Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), March 7-8, 1862

Shea, William L., and Earl J. Hess. Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992.

This superb book describes the intense fighting at the Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), Arkansas, in March 1862, that turned back an attempted Confederate invasion of Missouri from northwestern Arkansas. It was, until recently, the only comprehensive, scholarly modern history of the battle. Well-researched, competent, and complemented by 18 attractive, useful maps, it remains a classic of the genre.

Additional information on the Battle of Pea Ridge may be found in a tour guide to three major western battles located on the old Wire [Telegraph] Road that traversed the Ozark Plateau between Springfield, Missouri, and Fort Smith, Arkansas.

 

Hess, Earl J., and Christopher Lawrence Brest. Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove: A Battlefield Guide, with a Section on Wire Road. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006.

The Table of Contents of this book is listed below:

 

Part One - Wilson's Creek Introduction; One. Lyon's Attack and the Southern Response; Two. Sigel's Attack and the Southern Response; Three. Bloody Hill Part Two - Pea Ridge Introduction; Four. Leetown, March 7, 1862; Five. Elkhorn Tavern, March 7, 1862; Six. Victory and Defeat, March 8, 1862; Seven. Pea Ridge Campaign Driving Tour Part Three - Prairie Grove Introduction; Eight. The Battle for the Wooded Ridge; Nine. Prairie Grove Campaign Driving Tour Part Four - The Wire Road Introduction; Ten. Driving Tour from Springfield to Fort Smith Orders of Battle.

Gettysburg Sources: The First Day (2)

In this post I want to briefly mention a couple older sources that must be considered worthy ancestors of the works of Pfanz and Martin cited in my earlier post on this subject. First, is the following, with a rather prodigious, full-on Victorian title.

 

Vanderslice, John Mitchell. Gettysburg, Then and Now, the Field of American Valor: Where and How the Regiments Fought, and the Troops They Encountered ; an Account of the Battle, Giving Movements, Positions, and Losses of the Commands Engaged. New York: G.W. Dillingham Co, 1899.

 

Now, this is not a work on the first day, but it belongs here because Vanderslice, a Civil War veteran, Medal of Honor winner, and director of the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, made one of the first (if not the first) attempts to delineate the various engagements that made up the battle, and lay out the statistics related to each, particularly with respect to the casualties. This pioneering effort is not without its problems, but it was a beginning. For more on this fascinating, sometimes puzzling and difficult to digest work, I recommend reading Dr. David G. Martin’s Introduction to the work in the Morningside reprint edition of 1983.

Vanderslice’s work has continued to influence the historians of the first day and of course the battle as a whole.

This is apparent in the fine work of Dr. Warren W. Hassler, which is very much a product of the centennial era, that is to say before the grand narrative of American history fell prey to the revisionist narrative of the Civil Rights/Vietnam War era.

 

Hassler, Warren W. Crisis at the Crossroads: The First Day at Gettysburg. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1970.

Hassler’s work is of interest here chiefly because it is the first of the first day works, and it continued the development of the delineation begun by Vanderslice and the refinement of Vanderslice’s work on strengths and casualties. To one used to working with the numbers, the result is somewhat disappointing. Hassler was more interested in telling the story of the epic battle of the first day, and his attention to the numbers was primarily to reinforce the picture of the high intensity of the fighting with its attendant large casualties on both sides. Nonetheless, the work is worthwhile, despite its being superseded by subsequent works that in some instances focused on the first day’s experience of individual brigades.

Gettysburg Sources: The First Day

Above: Monument to the 7^th Wisconsin Infantry of the Union Iron Brigade on the northeast edge of Herbst Woods (Reynolds’ Grove) on the battlefield of the first day at Gettysburg (July 1, 1863).

Like all great battles, Gettysburg was an ensemble of battles, some large, some small, and many somewhere in between. It is impossible to understand, much less analyze, the battle without breaking it down into its constituent parts. Even to attempt that requires an analytical framework and, in addition, a body of knowledge that in itself requires years of study to acquire. Fortunately, many others have trod those paths and plowed those furrows and offered up the goodies for your edification.

