The Army And Reconstruction 1865 1877

Within two months of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865, the Confederacy had collapsed, and its armed forces had ceased to exist. In the spring of 1865, the U.S. Army faced the unprecedented task of occupying eleven conquered Southern states and administering "Reconstruction"-the process by which the former rebellious states would be restored to the Union. But a rapid demobilization of the Army placed the remaining occupation troops at a disadvantage almost from the start.This brochure traces the Army's law enforcement, stability, and peacekeeping roles in the South from May 1865 to the end of Reconstruction in 1877, marking a unique period in American history. During that time, the Southern states remained under military occupation, and for several years, they were also ruled by military government. Veteran Army commanders such as Philip H. Sheridan, John M. Schofield, Daniel E. Sickles, Edward R. S. Canby, and Winfield S. Hancock may have found the work of Reconstruction less dangerous than fighting the Civil War had been, but they also found it no less challenging.

Ina Ferris examines the way in which the problem of "incomplete union" (generated by the formation of the United Kingdom in 1800) destabilized British public discourse in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Ferris presents a full-length study of the chief genre to emerge out of the political problem of Union: the national tale, an intercultural and mostly female-authored fictional mode that articulated Irish grievances to English readers.

This excellent book by the U.S. Army provide unique insight into the role of the Army in Reconstruction. Within two months of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865, the Confederacy had collapsed, and its armed forces had ceased to exist. The systematic destruction of the South's transportation, manufacturing, and industrial facilities during the closing months of the war had ensured the futility of further armed resistance. It also made a swift economic recovery next to impossible, leaving ex-Confederates destitute and bitter over their harsh fate. The bloodiest war in U.S. history--final death toll estimates range from 600,000 to over 800,000 fighting men--had settled the critical issues of secession and slavery but left much else unresolved, above all the former slaves' civil, political, and economic status in the postwar South.In the spring of 1865, the U.S. Army faced the unprecedented task of occupying eleven conquered Southern states during peacetime and administering "Reconstruction" -- the process by which the former rebellious states would be restored to the Union. Two decades earlier, the Army had performed occupation duty in Mexico both during and after the Mexican War, but that was on foreign soil, and Reconstruction was never a part of the Army's mission there. The postwar occupation of California and New Mexico did provide Army officers with some experience in "nation-building," requiring them to draft laws and constitutions for the territories recently annexed from Mexico.During the Civil War, the Army oversaw wartime Reconstruction in areas of Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas, giving it invaluable experience in the kind of stabilization and peacekeeping missions it would later perform across the entire South. On 24 April 1863, the War Department issued General Orders 100, the Union Army's official code of conduct in the field. Drafted by Francis Lieber, an eminent legal scholar, and a panel of Army officers, "Lieber's Code" induced several European nations to draft similar documents for their armies. For all its virtues, Lieber's Code exerted little influence on the Union Army's conduct during the Civil War, in part because the Army operated under the assumption that such matters should be left to the local commanders' discretion. Given these circumstances, it is hardly surprising that the Army entered its postwar occupation duties with neither a plan nor a doctrine to govern its actions.

Stampp's classic work offers a revisionist explanation for the radical failure to achieve equality for blacks, and of the effect that Conservative rule had on the subsequent development of the South. Refuting former schools of thought, Stampp challenges the notions that slavery was somehow just a benign aspect of Southern culture, and how the failures during the reconstruction period created a ripple effect that is still seen today. Praise for The Era of Reconstruction: “ . . . This “brief political history of reconstruction” by a well-known Civil War authority is a thoughtful and detailed study of the reconstruction era and the distorted legends still clinging to it.”—Kirkus Reviews “It is to be hoped that this work reaches a large audience, especially among people of influence, and will thus help to dispel some of the myths about Reconstructions that hamper efforts in the civil rights field to this day.”—Albert Castel, Western Michigan University

The importance of the Civil War and Reconstruction in the history of the United States cannot be overstated. There was a very real possibility that the union could have been sundered, resulting in a very different American history, and probably world history. But the union was held together by tough and determined leaders and by the economic muscle of the North. Following the end of the war, the period of American history known as Reconstruction followed. This was a period construed in many different ways. While the states were once again 'united,' many of the postwar efforts divided different segments of the population and failed to achieve their goals in an era too often remembered for carpetbaggers and scalawags, and Congressional imbroglios and incompetent government. This one-volume dictionary, with more than 800 entries covering the significant events, persons, politics, and economic and social themes in the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction, is a research tool for all levels of readers from high school and up. The extensive chronology, introductory essay, dictionary entries, and comprehensive bibliography introduce and lead the reader through the military and non-military actions of one of the most pivotal events in American history.