by Ron Field, Illustrated
by Peter Dennis
This gripping study offers key insights into the tactics,
leadership, combat performance, and subsequent reputations of Union and
Confederate mounted units fighting in three pivotal cavalry actions of the
Civil War - Second Bull Run/Manassas (1862), Buckland Mills (1863), and Tom's
Brook (1864). During the intense, sprawling conflict that was the Civil War,
both Union and Confederate forces fielded substantial numbers of cavalry, which
carried out the crucial tasks of reconnaissance, raiding, and conveying
messages. The perception was that cavalry's effectiveness on the battlefield
would be drastically reduced in this age of improved mass infantry firepower.
This book demonstrates how cavalry's lethal combination of mobility and
dismounted firepower meant it was still very much a force to be reckoned with
in battle. It also charts the swing in the qualitative difference of the
cavalry forces fielded by the two sides as the war progressed, as the enormous
initial superiority enjoyed by Confederate cavalry was gradually eroded,
through the Union's outstanding improvements in training and tactics, and the
bold and enterprising leadership of men such as Philip Sheridan.
Featuring full-color artwork, specially drawn maps, and archive illustrations.
About the Author
Ron Field is
an internationally acknowledged expert on U.S. military history. Awarded a
Fulbright Scholarship in 1982, he taught History at Piedmont High School in
California from 1982 to 1983, and was then Head of History at the Cotswold
School in Bourton-on-the-Water, UK, until his retirement in 2007. In 2005 he
was elected a Fellow of the Company of Military Historians, based in
Washington, DC, and was awarded its Emerson Writing Award in 2013. The author
lives in Gloucestershire, UK.
ISBN 978-1472807311, Osprey Publishing, © 2015, Paperback,
80 pages, Photographs, Maps & Illustrations, Orders of Battle, Select
Bibliography, Index. $18.95. To purchase a copy of this book click HERE.
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