Review - "Honey Springs, Oklahoma: Historical Archaeology of a Civil War Battlefield" William Lees

[Honey Springs, Oklahoma: Historical Archaeology of a Civil War Battlefield by William B. Lees (Texas A&M University Press, 2025) Hardcover, maps, photos, illustrations, tables, notes, bibliography, index. Pages main/total:xx,269/327. ISBN:978-1-64843-293-4. $50]

On July 17, 1863, two armies (large ones by frontier Trans-Mississippi theater standards) clashed north of Honey Springs in Indian Territory. The Union army led by aggressive Frontier District commander James Blunt trounced a Confederate force assembled by General Douglas Cooper to oppose the federal advance down the Texas Road, a key military artery in the region. A clear Union tactical victory, the battle was also a major strategic defeat for the Confederate forces, one that further splintered tribal alliances already shaken by prior events and military disasters such as the October 22, 1862 Battle of Old Fort Wayne. Even though many modern historians recognize Honey Springs as being the most consequential Civil War battle fought in Indian Territory, the clash still lacks a book-length treatment. Why that significance, combined with the battle's exceptional stature as a triracial Civil War engagement with allied Indians forming the majority of combatants on both sides, has not garnered more published scholarly attention beyond articles and book chapters remains curious. Thankfully, archaeologist William Lees has stepped in to address that longstanding gap. While not a conventional narrative history, his newly published Honey Springs, Oklahoma: Historical Archaeology of a Civil War Battlefield represents the battle's first major standalone study of any kind.

In Honey Springs, Oklahoma, Lees employs the three-headed interpretive approach that a number of his colleagues have used to noteworthy effect in fostering fresh understanding of both obscure and well-known Civil War military events. Thus, in addition to piecing together a picture of the Honey Springs battle through traditional documentary resources (including "memory" writings such as contemporary letters, journals, official reports, etc.), this study incorporates conflict archaeology methodologies pioneered decades ago by Douglas Scott and others along with extensive terrain analysis supported by widely accepted analytical frameworks such the KOCOA system developed by the U.S. military as a way to "help military strategists evaluate landscape for tactical or defensive advantage and risk" (pg. 5).

Setting the stage, memory sources and official documents were used by Lees to construct a chapter-length narrative overview of the Honey Springs battle along with meticulously crafted orders of battle. In addition to compiling numbers and losses data, that lengthy discussion of army structure and makeup secures a great many details that are central to getting the most out of the archaeological part of the investigation. Identifying and matching uniform, equipment, and weaponry information to specific units allowed the author to use artifact evidence mapping of such items as a reliable means of tracing likely unit positions and locations of concentrated fighting on the battlefield.

Though the author readily acknowledges that the sheer amount and degree of artifact information presented in the book might be tedious to the general reader, his extensive examination of fired and unfired/dropped ammunition (and his documentation of their locations through precise GIS mapping) is for others a fascinating exercise in locating and following opposing battle lines through artifact analysis. The amount of artillery ammunition (in particular case and canister shot) found during Lees's many archaeological surveys of the battlefield matches the use of that arm as revealed in the written documentation. Generally speaking, the great preponderance of spherical ball ammunition of all kinds might seem unusual for a mid-war battle, but many units that served along the trans-Mississippi frontier (especially the Confederate regiments and the Indian units of both sides) had to make due with second and even third-rate arms. Also speaking to theater shortages of military-grade armaments (particularly on the Confederate side) is the large number of civilian-caliber shoulder arm ammunition found on the Honey Springs battlefield.

Diversity of arms and ammunition findings was in many ways expected, but one class of artifact was exceptionally striking. Civil War Indian units were routinely issued available firearms just like their white and black compatriots, but it is nevertheless intriguing that arrowheads made out of reshaped metal were also uncovered during the field surveys. Some maintain that the arrowheads are not battle related, but Lees persuasively determines that contextual correlation with other battlefield artifact evidence points strongly toward a linkage. As Lees explains, the arrow tips also provide further evidence that tribal allies did not entirely discard older martial traditions upon enrollment in regularly organized Union and Confederate units (though it is possible that inadequate arms and ammunition drove some amount of bow and arrow use as well).

In addition to employing GIS mapping to reveal battle lines, likely positions of particular units along those lines, and areas of the heaviest combat, the archaeological investigations of Lees and his colleagues were able to clearly delineate the boundaries of the fighting and separate the battle into three distinct phases labeled by the author as the "Prairie," "Elk Creek," and "Pumpkin Ridge" engagements. Interestingly, Lees's team also found archaeological evidence of another engagement (north of the Prairie clash) not specifically referenced in memory sources. Light in nature, this is thought to have been outpost skirmishing that preceded the main battle.

