Review - "The Cavalry of the Army of the Ohio: A Civil War History" by Dennis Belcher

[The Cavalry of the Army of the Ohio: A Civil War History by Dennis W. Belcher (McFarland, 2024). Softcover, maps, photos, illustrations, OB charts and tables, endnotes, bibliography, index. Pages main/total:viii,326/389. ISBN:978-1-4766-9232-6. $49.95]

It is generally agreed upon that Union cavalry forces navigated the early Civil War period in an unfavorable position. By traditional understanding, during the first two years of the war federal mounted forces suffered from strategic neglect and widespread inferiority in organization, leadership, quality of horseflesh, and even numbers. However, by dint of great supporting effort both behind the lines and at the fighting front, blue troopers, gradually equipped with superior firepower, an organized remount system, and benefiting from the emergence of a strong stable of experienced and gifted leaders, finally achieved rough parity with their foes by the war's midpoint. With Confederate cavalry worn down by steady attrition in all phases and a failing national war effort overall, the pendulum swung even further during the latter stages of the conflict, and by the end of the war Union cavalry, east and west, reigned supreme. Of course, that arc of progression is an oversimplification, but according to prolific western theater cavalry historian Dennis Belcher it largely holds true for the Union Army of the Ohio's mounted arm, which was composed of units from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and even Pennsylvania.

Belcher's The Cavalry of the Army of the Ohio: A Civil War History represents the first comprehensive treatment of the topic. Given the lack of continuity involved, after all the Army of the Ohio had two distinct lives (1861-62 and 1863-64) and arguably a third iteration, researching the subject and attempting to organize and write a cohesive history of it was a difficult task. As explained by the author, the process was rendered even more challenging by the existence of numerous wide gaps in the available source material.

At its heart, the book is a remarkably thorough organizational and operational history of mounted forces attached directly to the Army of the Ohio (and to a lesser extent the military department as a whole). The sheer breadth of military actions described in the volume, from tiny company-sized skirmishes all the way up to major battles. will impress novice and expert readers alike. Those discussions are not allowed to exist in a vacuum either, as the context of each confrontation, large or small, is typically explored at suitable depth. Documenting the progress of larger campaigns and battles from a cavalry-centric perspective also gives coverage of even the most well-trodden ground a fresh sheen. As was the case with Belcher's sister study of the Army of the Cumberland's cavalry, the narrative is richly supplemented with orders of battle, strength and casualty tables, maps, and illustrations. Inserted into the text at regular intervals, the detailed cavalry order of battle charts in particular are essential aids in piecing together which units were present at a given location and moment in time. Fighting events deemed too small to merit their own discussion in the main text are helpfully compiled into reference tables placed nearby.

As quickly becomes apparent while reading Belcher's narrative, mounted forces attached to the army and department of the Ohio during the early war period generally operated in a dispersed fashion, defensive rather than offensive in stance and reactive rather than proactive in movement. Most regiments were relegated to either rear-area security (guarding important railroad communications against up and coming Confederate raiders such as John Hunt Morgan and Nathan Bedford Forrest) or fulfilling traditional scouting and screening duties at the front. The earliest-formed regiments spent their time primarily in Kentucky and Tennessee, major points of involvement being Wildcat Mountain, Mill Springs, the Army of the Ohio's march on Nashville and to Shiloh, and the "Siege" of Corinth. In addition to those larger and more well-documented events, a host of smaller and more obscure engagements and skirmishes are described in the text. As Belcher relates, results in the field were generally mixed during the balance of 1861 and first half of 1862, but important structural improvements were in the offing.

The book traces the origins of offensive capability in the cavalry to post-Corinth movements of the Army of the Ohio and subsequent developments that led to the belated concentration of mounted regiments into multiple brigades. Critics of the measured pace of Army of the Ohio commander Don Carlos Buell's advance across northern Alabama toward Chattanooga often seem to underappreciate the logistical limitations involved. Incessant Confederate raids against Buell's lines of supply and communication proved to be a major problem. Indeed, Belcher explains that the lack of cavalry, in both numbers and organization, to oppose those rear-area raids played a major part in delaying his march (including a critical two-week halt). Buell repeatedly asked his superiors for more cavalry, but, as Washington responded, there were none to be had from elsewhere. New units would have to be recruited. By the time additional brigades (which would be able to finally go on the offensive against rear area threats to the railroads) could be employed, it was already too late to secure control of the Gateway to the South. Stop-gap measures such as creating mixed-arms brigades (with cavalry providing the mobility and infantry the firepower) and rushing newly raised cavalry regiments into the field without adequate arms and training had predictably mixed, and frequently atrocious, results. As Belcher clearly outlines in the book, 1862 would very much be a critical catch-up year for the mounted forces of the Army of the Ohio.

