The Civil War Shelf

The Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1861-1865 William Royston Geise, author
Michael J. Forsyth, editor
Savas Beatie
PO Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611216219, $32.95, HC, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Confederate-Military-Forces-Trans-Mississippi-1861-1= 865/dp/1611216214

Synopsis: The late William Royston Geise was a Ph.D. candidate at the Unive= rsity of Texas at Austin in the early 1970s when he researched and wrote Th=
e Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1861- 1865: A = Study in Command in 1974. Although it remained unpublished, it was not whol=
ly unknown. Deep-diving researchers were aware of Dr. Geise's work and lame= nted the fact that it was not widely available to the general public. In ma=
ny respects, studies of the Trans-Mississippi Theater are only now catching=
up with Geise.

"The Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1861-1865: =
A Study in Command"is an intriguing study that traces the evolution of Conf= ederate command and how it affected the shifting strategic situation and ge= neral course of the war. Dr. Geise accomplishes his task by coming at the q= uestion in a unique fashion. Military field operations are discussed as nee= ded, but his emphasis is on the functioning of headquarters and staff -- th=
e central nervous system of any military command. This was especially so fo=
r the Trans-Mississippi.

After July 1863, the only viable Confederate agency west of the great river=
was the headquarters at Shreveport. That hub of activity became the sole l= ocation to which all isolated players, civilians and military alike, could = look for immediate overall leadership and a sense of Confederate solidarity=
.. By filling these needs, the Trans-Mississippi Department assumed a unique=
and vital role among Confederate military departments and provided a focus=
for continued Confederate resistance west of the Mississippi River.

Dr. Geise's work mining primary archival sources and published firsthand ac= counts, coupled with a smooth and clear writing style, helps explain why th=
is remote department (referred to as "Kirby Smithdom" after Gen. Kirby Smit=
h) failed to function efficiently, and how and why the war unfolded there a=
s it did.

In the role of editor, Trans-Mississippi Theater historian and Ph.D. candid= ate Michael J. Forsyth (Col., U.S. Army, Ret.) has resurrected Dr. Geise's = smoothly written and deeply researched manuscript from its undeserved obscu= rity. This edition newly published by Savas Beatie, with its original annot= ations and Forsyth's updated citations and observations, is bolstered with = original maps, photographs, and images. Students of the war in general, and=
the Trans-Mississippi Theater in particular, will delight in its long over= due publication.

Critique: A skillfully edited and treasured contribution to the ever expand= ing library of American Civil War histories, "The Confederate Military Forc=
es in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1861-1865: A Study in Command" by the lat=
e William Royston Geise is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended ad= dition to personal, professional, community, and academic library collectio=
ns and supplemental curriculum studies lists. Nicely enhanced with the incl= usion of numerous maps and photographs, "The Confederate Military Forces in=
the Trans-Mississippi West, 1861-1865: A Study in Command" is also availab=
le in a digital format (Kindle, $14.99).

Editorial Note #1: William Royston Geise graduated from the Missouri Milita=
ry Academy in 1936 and was attending the University of Texas at Austin when=
the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He joined what would become the Air Forc=
e and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1961. He earned Bachelor's in Engl= ish from the University of Arizona and his Master's in English and Ph.D. in=
American History in 1974 from UT-Austin. Geise taught history at San Anton=
io College for 15 years and published articles in a variety of periodicals = before passing away in 1993. (https://www.savasbeatie.com/the-confederate-m= ilitary-forces-in-the-trans-mississippi-west-1861-1865)

Editorial Note #2: Michael J. Forsyth (https://www.researchgate.net/profile= /Michael-Forsyth) is a retired U.S. Army field artillery colonel and curren= tly an assistant professor in the Department of Joint, Interagency, and Mul= tinational Operations at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. H=
e is a veteran of Operation DESERT STORM, served three tours in Afghanistan=
, and is a Ph.D. candidate at the Royal Military College of Canada. Michael=
is the author of many articles and four books, including The Great Missour=
i Raid: Sterling Price and the Last Major Confederate Campaign in Northern = Territory (2015).

Yours Affectionately, Osgood
Sarah Trace Burrows, editor
Ryan W. Keating, editor
The Kent State University Press
1118 Library, P.O. Box 5190, Kent OH 44242 http://www.kentstateuniversitypress.com
9781606354407, $58.00, HC, 350pp

https://www.amazon.com/Yours-Affectionately-Osgood-1862-1865-Interpreting/d= p/160635440X

Synopsis: More than 3 million men served in the American Civil War. With th=
e publication of "Yours Affectionately, Osgood: Colonel Osgood Vose Tracy's=
Letters Home from the Civil War, 1862 - 1865", co-editors Sarah Tracy Burr= ows and Ryan W. Keating have assembled a collection of letters from one of = those soldiers -- Osgood Vose Tracy of the 122nd New York Infantry.