The U.S. military's battlespace and KOCOA [an acronym representing "Key Terrain, Observation and Fields of Fire, Concealment and Cover, Obstacles, and Avenues of Approach"] concepts of terrain analysis are applied in detailed fashion by the author to all three aforementioned sectors of the battlefield. That process ends up deeply informing our assessments of tactical decision-making during the Honey Springs battle along with the many ways in which topography and other terrain considerations affected battlefield deployments and, ultimately, the nature and foci of the fighting.

The results of Lees's memory, archaeology, and terrain analysis investigations suggest that Cooper's curved battle line established just north of Elm Creek, variously estimated as being between 1 and 1.5 miles in length, was the best position available to receive Blunt's attack. With broad open space in front, a favorable position for both placement of his army's lone battery and utilization of the treeline for cover, Cooper faced off against Blunt's advancing army and its twelve guns (artifact GIS mapping also hints very strongly at a treeline location much closer to Elk Creek than previously realized). Surprisingly, archaeology reveals that fighting on the Prairie battlefield existed on a very narrow front, perhaps only one-third of mile in width (at the center and right of the Confederate defensive line, straddling the Texas Road). With memory sources suggesting engagement on a much wider front, this was a surprising finding. Though the Elk Creek valley has been heavily visited by relic hunters, remaining archaeological evidence strongly indicates a precise location for the Elm Creek bridge. Those artifacts and the reality of overwhelming Union artillery superiority strongly point toward an Elk Creek engagement of only brief duration after the sudden Confederate collapse and withdrawal from the prairie engagement just to the north. Terrain analysis revealing the extent of higher ground north of the creek also supports Cooper's decision to not initially deploy his forces along the waterway's south bank. Finally, the archaeology associated with the Pumpkin Ridge engagement confirms the existence of a determined Confederate stand (most likely from Colonel Tandy Walker's well-regarded First Choctaw and Chickasaw regiment, previously in reserve) that arguably prevented Cooper's general withdrawal from becoming a rout.

While the GIS mapping of the artifact evidence is prodigious, the only Honey Springs battle map included in the book is a reproduction of Wiley Britton's crude schematic drawing first published in 1899. Unfortunately, the volume misses the opportunity to apply the cutting-edge findings of its investigative triad of memory, archaeology, and terrain analysis toward another useful end, that of producing state of the art tactical maps of the Prairie, Elk Creek, and Pumpkin Ridge engagements.

Clearly, multiple factors played a part in Cooper's defeat. Never highly regarded for his generalship, Cooper apparently did not order his forces to prepare temporary breastworks or other improvements to his defensive position, nor did he designate a fallback position to his subordinates. The lack of archaeological evidence of significant fighting on the Confederate left supports Creek Confederate officer George Washington Grayson's critical contention that Cooper did not manage to get all, or even most, of his available forces up to the fighting front before Blunt struck Cooper's center and right with local numerical superiority, breaking the Confederate line. It seems clear that firepower disparities out of Cooper's control, notably the 12:4 superiority in Union artillery pieces, also played a major role in the Confederate defeat. In addition to the fact that Cherokee Confederate Colonel Stand Watie's absence from his unit while on detached service during the battle created a leadership vacuum that was inadequately filled, Lees points out that tribal tactics rarely involved standing up against artillery, and that martial tradition also might have had a significant impact on large parts of Cooper's command being absent from the fighting front. Lees does address Cooper's post-battle (and perhaps self-serving) complaint that defective gunpowder was the primary cause of his defeat. It is a difficult matter to assess in terms of reality versus perception, but the author brings up a good point that the effective stand at Pumpkin Ridge demonstrated that at least some of the units in the Confederate army had decent quality powder supplies available.

Filled with noteworthy insights and persuasive interpretation, William Lees's Honey Springs, Oklahoma is highly recommended for its fresh and fulsome contributions to our modern understanding of an understudied trans-Mississippi battle with a highly consequential shadow. Significantly, Lees's impressive work further buttresses growing recognition that conflict archaeology possesses a unique and highly valuable utility in the multi-disciplinary investigation of Civil War campfires and battlefields. Highly recommended.

Booknotes: The Devil’s Own Purgatory

New Arrival:

• The Devil’s Own Purgatory: The United States Mississippi River Squadron in the Civil War by Robert Gudmestad (LSU Press, 2025).

A number of fairly recent books, among them Gary Joiner's single volume overview Mr. Lincoln's Brown Water Navy: The Mississippi Squadron (2007), Barbara Tomblin's leadership and personnel-focused study The Civil War on the Mississippi: Union Sailors, Gunboat Captains, and the Campaign to Control the River (2016), and Myron Smith's multitude of vessel and western waterway operations histories, have explored numerous facets of the U.S. Navy's equal partnership with the army in winning the Civil War in the West. Touted as "the first complete history, " the latest contribution to this expansive modern naval literature is Robert Gudmestad's The Devil’s Own Purgatory: The United States Mississippi River Squadron in the Civil War.

