Of Duty Well and Faithfully Done

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Of Duty Well and Faithfully Done

A History of the Regular Army in the Civil War

Clayton R. Newell and Charles R. Shrader
With a foreword by Edward M. Coffman

Studies in War, Society, and the Military Series

424 pages
30 illustrations, 1 map, 44 tables, 3 charts, 1 appendix

Hardcover

July 2011

978-0-8032-1910-6

$75.00 Add to Cart
eBook (PDF)
Ebook purchases delivered via Leaf e-Reader

July 2011

978-0-8032-3500-7

$75.00 Add to Cart

About the Book

On the eve of the Civil War, the Regular Army of the United States was small, dispersed, untrained for large-scale operations, and woefully unprepared to suppress the rebellion of the secessionist states. Although the Regular Army expanded significantly during the war, reaching nearly sixty-seven thousand men, it was necessary to form an enormous army of state volunteers that overshadowed the Regulars and bore most of the combat burden. Nevertheless, the Regular Army played several critically important roles, notably providing leaders and exemplars for the Volunteers and managing the administration and logistics of the entire Union Army. In this first comprehensive study of the Regular Army in the Civil War, Clayton R. Newell and Charles R. Shrader focus primarily on the organizational history of the Regular Army and how it changed as an institution during the war, to emerge afterward as a reorganized and permanently expanded force. The eminent, award-winning military historian Edward M. Coffman provides a foreword.

Author Bio

Both Clayton R. Newell and Charles R. Shrader finished their military careers as the chief of the historical services division at the U.S. Army Center of Military History and are now independent scholars and historical consultants. Newell is the author or editor of several books, including Lee vs. McClellan: The First Campaign; Shrader has also written or edited a number of books, including The Muslim-Croat Civil War in Central Bosnia: A Military History, 1991–1994. Edward M. Coffman, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is the author of many works, including The Hilt of the Sword: The Career of Peyton C. March and The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I.

Praise

"Clayton Newell and Charles Shrader have created the literature's best one stop resource for the Regular Army in the Civil War."—Andrew Waggenhoffer, Civil War Books and Authors

"This is a careful examination and explanation of the army's departments, their functions, success and failures during the war. . . . The authors have a very sure hand, presenting information in a combination of text and tables each complementing the other. The book is full of nuggets of information that are both fun and informative. . . . If you wish to understand how the army worked, this is the book for you."—Brett Schulte, TOCWOC

"If numbers, organization charts and statistical tables get your pulse racing, this history of the growth and development of the Regular Army during the war is for you. It will become the definitive study of an important, but too often overlooked, subject."—Gordon Berg, Civil War Times

'This is an absolutely essential work for any serious student of the military aspects of the Civil war or the history of the U.S. Army and of American warmaking."—A. A. Nofi, Strategy Page

"Authors Newell and Shrader, both retired from the Army Center of Military History, have produced an important and useful work. The research is extensive, and their interpretations are well supported by relevant facts."—Roger D. Cunningham, Journal of America's Military Past

[Of Duty Well and Faithfully Done] is a significant and useful work that should have a place in the library of every Civil war researcher."—Steven C Haack, Army History

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations   000

Foreword    000

Preface     000

Acknowledgments   000

 

[introduction] The Regular Army on the Eve of the Civil War

The Role of the Regular Army in American Society      000

The U.S. Army before April 12, 1861 000

The Staff Departments, April 1861   000

The Line of the Army, April 1861    000

Stationing of the Army, January 1861      0000

Conclusion  000

[part 1] <A>Regular Army Leaders and Personnel</A>

1. Headquarters of the Army   000

Commander in Chief      000

Secretary of War  000

General in Chief  000

Formulation of Strategy 000

Direction of Operations 000

Civilian Personnel of the War Department  000

The Army Budget, 1861<EN>1865 000

Conclusion  000

2. Regular Army Personnel, 1861<EN>1865   000

Decision to Keep the Regular Army Intact  000

Expansion of the Regular Army, 1861<EN>1865     000

Temporary Regulars      000

Enlisted Personnel      000

Officers    000

Losses of Personnel     000

Conclusion  000

[part 2] <A>The Staff Departments</A>

3. Overview 000

Evolution of the Staff Departments to 1861      000

Expansion of the Staff Departments  000

Staff Officers in the Field   000

Staff Enlisted Personnel in the Field     000

Common Challenges and Common Solutions    000

Conclusion  000

4. The Administrative Departments   000

Adjutant General's Department 000

Inspector General's Department      000

Judge Advocate General's Department 000

Pay Department    000

Temporary Bureaus 000

Conclusion  000

5. Subsistence Department     000

Mission and Functions   000

Leadership  000

Personnel   000

Organization      000

Operations and Issues   000

Challenges and Achievements   000

6. Ordnance Department  000

Mission and Functions   000

Leadership  000

Personnel   000

Organization      000

Operations and Issues   000

Challenges and Achievements   000

7. Quartermaster's Department 000

Mission and Functions   000

Leadership  000

Personnel   000

Organization      000

Operations and Issues   000

Challenges and Achievements   000

8. Medical Department   000

Mission and Functions   000

Leadership  000

Personnel   000

Organization      000

Operations and Issues   000

Challenges and Achievements   000

[part 3] <A>The Army in the Field</A>

9. Transition to War    000

Army Life on the Eve of the War     000

Confrontation in the East     000

Surrender in Texas      000

Events in the West      000

Adding More Regulars    000

The First Big Battle    000

War Begins in the West  000

A Year of Transition    000

10. The Infantry  000

Regimental Colonels     000

The Old Regiments 000

The New Regiments 000

Casualties  000

Valverde, February 1862 000

The Regular Infantry Division in the East 000

The Regular Infantry Brigade in the West  000

Regular Infantry in the War   000

11. The Cavalry   000

Regimental Colonels     000

Regiments   000

Casualties  000

Cavalry Horses    000

Cavalry with the Army of the Potomac      000

The Army of the Shenandoah    000

The Last Campaign, 1865 000

Regular Cavalry in the War    000

12. The Artillery 000

Artillery in the Mexican War  000

Regimental Colonels     000

Regiments   000

Casualties  000

Guns  000

Artillery Horses  000

Horse Artillery   000

Artillery in the Army of the Potomac      000

Gettysburg, July 1863   000

Other Union Army Artillery    000

Shiloh, April 1862      000

Regular Artillery in the War  000

13. The Fighting Bureaus      000

Corps of Engineers      000

Signal Corps      000

[conclusion] Reflections on the Regular Army in the Civil War     000

Transition to Peace     000

"The Efficient Discharge of Duty"   000

"The Performance of Gallant Deeds"  000

An Epitaph for the Regular Army     000

 

Appendix: Selected Acts of Congress Pertaining to the Regular Army      000

Notes 000

Glossary of Acronyms Used in the Text     000

Selected Bibliography   000

Index 000

 

Awards

2013 Distinguished Book Award for Reference from the Society for Military History 
2011 AHF Distinguished Writing Award for Reference 

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