The book's in-depth coverage of Union mounted operations during the 1862 Kentucky Campaign notes both lingering problems in the cavalry arm and hope for the future. In the end, Belcher credits Buell's newly formed cavalry division with playing a major part in repelling the Confederate advance. Contributions included the capture of an entire Confederate cavalry regiment by McCook's Brigade, a screening of Buell's movements successful enough to keep his Confederate counterpart from correctly divining his intentions, and other noteworthy events. In the lead-up to Perryville and during the climactic battle itself, Gay's Brigade displayed a mixed record, fighting well at the front line but proving negligent in relaying critical intelligence information to the infantry it was supporting. To the south on Lebanon Road, McCook's Brigade led the advance of Crittenden's Corps but was unable to penetrate the enemy screen. On the whole, things were getting better, but further improvements were still necessary. As emerged during the Buell court of inquiry, the cavalry's chain of command was still a confused and internally miscommunicated mess. Nevertheless, as the Army of the Ohio was dissolved with Buell's dismissal and its cavalry folded into the new Army of the Cumberland led by William Rosecrans, the roots of the strong performances of federal cavalry brigades during the Stones River Campaign had their foundation in incremental improvements made over the previous summer and fall.

While the Army of the Ohio was not formally reborn until 1863, the balance of 1862 witnessed a number of operations by Department of the Ohio cavalry, most notably (and as detailed in the book) Carter's Raid into East Tennessee and the Union response to Morgan's Christmas Raid. With the dissolution of the Army of the Ohio, it was left to scattered cavalry units back in Kentucky to guard Rosecrans's rear and combat a new series of Confederate raids into Kentucky and East Tennessee. According to Belcher, sources suggest that at least five provisional brigades were organized during this time and the efficiency displayed by those involved in opposing Morgan's Great Raid of June-July 1863 proved that some strong measure of parity with Confederate cavalry in the West had finally been accomplished. Coincidentally or not, this is the exact same moment in time that the eastern theater Union cavalry proclaimed that it had achieved the same qualitative and moral edge against J.E.B. Stuart's celebrated troopers.

When the new Army of the Ohio finally advanced into East Tennessee in August 1863 and captured Knoxville against little opposition, it was primarily through the cavalry-heavy Twenty-Third Corps. After capturing the city, the cavalry spread out over a large area of occupation, frequently coming into contact with the enemy. In addition to detailing the most important aspect of the mounted arm's contributions to the successful campaign, Belcher provides comprehensive lists of a great many minor actions. By any estimate, the dispersed cavalry of Burnside's army did the lion's share of the fighting in occupied East Tennessee that fall and early winter. During the Confederate attempt to recapture Knoxville, the cavalry also had a large impact on the flow of events. Among other episodes, Belcher details their key role in winning the "race to Campbell's Station" and Colonel William Sanders's stiff rear guard delaying action before Knoxville that cost him his life.

An argument could be made that the Army of the Ohio cavalry's prodigious, but largely behind-the-scenes, labors in East Tennessee rank highest among its many contributions to the Union war effort. In recounting at length numerous engagements of which the cavalry fought front and center, including an abundance of obscure small actions that even many informed students of the Civil War in this region will likely not readily recognize or know only in passing, Belcher builds a strong case that the cavalry of the Army of Ohio performed its best and most valuable service during a highly active six-month period beginning in September 1863. During that time, the cavalry operated at corps strength (nearly 9,000 troopers with even more units added as time went on) over a large geographical area, constantly battling and skirmishing with the enemy under some of the war's most challenging environmental and logistical conditions (so much so that obtaining sufficient remounts was a widespread and persistent problem).

In January 1864, the Army of the Ohio received yet another new commander, General John Schofield, and for the upcoming Atlanta Campaign he would have the controversial George Stoneman as his cavalry chief. When readers think of the role of the Army of the Ohio's cavalry during the Civil War, it is likely that this campaign most often comes to mind. Unfortunately, by a combination of factors (including Sherman's widely documented inability to get the best out of his army group's large mounted forces), the ways in which the campaign unfolded did not display the cavalry's improved performance and stature at their finest. According to Belcher, much of that was due to what happened during General Samuel Sturgis's short tenure as Army of the Ohio cavalry chief, during which longstanding issues went unresolved and there was massive turnover in divisional and brigade leadership. As revealed in the book, the general "disarray" in the cavalry's organization, leadership, and condition extended through the early months of 1864 (when lack of remounts continued to plague the army). All of that left the mounted forces directly attached to the Army of the Ohio poorly prepared for the upcoming rigors of the four-month Atlanta Campaign. While the more disastrous deep raids conducted beyond Atlanta garner much of the attention and largely reflect poorly on the decision-making and priorities of the higher echelons of command (including Sherman, but Stoneman in particular), Belcher convincingly maintains that the veteran regiments continued to operate at a high level, most notably during the earlier stages of the campaign.

Upon the successful conclusion of the Atlanta Campaign, the cavalry's association with the Army of the Ohio ended, but Belcher's narrative continues to follow the noteworthy services of the old regiments through the balance of the war (much of the focus being on the Nashville Campaign). As demonstrated throughout the book, the evolution of the cavalry attached to the Army of the Ohio largely paralleled wider trends and developments across the western theater, the end stage of which was embodied in James Wilson's celebrated lightning campaign through the heart of the Deep South during the waning moments of the war.

The author of a major biography of Union major general David Stanley, an organizational history of the Army of the Cumberland's mounted arm, a unit study of the Chicago Board of Trade battery, and a trio of deep studies detailing cavalry operations during the Stones River, Chickamauga, and Nashville campaigns, Dennis Belcher has quickly become one of the leading authorities on Civil War cavalry in the western theater. Admirably weathering the prodigious challenge of taking an inherently fragmented topic and instilling a coherent order of progression to its history, The Cavalry of the Army of the Ohio only enhances Belcher's growing reputation. Highly recommended.