Carroll and Graph. Aug., 752p. photographs, Maps. Bibliography, index. 0-7867-1147-7.
Description
The most comprehensive book of its kind, a major revision of our understanding of how the Civil War was fought and how it looked through the eyes of the men fighting it.
Some historians argue that the Civil War, with its use of rifled muskets and artillery, was the first great "modern" war; others argue that it was a sideshow of amateur generals and citizen soldiers whose all-too-often reliance on Napoleonic tactics yielded few innovations or lasting lessons. Acclaimed military historian Brent Nosworthy leads an all-out attack on this great controversy and for the first time in any book covers the fighting methods employed Civil War warfare in their entirety.
More than a comparison of the two sides’ fighting methods and no mere abstract discussion about military theory, this work presents the most thorough study of the true origin of Civil War military practices that has ever been possible. Nosworthy weaves together the story of newly emerging weapons, the resulting changes in military doctrine, and the combatants’ experiences as these innovations were applied to the battlefield. Detailing the four-year evolution of warfare from General Irvin McDowell’s first tentative efforts to Lee and Grant’s final exertions in front of Petersburg, the author examines tactical variation due to regional differences and the distinctive circumstances of each campaign, such as the methods used in the eastern theatre versus those in the west; the confused fighting in the Wilderness; the "trench" warfare at Vicksburg; and the techniques used in other famous battles, like Gettysburg and Antietam. And the book recognizes the primacy of the war’s most compelling voices, containing hundreds of first-hand accounts, graphic and emotional descriptions of what it was like to see and hear the Minié balls striking a nearby companion. For readers with only a casual interest in how the Civil War was fought to the most knowledgeable and well-read Civil War enthusiasts, The Bloody Crucible of Courage explains the doctrine, technology, and actual battlefield experience in a single extraordinary volume.
Praise and Reviews
The Watchdog Website: "Here is that most rare of all works, a Civil War book that plows into uncharted territory: US Civil War combat methods en toto, from grand tactics to hand-to-hand combat, and its place in the overall development of warfare. What a find!"
Library Journal (August 2003): "A fine read and an indispensable reference tool, this book is recommended for all military science and Civil War collections and all libraries."
Publishers Weekly: "This massive study of Civil War weaponry, tactics and combat practices covers so much so well that it’s indispensable…With its first-hand accounts, diagrams and all-in-all exhaustive coverage, this volume is an exceptional reference."
Civil War Times Illustrated: October 2003: "Nosworthy’s descriptions and analysis are thorough, insightful, and effectively supported by evidence from specific battles and engagements. They will be of value to anyone seeking to better understand the course and conduct of America's bloodiest war." --- Ethan Rafuse, U.S. Military Academy
Gordon C. Rhea Here: "For the first time under one cover, is the story of the evolution of weaponry and tactics in the Civil War era. I have learned much from The Bloody Crucible of Courage and only wish that it had been available years ago, when I began my set of books about the Overland Campaign. Mr. Nosworthy’s book deserves an honored place on the shelf of every Civil War scholar and buff."
Joseph G. Bilby: "The Bloody Crucible of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience of the Civil War is a landmark work that establishes a new standard of excellence in the field. No future Civil War campaign or battle study will be written without extensive reference to The Bloody Crucible of Courage."
Paddy Griffith: "Brent Nosworthy's new book on the weapons, tactics and battle experience of the Civil War is hugely welcome and long overdue. 'The Bloody Crucible of Courage' is indeed the book we have long been waiting for! It is nevertheless essential reading, not least for the wider European perspective that it casts upon a war that has too often in the past been viewed through very parochial spectacles. And beyond that refreshing historiographical perspective, 'The Bloody Crucible of Courage' also offers us a truly magnificent quarry of facts, explanations and pertinent interpretations that every student of the Civil War will surely want to keep constantly at hand."
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