"America's bloodiest day"--the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862--left more dead American soldiers in its wake than any other 24-hour period in history. Antietam and the related battles of the Maryland Campaign that led up to the lethal confrontation did not result in decisive defeats for either side. But they did serve as a brutal warning to an out-gunned, out-commanded, and out-organized Union army.

Eyewitness accounts by battle participants make these guides an invaluable resource for travelers and nontravelers who want a greater understanding of five of the most devastating yet influential years in our nation's history. Explicit directions to points of interest and maps--illustrating the action and showing the detail of troop position, roads, rivers, elevations, and tree lines as they were 130 years ago--help bring the battles to life. In the field, these guides can be used to recreate each battle's setting and proportions, giving the reader a sense of the tension and fear each soldier must have felt as he faced his enemy.

This a reprint of 1991 study published by the United States Army Center of Military History. "A Soldier Supporting Soldiers" represents the collective insights of distinguished U.S. Army logistician Joseph M. Heiser Jr. He infuses his narrative with specific firsthand experiences in the organization of combat service support, thus illuminating larger principles of not only logistics but also military leadership and ethics. Heiser describes and analyzes problems still familiar to those who provide the materials and other support required by today's Army, especially in an environment of limited resources and challenging contingency operations. Military logisticians and military policymakers will benefit greatly from the logistics lessons.

The battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, 1862-63, were remarkable in several respects. Both revealed the problems of mounting a serious attack at night and provided the first examples of the now-familiar trench warfare. Fredericksburg featured street fighting and river crossings under fire. Chancellorsville was marked by Stonewall Jackson's death and the rare instance of mounted cavalry attacking infantry. In addition, the latter battle also demonstrated in striking fashion the profound influence of the commander on the battle. The Union committed more soldiers, supplies, money, and better equipment than did the Confederacy, and yet Lee won.

Eyewitness accounts by battle participants make these guides an invaluable resource for travelers and nontravelers who want a greater understanding of five of the most devastating yet influential years in our nation's history. Explicit directions to points of interest and maps--illustrating the action and showing the detail of troop position, roads, rivers, elevations, and tree lines as they were 130 years ago--help bring the battles to life. In the field, these guides can be used to recreate each battle's setting and proportions, giving the reader a sense of the tension and fear each soldier must have felt as he faced his enemy.

Following William T. Sherman's capture of Chattanooga, the Union Army initiated a series of battles and operations that took it from the Tennessee border to the outskirts of Atlanta--with bloody confrontations at places such as Resaca and New Hope Church. Grant had ordered Sherman to penetrate the enemy's interior and inflict "all the damage you can against their War resources," and from the first major engagement at Rocky Face Ridge to the bitter standoff at Kennesaw Mountain, Sherman proceeded to do just that.

This latest in the Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles offers a concise and easy-to-use introduction to Sherman's route, focusing on this first and most critical phase of the Atlanta campaign. The Guide to the Atlanta Campaign leads visitors to all of the pertinent sites--Dug Gap, Adairsville, Pickett's Mill, and more--to help them relive the experiences of battle-hardened troops on the ground. Authors Luvaas and Nelson show respect for both sides of the fighting, but especially convey Sherman's special genius in mastering the logistical challenges that confronted him, moving reinforcements and supplies, and directing diverse offensive actions over immense--and immensely hostile--territory.

Like previous guides in the series, this volume helps Civil War enthusiasts vividly envision the actual historical setting. It combines official histories and on-the-scene reports, orders, and letters from commanding officers, and it features specially drawn maps that depict the opposing armies and the terrain in which they fought. It also includes easy-to-follow drive-and-stop maps that guide visitors along and just off Interstate 75, with the stops arranged to present the most important phases of the campaign as it developed. And this book supersedes most previous guides by moving beyond battles to more broadly consider the overall campaign.

The guide culminates with the battle of Kennesaw Mountain (urban growth beyond that battlefield precludes a tour), and also provides full coverage of the operational and strategic decisions that led to Sherman's ultimate victory at Atlanta. It will become an essential traveling companion for visitors to these Civil War sites--and an insightful guide for armchair travelers.

Here at last is the long-anticipated revised edition of one of the most respected and popular guides to the Gettysburg National Military Park. The authors have made significant changes to the guide, addressing alterations to the park during the past fifteen years and adding new information and improved maps that enrich park visitors' understanding of one of the bloodiest and most momentous battles in American history.
A compact but richly detailed volume depicting the events of the Battle of Gettysburg day-by-day and hour-by-hour, the guide retains its signature blend of official reports, commanding officers' observations, and terrain descriptions, as well as easy-to-use maps that allow park visitors to follow the battle as it actually unfolded. For the new edition, the authors provide double the number of maps-this time by master cartographer Steven Stanley-to effectively track directional changes for visitors driving through the park. They include new sections highlighting the strategic and operational context for the Gettysburg campaign and providing background about Lee's decision to invade Pennsylvania. They have also added new information about the cavalry battle on Day 3 and the decisions and actions of General Meade, and the "Capabilities and Doctrine" appendix now addresses more fully the evolution of cavalry tactics in the battle's aftermath. The new volume also features for the first time a useful appendix on logistics, which illuminates one of the army commander's most challenging tasks, sustaining the force during the campaign.