Customer Reviews

The Civil War in the Western Territories: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was a very interesting one. I liked the fact that Colton covered several different conflict that happened during the Civil War. In the first chapter he gives some background on eac of the territories. In chapet two he talkes about the Confederat action in each of these states. Chapter three gives some background on the troops fron Colorado. The chapter that really impressed me was chapter seven, this chapter was about the effect the indians had on the War.In the last chapter he puts some closure to what the states did after the War. There was one thing that I did not like about the book and that was the way he used names in this book. Everytime he used a name he would use the full name for example Lieutnant colonel Edward R. Eyrethe first time and after that he could have said Lieutenant Colonel Eyre. This made me very frustrated having to read the long name every time. Overall this book worked for me. I liked the structure of this book. He used some good maps and photos of some of the individuals that were talked about in the book. I would reccommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about the Civil War in the West.

This was the second book I had found on the American Civil War in the Southwest United States. I wish I had discovered it when I was in grade school when it was originally published, and I lived in Albuquerque.

Of the various books I own on the subject, I recommend this one as the most concise over-view of the little discussed battles in Arizona and New Mexico. While not the easiest read, it is the best of its weight.

He covers not just the actions against the Confederates, but also against the American Indians who took advantage of the displaced regular army units pulled back east to cause some havoc. This book covers the major battles, and touches on the associated skirmishes. It does not delve into too many of the personalities and their reasons, but it does address a number of them. Nor does it cover the variety of ethnic issues that were present in this campaign.