Gudmestad examines the full range of actions undertaken by the Mississippi River Squadron along the vast Mississippi River Valley, where it "battered Confederate forts, participated in combined operations with the army, obliterated the Confederate fleet, protected Union supply lines, fought a river-based counterinsurgency war, raided plantations, and facilitated the freedom of thousands of enslaved people."

Perhaps the most unique element of Gudmestad's study is its "blend of qualitative and quantitative evidence," particularly the latter. His team of researchers was able to compile "a dataset of information for over 15,000 sailors who toiled in the Mississippi River Squadron," a critical data pool that underpins his study's demographic analysis. The book's introduction also cites another unique dataset "tracking the irregular war" along the Mississippi River Valley's network of waterways (pg. 4).

Gudmestad's research leads him to characterize the squadron's war as unfolding in four phases, the first involving conventional direct naval attacks against Confederate vessels and forts, the second a shift toward logistical support for the army's deep advances, and the third a heightening of the riverine counterinsurgency fight, the war on civilians, the squadron's dependency on black recruitment, and participation in military emancipation. The fourth and last phase is interesting in that the author contends that the expired service of experienced crews weakened the squadron to such an extent that the Confederates were able to achieve "their greatest successes in knocking out Union boats" (pg. 5).

Booknotes: A Summer of Battles - The Final Weeks of the Civil War's 1864 Atlanta Campaign (Volume 2)

New Arrival:

• A Summer of Battles - The Final Weeks of the Civil War's 1864 Atlanta Campaign, Volume 2: Jonesboro, Lovejoy's Station and the Capture of Atlanta by David Allison (Author, 2025).

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier Booknotes entry for Volume 1 was that the pair comes in both hardback and paperback versions. The cover art is the same, with the hardback being jacket-less with a glossy covering over the boards.

From the description: "Volume 2 picks up as General Sherman’s army approaches the Macon railroad in several places south of Atlanta, aiming to cut the vital railroad supply line of the Confederate army holding Atlanta." The narrative "provides an in-depth exploration of the Confederate attack at Jonesboro on August 31, 1864, and the Federal attack on September 1", and it "wraps up with accounts of the fighting at Lovejoy’s Station and the conclusion of the Atlanta Campaign."

The main narrative runs just over 300 pages, so the second volume is similar in size to the first. I handcounted four maps (two for the Battle of Jonesboro) in support of the text. More: "Appendices document some of the terrible human costs of the final weeks of fighting among soldiers and their families, an important topic often ignored in other works focused on the highest levels of command." Other appendix topics include more extensive looks at casualty numbers and care of the wounded. Some disputed points, such as assigning blame for Hood's "escape," are also addressed in the appendix section.

Coming Soon (December '25 Edition)

Scheduled for DEC 2025¹:
• Between King Cotton and Queen Victoria: How Pirates, Smugglers, and Scoundrels Almost Saved the Confederacy by Beau Cleland.
• Texan in Blue: Captain Francis Asbury Vaughan of the First Texas Cavalry, USA ed. by McCaslin & Stewart.
• Border War: A Yankee Family in Civil War Missouri: A Yankee Family in Civil War Missouri by Marilyn Ferris Motz.
• Missouri and the Secession Crisis: A Documentary History by Dwight Pitcaithley.

¹ - These monthly release lists are not meant to be exhaustive compilations of non-fiction releases. They generally do not include reprints that are not significantly revised/expanded, publisher exclusives, children's books, and digital-only titles. Works that only tangentially address the war years are also routinely excluded. Inevitably, one or more titles on this list will get a rescheduled release (and they do not get repeated later), so revisiting the past few "Coming Soon" posts is the best way to pick up stragglers.

Booknotes: A Summer of Battles - The Final Weeks of the Civil War's 1864 Atlanta Campaign (Volume 1)

New Arrival:

• A Summer of Battles - The Final Weeks of the Civil War's 1864 Atlanta Campaign, Volume 1: The Siege of Atlanta, Utoy Creek and The Grand Movement by David Allison (Author, 2025).

Well, I hope everyone had a nice and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday (and the turkey wasn't too dry!).

Soon after I brought up the release of these books in an earlier post, the author contacted me and kindly offered to send over copies for review consideration on the site.

As noted before, David Allison's two-volume set addresses at length the final forty days of the 1864 Atlanta Campaign, those late-stage military events still being the literature's least well-covered parts of the campaign to date (although I would imagine that Earl Hess's long-awaited Jonesboro book might emerge sometime in the near future). In covering those actions, Allison's two-volume narrative "presents a wealth of first-hand accounts from soldiers in a day-to-day timeline that will help readers understand the remarkable events that took place on the north, west and south sides of Atlanta in the late summer of 1864."

From the description: "Volume 1 covers August 1864, when the Northern and Southern armies faced off along 15 miles of earthworks and trenches north and west of Atlanta. Volume 1 also takes a close look at the under-studied fighting in the Utoy Creek area southwest of Atlanta, including the Battle of Utoy Creek on August 6, 1864. And it follows the evolution of General Sherman’s reluctant decision to make The Grand Movement.

