Peninsula Campaign & the Necessity of Emancipation, by Glenn David Brasher
Turning to the war, Davis confirmed reports that some slaves were armed and fighting for the South, but he assured his audience that it “was done solely on compulsion.” Having been a slave foreman, he perceptively compared their plight to that of slaves who “were often made to fill the place of whipping-master.” He maintained that the best way to prevent the South from continually taking military advantage of the enslaved community was to free the slaves so they could “go forth conquering.”
Excerpt: The Civil War in the West, by Earl J. Hess
The attack at Fort Donelson proved to be anything but easy. In fact, the Federals tackled a job that was far more difficult than taking Fort Henry.
Interview: Miguel La Serna on research in the aftermath of Peru’s Shining Path insurgency
Any kind of research dealing with living human subjects is sensitive, even more so when it involves recent political violence. One thing I was reminded constantly was that my very presence in the field stirred up a host of issues and anxieties that villagers had either suppressed or were still dealing with.
Interview: Michael H. Hunt and Steven I. Levine on America’s quest for empire
Most Americans have been inoculated against the notion that our country can behave like an empire. Therefore, some readers may well find the focus on empire unsettling. After all, we are regularly reminded by our politicians, clergy, teachers, and the media that the U.S. is an exceptional country. We don’t do empire. That’s for the bad guys. We like to believe that whatever America does internationally is for the common good of humanity. As authors, all we ask is that readers consider our general definition of empire on its historical merits and give our treatment of the U.S. case a fair hearing.
Excerpt: Arc of Empire, by Michael H. Hunt and Steven I. Levine
The history of American empire building and warfare in one region speaks to the current imbroglio across the Middle East and Central Asia in a striking variety of ways. U.S. policymakers have ignored or have deliberately forgotten the lessons from the conflicts in eastern Asia.
Excerpt: War! What is it Good For?, by Kimberley L. Phillips
In this excerpt from “War! What is it Good For?” by Kimberly L. Phillips, the author discusses the antiwar activism of Langston Hughes and Nina Simone.
Meredith Lair: What Was in the Other Three Bags?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9DpSBU0gM4″>video
The fourth bag, the one for which O’Hair had to pay, contained weapons, essential implements of warfare that speak to the harsh conditions one would expect to find in a war zone. Yet no one has ever asked what is, in my opinion, the most important question: What was in the other three bags?
Meredith Lair: Life Needs Frosting, Even in a War Zone
Historian Meredith Lair explores the role of consumer goods in boosting troop morale in a war zone.