One analytical construct is to examine each of the battle’s three days in book length. This poses certain very real problems with the second day, but seems to work quite well for the first day. Here are two readily available book-length treatments of the battle’s first day:

Martin, David G. Gettysburg July 1. Conshohocken, Pa.: Combined Books, 1995, 1996 (revised edition).

Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg--the First Day. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001.

Both of these are fine books, though in the case of Martin’s, I would suggest the “Completely Revised Edition,” since the first edition suffered from editorial defects.

Worst Confederate General?

Above: Gen. Roswell Sabine Ripley, C.S.A.

The website of Gatehouse Press (publishers of, inter alia, The Gettysburg Magazine and Morningside Books) provides an online newsletter that is well worth visiting on a frequent basis. I’m a big fan of historian Robert K. (“Bob”) Krick, not only for his unique take on the Civil War but also for his entertaining writing style. His two-part profile here http://www.gatehouse-press.com/ of General Ripley may provide a ready answer to the question posed in the header.

Chancellorsville

Sears, Stephen W. Chancellorsville. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co., 1996.

I had occasion recently to turn to Sears’ fine treatment of General Lee’s greatest victory to check some facts. Not having read the book, nor having the time to do so, a few things struck me about it nonetheless. First, Sears took the time to evaluate the various reports of casualties and produce I think the best statement and analysis of the casualties available. Second, his Appx. III, “Romances of Chancellorsville,” is a thorough examination of several of the fabrications, misrepresentations, and hoary myths that have encumbered the historiography of the battle. Not surprisingly, it begins with an assessment of “systematic” liar Gen. Alfred Pleasonton’s various statements and writings on the battle, the source of so much mischief over the years (and of course not limited to Chancellorsville). And, it continues with several other “romances,” including debunking the myth that Hooker was drunk and an entertaining look at the sources of Stephen Crane’s classic, The Red Badge of Courage.

Alexandria Goes to War

Kundahl, George G. Alexandria Goes to War: Beyond Robert E. Lee. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2004.

Despite the title, this is not a book about the town of Alexandria, Va., “going to war.” Rather, it is a collection of biographical sketches of Alexandrians, great and small, and their experience of the Civil War and its aftermath -- if they survived the war. A diversity of types and experiences is represented, as indicated by the table of contents (below). This is a well-researched and capably-written collection that will not fail to engage the reader.

Contents:

Key Events in the Formative Years of Alexandria --
General in Chief: Robert E. Lee --
Senior General: Samuel Cooper --
Field Commander: Montgomery Corse --
Presidential Aide: G.W. Custis Lee --
General Staff Officer: George Brent --
Politician: David Funsten --
Naval Officers: French and Douglas Forrest --
Spy: Orton Williams --
Scout: Frank Stringfellow --
Engineer: Wilson Presstman --
Flower of the South: Randolph Fairfax --
Immigrant: Patrick O'Gorman --
Southern Sympathizer: Anne Frobel --
Chronicler: Alexander Hunter --
Veteran: Edgar Warfield --
Other Notable Characters.

Contents of Turenne et l'Art Militaire

Among the contributions, I most appreciated Humbert's on Turenne in Italy and Foerster's on Turenne and Montecuccoli. There is quite a lot here, though, and if you're interested in the military epoch and comfortable with the language, you may wish to make the effort to obtain the book.

Turenne

Colloque international sur Turenne et l'art militaire, and Fernand Louis Gambiez. Actes du Colloque international sur Turenne et l'art militaire: tenu à Paris, École militaire, Amphithéâtre des Vallières, les 2 et 3 octobre 1975. [Paris]: Les Belles lettres, 1978.

Napoleon famously said: “The principles of warfare are those which guided the great captains whose high deeds history has transmitted to us—Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne, Eugene of Savoy, Frederick the Great….The history of their eighty-three campaigns would constitute a complete treatise on the art of war; the principles that must be followed in defensive and offensive warfare would flow from it as from a common source.”

