Book Reviews

Book Review: This People’s Navy: The Making of American Sea Power

This People’s Navy: The Making of American Sea Power

 

It seems odd to call a book that clocks in around 460 pages as short, but when you consider the subject of the book it seems like barely enough. Hagan, however, does a very good job in making the story of the US Navy compelling and interesting.

From its birth during the American Revolution to the eve of the Gulf War, the mission and methods of the Navy have changed. From coastal defense and commerce raiding to the carrier based projection of power that it is today, Hagan takes you on a history course that weaves its way around a changing mission and a changing world taking into account the politics and technological advancements of the various ages.

Certainly not a swashbuckling adventure, he also does a fine job of capturing the personalities that at times seemed to move the Navy forward on their own shoulders. From John Paul Jones to Teddy Roosevelt, they are represented in the book.

While a good survey of the topic it should also be said that there simply is no room for the kind of details that the hard-core historians would call for. As a single volume it is effective but serves merely to whet the appetite and if nothing else the stage is set for you to delve deeper into any of the epochs of the storied history.

Of course, now it has been over twenty years since it was published and the world and role of the of the Navy have changed yet again, but if the lessons of this book are adhered to, the Navy should have no problem adjusting and moving forward.

If you have any interest in the subject, this book will be well worth the read.

 

 

Word and Phrases

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Campaign

Campaign Cuadro por españa y por el rey, Galvez en America.jpg

Campaign

In the military sense, the phrase campaign means “military operations for a specified objective”. In the old days, it meant military operations for one season. Back when you didn’t fight in the winter each late spring into summer was “campaign season”. It would eventually enter into wider usage as a political term, but still kind of hold s the “operations for a specific objective” meaning.

The term came into usage in the mid-1600’s and took its origin from the Late Latin “campania” meaning level ground. This is where “camp” (field) came from. When an army left its fortifications to start an operation it literally, “took the field”. And thus went on campaign.

This actually can tie into the political meaning of the word also. See up until recently, at least in the US, when someone ran for office they relied on others to go out and drum up support. So in effect, they were sent out to take the field, or campaign or their candidate. Huh, sort of makes sense.

Book Reviews, Civil War

Book Review: The Quartermaster: Montgomery C. Meigs, Lincoln’s General, Master Builder of the Union Army

Meigs

The Quartermaster: Montgomery C. Meigs, Lincoln’s General, Master Builder of the Union Army

By Robert O’Harrow Jr.

In studying the Union war effort during the Civil War you read a lot about the main players.  Lincoln, Sherman, Grant, McClellan, are all names that pop out usually on the first page of any summary of the war. As you dig deeper another name comes up, almost as a background player to each of them, Montgomery Meigs. When I started reading this book that was the thought I had in my mind, here is the background player to the war, as the Quartermaster General I knew he played a role and looked forward to some behind the scenes look at the war effort.

What I found was the story of an amazing man who truly deserves a spotlight all his own. Even before the war, he was responsible for some of the most incredible engineering projects not just in the country but in the world. He navigated the choppy waters of Washington politics as an honest man and stayed that way during his entire tenure. He not only drew his architect inspiration from Roman and Renaissance models, bringing them to the New World, but he innovated and created styles and methods used today.

Then came the Civil War.

An army had to be built and provisioned on a scale that the United States, and most anywhere else, had never known. The man put in charge was Meigs, and no one ever doubted that decision.  He became an adviser and ally to Lincoln and Stanton. He built a military machine unrivaled for the age and brought it to bear against the enemies of his country. Very few biographies actually leave me in awe, but this was one.

Knowles brings Meigs’s story to the page in a bright and loving way. It would be easy to get bogged down in the minutia that was so important to everything Meigs had a hand in. Whether it was negotiating contracts for bricks for the Capitol, or gathering horses to pull the machinery of war. Every detail was necessary and well described.  What helps was short chapters and breaking it up into nice bite-sized chunks. Many authors would have tried piling on and that would have ill-served this story.

I highly recommend this book.

Museum

Swagger

Swagger stick

Swagger

Yes, it used to be en vogue for members of the US Military to carry swagger sticks. See way back in the day Roman Centurions carried rods of vine wood about three feet in length. They used these to guide drills of their soldiers and to discipline them when needed.

Not as long as a full staff or cane it found its way through the ages to the British Army. Where at one point it was part it became part of the “walking out” uniform for all ranks. It survived until off-duty soldiers were able to wear civilian clothes then it kind of faded from popular use.

In the US it started in the late 18th century and took strong hold during WWI when the troops saw how cool the British looked with them and in 1922 it became a part of the US Marines regulation uniform where it would come in and out of vogue several times until finally being dismissed from active service in 1960 when the Commandant of the Marine Corps officially designated it as optional.

It will surprise no one that General George S. Patton carried a swagger stick with him that also managed to conceal a blade, he was always prepared, but the best modern story of the swagger stick belongs to General William J. Livsey. From 1864 to 1987 he was the US 8th Army Commanding General in South Korea. He carried a very special swagger stick made from wood from the poplar tree that was the center of the Axe Murder Incident that occurred in the DMZ in 1976, that will be something we will we cover in another story though…

Word and Phrases

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Decimate

decimate

Decimate

When we here decimate we think maybe “wiped out” or “destroyed”.  “That buffet table was just decimated once Mike showed up.” Or something like that. That, however, is not what it means.

