Roll Call to Destiny: The Soldier's Eye View of Civil War Battles [Hardcover]

Brent Nosworthy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 2008

Roll Call to Destiny puts readers on the frontlines of the Civil War by providing the point of view of small bands of men who braved unique combat situations. Acclaimed military historian Brent Nosworthy answers such questions as what it was like for artillery to beat back an aggressive infantry assault or to take part in a fast-paced cavalry charge, and how Civil War infantry conflict was waged in thick, forest foliage. From firsthand accounts, Nosworthy has pieced together Burnside’s infantry at Bull Run (infantry-versus-infantry on the open field), the Fifty-Seventh New York at Fair Oaks (fighting in the woods), Daniel Webster’s section at Arkansas Post (artillery attacking a fort), the third day at Gettysburg (cavalry-versus-cavalry), plus much more. A must-read for anyone who wants to know what Confederate and Union soldiers saw, heard, and felt, as well as how they acted at critical moments of the Civil War.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Military historian Nosworthy (The Bloody Crucible of Courage, The Anatomy of Victory), a specialist in combat tactics and weaponry, gets more personal in this book and offers a soldier's eye view of the Civil War. Focusing primarily on the on-the-ground experiences of Union and Confederate troops, Nosworthy sketches the roles of small units in a series of engagements, big and small, including a Union brigade's part in the first Battle of Bull Run, a New York regiment's role in the little-known battle at Fair Oaks and the cavalry engagements on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. The heart of the book, relying heavily on soldiers' memoirs, diaries and unit histories, is readable and evocative. While the writing in the introduction and conclusion is a bit stilted, this book will doubtlessly appeal to Civil War enthusiasts.
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Review

"Brent Nosworthy's book has much to recommend it. It is an interesting and highly informative story that should appeal to anyone interested in military history who wants to know more about the American Civil War... it is a worthy starting point for those interested in the real nature of how a battle was fought during the American Civil War." -- Military History Online

"[T]he author clearly knows his stuff, and Civil War buffs will have a ball." -- Kirkus Reviews

"The heart of the book, relying heavily on soldiers' memoirs, diaries and unit histories, is readable and evocative...this book will doubtlessly appeal to Civil War enthusiasts." -- Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786717475
• ISBN-13: 978-0786717477
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An innovative and insightful assessment of Civil War combat, February 25, 2008

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Roll Call to Destiny: The Soldier's Eye View of Civil War Battles (Hardcover)

Although in some ways Brent Nosworthy's new "Roll-Call to Destiny: The Soldier's Eye View of Civil War Battle" can be viewed as a companion to his previous, ground-breaking "The Bloody Crucible of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience of the Civil War," fundamentally "Roll-Call to Destiny" is independent of that earlier volume, written from a quite different perspective. Thoroughly grounded in firsthand accounts, "Roll-Call to Destiny" provides a vivid examination of combat during the American Civil War: infantry, cavalry, and artillery (and even naval, or at least riverine, action), from the beginning of the war until nearly its end, both Eastern and Western theaters, Union and Confederate.

The focus is not principally upon the experiences of individual soldiers, but rather upon the activities of "small units" (usually, regiments or batteries, but also brigades or larger organizations, where appropriate) at several different battles, including First Bull Run, Gettysburg, and Missionary Ridge, but also lesser-known actions such as Arkansas Post and Darbytown Road. The author does not attempt to provide detailed accounts of the whole battles, but rather focuses upon one or more selected small units at those actions to illustrate numerous facets of Civil War warfare. He is particularly careful to link the theory and practice of such American combat to European military history and technical developments, showing how the American experience fit into a broader picture and that it is impossible to really understand the battlefields of 1861-65 without taking that broader picture into account. In several cases, the author challenges conventional wisdom and provides convincing new answers to old questions.

Besides this innovative and insightful assessment of Civil War combat, "Roll-Call to Destiny" offers plenty of more traditional military history in the form of stirring narratives of dramatic episodes peopled by soldiers whose courage and skill rose to the occasion - or sometimes did not. This is a book that should be of great interest and value to anyone seriously interested in the real nature of fighting during the American Civil War. Even those who think that they have already read everything there is to be said on the subject will come away with new information and ideas. This is definitely a book that deserves a strong thumbs-up.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Personalize the experience of soldiering, February 27, 2008

By 

James W. Durney (Tampa Bay area) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Roll Call to Destiny: The Soldier's Eye View of Civil War Battles (Hardcover)

Civil War authors while knowable and good writers have special abilities that define their work. Stephen Sears brings battles to life on the written page. Steven Woodworth explains the inner workings of Confederate politics in a way that is fun to read. Eric Wittenberg captures the experience of the cavalry during the war. Gordon Rhea writes wonderful detailed accounts of the Overland Campaign's battles. Brent Nosworthy has the ability to personalize the experience of soldiering in the Civil War. This is his unique contribution to the history of the war and a major reason to read his books. He brings the techniques of soldiering and fighting onto the printed page in a way that makes the reader feel the experience. This ability produces an emotional and physical experience that can stay with you long after the book is completed. In the chapter on the Fifty-seventh New York at Fair Oaks, there is a section on marching in mud. Nosworthy conveys not only a description but creates a physical experience that places the reader in the mud trying to move forward toward battle. I have read many accounts of soldier's marching in the mud but none is the equal of this. The description will always be with me and whenever I read about mud and will help me understand what is happening.

