An English View of the American Civil War : Field Mashal Wolsley : 1964

Description

The American Civil War
An English View
By Field Marshal Viscount Wolseley
Published by University Press of Virginia, 1964 - First Edition Thus
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Condition : Fine Hardcover in VG - Good DJ :  seems unread.
230 pages, indexed.
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Field Marshal Viscount Garnet Joseph Wolseley, born to a well-heeled Dublin family, was assigned in 1861 to service with the British army in Canada.
Here he became engrossed by the mounting conflict in the United States and eventually decided to take two months' leave in order to observe the situation firsthand.
His writings on the Civil War provide a fascinating and little-presented perspective on America's bloodiest conflict.
Editor James Rawley's introductions to each of the book's four pieces (as well as his lengthy one at the beginning of the book) provide the necessary context for a modern reading of Wolseley's essays.
Rawley's new preface to this edition revisits Wolseley's writings in the light of the past thirty-five years of Civil War scholarship.
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An Excerpt from the Biography section of Yourdictionary.com
In 1861, during the American civil war, Wolseley was sent to Canada after the Union army took two Confederate diplomats from a British ship. His assignment was to help plan for possible war against the Union forces. Although no war was declared, he was to spend a decade in Canada. In order to assess the plans of the Confederacy, Wolseley decided without orders to visit the South. Passing in secret from New York to Virginia, he visited the commander of the southern forces, Robert E. Lee. Wolseley wrote that he went there to judge the condition of its people, the strength of its government, and the organization of its armies. His article "A Month's Visit to the Confederate Headquarters" was published in
Blackwood's
magazine in January 1863. As he did not visit the Union headquarters, his sympathies appeared to be with the South.
During the remainder of his stay in Canada, he read a lot of military history and wrote the classic
The Soldier's Pocketbook for Field Service,
in which he details how to prepare soldiers for anything they might experience in the field, from surveying and reconnoitering to the care and feeding of elephants and the proper method of burial at sea. This book was both highly popular and highly controversial. While many soldiers needed and loved it, the book offended many of the higher-ups because it talked about the lack of preparation and the inefficiency of the British army. He also offended both the public and the military elite by suggesting that soldiers be taught to despise those in civil life and by suggesting that false news be planted in newspapers to deceive the enemy, thus anticipating twentieth century tactics.
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