Civil War Logistics: A Study of Military Transportation - Hardcover

Earl J. Hess has written a book that has long been needed. Broadly contextualized and filled with insightful analysis, Civil War Logistics explores the vitally important but scandalously neglected topic of military transportation. In addition to railroads and steamboats, wagon trains and even pack animals were vital for keeping the armies supplied and moving. The war took a staggering toll on men and animals alike; problems ranging from transporting horses by water to soldiers carrying fifty-pound packs over poor roads all added to the demands placed on quartermasters and anyone else dealing with the always vital matter of logistics. We are greatly indebted to Hess for this highly original and unfailingly informative volume.--George C. Rable, author of Damn Yankees!: Demonization and Defiance in the Confederate South

Earl J. Hess continues his long and adroit exploration of thematic topics in Civil War military history with the first major assessment of operational logistics published in decades. Focusing on transportation and the attack and defense of supply lines, Hess emphasizes that Union quartermasters 'crafted the most sophisticated supply arrangements ever seen' up to that point, yet he makes it clear that logistical constraints compelled the Union to change its strategy in order to penetrate the Deep South after Sherman took Atlanta. This fascinating study further cements Hess's leadership in military studies of the Civil War, and should encourage other scholars to pursue topical analyses that connect and synthesize dynamics and trajectories in Civil War military history. Every student of Civil War and mid-nineteenth-century military operations will profit from this remarkable book.--Samuel Watson, author of Peacekeepers and Conquerors: The Army Officer Corps on the American Frontier, 1821-1846and editor of The West Point History of the Civil War