Customer Reviews

Buff Facings and Gilt Buttons: Staff and Headquarters Operations in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865

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A book on Confederate staff work was definitely needed, and this book fits the bill nicely. The first half of the book offers very thorough descriptions of the various staff positions and agencies. The author does a good job of explaining how these positions came into being, how they were manned, and how (if at all) staff officers were trained. Also interesting to read the author's relation of these 19th c. staff positons to their modern counterparts.

If I have any criticism, it may be that the text relies a little too much on three individual staff officers- Walter Taylor, Henry Kyd Douglas, and Heros Von Borcke. I wonder if there are other memoirs out there that would expand on their accounts.

Overall an outstanding book. Very logical and readable. Fascinating treatment of a neglected topic.

The book is a must for the Civil War buff who wants to understand the Headquarter Operations of the Army of Northern Virginia, lead by the famous and beloved General Robert E.Lee.

The history of the Civil War is more than recounting the movements of armies and the fighting of battles. Someone has to gather the information and send the messages that brought the armies together in the first place. That is the focus of this detailed history of staff work in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

When the war began, the Confederacy found itself having to build everything from scratch, and their army was no different. Although they borrowed heavily from the U.S. Army's way of doing things, it eventually became clear that innovations would have to be made, both to account for the maneuvering of growing armies, but also to deal with the expanded technology -- railroads, telegraphs and the use of longer and more accurate weapons -- rarely seen before by fighting men.

"Buff Facings" is a detailed account of how Lee and his generals coped. While the depth of detail may discourage the general reader, Bartholomees offers a generous selection of ancedotes that allow for bursts of humanity to show. In the middle of an account of the development of the Signal Corps, he relates how Major General Stephen Ramseur received a vitally important message just before the Battle of Cedar Creek: "The crisis is over and all is well." It announced the birth of his daughter.