1863 US Infantry Tactics, The: Infantry of the Line, Light Infantry, and Riflemen [Hardcover]

U.S. War Department (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0811700216 | ISBN-13: 978-0811700214 | Publication Date: September 10, 2002 | Edition: 2nd

The authorized book for the instruction, exercise, and maneuver of U.S. Infantry during the Civil War

Includes articles of war, an extensive dictionary of Civil War military terms, and sheet music for military bugle calls

A must-have book for historians, researchers, reenactors, and writers

Written in 1861 at the direction of the War Department and copiously illustrated, this was the book used to train, lead, and maneuver U.S. Infantry units on Civil War battlefields. It contains the school of the soldier, the company, and battalion or fielded regiment, along with all-important instructions for skirmishers. Over 15 pages of field music, the articles of war in use at the time, and a dictionary of Civil War military terminology completes this extensive work.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 608 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; 2nd edition (September 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811700216
• ISBN-13: 978-0811700214
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 3.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,346,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent CW information, Excellent writing., January 12, 2007

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Robert Schlenker - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 1863 US Infantry Tactics, The: Infantry of the Line, Light Infantry, and Riflemen (Hardcover)

This book defines the ideal training and practice for Civil War infantry. Read carefully and you can almost see the instuctors and the recruits on the training field. Those regiments that were rushed into battle with only a few weeks between formation and combat obviously did not receive the benefit of all that is in this book. Those soldiers that did have the full benefit probably lived much longer and received fewer wounds than those who didn't. The demands on instructors and trainees placed by this book and the excellent results that were surely achieved probably explain why many in the 20th Maine hated Adelbert Ames, their original regimental commander and then revered and praised him for the rest of their lives. The catharsis came at Gettysburg on Little Roundtop. Anyone who reads the fine descriptions of that battle can understand the benefits that must have been brought by Ames insistence on rigid and complete training.

I've seen 19th century writing sytle described as difficult for the modern reader of period memoirs. I have not found it to be so difficult. And this book provides an example of what must be the epitome of mid-century instructional style. A picture might be worth a thousand words but the writer(s) of this book were able to describe complex actions in many fewer than a thousand words. The descriptions are so clear and unburdened that pictures just jump into the mind. No, you can't speed read this book and fully appreciate it, but a careful reading brings many rewards to the Civil War buff.