Customer Reviews

Civil War High Commands

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A major work of awesome proportions! The research, attention to detail and the scholarship that combined to produce this work are beyond measure.

For any serious Civil War buff this book is a "must". There is no area relating to the High Command of either North or South that is not covered in exquisite detail. It contains not only the biographical notes for virtually every major and minor character on both sides, it lists the ranks, date of rank and assignments. Reads like an Officer's Personnel Record, complete with photographs of individuals where available. It is particularly useful in bringing into clear focus the organizational structure, badges of rank and the different departments making up the respective armies.

This is an absolutely invaluable tool for anyone interested in an in-depth source for reference to go hand-in-hand with careful study of the major works on Civil War battles and campaigns.

It should certainly be found on the shelves of any college or university library.

The Eichers, et al, have done Civil War buffs a great service with this fabulous piece of research. If you are looking for info on military and/or civilian leaders, this is the best single source yet published. Thanks guys!

In the forward, John Y. Simon, states this is not "a book to curl up with on a cold winter night" or a book that you would "take to the beach". He is correct, this is not a book that you will sit down and read, unless you normally read baseball encyclopedias. This book is a feast of facts, statistics and information relating to the American Civil War.

How many men did New York supply when Lincoln asked for 75,000 men in 1861? There is a multiple page table with the answer, by state by levy for the USA and CSA. When was Ebenezer Dumont born? What is his military record? When did he die and where is he buried? If you are still reading, you may want to consider buying this book.

The first hundred pages is information about the nation, political structure and the military forces. This is followed by 600 pages of biographies of general and flag offices and "Might-Have-Beens'. The answers to the questions on Ebenezer Dumont are in this section. The next 100 pages, details grades and rank for general and flag level officers. This section has tables with date of rank, nomination, confirmation and termination for each. A second table lists all these officers by grade by date of rank. Need to know who was the CSA's senior Brigadier General in 1865? After finding that answer, go back to the biographies to see what he did during the war. The next hundred pages cover the command structure for both sides. Departments were vital during the war. Commanders in one department constantly looked to other departments for support. More often than not, the other department commander was busy with his own problems. This section will allow you to check the department history, next time you try to understand why J.E. Johnston could not get Forrest to attack Sherman's supply lines in 1864. Ending the book is about seventy pages of important dates, a good bibliography and a name index. Package all this information on a large format nicely bound book and you have a feast for detail people.

People whose knowledge of the war, I respect, say the information is accurate. I know this is a very hansom book, well presented that is great fun for the serious student of the American Civil War. If you qualify as a "serious student" and a "detail person", this is a book you should enjoy.

The best single-volume reference on Civil War personnel ever! Period.

However, for the sake of completeness, two small factual errors should be noted. On page 771, in the list of retired Commodores, the name of Charles W. Pickering should be included, and on page 786, in the list of active duty Commodores, John S. Chauncey should be omitted. Chauncey retired as a Captain on December 21, 1861, and was promoted to Commodore on the retired list on April 4, 1867 (his date of retirement as shown on pp. 770 & 786 are probably typographical errors).

I highly recommend this work, and find it to be easily worth twice it's asking reail price.

My thanks to the authors for providing this indispensable reference tool to the research community.


Ken McCanliss
(KMcCanliss@webtv.net)