Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Booknotes: The Army of the Cumberland

New Arrival:
The Army of the Cumberland: Organization, Strength, Casualties, 1862-1865
  by Darrell L. Collins (McFarland, 2019).

From the description: "Comprehensively researched from the 128 volumes of the reference work commonly referred to as the Official Records, this book delves deeply into the structural and statistical history of the Union army that served primarily in Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas during the American Civil War. Extensive details are provided regarding the army's evolving organization, its constantly fluctuating strength, and the sacrifices made during its many campaigns and battles."

With The Army of the Potomac (2013), The Army of Northern Virginia (2015), and The Army of Tennessee (2017) already under his belt, this is the now the fourth volume from the author's order of battle series addressing the principal armies of both sides. Between the first and second volumes there was a significant format change and this one carries on with the more recent version's focus triad on (1) organization tables and (2) strength returns on particular dates and (3) casualties suffered during the major campaigns and battles. The Army of the Cumberland's progenitor, the Department/Army of the Ohio, is also addressed in the volume.

2 comments:

  1. Drew: I know that the three earlier books apparently addressed batteries by number of guns and calibers/types (while in one instance using "12 lb" to cover both Napoleons and M1841 Howitzers even though no gunner in his right mind would/could use them interchangeably for the most part). Any information on the approach in this book?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John,
      In this volume, battery tube type coverage is very spotty (the overwhelming majority of the time you just get gun strength totals), but this time the author does differentiate between the different types of 12lb guns.

      Delete

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