Sarah Tracy Burrows, a descendant of Col. Osgood Tracy, has compiled this e= xpansive collection from her family's private papers. Paired with illuminat= ing discussion and historical context from noted Civil War historian Ryan W=
.. Keating, Tracy's letters home follow his journey as a soldier and prisone=
r of war from his enlistment in August 1862 through the end of the war in M=
ay 1865, as Tracy then readjusted to civilian life.

The letters in "Yours Affectionately, Osgood", were primarily written to hi=
s mother and provide a uniquely detailed perspective of everyday life in th=
e Army of the Potomac, adding considerably to the existing literature on th=
e experiences of citizen soldiers in America's Civil War.

A well-educated young man, Tracy offers his opinion on pressing social and = political issues of the time, including his definite abolitionist sentiment=
s; ruminates on the Union war effort and its campaigns; and demonstrates hi=
s deep commitment to family, as well as his sweetheart, Nellie Sedgwick, ba=
ck home.

Tracy's letters constitute an incredibly rare primary source volume that wi=
ll be both fascinating and foundational in the scholarly community and for = more general interest readers of the history of the Civil War.

Critique: An invaluable contribution to the growing library of American Civ=
il War History/Biography/Memoir studies, "Yours Affectionately, Osgood: Col= onel Osgood Vose Tracy's Letters Home from the Civil War, 1862 - 1865" is u= nreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic=
library American Civil War collections.

Editorial Note #1: Sarah Tracy Burrows (https://sarahtracyburrows.com) is a=
graduate of Hobart and William Smith Colleges with a BA in English and his= tory. She worked for CFO Publishing Corporation in Boston, Massachusetts, a=
nd is currently a trustee and chair of steering for the Jacob Leisler Insti= tute for the Study of Early New York History, named for her 8x great-grandf= ather.

Editorial Note #2: Ryan W. Keating (https://www.kentstateuniversitypress.co= m/author/rkeating) is Professor of History and Director of the Office of St= udent Research at California State University San Bernardino, where he teac= hes and researches on the Civil War era. He is also the author of "Shades o=
f Green: Irish Regiments, American Soldiers, and Local Communities in the C= ivil War Era" and "The Greatest Trials I Ever Had: The Civil War Letters of=
Margaret and Thomas Cahill".

Civil War Monuments and Memory
Jon Tracey, editor
Chris Mackowski, editor
Savas Beatie
PO Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611216332. $29.95, HC, 336pp

https://www.amazon.com/Civil-War-Monuments-Memory-Perspectives/dp/161121633=
8

Synopsis: The American Civil War left indelible physical and emotional mark=
s on the country. In the century and a half since the war, Americans have r= emembered the war in different ways. Veterans placed monuments to commemora=
te their deeds on the battlefield. In doing so, they often set in stone and=
bronze specific images in specific places that may have conflicted with th=
e factual historical record.

Erecting monuments and memorials became a way to commemorate the past, but = they also became important tools for remembering that past in particular wa= ys. Monuments honor, but they also embody the very real tension between his= tory and the way we remember that history - what we now today call "memory"=
..

Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by historians Ion Tracey and Chris M= ackowski, "Civil War Monuments and Memory: Favorite Stories and Fresh Persp= ectives from the Historians at Emerging Civil War" explores some of the way=
s people monumented and memorialized the war -- and how those markers have = impacted our understanding of it.

This collection of essays brings together the best scholarship from Emergin=
g Civil War's blog, symposia, and podcast (all of it revised and updated) c= oupled with original pieces, designed to shed new light and insight on the = monuments and memorials that give us some of our most iconic and powerful c= onnections to the battlefields and the men who fought there.

Critique: Unique, special, and unreservedly recommended compendium of erudi= te, informative, and insightful articles by experts in their fields, "Civil=
War Monuments and Memory: Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the=
Historians at Emerging Civil War" must be considered a core addition to pr= ofessional, community, and academic library American Civil War collections.=
It should also be noted that "Civil War Monuments and Memory" is also read= ily available for students, academia, and American Civil War buffs in a dig= ital book format (Kindle, $13.49).

Editorial Note #1: Jon Tracey is a public historian focused on soldier expe= rience, memory, and veteran life in the Civil War era. He holds a BA in His= tory from Gettysburg College and an MA from West Virginia University in Pub= lic History with a Certificate in Cultural Resource Management. He currentl=
y serves as the chair of Emerging Civil War's Editorial Board, and works in=
historic preservation.

Editorial Note #2: Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is the editor in chief of Emergi=
ng Civil War. He is a writing professor in the Jandoli School of Communicat= ion at St. Bonaventure University and the historian-in-residence at Stevens=
on Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania battlefield. He has autho= red or coauthored more than a dozen books on the Civil War.

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Midwest Book Review
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Midwest Book Review

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