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Brandy Station, Virginia, June 9, 1863: The Largest Cavalry Battle of the Civil War
written by Joseph W. Mckinney
Studio : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
by McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publisher : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Released : 2006-09-20
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours and eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780786425846
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 1 review)
Our Price : $55.00
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Product Description |
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The winter of 1862-1863 found Robert Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and Ambrose Burnside’s Army of the Potomac at a standoff along the Rappahannock River in Virginia. In December 1862, outnumbered Confederate forces had dealt the Union army a handy defeat in the Battle of Fredericksburg. A demoralized Union army was waiting for spring and revitalization. The latter came in late January 1863 in the form of Major General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker. Relieving the disgraced and outmatched Burnside, Hooker reorganized his troops, establishing regular drills, procuring adequate rations and instituting company colors, thereby giving his soldiers back their fighting spirit. Lee, also with his eye on the spring campaign, concentrated on maintaining his strength and fortifications while struggling with the ever-increasing problem of adequate supplies. As the spring campaign--and Hooker’s new fighting approach--began, cavalry units from both sides took on an increased importance. This culminated in the largest cavalry battle of the war, fought near Brandy Station, Virginia on June 9, 1863. Compiled from various contemporary sources, this volume details the contributions of cavalry units during the spring campaign of 1863. Although the work discusses early encounters such as the Battle of Chancellorsville, the main focus is the Battle of Brandy Station, which marked the opening of the Gettysburg campaign and Lee’s last offensive into the North. Here, forces commanded by J.E.B. Stuart and Alfred Pleasanton fought a battle which ranged over 70 square miles but left no decisive victor. At the end of the day, Confederate troops were still in possession of the territory and counted fewer casualties, yet Union forces had definitely taken the offensive. While historians still debate the significance of the battle, many now view it as a harbinger of change, signifying the beginning of dominance of Union horse soldiers and the corresponding decline of Stuart’s Confederate command. Appendices contain information on individual units with recorded casualties and a list of West Pointers who took part in the battle. Photographs and an index are also included. |
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Better than what's out there at present, but still leaves a lot to be desired.... |
The Battle of Brandy Station was the opening engagement of the Gettysburg Campaign. Fought June 9, 1863 on the fields and hills of Culpeper County, Virginia, Brandy Station was the largest cavalry battle of the American Civil War. It offers a great deal of interest to any student of the Civil War, ranging from tactical lessons to great human interest stories.
Until recently, it has been badly overlooked by historians. Recent efforts have tried to remedy that situation. Historically, the only really work available on Brandy Station was Fairfax Downey's 1959 book Clash of Cavalry: The Battle of Brandy Station. This superficial and poorly researched book was all there was until 2002, when Richard E. Crouch published his Brandy Station: A Battle Like None Other. Crouch's book is awful-poorly researched and poorly written. There was, therefore, a huge and gaping hole in the body of Civil War literature regarding this important battle. In October 2006, McKinney's book was published by McFarland Publishing of Jefferson, North Carolina.
McKinney is a former military officer who lives in the vicinity of the battlefield, which has given him numerous opportunities to visit the ground. To his credit, he has done so at length and clearly has a solid understanding of the terrain. Numerous photographs of pertinent locations taken by him are peppered throughout the book. Likewise, much of his analysis is solid and well grounded. His military background serves him well there.
The rest of the book leaves a great deal to be desired. McKinney depends heavily upon the passive voice-too much so-meaning that the book is very difficult to read. Instead of an engaging and enjoyable narrative, his book is difficult to read and ponderous. It really could have used the services of a good editor. Likewise, the narrative jumps around out of chronological order. Instead, he focuses on covering different aspects of the battle out of sequence, leaving an unfamiliar reader confused about the sequence of events.
The scope of the research also leaves a good bit to be desired. With over 21,000 men involved, there is a wealth of primary source research available. McKinney has covered only a portion of those sources. Notably missing, as one example, is the primary source account of Ulric Dahlgren, one of Joseph Hooker's staff officers, who played an important role in an early phase of the battle. Dahlgren left an excellent and readily available account, but McKinney plain missed it. It's one of many notable examples. As another example, I was unable to find a single citation to a critical primary source, The National Tribune, a veteran's newspaper filled with decades of personal recollections by veterans who fought the Civil War. No modern battle or campaign study can be considered complete without referring to the veritable treasure trove found in the Tribune. In a recent newspaper interview, he indicated that he spent five years researching and writing this book; by contrast, Clark B. "Bud" Hall, the offiical historian of the Brandy Station Foundation, has nearly two decades into researching and writing on this battle. Perhaps McKinney should have invested more time into being more thorough in his research.
The maps are virtually worthless. They contain almost no detail and virtually no terrain features. It is, for instance, impossible to see the many hills and dales that dot the battlefield at Brandy Station, as only Fleetwood Hill and Yew Ridge are depicted. None of the other terrain features are depicted in any fashion. For a large and fluid battle such as Brandy Station, good, detailed maps filled with depictions of terrain features are absolutely essential.
Finally, the price of the book is simply outrageous. At $55 for a book that does not even have a dust jacket, it's extremely difficult to justify the price for this book.
While this book is a significant improvement over the works of Downey and Crouch, it still leaves a great deal to be desired. The door remains wide open for the definitive work on this seminal battle. One can only hope that Bud Hall will soon finish his decades-long project and finally publish that definitive work. |
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