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Robert Russell Mackey
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The Uncivil War: Irregular Warfare in the Upper South, 1861–1865 (Volume 5) (Campaigns and Commanders Series) Paperback – August 1, 2005

by Robert R. Mackey (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 20 ratings
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The Upper South―Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia―was the scene of the most destructive war ever fought on American soil. Contending armies swept across the region from the outset of the Civil War until its end, marking their passage at Pea Ridge, Shiloh, Perryville, and Manassas. Alongside this much-studied conflict, the Confederacy also waged an irregular war, based on nineteenth-century principles of unconventional warfare. In The Uncivil War, Robert R. Mackey outlines the Southern strategy of waging war across an entire region, measures the Northern response, and explains the outcome.

Complex military issues shaped both the Confederate irregular war and the Union response. Through detailed accounts of Rebel guerrilla, partisan, and raider activities, Mackey strips away romanticized notions of how the “shadow war” was fought, proving instead that irregular warfare was an integral part of Confederate strategy.

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  1. Part of series
    Campaigns and Commanders
  2. Print length
    304 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    University of Oklahoma Press
  5. Publication date
    August 1, 2005
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.69 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0806137363
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0806137360
  9. See all details
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About the Author

Robert R. Mackey, a Major in the U.S. Army, has been an army officer since 1988 and now serves as a strategic plans and policy specialist at the Pentagon.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Oklahoma Press (August 1, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0806137363
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0806137360
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.69 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 20 ratings

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Robert Russell Mackey

Robert Russell Mackey

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4.8 out of 5 stars
20 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

T. Shields
5.0 out of 5 stars Sound Research and Good History
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2013
Verified Purchase
I like a good history along with the authors attempt at interpretation. Even if I might disagree with the interpretion I certain don't fault this book for lack of solid research - quite readable too. The "border wars" where N and S were mixed has been the least developed history about the CW. Far more interesting that the troop movements during a major battle imho.
2 people found this helpful
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James Ray Griffith
5.0 out of 5 stars I have always wondered the number of civilian and total ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2014
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I have always wondered the number of civilian and total casualtynumbers for the Civil War. This book moves the total number of military dead to a more realistic figure if 750,000 to 780,000 but still leaves unclear the number of civilian deaths. It does make clear the savage nature of the war particularly in the upper and western south.
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Roy E. Perry
4.0 out of 5 stars A war in the shadows ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2004
The Upper South--Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas--was the scene of the most destructive war ever fought in the Western hemisphere. It included, among even more bloody encounters such as Gettysburg and Antietam, the battles of Manassas, Shiloh, Perryville, and Pea Ridge.

In The Uncivil War, Robert Mackey writes a dissertation about the unconventional warfare in the Upper South during the American Civil War. He points out that, alongside conventional warfare, where soldiers confronted one another in opposing lines of battle, there existed a "shadow war" employing irregular strategies--hit-and-run, behind-the-lines, create-havoc-and-confusion "guerrilla" attacks.

Examining the entire spectrum of irregular warfare during the Civil War: Mackey makes a distinction between three types of tactics: guerrilla (or people's war), partisan warfare, and raiding warfare. His thesis is that, whereas such maneuvers had limited success, they were ultimately unsuccessful, and often counterproductive, in their results.

Contrary to many historians, Mackey argues that the Confederacy overtly organized and fought an irregular conflict but lost. Also in contrast to previous scholars, he argues that this unconventional war existed not as a separate conflict from the conventional conflict but as an integral but subordinate part of the overall Confederate conduct of the war.

Mackey zeroes in on such leaders as Thomas C. Hindman in Arkansas, John Singleton Mosby in Virginia, John Hunt Morgan in Kentucky (and also in Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio), and Nathan Bedford Forrest in Tennessee."

In his description of Mosby, "the Gray Ghost of the Confederacy," Mackey writes, "Mosby was larger than life, a monster that would spring out of the darkness to attack isolated outposts and sentries and steal horses, supplies, and weapons, before fading back into the countryside."

One should remember that such encounters were often bloody and fatal; all was not swashbuckling adventure, fun and games. "War loses a great deal of romance," said Mosby, "after a soldier has seen his first battle."

Nathan Bedford Forrest (who, by the way, was born in Chapel Hill, Tenn.) was so elusive and persistent in his attack-and-destroy tactics, that the Union Army referred to him as "that devil Forrest." When asked was the secret of military success, Forrest replied, "War means killing, and the way to kill is to get there first with the most men."

Whereas most of the books written about the Civil War deal with conventional warfare fought by "regular" forces, The Uncivil War brings a fascinating perspective on "the war fought in the shadows." Mackey shows why such irregular warfare, while often annoying and sometimes highly disruptive and destructive, was ultimately a failure.

Major Robert R. Mackey, Ph.D., is a career Army officer currently working as a Strategic Plans and Policy specialist at the Pentagon. A graduate of Arkansas State University and Texas A&M University, he is a decorated veteran of Panama, Desert Storm, and Iraqi Freedom, and he taught military history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He is a member of the Society for Military History, the Southern Historical Society, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and Staff College and the School of Advanced Military Studies. He devotes his free time to volunteer work at the Manassas National Battlefield and Civil War reenactments portraying a soldier of the 5th New York Infantry, "Duryee's Zouaves." His dissertation, from which The Uncivil War developed, was the top-selling dissertation in the U.S. for 2002.

Roy E. Perry may be reached at rperry1778@aol.com
25 people found this helpful
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jab40
5.0 out of 5 stars must read
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2015
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Awesome read , great read. I really enjoyed this book.
2 people found this helpful
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Booksmcgee
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book!
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2015
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EXCELLENT BOOK!
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Terry Tucker
5.0 out of 5 stars Strong Recommendation, Interesting perspective on Irregular
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2005
The book is focused on irregular war in the upper South during the period 1862 to 1865 it is a scholarly work that is based on primary source documents from the official records of the National Archive and provides a clarity and understanding that dispels current myths.

The author begins his work by explaining the differences between partisan war, guerrilla war and raiding and he sets this stage by explaining the historical theory and practice of the time. Although it may appear that this definitional distinction is semantics, it is not and the 3 types of warfare are distinct. The author uses Jomini as the basis for defining these types of operations. This author takes his analysis another step by placing the definitions and doctrine within the context of the time and does not compare it with modern notions. This is an important aspect of methodology in which he rests both his thesis and the book. This author places both the success and failure of irregular war during the civil war into context within the period. Lastly, "Contrary to many historians he argues that the confederacy overtly organized and fought an irregular war and lost....that this unconventional war existed not as a separate conflict from the conventional conflict but formed and integral part of the overall war strategy" (from page 21 of the book)

In order to get a better understanding of this thesis and theory it would be extremely beneficial if one obtained the book "Compound Warfare That Fatal Knot". This is a product of the US Army War Command and General Staff College and you can download this from there web site in a pdf format or order this online from the US Government Printing Office.

This book is a valuable contribution to understanding the important lessons learned in counter-insurgency. At times the book is slow, but, all in all it is a good book and warrants serious consideration by any student of warfare. I strongly recommend this book
19 people found this helpful
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Richard Kelly
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2016
Stellar BOOK very good job
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