Volume 1's main text, exclusive of the appendix section, runs 300 pages. Glancing through the page block, I counted six maps (3 Jesperson originals, include a pair of Utoy Creek tactical maps, and 3 archival reproductions). In addition, photographs and informational tables of various types are interspersed throughout. A formal bibliography did not make it into either volume, but a quick thumb through the endnotes clearly indicates that the author conducted extensive research.

Booknotes: The Civil War Sacrifice of Somerset County, Pennsylvania

New Arrival:

• The Civil War Sacrifice of Somerset County, Pennsylvania by Gerald H. Ankeny (McFarland, 2025).

From the description: "Somerset County, in southwestern Pennsylvania, lost more than 400 of its men in the American Civil War. This book tells the county's wartime story through the experiences of its fallen soldiers and their comrades who served with them, those people who supported them in life and mourned them in death."

The publication of Civil War county histories has really fallen off of late (trends come and go), which is unfortunate given that such studies have served as great vehicles for examining some of the dustier corners of the home and fighting fronts across both sections. Among its other features, Gerald Ankeny's The Civil War Sacrifice of Somerset County, Pennsylvania is noteworthy for its uncommon approach to county history. More from the description: "Built on information gained from researching the date, place, and cause of death for each Union soldier from the county who died during the war, and whose name is memorialized in stone, the narrative describes the physical, emotional, and societal toll that those deaths inflicted on the citizens of the county whether they served in uniform or not."

For his roster, Ankeny gathered a list of 412 names from the Somerset County Civil War Soldiers' Monument and embarked on a research journey (centered upon "(m)ilitary service records, pension files, muster rolls, and medical reports") that was ultimately, and impressively, able to "accurately document the deaths of more than 93% of the men named on the monument" (pg. 4).

More than ten regiments had Somerset County men in their ranks. In addition to housing the monument roster of slain, the appendix section includes fatality information in chart form, which reveals that the 54th, 142nd, 85th, 10th Reserves, 133rd, 148th, 171st, 93rd, and 5th Heavy Artillery were the regiments (in descending order) with the heaviest losses in Somerset County men. Fredericksburg, New Market, and Gettysburg were the three battles that produced the highest number of the county's combat deaths.

In addition to providing a chronological narrative of events from 1861 to 1865, the text explores the intimate connections between individual soldiers and their families, the "shared experience of the community," and more general connections between home and fighting fronts (pg. 6). More: "First-person accounts from Somerset's men in the ranks provide unique perspectives of famous battles like Gettysburg, lesser-known actions like Piedmont, and incidents in camp and on the march. Ultimately, the story emphasizes the exorbitant price paid by these soldiers, their families, and their community because of the war." Ankeny's narrative also extends beyond the war's conclusion and includes a chapter discussing the history behind the Soldiers' Monument and its 1888 dedication.

Booknotes: The 14th New York State Militia in the Civil War, Vol. 1

New Arrival:

• The 14th New York State Militia in the Civil War, Volume 1: "Baptized by Fire"-from Bull Run to Bull Run, April 1861-August 1862 by James L. McLean, Jr. (Savas Beatie, 2025).

Back in 2023, Savas Beatie published James McLean's “The Bullets Flew Like Hail”: Cutler’s Brigade at Gettysburg, from McPherson’s Ridge to Culp’s Hill. One of the regiments that fought with that brigade at Gettysburg and elsewhere was the 14th New York State Militia (aka 14th Brooklyn and, officially, the 84th New York Infantry Regiment), and McLean's interest in that particular unit runs deep. The ultimate expression of that devotion is a highly ambitious three-volume regimental history project, the first installment being the newly released The 14th New York State Militia in the Civil War, Volume 1: "Baptized by Fire"-from Bull Run to Bull Run, April 1861-August 1862, which "chronicles the near-daily exploits of the 14th New York State Militia recruited from Brooklyn. Known as chasseurs or Red Legs for their distinctive uniforms, the men of the 14th N.Y.S.M. endured grueling marches, brutal weather, and fierce battles from April 1861 to August 1862."

Though their efforts could not stave off a resounding defeat, the 14th made a splash during the eastern theater's first major battle. More from the description: "During these first 15 months of war, the regiment earned praise from both allies and adversaries. In January 1862, a Union soldier encamped near the chasseurs wrote to his hometown newspaper that the “Brooklyn Boys” were “respected for their courage and prowess at the Battle of Bull Run”..."In August 1862, the 14th N.Y.S.M. faced a grueling campaign marked by night marches, scant rations, and relentless skirmishes, culminating in three harrowing days of combat at the Second Battle of Bull Run, where the regiment served with distinction."