In the Roman Army, any unit that showed cowardice was guilty of disobedience or any other such crime would be punished. The punishment would be called decimation. The unit would be lined up and every 10th man would be killed. But wait there’s more…

If the unit contained 100 men and the punishment was handed down. A hundred men would draw lots and however pulled the ten marked lots would be the ones killed. The other ninety men would be tasked with doing the killing, usually using clubs and beating the men to death.  That sounds so very Roman…

Modern, Vietnam, WWII

The USO On Tour

The USO On Tour

The USO on Tour

OK, I can not say for sure if what we are seeing is an actual USO show. I can tell you it is during the Vietnam War. There was in fact singing and dancing with a lot of people sitting there in a combat zone watching it. BUT we will call it a USO show so we can talk about that for a bit, eh?

The USO, United Service Organization is a non-profit that has been in existence since 1941. Their mission consists of providing services and live entertainment to troops and their families all over the world. In a way, during wartime, it becomes a home away from home for the US soldiers.

Disbanded after WWII it was reconstituted for the Korean War and has been going strong ever since. Regardless of political affiliations millions of people donate and hundreds of performers donate their time for this cause.

Currently, there are over 160 locations in 14 countries around the world and 27 states with over 8 million visitors in 2011.

For the troops in the field visits by some of the top names in Hollywood have always been welcomed. Among the top-tier was Bob Hope, who will always be the face of the program. In more recent times celebrities such as Jay Leno, Bruce Willis, Steve Martin Robin Williams, Gary Sinise,  Toby Keith, and many, many more.

It is all about helping the men and women of the armed forces to understand that they are never forgotten and that their sacrifice and the burdens they bear and appreciated. Sometimes live music, warm food, and good company can help to take the sting out of a bad and serious deployment.

 

Civil War

A Copse of Trees at Gettysburg

A Copse of Trees at Gettysburg

A Copse of Trees at Gettysburg

On July 3rd, 1863 the fields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania were already washed in blood. This was the third day of the battle between the forces of the United States and the Confederate States of America. The battle was not even supposed to happen. Days earlier almost by accident the two forces met. The battle began and took on a life of its own. Now on the third day, the Union forces were in defensive positions on a ridge outside of town. So far they had withstood the best that the Confederates had to offer.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee prepared his Army of Northern Virginia for one last push against the Union center.  The push that he believed would end the battle and perhaps the war. His plan involved General Pickett’s division leading the charge against that line across a field almost a mile wide. To guide them they were told to march toward a copse of trees that stood at the dead center of the Union line.

The charge was a disaster for many reasons. Ineffective artillery, a foe that was stronger than was expected, fences that slowed the approach among them. Few Confederates made it to the Union fortifications, fewer still got through them. This failure allowed the Union to finish the day with a victory under their belt.

In all over 6,000 Confederate troops became casualties that day, compared to 1,500 on the Union side.  The biggest casualty, however, was the Confederacy, for the loss at Gettysburg became the death toll for their hopes of independence. Oddly enough even though the Confederacy fell, the copse of trees still stand as defiant as ever.

Uncategorized

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Ambush

 

Bangladesh Army, Ambush

Ambush

An ambush is a surprise attack by people laying in wait in a concealed position.

It can also be used in conversation. Such as asking a question you already know the answer to. That could be considered “setting an ambush”.

The word can be traced all the way back through Middle English, to Old French (embusche (noun), (embushier) (verb), to Latin where it translates to “bush”. Yes, as you may have suspected, ambush comes from the word people used when someone hid in a bush. The noun version, “It was an ambush!” dates to the 15th century.

 

 

American Revolution

The Sword of Washington

The Sword of Washington

The Sword of Washington

 

There are several swords in various museums that are purported to have belonged to General George Washington. The Museum of the American Revolution has this particular sword of Washington on display.

The Washington family has indicated that this particular sword was carried by Washington at the begging of the Revolution. The hilt is silver with a lion head pommel. It is very much like the swords carried by many gentlemen if the period. While this one may have never been carried into battle it does have an interesting story behind it.

In 1769 the Virginia House of Burgesses passes the “Virginia Nonimportation Resolutions”. These resolutions were designed to boycott imports from Britain in favor of locally made items. This was in response to not only an economic downturn but also to several attempts by the British Parliament to implement new taxes on the colonies. The idea behind the act was to get the colonies to stop buying finished good from Britain. When British merchants started feeling the heat, they may lobby on behalf of the colonies.

George Washington, who was sitting in the House at the time, was instrumental in getting the resolution passed. In 1770, in support of the resolution, Washington purchased the sword above from a Philadelphia craftsman eschewing his previously owned sword that was purchased via his British agent.

On a side note, this particular boycott did not go so well. Many Virginia merchants basically ignored it and eventually, it sort of withered away. By 1771 the agreement was abandoned.

 

Civil War

Homefront

Homefront

Homefront

On the eve of the Civil War, the South found themselves in a curious predicament. The North was highly industrialized. They could produce arms, ammunition, and finished goods in a capacity that the South could not hope to match. Headed into the war they needed to either seriously ramp up the industrial base, or depend on the European powers to provide the goods and war material they needed.

At the peak of the war, the North had over 100,000 factories with over 1 million factory workers churning out products. The South managed to work up to approx 20,000 factories with just over 100,000 working in them.

To make up for the gap the Confederacy returned back to the roots of home-based manufacturing. The scene above is a depiction of a Southern woman at a work table in her home assembling cartridges.  Doing such work, as well as making blankets, cooking for the troops, sewing for the troops and even watching over the family farms were their primary role during the war.

Interestingly enough, such home-based manufacturing was one of the primary roles of the women on the home front during the American Revolution. While then men went out to fight, the women provided them the means to carry one.

It was not enough. As the war progressed the power of the Northern industry was brought to bear. The South simply could not keep up. Many of the men of the Confederate army would have gladly continued fighting. They were simply running out of the means to do so.

People, Places and Things from US Military History

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