Elements of Military Art and Science; Or Course of Instruction in Strategy, Fortifications, Tactics of Battles, &c Embracing the Duties of Staff, Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, and Engineers. Adapted to the use of Volunteers and Militia. Second edition, with critical notes on the Mexican and Crimean Wars

Halleck, H. Wager [W. Sherman copy]

Published by New York. D. Appleton & Company. 1861. Hardcover, 449 pages + 12 plates + 6 ads., 1861

About this Item

New York. D. Appleton & Company. 1861. Hardcover, 449 pages + 12 plates + 6 ads. Bound in plain brown cloth (the original binding). Top inch of spine is missing. Gold lettering is altogether faded. Covers and spine are detached from the text block. Front endpaper and first blank page are detached, as well, and are present. Front endpaper has a Feb 1995 Duplicate stamp on it. Some library numbers written in pencil on the inside front cover. No other library markings of any sort, so it seems that the book was never in circulation, though it may have been owned by a library at some point. Text block is complete and remains tight. Pages are lightly toned from age. On the title page of the book, written in ink, is the name, W. Sherman. It is not a rare name, but given the date and the subject, it is impossible not to think of the great Union General William T. Sherman, and to speculate whether this book was once his. To that end, here is a brief biography of Sherman: Sherman was born in 1820 and attended West Point in the late 1830s. In the 1840s he fought in the Seminole Wars in Florida. During the Mexican War, Sherman was posted in California. In the 1850s Sherman resigned from the military as a Captain and married and went back to California as a banker. In 1859, he went to Louisiana as the Superintendant of a new military academy there. When the state seceded from the Union, he resigned his position and moved north. He was commissioned in the Army as a Colonel in May, 1861 (the same year this book was published). The First Battle of Bull Run was a month later. By July, he d been promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers. The details of Sherman s career and the way in which it intertwines with General Grant and with General Halleck (the author of the book & Sherman s superior officer through the war) are rich and well documented. The signature on the title page of this book differs in many ways from Sherman s signature but it is worth noting that the examples I m comparing this one to are many years later & it s possible that his signature changed once he began to rise through the ranks of the Army. This signature has a W that is similar to later examples of Sherman s W. However, this example does not use the T at all & the S in Sherman is different from the S Sherman seems to have used later in his career. It is something of a stretch to put this book in the hands of General Sherman & I leave that connection merely speculatory in this description. Yet, to think of the retired Captain returned from the west & seeking a commission in the regular army at the onset of the war, a decade out of Military Academy… and picking up a copy of General Halleck s book in St. Louis or Washington (he met with Lincoln during the week of Inauguration) before taking command of the Thirteenth Infantry… it would make this a treasure of the highest order. Either that, or it s just a $200 book that once belonged to a guy named Walter….

Seller Inventory # Fred-W285

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Elements of Military Art and Science; Or Course of Instruction in Strategy, Fortifications, Tactics of Battles, &c Embracing the Duties of Staff, Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, and Engineers. Adapted to the use of Volunteers and Militia. Second edition, with critical notes on the Mexican and Crimean Wars
• Publisher: New York. D. Appleton & Company. 1861. Hardcover, 449 pages + 12 plates + 6 ads.
• Publication Date: 1861
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good