The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990 Page: 425
598 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
mation of Federal strategy and a consequent shifting of emphasis and
resources to support military operations in the West" (p. 54). Other fac-
tors McMurry considers are the abilities of the opposing Union gener-
als, the myth of the "Cavaliers," and the economic heartland of the
Confederacy, which the author places in the East.
After evaluating these determinants and others, McMurry concludes
that the Army of Northern Virginia was the superior of the two be-
cause of its history and personnel. It was better organized and trained
because of the guidance of its officer corps. The eastern army had
more "men who had received both a college education and military
training. ... Their presence made that army a far better military orga-
nization than any of its American contemporaries" (pp. 98-99). The
Virginia Military Institute made the difference. An estimated 95 per-
cent of the VMI line officers in the Confederate army served in Vir-
ginia units, or, like Robert E. Rodes, in units from other states that
comprised a portion of the Army of Northern Virginia. McMurry cred-
its these men for the better discipline displayed by their soldiers as op-
posed to their counterparts in the Army of Tennessee.
The final factor differentiating the two armies was Robert E. Lee.
"Lee's aloofness from, and his patient work in trying to resolve the dis-
putes between, his generals was in marked contrast to the sad state
of affairs in the Army of Tennessee" (p. 134). Lee's seemingly end-
less qualities made him "the colossus of Confederate military history"
(p. 139). McMurry contends that Lee was not provincial; rather, he re-
alized that "along with the Carolinas, she [Virginia] constituted the true
economic heartland of the Southern nation" (p. 151).
Many of McMurry's contentions are deliberately directed against
Thomas L. Connelly's "foray against Lee" (p. xii). Nevertheless, Mc-
Murry's argument for an eastern heartland is sound, and his com-
parison of the backgrounds of the officer corps is insightful. Anyone
interested in Confederate military history should read Two Great Rebel
Armies.
Southeastern Louisiana University LAWRENCE L. HEWITT
The Military and United States Indian Policy, 1865-19o3. By Robert
Wooster. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1988. Pp.
xiii+ 68. Acknowledgments, introduction, maps, illustrations,
conclusion, appendix, notes, bibliography, index. $22.50.)
In this brief study, which originated as a dissertation at the Univer-
sity of Texas, Robert Wooster discusses the United States Army in its
relations with the American Indians in the four decades following the
Civil War. The book is critical of the army's work in the West, and its425
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990, periodical, 1990; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101213/m1/481/?rotate=90: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.