The American Civil War (2): The war in the West 1861–July 1863

Osprey Essential Histories #10

by Stephen D. Engle

The American Civil War's vast Western Theater witnessed enormously important military campaigning during the period 1861 - 1863. This book, the third in a four-volume series, examines the geographical, logistical and strategic factors that shaped fighting in this theater, as well as assessing officers who played key roles . It covers the story of Ulysses S Grant's important capture of rebel positions before marching south to win the battle of Shiloh, as well as that of Albert Sidney Johnston, the pride of the Confederacy. Finally, it details the dramatic events of the siege of Vicksburg, the Confederates final fortress.

Genres: American Civil War, Military History, History, Civil War, Civil War Western Theater, War

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2001

Reviews

[Yoda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Good Introduction to the War but Narrow In Scope

Any review of this book would have to start out that this book it is part of Osprey Publishing’s
“Essential Histories” series, hence it is relatively short at only 96 pages. Plus a large portion of these 96 pages are dedicated to illustrations of one type or another (i.e.. maps, photographs of battle sites and leading characters, etc.) thus the book itself, in terms of text, is relatively short.
Therefore anyone looking for an academic tome would be disappointed. It is more geared to those
looking for a cliff notes style introduction to the topic as opposed to the specialist or with
intermediate knowledge on the subject.

Thus the question to ask is how does it perform as such? The answer is fairly well. Reading this
one book in the series, in and by itself, gives the reader a not bad introduction to the narrative of what happened militarily during the in-scope period and geographic region covered. Four stars with respect to this.

It should be emphasized, however, that the coverage is very narrow. It covers almost exclusively
the military history of what happened in this period and geographic area but excludes discussion of
ancillary important questions. Most of these involve how this particular subsection of the war fit
into the wider perspective. For example, how important was what was happening here relative to the same period in the East? What percentage of total military forces of North and South were involved in this front during this period? How important was what was happening in the West relative to the East in terms of the overall picture of the war? What was the picture in terms of demographics and industrial strength of the North vis-à-vis the South? What were the international diplomatic implications of what was happening in the West relative to the East (after all, a foreign power recognizing the South could have serious impact on the North)? None of these all-too-important questions are addressed.

However, they are addressed, somewhat, in other volumes of the (particularly the first) in this
Osprey Series on the Civil War. Hence this reason this reviewer highly recommends reading, in
aggregate, all the four books in this series (or alternatively purchasing the compendium that
aggregates all four, ““The American Civil War: This Mighty Scourge of War”. Reading most of the
books in this series, on a stand-alone basis, just does not work very well, even with respect to just the specific time and geographic period covered.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little history of the Western War in the American Civil War. While most people focus on the Eastern war- the constant friction between Washington and Richmond -the War of Robert E Lee- and a succession of non-entities, the early Western war was where Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan cut their teeth in grand tactical and strategic warfare. In this volume, the Union armies venture out from Kentucky and Missouri to attack and then control the Mississippi. Once Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana were cut off from the rest of the Confederacy, defeat was just a matter of time. They were right- but the time line would be a bit longer than anticipated.....

I really enjoyed the 95 page format. A nice over all history -with a lot of origins information - a discussion of both armies- a look at the culture of the era- and then a nice article on the life of a female Confederate Civilian. Lots of good and well built maps and diagrams to help you understand the issues- usually logistical- that dictated strategy. Battles are simply explained- and their context as well.

This seems a good simple history for the Junior reader- with few things explained at too high a level and no gore- so any youngster over about 9 should benefit. For the Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast, this is a good general intro- but they will need more- perhaps by raiding the excellent Bibliography. But if you've got a Warhammer 40K dude who wants to join a ACW campaign- this is a great first book to toss in his direction. A good place to start your relationship with the American Civil War- but you will quickly want more....

[Chip Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume in the 4-part Essential Histories series focusing on the American Civil War chronicles the early war in the American West. That means you get detailed accounts of battles fought between the Union and the Confederacy in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. From the crucial battle of Shiloh to the fall of Vicksburg, this book details the domination of the Confederacy in those states during the early stages of the Civil War. Manpower and money overwhelmingly favored the North in the Western theatre of the Civil War, and while a few key battles could theoretically have turned the tide in favor of the South, the outcome of the war in the West seems inevitable when looking at the situation as described in this book.

Very well-written, this concise and smoothly-worded book makes for an excellent review of the events described. Detailed, but easy to read, this book could serve as a quick reference to individual battles or as a short (but informative) primer to one of the most important and influential conflicts in the history of the world. Highly recommended along with its companion volume (The American Civil War: The War in the East 1861 - 1863) that covers events in the East during the same time frame.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second volume of Essential Histories series dedicated to American Civil War continues on the same track as the first book, this time focusing on events in the Western Theater from the outbreak of the conflict in 1861 to fall of Vicksburg in 1863. Supported by usual superb graphical material in form of maps, photos and artwork, it does surprisingly good job of providing decent picture of military events, although in broad strokes only. If you want detailed information about campaigns, units and battles, you need to dig deeper. Still, as an introductory text (especially when read as part of the four volumes dedicated to American Civil War in Essential Histories series), it is not to be sneezed at - the analysis of events is brief and to the point, but it does give the reader good understandings of 'when', 'how' and to certain degree also of 'who' and 'why'.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good but very brief overview of the western theater during the first half of the war. Only forty pages were used to describe the military operations. The first quarter and last third of the book had general information about the war (the cause and start of the war, the common soldiers, politics, emancipation, etc.); this probably could have been turned into a stand-alone book on these subjects and left more room for the military battles and campaigns.