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The Young Lions: Confederate Cadets at War
written by James Lee Conrad
Studio : Stackpole Books
by Stackpole Books
Publisher : Stackpole Books
Released : 1997-07
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780811719759
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 6 reviews)
List Price : $24.95
Our Price : $4.00
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Book Description |
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"In making soldiers of them, " said Confederate president Jefferson Davis regarding the mobilization of his nation's youths, "we are grinding the seed corn." Yet the bloody millstones of war ground them nevertheless, and nowhere more noticeably than at the Confederacy's de facto "West Points." The legend of the Southern cadets is one of untrained boys wastefully flung in the path of Yankee armies as the Confederacy came to a turbulent end. The reality is one of highly trained young men who rendered valuable service from the earliest days of the war and, when confronting the enemy on the battlefield, acquitted themselves as well as veteran troops did. The Young Lions: Confederate Cadets at War is the story of the Southern cadets at four major military colleges during the Civil War—the Georgia Military Institute, the South Carolina Military Academy (Columbia's Arsenal campus and the Citadel in Charleston), the University of Alabama, and the Virginia Military Institute. It is also the story of the Confederate government's lack of a cohesive policy toward military colleges and its failure to adequately support the institutions that fostered its officer corps. This study is the first thorough examination of the interrelationships and common challenges of the South's major military colleges, giving a detailed history of these Southern institutions. James Lee Conrad discusses the cadets' day-to-day lives as well as the academic and military systems of the schools. From the opening of the Virginia Military Institute in 1839 through the struggles of all the schools to remain open during the war, the death of Stonewall Jackson, and the Pyrrhic victory of the Battle of New Market to the burning of the University of Alabama, Conrad reveals the everyday heroism of cadets both on and off the battlefield. |
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The grinding of the seed corn |
For readers in search of tales of combat and action, James Lee Conrad's "The Young Lions" gets off to a slow start. But for readers interested in the South's military colleges and the special challenges they faced during the War Between the States, there's more than enough here to meet that need.
Conrad traces the history of four schools: the Virginia Military Institute; the Arsenal and Citadel Schools in Charleston (Conrad covers them as one institution, which they later became); the Georgia Military Institute; and the University of Alabama, which was founded as a civilian institution but adopted a VMI-style military system in 1860. In the early years of the War, as Conrad describes, these schools saw little military action. Their major focus was on survival: many cadets wanted to leave and join the fighting immediately; many military leaders saw the cadets more or less as shirkers, going to school instead of going to the front; and food, supplies, and academic materials were hard to come by. Although the schools were much reduced in size, all retained at least some cadets and were able to maintain at least some level of academic integrity.
It's during this period that the cadets at all four schools rendered what Conrad sees as their most important -- if not their most glamorous -- service to the Confederacy. As well-drilled military students themselves, cadets were excellently equipped to instruct new recruits in the manual of arms and other basics of military service. Conrad estimates thousands upon thousands of Confederate fighting men had their transition from civilian to military life directed by "young lions" from the South's military academies.
As the war progressed, however, and Federal armies moved farther south, the time came for all four schools to take to the field. VMI's participation in the battle of New Market is the most significant example of this, of course, and Conrad does this battle justice. But cadets at all the schools saw combat to some degree. As the author summarizes, "Cadets fired the first shots of the war at the 'Star of the West' and some of the last at a band of Federal raiders in South Carolina. In between, their service indicated that they were among the best state troops fielded during the conflict" (p. 158).
Readers interested in military education, the history of these particular schools, or an interesting corner of Civil War history should all find James Lee Conrad's interesting book a worthwhile addition to your shelves. |
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The Bloody Millstone of War |
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Excellent book. Conrad did his homework before putting pen to paper in writing this book. His knowledge of the subject, and his passion for telling the story of the confederate cadets at war, comes through loud and clear. |
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A look at the courage, innocence of youth... |
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A marvelous, if brief look at four military institutions in the South before and during the War for Southern Independence. At times bittersweet, Conrad does an excellent job of telling this tale. A nice side-bar addition to anyone's Civil War library, particularly those of interest in the Confederacy. |
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Very insightful....and entertaining |
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excellent book! I would have liked to have seen the author delve into several more of the cadets' lives, but what's there is great. |
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Great insight on the significance of the southern cadets. |
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This is new material, not a re-hash of a previous work. This story needed to be told. |
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