Over 500 pages in length after including the front and back matter, this is a big and heavy 7"x10" book. The narrative is the result of "decades of research, including nearly 200 visits to the National Archives, the examination of documents at the New York State Archives, and the exploration of collections at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Letters, diaries, and images shared by descendants and collectors further enrich this study." If the following two volumes are this size or larger, this might become the highest word-count Civil War regimental history of all time. That enormous depth comes at a bit of a cost in that the text font is a challenge for those of us who started out young adulthood with fighter pilot vision but are now forced to use readers! It's a beautifully put together package, from the thick glossy paper stock to the sepia-toned contemporary images, color illustrations, and color cartography. Speaking of maps, they are three-dozen in number and follow the regiment from its Brooklyn origins to its assaults on the unfinished railroad at Second Bull Run.

Though a celebrated regiment during the war, according to McLean the Brooklyn Chasseurs "faded into obscurity" after the conflict ended. In addition to producing little in the way of veteran writings, "(o)nly three battle reports by its officers appear in the Official Records, two of which describe but minor engagements." Nevertheless, "records of allied and opposing regiments provide critical insights into the Brooklyn soldiers and their experiences. The result is a vivid examination of the regiment’s initial 15 months of service through the eyes of the common soldiers: their reasons for enlisting, their reactions to the challenges of military life, the evolution of their attitudes toward combat, and the lasting impact of wounds and illnesses into the postwar years."

The book is produced in a limited edition consisting of 119 signed and 600 numbered unsigned copies. These are only available direct from the publisher or from the author himself, so thanks to Mr. McLean for reaching out to me to inquire about review interest and for sending along a collector-coveted low number copy from his personal allotment. I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Booknotes: Saltgrass Prairie Saga

New Arrival:

• Saltgrass Prairie Saga: A German American Family in Texas by Jim Burnett (TAMU Pr, 2025).

In the Confederate wartime experience, isolation between home and fighting fronts was among the most extreme for Texas soldiers and civilians. The state of Texas and the rest of the Trans-Mississippi theater comprised a vast land mass on its own, and its soldiers were additionally spread all across the western theater and, perhaps most famously, into Lee's army in Virginia. The isolating effects of those vast distances between camp and battlefields on one end and home and hearth on the other were only exacerbated by uncertain communications across the wide Mississippi River that became almost impossibly precarious post-Vicksburg. Those challenges and more are explored in Jim Burnett's Saltgrass Prairie Saga: A German American Family in Texas.

From the description: "In Saltgrass Prairie Saga, John and Johanette Stengler, with their seven children in tow, leave the small central German village of Dietz and land in Galveston on New Year’s Eve, 1845: two days after Texas officially joined the United States. The world this family entered is contextualized through military reports, newspaper articles, personal correspondence, and local and state records." Though the book follows a long stretch of Texas and family history, the emphasis is on the Civil War years (which is, of course, great for our purposes!).

Questions addressed through the lens of the Stengler family Civil War experience include: "(W)hat was life like for the families who endured wartime separation? How did women ensure stability at home while their husbands, fathers, and brothers were ordered away to risk their lives? How did families remain connected despite separation and the pressures of survival?"

In sum: "Blending life and settlement on the frontier, the early years of the Texas cattle trade, the waves of immigration during the period, and the impact of the Civil War, Saltgrass Prairie Saga offers a fresh view of a pivotal period in Texas history."

This is an April title that was checklisted with the publisher, but, as sometimes happens, the prospective review copy must have gotten lost in the shuffle somewhere, never made it into my hands, and ended up fading from my mind. Happily, the author contacted me a short time ago and inquired about my interest in getting a copy directly from him. So special thanks to Jim for both the fresh reminder of this interesting book (which looks like something right up my alley) and for sending one my way.

Booknotes: "Mending Broken Soldiers" paperback edition

New Arrival:

• Mending Broken Soldiers: The Union and Confederate Programs to Supply Artificial Limbs by Guy R. Hasegawa (SIU Press, 2025 pb ed).

From the description: Guy Hasegawa's Mending Broken Soldiers is "the first volume to explore the wartime provisions made for amputees in need of artificial limbs—programs that were the forebears of modern governmental efforts to assist in the rehabilitation of wounded service members. Hasegawa offers a comprehensive look at the artificial-limb industry, including detailed descriptions of the ingenious designs employed by manufacturers; illustrations and photographs of period prosthetics; accounts of the rapid advancement of medical technology during the Civil War; and in-depth examinations of the companies that manufactured limbs for soldiers and bid for contracts, including at least one still in existence today."

This is the new paperback reissue of the book. I reviewed the first edition hardcover back in 2012. To read it, go HERE.

