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The Shades of Blue and Gray Series offers Civil War studies for the modern reader—Civil War buff and scholar alike. Military history today addresses the relationship between society and warfare. Thus biographies and thematic studies that deal with civilians,soldier s,and political leaders are increasingly important to a larger public. This series includes books that will appeal to Civil War Roundtable groups,individuals ,libr aries,and academics with a special interest in this era of American history.
A Prussian Observes th e American Civil War: Th e Military Studies of Justus Scheibert Frederic Trautmann, Translator and Editor University of Missouri Press APRUSSIAN OBSERVES THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR SHADES OF BLUE AND GRAY SERIES Edited by Herman Hattaway and Jon L. Wakelyn The Shades of Blue and Gray Series offers Civil War studies for the modern reader—Civil War buff and scholar alike. Military history today addresses the relationship between society and warfare. Thus biographies and thematic studies that deal with civilians, soldiers, and political leaders are increasingly important to a larger public. This series includes books that will appeal to Civil War Roundtable groups, individuals, libraries, and academics with a special interest in this era of American history. APRUSSIANOBSERVES THE AMERICANCIVILWAR The Military Studies of Justus Scheibert Translated and edited by Frederic Trautmann University of Missouri Press Columbia and London Copyright © 2001 by The Curators of the University of Missouri University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri 65201 Printed and bound in the United States of America All rights reserved 54321 0504030201 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publicaton Data Scheibert, J. (Justus), 1831–1903. [B ¨ urgerkrieg in den Nordamerikanischen Staaten. English] A Prussian observes the American Civil War : the military studies of Justus Scheibert / translated and edited by Frederic Trautmann. p. cm.—(Shades of blue and gray series) Originally published in German under titles: Der B ¨ urgerkrieg in den Nordamerikanischen Staaten; and, Das Zusammenwirken der Armee und Marine. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. Contents: pt. 1. The sinews of war—pt. 2. The sinews applied. ISBN 0-8262-1348-0 (alk. paper) 1. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Campaigns. 2. United States. Army—Drill and tactics—History—19th century. 3. Confederate States of America. Army—Drill and tactics—History. 4. Military art and science—United States—History—19th century. 5. Military art and science—Confederate States of America. 6. Scheib- ert, J. (Justus), 1831–1903. 7. United States—History—Civil War, 1861– 1865—Personal narratives, Prussian. I. Trautmann, Frederic, 1936– II. Scheibert, J. (Justus), 1831–1903. Zusammenwirken der Armee und Marine. English. III. Title. IV. Series. E470 .S313 2001 973.7'3—dc21 2001027552 ⅜ ϱ ™ This paper meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, Z39.48, 1984. Text designer: Elizabeth K. Young Jacket designer: Vickie Kersey DuBois Typesetter: BOOKCOMP, Inc. Printer and binder: The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group Typefaces: ITC Veljovic, Bodoni Condensed DEDICATION Again to the great translators past, present, and to come and, this time, especially Jerome Hanayn ibn Ishaq Thabit ibn Qurra Sir Richard Francis Burton Eleanor Marx H. T. Lowe-Porter Samuel Noah Kramer Eden and Cedar Paul Richard and Clara Winston Ralph Manheim Anthony Burgess Burton Raffel Gregory Rabassa William Weaver Margaret Sayers Peden Leila Vennewitz Seamus Heaney Christopher Middleton Each [wise man] has answered [the questions that disturb and puzzle and confound us] according to his ability, by his word and his life. —Thoreau, Walden Count the American Civil War one of the world’s historic wars. —Scheibert, infra, chapter 6 The American war probably excels as the textbook of warfare. —Scheibert, chapter 1 Perhaps no other episode [than the Mississippi campaign] provides so many and such good examples [of combined operations in modern war]. —Scheibert, chapter 10 Believe me: I saw it. —Scheibert, chapter 5 You poor mad things—what will become of you? —John Ruskin to Charles Eliot Norton, February 1, 1862. Soon we shall go out of the house and into the convulsion of the world, out of history and into History and the awful responsibility of Time. —Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Preface: Editor-Translator’s Notes xi To the Reader: Maps, Text, Editing and Translating xiii Author’s [Scheibert’s] Notes xv Prologue: The Great Captains 1 PART ONE THE SINEWS OF WAR 1. Strategy 13 2. Tactics 33 3. Infantry 53 4. Cavalry 59 5. Artillery 79 6. Engineering 92 7. Medical Service 105 8. Navies 117 PART TWO THE SINEWS APPLIED:ASOLDIER’S HISTORY 9. War All the Way: Mostly East 135 10. War in the West: Combined Operations 151 Epilogue: The Lesson of the War 192 Appendix: The War in the West 201 Notes 209 Bibliography 227 Index 239 This page intentionally left blank ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks from the bottom of my heart to Cathy Meaney and her staff of the Interlibrary Loan Unit, Temple University Libraries: again they brought so much, so far, so fast; John C. Van Horne’s staff of the Library Company of Philadelphia: again they shared their treasures and enriched my book; David M. Neigher: the man of wisdom, sense, and good judgment; Beth Trautmann: she helped; Mary Dunn and staff, Information Processing Center, Temple Uni- versity: the rest of the world should know its stuff and work so well and be so congenial; Sara Davis, University of Missouri Press: a fine editor; and Lady Luck, her especially, the best of muses; she smiled again and again; she was a lady day and night. [...]