|
Showing 1 - 5 of
5 matches in All Departments
With Union armies poised to launch the final campaigns against the
Confederacy in 1864, three of its five commanders were "political
generals"--appointed officers with little or no military training.
Army chief of staff Henry Halleck thought such generals jeopardized
the lives of men under their command and he and his peers held them
in utter contempt. Historians have largely followed suit. Thomas
Goss, however, offers a new and more positive assessment of the
leadership qualities of these Northern commanders. In the process,
he cuts through the stereotypes of political generals as
superfluous and largely inept tacticians, ambitious schemers, and
military failures. Goss examines the reasons why the selection
process yielded so many generals who lacked military backgrounds an
explores the tense and often bitter relationships among political
and professional officers to illuminate the dynamics of Union
generalship during the war. As this book reveals, professional
generals viewed the war as a military problem requiring
battle-field solutions, while appointees (and President Lincoln)
focused more emphatically on the broader political contours of the
struggle. The resulting friction often eroded Northern morale and
damaged the North's war effort. Goss challenges the traditional
idea that success was measured only on the battle-field by
demonstrating significant links between military success and the
achievement of the Union's political objectives. Examining
commanders like Benjamin Butler, Nathaniel Banks, John McClernand,
John Fremont, and Franz Sigel, Goss shows how many filled vital
functions by raising troops, boosting homefront morale, securing
national support for the war--andsometimes even achieving
significant success on the battlefield. Comparing these generals
with their professional counterparts reveals that all had vital
roles to play in helping Lincoln prosecute the war and that West
Pointers, despite their military training, were not necessarily
better prepared for waging war. Whether professional or appointed,
Goss reminds us, all generals could be considered political
inasmuch as war is a continuation of politics by other means. He
shows us that far more was asked of Union commanders than to simply
win battles and in so doing urges a new appreciation of those
appointed leaders who were thrust into the maelstrom of the Civil
War.
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book
may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages,
poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the
original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We
believe this work is culturally important, and despite the
imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of
our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works
worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in
the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields
in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as
an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification:
++++ Histoire De L'abbaye ... Des Chanoines Reguliers D'Arrouaise
Antoine-Alexandre-Joseph Gosse
Avec Des Notes Critiques, Historiques Et Diplomatiques. This Book
Is In French.
Avec Des Notes Critiques, Historiques Et Diplomatiques. This Book
Is In French.
|
You may like...
Not available
|