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Library | Call Number | Material Type | Home Location | Status | Item Holds |
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Searching... | E467 .E35 2001 | Adult Non-Fiction | Central Closed Stacks-Oversize Non-Circ | Searching... | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
Based on nearly five decades of research, this magisterial work is a biographical register and analysis of the people who most directly influenced the course of the Civil War, its high commanders. Numbering 3,396, they include the presidents and their cabinet members, state governors, general officers of the Union and Confederate armies (regular, provisional, volunteers, and militia), and admirals and commodores of the two navies. Civil War High Commands will become a cornerstone reference work on these personalities and the meaning of their commands, and on the Civil War itself.Errors of fact and interpretation concerning the high commanders are legion in the Civil War literature, in reference works as well as in narrative accounts. The present work brings together for the first time in one volume the most reliable facts available, drawn from more than 1,000 sources and including the most recent research. The biographical entries include complete names, birthplaces, important relatives, education, vocations, publications, military grades, wartime assignments, wounds, captures, exchanges, paroles, honors, and place of death and interment.In addition to its main component, the biographies, the volume also includes a number of essays, tables, and synopses designed to clarify previously obscure matters such as the definition of grades and ranks; the difference between commissions in regular, provisional, volunteer, and militia services; the chronology of military laws and executive decisions before, during, and after the war; and the geographical breakdown of command structures. The book is illustrated with 84 new diagrams of all the insignias used throughout the war and with 129 portraits of the most important high commanders.
Author Notes
John H. Eicher is Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at Miami University of Ohio and a lifelong student of the Civil War. David J. Eicher is Managing Editor of Astronomy magazine and a well-known non-academic Civil War historian. He is the author of several books on the war, most recently Mystic Chords of Memory: Civil War Battlefields and Historic Sites Recaptured and The Civil War in Books: An Analytical Bibliography.
Reviews 2
Library Journal Review
Though the literature documenting Civil War military leaders is extensive, a one-volume reference that provides comprehensive biographical and background information on the thousands of leaders and complex military structure of the Union and the Confederacy would be a welcome addition to many libraries. Here, John H. Eicher (chemistry, emeritus, Miami Univ. of Ohio) and David J. Eicher (managing editor, Astronomy magazine; Mystic Chords of Memory) have combined brief biographical entries on over 3000 Union and Confederate military commanders with extensive background information. Even libraries that own Ezra J. Warner's Generals in Blue (1964) and Generals in Grey (1959) or William C. Davis's more recent The Confederate General (National Historical Society, 1991) will find this a useful reference source. Recommended for larger public, academic, and specialized Civil War collections. Theresa McDevitt, Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Choice Review
Until now, Civil War buffs and scholars have had to search several reference works to get the complete biography and service records for any Union or Confederate officer or official. For over 50 years, John Eicher (a retired chemist and Civil War expert) and his son David (editor of Astronomy magazine and a prolific Civil War author) have collected data concerning nearly 4,000 persons who were important during the War of the Rebellion and have now published their compilations. They give not only the birth, occupation, service record, wounds, and death and place of burial given for each individual, but also provide statistical tables and lists of grades, rank, and commands of all officers in the Union and Confederate armies and navies. Also of value are sections on the organization and command structures of the military and a chronology of important Civil War dates. There are photographs of numerous commanders. This amazing work should be owned by every research library. Its relatively low price will also make it a cornerstone in every Civil War buff's reference collection where it should stand beside David Eicher's The Civil War in Books: An Analytical Bibliography (CH, Jun'97). R. J. Havlik emeritus, University of Notre Dame
Table of Contents
| Foreword | p. xi |
| Preface | p. xv |
| Abbreviations, Acronyms, Symbols, and Military Lexicon | p. xxiii |
| Organization | p. 3 |
| United States Geopolitical Units during the Civil War Era | p. 3 |
| Principal Executives of the United States Government during the Civil War Era | p. 7 |
| Principal Executives of the Confederate States Government during the Civil War Era | p. 8 |
| Governors of the States and Territories during the Civil War Era | p. 9 |
| High Commanders in the Congress of the United States of America | p. 12 |
| Military Laws and Regulations of the United States Pertaining to High Commanders | p. 15 |
| High Commanders in the Congress of the Confederate States of America | p. 22 |
| Excerpts from the Legislative History of the Confederate States of America Pertaining to High Commanders | p. 23 |
| United States Army History and Wartime Organization | p. 29 |
| Organization and Principal Officers of the United States Army during the Civil War Era | p. 37 |
| Confederate States Army | p. 66 |
| Army of the Confederate States of America, Staff Bureaus, Departments, Special Services, and Offices | p. 69 |
| United States Navy | p. 73 |
| Principal Officers of the United States Navy Bureaus, Staff Corps, Offices, Commissions, and the Academy during the Civil War Era | p. 79 |
| Confederate States Navy | p. 83 |
| Navy of the Confederate States of America, Bureaus, Offices, Corps, Schools, and Agents | p. 86 |
| Official Honors Made to Men Who Were Generals or Flag Officers during the Civil War Era | p. 88 |
| High Commanders in Veterans' Organizations | p. 92 |
| Biographies | p. 97 |
| High Commanders | p. 97 |
| "Might-Have-Beens" | p. 587 |
| Directory of High Commanders' Birthplaces | p. 616 |
| Directory of High Commanders' Places of Interment | p. 660 |
| Grades and Rank | p. 701 |
| United States Army General Officers Active during the Civil War Era | p. 701 |
| Union Militia General Officers | p. 762 |
| United States Navy Flag Grades | p. 768 |
| Rank in the United States Army and United States Volunteers (Line Command List) | p. 772 |
| Rank in the United States Navy (Line Command List) | p. 784 |
| Confederate States Army General Officers and Navy Flag Officers Active during the Civil War Era | p. 787 |
| Confederate States Army Militia General Officers | p. 801 |
| Rank in the Confederate States Army and Navy (Line Command List) | p. 807 |
| Command Structure | p. 819 |
| United States Army Military Divisions, Departments, and Districts | p. 819 |
| United States Armies and Army Corps | p. 855 |
| United States Grand Divisions and Army Corps | p. 857 |
| United States Navy Squadrons or Flotillas and Their Commanders | p. 864 |
| Confederate States Principal Geographical Commands | p. 866 |
| Confederate States Principal Armies and Army Corps | p. 886 |
| Confederate States Principal Navy Squadrons and Their Commanders | p. 893 |
| Chronology of Some Important Civil War Dates | p. 895 |
| Alphabetical Index to the Chronology of Some Important Civil War Dates | p. 918 |
| Short Title Bibliography | p. 933 |
| Bibliography | p. 943 |
| Name Index | p. 969 |