Synopses & Reviews
On the eve of the Civil War, the Regular Army of the United States was small, dispersed, untrained for large-scale operations, and woefully unprepared to suppress the rebellion of the secessionist states. Although the Regular Army expanded significantly during the war, reaching nearly sixty-seven thousand men, it was necessary to form an enormous army of state volunteers that overshadowed the Regulars and bore most of the combat burden. Nevertheless, the Regular Army played several critically important roles, notably providing leaders and exemplars for the Volunteers and managing the administration and logistics of the entire Union Army. In this first comprehensive study of the Regular Army in the Civil War, Clayton R. Newell and Charles R. Shrader focus primarily on the organizational history of the Regular Army and how it changed as an institution during the war, to emerge afterward as a reorganized and permanently expanded force. The eminent, award-winning military historian Edward M. Coffman provides a foreword.
Review
"Clayton Newell and Charles Shrader have created the literature's best one stop resource for the Regular Army in the Civil War."and#8212;Andrew Waggenhoffer, Civil War Books and Authors
Review
"This is a careful examination and explanation of the army's departments, their functions, success and failures during the war.and#160;. . .and#160;The authors have a very sure hand, presenting information in a combination of text and tables each complementing the other. The book is full of nuggets of information that are both fun and informative. . . . If you wish to understand how the army worked, this is the book for you."and#8212;Brett Schulte, TOCWOC
Review
"If numbers, organization charts and statistical tables get your pulse racing, this history of the growth and development of the Regular Army during the war is for you. It will become the definitive study of an important, but too often overlooked, subject."and#8212;Gordon Berg, Civil War Times
Review
'This is an absolutely essential work for any serious student of the military aspects of the Civil war or the history of the U.S. Army and of American warmaking."and#8212;A. A. Nofi, Strategy Page
Review
"Authors Newell and Shrader, both retired from the Army Center of Military History, have produced an important and useful work. The research is extensive, and their interpretations are well supported by relevant facts."and#8212;Roger D. Cunningham, Journal of America's Military Past
Review
[Of Duty Well and Faithfully Done] is a significant and useful work that should have a place in the library of every Civil war researcher."and#8212;Steven C Haack, Army History
About the Author
Both Clayton R. Newell and Charles R. Shrader finished their military careers as the chief of the historical services division at the U.S. Army Center of Military History and are now independent scholars and historical consultants. Newell is the author or editor of several books, including Lee vs. McClellan: The First Campaign; Shrader has also written or edited a number of books, including The Muslim-Croat Civil War in Central Bosnia: A Military History, 1991and#8211;1994. Edward M. Coffman, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsinand#8211;Madison, is the author of many works, including The Hilt of the Sword: The Career of Peyton C. March and The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I.