Synopsis
A history of the Civil War as it was fought in the West discusses the Indian uprising in Minnesota, the campaigns the North lost in Western Louisiana and Texas, the war against the Native Americans on the Western plains, and more
Reviews
This definitive history, the first comprehensive examination of the Civil War as it was fought west of the Mississippi, is also a fine account of the 1861-1865 Indian wars that drew thousands of Union troops away from the main Eastern theaters. Josephy ( The Patriot Chiefs ) describes the Confederate defeat at Pea Ridge, Ark., in 1862, the Union victory in '63 over Texas troops at Glorieta, N.M. (the "Gettysburg of the West"), the '63 raid on Lawrence, Kans., led by Confederate William Quantrill, and the unsuccessful Union expedition up the Red River in '64. As Federal forces gained the upper hand, the conflict turned into an aggressive war against the Indians. Josephy describes how President Lincoln sent Gen. John Pope to suppress the Sioux Uprising in Minnesota and the Dakotas, and such various ensuing massacres as the slaughter of Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women and children at Sand Creek, Colo., in 1865. BOMC and History Book Club alternates.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A thorough but disappointing assessment of the Civil War as waged west of the Mississippi, by Native-American specialist Josephy (Now That the Buffalo's Gone, 1982; The Indian Heritage of America, 1968), who skillfully weaves an impressive knowledge of tribal encounters into the larger fabric of conflict between North and South. The battles of the West were fought not only by Union and Confederate forces but by whites and Indians as well, continuing the pattern of violence that characterized the American policy of Manifest Destiny from its inception. Discussions of various maneuvers in the territories and western states, from unsuccessful efforts by Texans to annex the areas of Arizona and New Mexico, to genocidal campaigns directed against tribes in the Rocky Mountains and Northern Plains, to an intense and protracted struggle over Indian Territory in which many members of the Five Civilized Tribes were forced to take sides--all reveal the extensive role that Apaches, Shoshonis, Sioux, Cherokees, and others had in the war. Bungled Union efforts to seize badly needed cotton regions in Texas or a more successful campaign to wrest control of the Mississippi River from the South indicate that not all western conflicts involved Indians, but even so their presence as a bellicose third party had a pronounced impact on the distribution of forces and resources for both sides. While meticulous in detailing troop movements, statistics, and strategy, as history this falls consistently short of providing an overview, and sticks closely to facts and personalities without drawing substantive conclusions. Competent and informative as far as it goes, but a definitive account of the West and the Civil War remains to be written. (Twenty maps.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Josephy has attempted the first one-volume integration of various aspects of the Civil War in the West, "the western fringe of the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific." He has largely succeeded, though some may quibble with his omission of the early struggle in Missouri. Several of the campaigns, such as Sib ley's New Mexican, Bank's Red River, and the Pea Ridge campaign have gener ated a large literature of their own. They are now linked with little-noticed, but horrific Indian campaigns that destroyed more tribes and seized more land than any others. Immensely readable and well documented, The Civil War in the Amer ican West will serve a wide range of readers as a more than adequate introduction to a vast, frequently overlooked theater of the war. BOMC and History Book Club alternates.
- Thomas E. Schott, Office of History, 17th Air Force, Sembach, Germany
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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