Burnside's Fight: The Struggle for Matthews Hill is a fine description of how a Brigade acts in battle. This is a detailed account of what it takes to handle a Brigade keeping in mind the condition of your men and trying to counter action's of the enemy. While detailed, the account is never boring and places us next to the commander during the fight. Burnside's Fight: The Advance to Bull Run Battlefield is a fresh look at the problems associated with marching inexperienced soldiers and trying to maintain a schedule. The Second Minnesota Infantry at Missionary Ridge and the Attack and Defense of Fort Sanders, round out the chapters on infantry combat. Each makes a real and unique contribution to understanding this experience.

Artillery is not ignored. The Washington Artillery on Mare's Heights gives us the experience of working guns under infantry fire. The artillery's complex dance receives just enough detail to make us understand what losing a trained man means. Webster's Parrotts and the Attack against Arkansas Post, give us an account of how deadly good artillery fire is and how guns can dominate the battlefield.

The chapters on cavalry are not on the same level as the infantry and artillery chapters. Cavalry versus Cavalry at Gettysburg, while not poor, has seen much better treatments. Little new is presented here. This is the weakest chapter in the book. However, the chapter on the Seventh South Carolina at Darbytown Road captures the grim reality of being the underdog but refusing to accept defeat because of it. The reality of the Overland Campaign is brought home as the Seventh is forced to retake ground lost the previous day.

The book contains a number of Tactical Observation sections that both help place the action and expand on the lessons learned and problems encountered. These give the reader a good idea of the why things happen which increases our understanding of the what. This is an excellent book and will increase the readers understanding of the problems, processes and realities of the Civil War.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Nuts & Bolts of Civil War Combat, March 18, 2008

By 

Roger Kennedy (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Roll Call to Destiny: The Soldier's Eye View of Civil War Battles (Hardcover)

This book continues the research developed in Mr. Noseworthy's previous work on the Civil War "The Bloody crucible of Courage". The former book, an epic in its own right because of the ground breaking nature of analysis for evaluating Civil War combat and weapons' performance was largely theoretical in content. Here the author has drawn upon that same research to provide vivid descriptions of how Civil War combat was actually conducted, using the full array of tactics and weapons that were available at that time.

Here then the Civil War fan will find the action content of Mr. Noseworthy's earlier research. Breaking his book down to an introduction and six chapters, this takes a careful look at various tactical situations in the conflict. Well known actions like First Manassas and Gettysburg are mixed with lesser known fare. Even in the better known actions Mr. Noseworthy manages to bring out little known tactical aspects that have often escaped most descriptions of combat in this conflict.

Few books on the Civil War provide us an example to see how the troops actually fought, the formations they usually employed, and how the weapons performed in live-fire situations. Noseworthy has carefully drawn his comparisons to provide a rich example of different infantry vs. infantry, cavalry vs. cavalry and artillery vs. artillery combats. He also provides examples of how each arm fought against the others in a manner similar to what Keegan did in his famous "Face of Battle".

Civil War combat studies often get mired in excessive examples of what captain so and sos company did against major so and sos. Because of the extensive nature of primary sources available on the Civil War, authors get carried away with the details of various named officiers on both sides and lose track of the narrative flow of combat. We thus learn a lot about various officers and their companies in many small action accounts, but somehow in all this detail we learn very little about how these units actually fought, and what means they employed for success (or failure)in their actions. Noseworthy tries hard not to get mired in this kind of detail, even though to some extent its unavoidable.

The true strength of this book lies in how the author makes comparisons between methods of warfare in the past and present in regards to the Civil War. We thus learn that what regimental officers were trying to employ in the Civil War were taken from earlier examples of Frederick The Great and Napolean. This takes a lot of the mystique away from what we as Americans tend to cherish so much about our Civil War. The earlier wars in Europe, going back to the 18th century were examples that all the officers and generals of both sides drew upon for inspiration in their strategy and tactics. Somehow, in all the research that has taken place since the 1860s many historians have over-looked this fact. The desire to see the Civil war is a uniquely American conflict has distorted our ability to compare its tactical lessens to other wars in history. Other distortions include over-emphisizing the lethality of the rifle musket, and the employment of the bayonet charge on the battlefield. Noseworthy takes these simple, yet essential aspects, re-evalautes their importance in warfare of the period, and applies how they occured in the Civil War. This not only demystifies how the war was fought on the tactical level, but it provides us a greater understanding of warfare in general in this period.

Another important aspect is how the French military theorist Henri Jomini was so univerally used, yet not well understood either by Civil War officers or later historians. Jomini was a military conservetive who saw combat in a linear perspective in the 19th century. He largely chose to ignore many of the grand tactical and tactical innovations of the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars and preferred a modified earlier 18th century variant. Since this conservetive doctrine was studied religiously at West Point, we can begin to see the somewhat limited nature and results of many Civil War battles. Essential if we are to ever have a full understanding of how both sides conducted themselves in what remains still America's bloodiest conflict.

Mr. Noseworthy combines these important elements to try and give us a truer understanding of how the Civil War was fought. Minor flaws the reader may find are the predominant Northern accounts quoted throughout the book, as well as some of the unclear detail of the period maps, but these are overshadowed by the continued innovative nature of Mr. Noseworthy's approach. In a manner similer to Keegan, he forces us to see new perspsctives in very well worn territory. This alone makes "Roll Call To Destiny" essential reading not only to Civil War buffs, but to military historians in general.