... state, on the coast below the Potomac, asserts level, swampy lowlands oceanside, rolling piedmont inland, and T 13 14 A Prussian Observes the American Civil War mountains covering the one-third of the state beyond These parallel ranges of the Alleghenies approximate the angle of the coastline southwest to northeast The Potomac pierces them at right angles along the northern border The easternmost range... True, the Blue Ridge separated the valley from the seat of the war But many “gaps” communicate through what would otherwise be impassable They can be seen on the map Notice them; they witnessed savage fighting 2 What of communications in the state so invasion-proof in every other way? What, for instance, could the invader expect of the railroads, so important to war in the Confederacy? They played their... perpendicular to the coast and therefore parallel to each other and pouring into the ocean the currents that gashed the rocky soil and carved steep banks Mostly they must be forded—a map will show the few bridges—but allow it only in dry weather Communication stalls when rain bloats them and they act up, the rowdies! Nearer the ocean they permit navigation; they widen to funnel-shaped bays, the deep dents... for strategy; their convolutions will baffle the beginner On the other hand, the American war probably excels as the textbook of warfare in discrete and basic forms The simple, clear circumstances afford instance upon prime instance in the management of units large and small (In that sentence I speak to the novice.) Even the expert finds the campaigns instructive where we see warfare on the broader canvas,... Anglo -American character “Does the terrible waging of war, the deliberate laying waste of rich, lush regions, remind us of the Thirty Years War? Balance it with the fact that Sherman took such measures with a heavy heart and only because they alone would bring a sure and speedy end to the war He and all good people in the army and among civilians wanted the war ended; they longed for the end He had just taken... wounded in an encounter with the Cheyennes on the Solomon’s Fork of the Kansas River, in July 1857 In that wild life of the prairie, now chasing the buffalo, now pursuing the treacherous savage, whose steeds were almost as fleet as the wind, Stuart had L 1 2 A Prussian Observes the American Civil War passed nearly all his waking hours in the saddle, and thus become one of the most fearless and dexterous... important connections The one joining Lynchburg with Vicksburg on the Mississippi, via Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Jackson, meant the most for strategy, linking East with West Virginia’s lifelines connected her to the lower South: the Richmond and Columbia and the Richmond, Weldon and Wilmington The RWW 16 A Prussian Observes the American Civil War also went to Charleston I mention others as they figure into... (railway systems, the telegraph, rapid transport), living off the land and from the storehouse, systems of requisition, and the coordination and cooperation of masses of troops—these aspects of combat as they occurred under the gun Recent European wars offer them and others, as well as complications among them Unfortunately, only the officer accomplished in military science will appreciate what they mean for... would a dissertation on their mistakes T The author Minden, June 1874 I acknowledge colleagues of the Imperial Navy, who encouraged me to start the study of combined operations The Navy’s generous support helped me to finish it The author xv This page intentionally left blank A PRUSSIAN OBSERVES THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR This page intentionally left blank PROLOGUE The Great Captains The genius of a man grew... collapsed under their weight He had served the Union; it had acknowledged and rewarded him But now, born to the South, he had made the hard choice and would live with it What did he give during the war, if neither hardware nor firepower? Only once, soon after Jackson’s death, did we see the lapse of leadership on his part At Gettysburg the loss of the good right arm, a wound too fresh, crippled the army and . 117 PART TWO THE SINEWS APPLIED:ASOLDIER’S HISTORY 9. War All the Way: Mostly East 135 10. War in the West: Combined Operations 151 Epilogue: The Lesson of the War 192 Appendix: The War in the West. Prussian Observes th e American Civil War: Th e Military Studies of Justus Scheibert Frederic Trautmann, Translator and Editor University of Missouri Press APRUSSIAN OBSERVES THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR SHADES. articulate them. The xiii xiv To the Reader smaller, on combined operations, has gone mainly into chapter 10 here. The larger, on the entire war, encloses it. The summary of the larger, at the start