My current reading includes this scarce volume, which is a collection of essays delivered in Paris by eminent military scholars to mark the 300th anniversary of the death in battle at Sasbach, Germany, of the great marshal-general. Although like all such collective works the quality of the many contributions vary, there is much here that I've found useful, new (to me), even provocative. And, I am not unfamiliar with the literature on Turenne, which is rather extensive. But, this is the first opportunity that I've had to read this volume, and I'll share my observations in coming posts.

Blue & Gray's Port Republic Issue

The latest issue of Blue & Gray magazine arrived recently. The focus of this issue is apparent from a glance at the cover (above). The principal author and guide to the sites covered is Gary L. Ecelbarger, who (to my mind at least) is the reigning expert on "Stonewall" Jackson's Shenandoah Valley campaign of spring 1862.

The Florida Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia

This excellent book details the service of the Florida Brigade in Lee's army. Very little has been written on this formation, and the records are scant. Robert K. Krick's Foreword states that the authors "have resurrected the Florida brigade...from oblivion. Nearly a century and a half after their campaigns, the Florida men who fought under Perry, Lang, and Finegan on the battlefields of Virginia and Maryland and Pennsylvania emerge from the shadows in the pages of this book."

Modern Guerrilla Warfare

Having spent the better part of the last five years or so studying and analyzing the subject, it's a pleasure to catch up with some of the earlier literature which, while appealing, hadn't seemed directly (too) useful to the work at hand. In fact, Osanka's volume is useful as representative of the thinking in the West on guerrilla warfare as it confronted the Communist threat worldwide at the time. It consists of 37 essays and case studies by scholars, experts, and military men with practical experience in all aspects of guerrilla and counterguerrilla warfare, not only in World War II and the postwar world but also in previous history. Of course, as the title indicates, the emphasis is on tactics, techniques, procedures, and policies in Soviet Russia, Communist China, the Philippines, Indochina, Laos, Vietnam, Malaya, and Cuba. The work is supported by an extensive research bibliography.

Sumner's Corps at Antietam

This is a copiously-researched study of Maj. Gen. Edwin V. ("Bull") Sumner's Federal Second Corps in the Antietam (Sharpsburg) campaign of September 1862. In the climactic Battle of Antietam (Sept. 17), the corps' three divisions played a key role in the attack on the Confederate left (West Woods) and left-center (Bloody Lane). Besides the usual chronological narrative, the author has done a very commendable job explaining the organizational structure of the corps and its component units, plus its armament and other war materiel. In addition, the commanders are sketched. The many maps and diagrams complement the text.

Winter at Morristown, 1779-1780

This book provides a detailed description of the Morristown, N.J., encampment of the Continental Army during the winter of 1779-80, and the various operations and combats in northeastern New Jersey between the Americans and the British, Hessian, and Loyalist forces quartered chiefly on Staten Island. I have to say that I am a big fan of the publications of this small press, which set a standard for high scholarship and outstanding graphical representation of the locales and events described. The author theorizes that Arnold's treachery actually saved the Revolution.

Le colonel Armand

Armand-Charles Tuffin, marquis de La Rouerie (1750-1793)

I haven't posted much recently, since I've been busy with my book, but I thought I'd mention this book, which I picked-up yesterday as a kind of divertissement (or busman's holiday) from my daily research. Armand has always interested me, although confessedly I knew little about him (by contrast to Lafayette, his comrade-in-arms, or even Lauzun). And, what I did know of him seems unfortunately to have been colored by some of the calumnies heaped on him by, among others, his rival Harry Lee in the wake of the American disaster at the Battle of Camden, S.C. (1780). What I've found after a brief scan of the book is the portrait of a gifted partisan leader who had the entire confidence of Washington and the respect of his enemies, including Tarleton. In the painting by Charles Willson Peale that graces the cover of the book, Armand is shown in the uniform of his famous unit, Armand's Legion: blue coat with buff facings, blue waiscoat, and "Tarleton" helmet.

