2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and useful niche work about CSA cavalry., August 14, 2006
This review is from: Confederate Cavalry West of the River (Paperback)
Note: In my original review I gave this work 4 stars, but I would now drop it a notch to 3 (if Amazon's system would allow me to change it) because of some errors I found. I don't believe these were intentional misrepresentations or a sign of bias, but instead indicate that the author did not examine some post war accounts as critically as he should. In particular, Oates' coverage of Marmaduke's First Missouri Raid and battles of Springfield and Hartville are at odds with both CSA and US After Action reports in the Official Records.
Update of my review:
As the author warns in the preface this is a difficult work to classify (and therefore review) because of its unusual focus. It is devoted to an overview of CSA cavalry operations West of the Mississippi. The author states that this is an adaptation of his thesis work and is unnecessarily humble about the nature of the book. Being his earliest work, some errors and lack of familiarity with some details become apparent later.
The book is well written and largely in narrative form covers the development, actions, and demise of CSA cavalry in the Trans-Mississippi theatre. It is an entertaining read because it fluidly covers the war from beginning to end from the Trans-Mississippi cavalryman's perspective. The great raids in Missouri are reviewed in narrative form with campaign maps. While I don't sense direct bias by the author, he does accept some post-war Confederate accounts without the necessary critical fact checking.
Sprinkled throughout are useful reference tables of the number of regiments and men raised in cavalry service, the cost of equipment, and the supply of horses. Following that is a list of units by state with their various field grade officers. So while I selected this work to get a better sense of perspective, I also found that it has become a useful reference for a portion of the war that is otherwise poorly represented in the historical record.
I recommend this work to anyone interested in better understanding the nature of warfare in the Trans-Mississippi, and particularly those interested in the cavalry action/raids in Missouri and Arkansas. However, the reader is cautioned not to accept the battle accounts without cross checking details.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A nice review of Confederate cavalry in the Trans-Mississippi, August 21, 2009
This review is from: Confederate Cavalry West of the River (Paperback)
Overall, the Civil War taking place west of the Mississippi (or the Trans-Mississippi, to use another term) is relatively undercovered in writing on the War Between the States. Even more undercovered would be specialized branches of the military--such as cavalry.
This volume focuses on Confederate cavalry in the Trans-Mississippi. Oates notes that (Page xiii) ". . .Trans-Mississippi cavalrymen did many noteworthy things during the war, and they did them out of courage and determination to save a cause which they considered just." The book is decently written. Sometimes, I get the impression that Oates may romanticize Southern cavalry somewhat, but this is scarcely a "deal breaker."
The book explores such subjects as the raids into Missouri by Sterling Price ("Old Pap"), a rather undistinguished commanding officer. Other officers examined--JO Shelby, Ben McCulloch, and Tom Green. Combat in the West was not on the same scale as that east of the Mississippi.
Some nice features: Appendix A lists all regiments/battalions and commanders west of the Mississippi; Appendix C outlines the structure of Price's cavalry corps, with divisions commanded by James Fagan, John Marmaduke (and, later, John Clark), and Joseph O. (Jo) Shelby.
The book relates the various battles fought by Confederate cavalry in the region--and notes that cavalry units and some of their leaders fought to the very end and even left for Mexico to avoid surrender after Appomattox.
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