Over Lincoln's Shoulder: The Committee on the Conduct of the War (Modern War Studies) - Hardcover

Tap, Bruce

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0700608710 ISBN 13: 9780700608713

Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas, 1998

Synopsis

Traces the history of the Civil War-era Joint Committee on the Conduct of War, focusing on the nature of its power and influence on military policy and discussing the ongoing controversy over whether the committee invigorated or hampered the Union war effort. Presents evidence, including examples of contact between Congress and the military, showing that the committee produced more harm than good as it polarized Congress and the army, limited strategic options, and inflated the reputations of incompetent soldiers. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

About this title

About the Author

Bruce Tap is an independent historian who resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has published articles in Civil War History and other journals.

From the Back Cover

"Tap's case is one worth making. He argues that the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War produced little good and some harm, polarizing politicians against professional soldiers, limiting strategic options, and inflating the reputations of military incompetents. These errors, he shows, stemmed from ignorance of military art and from partisanship. Although his conclusions will raise some eyebrows, he provides good evidence for his case. A solid and readable old-fashioned political history, this book will correct our image of the relationship between Republicans and the army in the Civil War."--Mark E. Neely, Jr., author of The Last Best Hope of Earth

"This book fills a major gap in the study of the Civil War and does so in a way that is authoritative and probably definitive. It will achieve a permanent place in Civil War scholarship."--Albert Castel, author of Decision in the West

Reviews

The Thompson committee on campaign fundraising abuses is hardly the first controversial congressional investigative body, as demonstrated in this revealing study of a Civil War prosecutor. Dominated by its Republican majority, the Joint Select Committee on the Conduct of the War possessed virtual carte blanche to probe all phases of the conflict--a mandate it used freely to prod the Lincoln administration toward its emancipationist goals. Although the committee occasionally wielded its power responsibly (including ferreting out military supply abuses, the Fort Pillow massacre, and Union troop deaths in Confederate prisons), more often it interfered with Lincoln's management of the war, according to independent historian Tap. Its members, proudly ignorant of military strategy, disparaged the West Pointled regular army in favor of enthusiastic state militia; it promoted the cause of incompetent generals who professed abolitionism, such as John Pope, Joseph Hooker, and John C. Fr‚mont; and it charged disloyalty against other generals who were Democrats or even nonpartisan. Several Federal generals, looking to curry favor with the committee, accused each other of incompetence, and some were influenced by the committee's preference for the perpetual offensive enough to order rash assaults (e.g., Ambrose Burnside at Fredericksburg). Tap does not adequately credit committee members for foresight in pushing emancipation as a wartime measure, but he convincingly explains why the committee's Democratic minority (including future president Andrew Johnson) often sided with their more partisan colleagues (a combination of group dynamics and a shared ethic of self-made men), and he marshals abundant evidence to show that the committee was as myopic as it was meddlesome. An informative (and always timely) case history of the damage resulting from congressional abuse of its oversight function and from using military commanders as partisan whipping boys. (12 photos, not seen) (History Book Club selection) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

This century has had the House Un-American Activities Committee on and the Watergate, Iran-contra, and Whitewater investigations, but in the 19th century the congressional committee that grabbed public attention was the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. Originally designed to investigate Civil War military contracts, treatment of the wounded, and disloyal government employees, the committee soon geared its efforts toward emancipation, the use of black soldiers, and the design of top military leadership. This "design" was based on whether a general was considered truly antislavery. The sincere but ill-placed efforts for abolition by radical Republicans polarized top leaders, interfered in strategy, and caused demoralization. Tap, an independent historian and writer of Civil War articles, has done a thorough job that both builds on and yet modifies previous historians' efforts, most recently Hans Trefousse's The Radical Republicans (LJ 1/1/69). Recommended for public and academic collections.?Katherine E. Gillen, Luke AFB Lib., Ariz.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0700608710
• ISBN 13: 9780700608713
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 319