 

The Renaissance and the Crisis of the Italian Military

Pieri, Piero. Il Rinascimento e la crisi militare italiana. Biblioteca di cultura storica, 45. Torino: G. Einaudi, 1952.

This was, and I expect remains, the principal general source for the military history of the Italian states during the transition from medieval to modern warfare that took place (rather rudely for Italy) during 1494-1530. It is a truly magisterial work, encompassing 661 pages. While it is military history primarily, the author is careful to examine the economy, industrialization, agriculture, finance, and social classes in Part 1. Part 2 is given over entirely to military history. This is a superb source for the battles of the Italian Wars in the period.

From Pavia to Rocroi

Albi de la Cuesta, Julio. De Pavía a Rocroi: los tercios de infantería española en los siglos XVI y XVII. [Madrid]: Balkan Ediciones, 1999.

A very interesting examination of the Spanish tercio from many different standpoints. I haven't had a chance to do more than skim it, but I've already found it quite useful in some respects. The table of contents is posted, so that you can get an idea of the author's coverage of the subject. The glossary particularly, though spare, is useful. There are no footnotes, and the bibliography is keyed to the chapters (not necessarily helpful, but it does at least give an idea of the foundation of the author's thoughts).

Current Reading: Italy and the European Powers

Shaw, Christine (ed.). Italy and the European Powers: The Impact of War, 1500-1530. History of Warfare, v. 38. Leiden: Brill, 2006.

"Most of the essays in this volume were among those given at a conference sponsored by the AHRB Centre for the Study of Renaissance Elites and Court Cultures in the Centre for the Study of Renaissance in the University of Warwick."

Nothing to report as yet, since I've just picked it up.

The Road to Rocroi

González de León, Fernando. The Road to Rocroi: Class, Culture, and Command in the Spanish Army of Flanders, 1567-1659. Leiden: Brill, 2009.

This is a remarkable book which may be said to have advanced the several analyses of the myriad problems of the Spanish Army of Flanders that have marked the works of Parker and others.

Personally, I used the work to provide many biographical details on the officers associated with the army, as a primer on the professional military literature of the late 16th-early 17th centuries, and as yet another – in this case very full – narrative and analysis of the decisive Battle of Rocroi (1643), which of course is seen as marking the end of Spanish military ascendancy in Europe.

Roanoke

Above: The English settlement at "Roanoac" (present-day Roanoke Island)

The brief existence and mysterious disappearance of Sir Walter Raleigh's colony continue to vex scholars. Roanoke was close to the northern margin of La Florida. A possible solution to the mystery of the "Lost Colony" is set forth in:

Horn, James. “Roanoke’s Lost Colony Found?” American Heritage, 60:1 (Spring 2010), 60-65.

Worth a read.

Weekend Reading

Verhoef, C. E. H. J. The Battle for Ginkel Heath near Ede: 17 & 18 September 1944. Soesterberg: Aspekt, 2003.




Table of Contents:

1. Allied Strategy after the Normandy Landings 9

Broad front - small front 9

Operation Market Garden 13

2. Sunday, 17 September 1944: D-Day 17

Preliminary bombardments 17

The take-off of the biggest air armada in history 19

The landings near Arnhem 24

The airlift of the 7th Battalion The King's Own Scottish

Borderers 27

The German defence 28

The positions of 7 KOSB at Ginkel Heath 38

Initial engagements at Ginkel Heath 44

3. Monday, 18 September 1944: D +1 52

The push towards Arnhem road bridge 52

The actions of the Westgruppe 52

The situation at Ginkel Heath prior to the arrival of 4th

Parachute Brigade 53

The second lift 65

The landing on Ginkel Heath 68

Marching off 87

4. Ginkel Heath, Tuesday, 19 September - Friday, 22 September

1944 91

5. The Significance of the Battle for Ginkel Heath 96