Review - "Decisions at Chancellorsville: The Sixteen Critical Decisions That Defined the Battle" by Sarah Bierle

[Decisions at Chancellorsville: The Sixteen Critical Decisions That Defined the Battle by Sarah Kay Bierle (Command Decisions in America’s Civil War series - University of Tennessee Press, 2025). Paperback, 17 maps, photographs, battlefield touring guide, orders of battle, endnotes, bibliography, index. Pages main/total:xx,142,277. ISBN:978-1-62190-956-9. $24.95]

Decisions at Chancellorsville is the latest installment of University of Tennessee Press's Command Decisions in America’s Civil War series, which has published multiple titles each year since 2018. In addition to the prolific release schedule that the series continues to maintain, fresh blood is infused into its stable of authors on a fairly regular basis, too, and this is Sarah Kay Bierle's first contribution. And a fine one it is.

Now for the obligatory background summary for those unfamiliar with the series and its structure. First, it should be noted that these books do not examine Civil War campaigns and battles through the traditional narrative perspective and format. Instead, the main content is presented through a chronological sequence of "critical decision" analyses. In the hierarchy of decision-making, critical decisions are defined as being those command choices that produce profound consequences in their immediate aftermath and that meaningfully shape the course of ensuing events.

As outlined in previous reviews, analysis of each critical decision follows a standardized format to which every volume strictly adheres. Discussion progresses through five linked stages—Situation, Options, Decision, Result(s)/Impact, and Alternate Decision/Scenario. The first and typically lengthiest section, Situation describes the state of affairs at a crossroads moment in the campaign or battle. It provides readers with the background information necessary to recognize and evaluate the range of reasonable Options (most frequently two or three in number) available for addressing the situation. The historical Decision is then outlined before the Result(s)/Impact section recounts what happened and how those results shaped subsequent events. A degree of emphasis is placed on tracing lasting effects of critical decisions made earlier. Finally, an optional Alternate Decision/Scenario section delves into alternative history conjecture based on choices not made. In this case, Bierle elected not to engage with the optional alternate history component, which is perfectly fine.

In the series, critical decisions are categorized as being either strategic, operational, tactical, organizational, logistical, or personnel-related. Bierle organizes the sixteen decisions of her study into six groupings: the pre-battle January-April 1863 interval and the May 1, May 2, May 3 (in two parts), and May 4-6. Those six sub-sections contain three critical decisions each, the exception being the last, which includes a single one involving Army of the Potomac commander Joseph Hooker's retreat decision. There are a preponderance of tactical-level critical decisions. In the author's view, the total numbers disparity (nine for the Union side and six for the Confederates) represents Hooker's persistent struggle to reassert control of events after the strong start to his campaign quickly fizzled. Although he had many opportunities during those first days in May to impose (or reimpose) his will upon Robert E. Lee's vastly outnumbered army, Hooker's choices instead led him to "give up his military advantages and initiative, handing opportunity to Lee to react" (pg. xvi), with decisive reaction on the part of Lee forming several of the Confederate side's half-dozen critical decisions. Supporting the volume's decision analysis are 17 maps, a 12-stop driving tour, an appendix examining the campaign's historical memory (that is not a regular series feature), and orders of battle for both sides.

Beirle's selection of critical decisions and their available option formulations together exhibit a very strong grasp of both big picture and more nuanced elements of the military history literature associated with the Chancellorsville Campaign. Each option is effectively framed for the reader through thoughtful weighing of the benefits and risks attached to it (some of which have a fresh ring to them).

For the series as a whole, nearly all critical decisions are made by individuals, mostly high-ranking military officers and top government officials. Collective critical decisions are thus highly unusual, but Bierle has two of them. In her assessment, the final Union assault on Marye's Heights was a group decision among frontline small-unit commanders. Another decision involving multiple parties was the possibility of medical and military officers deciding as a group that Hooker was too incapacitated (presumably by concussion) to remain in command after the pillar he was leaning against was struck by cannon fire. Another interesting matter related to the Fredericksburg sector of the battlefield is Bierle's willingness to take up the truce flag controversy, a matter recently addressed at some length in Erik Nelson's 2024 study of the eastern half of the expansive Chancellorsville battlefield, as a critical decision impacting the final Fredericksburg assaults. Though not related to any particular critical decision (and thus not explored further), the author's criticism of Jeb Stuart's infantry tactics (characterizing them as overly wasteful frontal assaults) on May 3 after the cavalryman took over leadership of wounded Stonewall Jackson's Second Corps forms a dissenting opinion perhaps worthy of mention. Most modern writers, including the general's most recent biographer, have not adopted that same view, instead arguing that Stuart performed well after being abruptly thrust into infantry corps command in the middle of a major battle.

In terms of arguable 'misses,' Bierle's set lacks a standalone decision related to how George Stoneman's cavalry corps would be used during the campaign. Incorporating it into the discussion as just a part of Hooker's overall planning options lends an element of inevitability to how Stoneman's role in the campaign would unfold that is perhaps not warranted. On the other hand, there is no guarantee that Hooker, even if he had eschewed the deep raid option in favor of keeping his cavalry nearby, would have deployed his cavalry as close tactical support in ways that might have kept him better informed as to Lee's movements and protected the open right of his army from getting crushed by Jackson's massive flank attack.

