This publication offers a lucid and well-researched analysis of
irregular warfare during the American Civil War. Dr. Martin's focus
on insurgent operations in the western border region brings fresh
insights to this area of study. Moreover, the history of insurgency
in these western states offers a greater understanding of irregular
warfare to those who may be tasked with mounting counterinsurgency
operations in the not so distant future. This short period in
American History has captured the imagination of Americans and
spurred them to consume the many volumes written about this
brother-against-brother conflict. Most of these volumes have dealt
with the important battles of the war, which pitted massive armies
from the North and South against each other in a struggle to
determine whether the country would separate or stay together.
These battles, highlighted by Gettysburg, Antietam, Vicksburg,
Fredericksburg, and others too numerous to mention, were the
predecessors of similar grand conflicts that would rack Europe and
the world in the decades to follow. For the first time in history,
an entire nation mobilized to conduct a war that would eventually
spill over and affect most of the population. From the gentlemanly
preparation for the First Battle of Bull Run to the consuming power
of Sherman's march to the sea, the American Civil War involved far
more of the American population than war in Europe historically had
involved. Least understood of the effects on this population, and
least studied, is the personal war conducted in the Border States,
where the North met the South. This violence was not the type found
on the battlefield at Gettysburg, where hoards of men in blue or
gray shot at each other from considerable distance, finally moving
to close quarters combat. This was a war pitted men with strong
beliefs supporting one side against individuals they believed to be
their enemy. The hatreds and feuds that stayed below the surface in
a civilized society were freed by the all-consuming violence of
this war, allowing men to act in ways that would have been
unacceptable at any other time. While the Union officials tried to
establish rules of war to control this personal violence, they were
markedly unsuccessful. The border war would eventually degrade to
such a level that death was not enough punishment for supporting
the wrong side. Actions previously reserved to savages and
uncivilized people would now become common as a part of the border
violence. This breakdown in society may be a major reason this part
of the war has been given inadequate attention over the years.
Through the Second World War, combat was for the most part still a
relatively conventional event, with the rules being followed by the
belligerents under a common agreement. Since then, more and more
conflicts throughout the world have been fought unconventionally.
The more common occurrence of this type of conflict has given it
more credibility as a viable form of warfare and has sparked a
growth in the study of irregular warfare through history. While the
reality is that larger military nations continue to question the
validity of this type of warfare, it has become commonplace in the
modern world and has to be understood. This study is a product of
that movement to further understand irregular warfare and examine
its importance in history. The author hopes to clarify this portion
of the greater conflict, portraying the social and psychological
impacts on the population of the border, as well as the military
effects generated by the irregular war and attempts to show the
parallels that exist between actions and reactions during this
conflict and similar instances in the more modern irregular war
fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is not meant to be a history
of these more modern conflicts, but to point out the similarities
that exist in the actions of regular and irregular warriors in
these two periods.
General
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