As mentioned before, one of the conceptual qualities of the critical decision is that its impact extends beyond the immediate period in ways that meaningfully shape downstream campaign and battlefield events. Interestingly, Bierle goes beyond that, showing how critical decisions during the Chancellorsville Campaign affected the Gettysburg Campaign that followed it. For example, Bierle suggests that Third Corps commander Dan Sickles's dismay at Hooker's critical decision ordering him to abandon the Hazel Grove high ground (leaving it to the Confederates for use as a devastating artillery platform that transformed the fighting around the Chancellorsville crossroads) might very well have been a bitter learning experience that directly informed his determination, misguided or not, to press forward to occupy the higher ground fronting his assigned position as the left flank of the Union army at Gettysburg. As another example, contemporary observers and present day writers alike have praised Hooker's winter reforms that restored Army of the Potomac morale after Fredericksburg and placed it on a strong footing for the spring, but Chancellorsville exposed the flaws in Hooker's artillery arm reorganization. Hooker's belated, mid-battle decision cited by Bierle that restored Hunt's authority over the army's artillery had a positive short-term impact (albeit limited by circumstances), and it led to Hunt being given authority to reorganize the artillery after the battle in ways that improved its performance at Gettysburg. Bierle also suggests that Fifth Corps commander George Meade's experience with Hooker's mismanaged Chancellorsville council of war, which resulted in the commanding general going against majority opinion of his principal subordinates and ordering a retreat, shaped how Meade would conduct his own critical decision during a similarly key moment at Gettysburg on the night of July 2-3.

Consistency is a hallmark of the Command Decisions in America’s Civil War series, which is pretty remarkable given the hectic release schedule and multitude of contributors involved, and Sarah Bierle's Decisions at Chancellorsville strongly upholds that reputation while also adding some unique elements of its own. Hopefully, we'll see more of her quality input in the future.

Booknotes: Richmond Views the West

New Arrival:

• Richmond Views the West: Politics and Perceptions in the Confederate Capital by Larry Daniel (UP of Kansas, 2025).

Larry Daniel's Richmond Views the West: Politics and Perceptions in the Confederate Capital seeks to answer the following question: "How did politicians, bureaucrats, reporters, and civilians in Richmond understand a war being fought a thousand miles away?" Rather than looking backward with a critical engine fueled by a mountain of modern scholarship, Daniel instead focuses on what was known (or what was thought to be known, the "perceptions" of the book's subtitle) at the time. In the end, Daniel "shows for the first time how poor intelligence, fierce politics, and cultural prejudice affected Confederate strategy in the Western Theater."

For the purposes of the study, the author divides the Confederacy into three geographical parts: the Trans-Mississippi (self-explanatory), the Heartland (TN, MS, AL, cis-Mississippi LA, and most of GA), and the East (VA, NC, SC, a coastal strip of GA, and FL). Daniel's "West" is the combined Trans-Mississippi and Heartland regions.

From the description: "In his novel approach to understanding the Western Theater of the U.S. Civil War, Larry Daniel brings new insight and understanding to the war without ever setting foot in the West. Rather, he takes readers to Richmond, Virginia, to see how the war was understood in the Confederate Capitol. We see in real time how the Jefferson Davis administration received, understood, and reacted to reports from the front, which often arrived in Richmond days after they were written. Daniel gives voice to cabinet members, War Department clerks, congressmen, capitol reporters, and even civilians, all watching the war unfold hundreds of miles away."

As Daniel explains in the Preface, it is his belief that "the power base remained solidly in Richmond" and "not by some quasi-connected political and military western bloc." On the other hand, the author does seem to favor McMurry's view that there was a western power bloc "at least powerful enough to effectively immobilize Davis," forcing him, through geographical political appeasement, to assign resources East and West in balanced proportions that ending up dooming both military theaters to failure (pp. xvii-xviii).

While the campaigns and battles fought in Virginia may have absorbed the most attention in the Confederate capital, there was certainly a great deal of interest (and misperception) in what occurred out West. More from the description: "...Richmond was still rocked by the disastrous losses across the Appalachians, especially Fort Donelson, New Orleans, Vicksburg, and Atlanta. Still, incomplete information and biased press reports deified certain western generals in the public imagination, including P. G. T. Beauregard, Sterling Price, and Joseph E. Johnston, whose performance did not justify such public adoration."

According to Daniel, cultural factors combined with flawed national strategy helped place the Confederacy on the path to defeat. The cream of Richmond society tended to consider the West as the frontier, and that had a negative affect on how the war was conducted from Richmond. More: "Richmonders’ “Virginia-first” military strategy and their aristocratic sense of cultural superiority over the diverse regions and cultures of the West blurred their view and damaged their ability to make strong strategic decisions." Also, "(t)he Davis administration’s preference for territorial and static defense, influenced by their strategic and political (mis)understanding of the region, set the war in the West on a spiraling downward trend from which it never recovered."

Currently, I'm about fifty pages in and am liking it so far.

Booknotes: Southern Army Units 1861-1865, Vols 1 and 2

New Arrival:

• Southern Army Units, 1861-1865: A Compilation - Volume 1, Alabama to Mississippi & Southern Army Units, 1861-1865: A Compilation - Volume 2, Missouri to Virginia by Phil Osborne (Author, 2025).

For assistance in researching Confederate Army units, there are a number of reference works of varying degrees of completeness and detail. Building upon what were essentially just basic unit lists compiled during the late-19th and early-20th centuries, Joseph Crute added more information in his single-volume 1987 work Units of the Confederate States Army. In the 1990s, even more detail was provided by Stewart Sifakis's multi-volume Compendium of the Confederate States Armies. However, both, while laudable efforts on the part of their authors, have been criticized for not being comprehensive enough. Most recently, Dan Fullerton's Armies in Gray: The Organizational History of the Confederate States Army in the Civil War, which conveys unit information via an organizational tree extending all the way down to the smallest maneuver units (regiments, battalions, and artillery batteries), was published in 2017. Now, with Philip Osborne's two-volume set Southern Army Units, 1861-1865, we have another work available for cross-referencing this vast amount of unit data.

From the description: Osborne's set "lists by state the infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments, battalions and batteries that made up the armies of the southern states during the American Civil War 1861-1865. In addition to listing those units that were organized for service in the Confederate States Army, the work also includes those units that remained in individual state service. These were primarily the militia for each state and the work contains comprehensive information on these units that is not readily available elsewhere. Information for each unit contains its main designation, alternative designations, commanding officers, artillery armament, areas of service and occasional extra information on the lesser known units."

It's worth mentioning that Osborne's reach extends to state militia, home guard local forces, state armies (ex. Missouri State Guard), and reserves, thus the title's "Southern" rather than "Confederate" designation. If such information is available, battery armaments at various points during the war are listed. That alone should spark the interest of those frustrated by their absence within most published orders of battle. Keep your eyes peeled for the review, which will go into more detail in regard to content.

Book News: A Summer of Battles

When it comes to the 1864 Atlanta Campaign, David Powell's five-volume series is consuming the bulk of reader attention these days. With only fifteen months passing between the release dates of the first two installments, the project is proceeding at a rapid clip. However, that's not to say that there aren't other things of possible interest out there for us to consider in the meantime.

A couple of days ago, I came across a new two-volume set covering the fighting around and below the city following the July 28 Battle of Ezra Church (itself the subject of two recent full-length battle studies):

• A Summer of Battles - The Final Weeks of the Civil War's 1864 Atlanta Campaign, Volume 1: The Siege of Atlanta, Utoy Creek and The Grand Movement
and • A Summer of Battles - The Final Weeks of the Civil War's 1864 Atlanta Campaign, Volume 2: Jonesboro, Lovejoy's Station and the Capture of Atlanta

What primarily leads me to have more than a passing interest in these two self-published efforts is their author, David Allison. I rather liked his 2018 book Attacked On All Sides: The Civil War Battle of Decatur, Georgia, the Untold Story of the Battle of Atlanta [to read the site review, go here]. Its primary drawback was a lack of maps, so I hope the author took that criticism to heart when putting together the new set, which is available in very reasonably priced hardcover and paperback versions. 

Booknotes: Opium Slavery

New Arrival:

• Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America's First Opioid Crisis by Jonathan S. Jones (UNC Press, 2025).

Considering the mass use (and misuse) of prescribed opiates during the conflict, it is no surprise that dependency became a long-term problem for a great many Civil War veterans. From the description: "During the Civil War, the utility and widespread availability of opium and morphine made opiates essential to wartime medicine. After the war ended, thousands of ailing soldiers became addicted, or “enslaved,” as nineteenth-century Americans phrased it. Veterans, their families, and communities struggled to cope with addiction’s health and social consequences."

Jonathan Jones's Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America's First Opioid Crisis "unearths the poorly understood stories of opiate-addicted Civil War veterans in unflinching detail, illuminating the war’s traumatic legacies."

The manner in which the contemporary professional medical field and society at large characterized addiction only added to the coping and treatment challenges that addicted veterans and their families faced. More from the description: "Medical and government authorities compounded veterans' suffering and imbued the epidemic with cultural meaning by branding addiction as a matter of moral weakness, unmanliness, or mental infirmity. Framing addiction as “opium slavery” limited the efficacy of care and left many veterans to suffer needlessly for decades after the war ended."

In order to gain an understanding of the breadth and scale of the problem, Jones consulted a wide variety of sources such as "veterans' firsthand accounts as well as mental asylum and hospital records, government and medical reports, newspaper coverage of addiction, and advertisements." The resulting study also "provides critical historical context for the modern opioid crisis, which bears tragic resemblance to that of the post–Civil War era."