This book was written by Grady McWhiney and Perry D. Jamieson , published in 1982, the narrative is 191 pages and is not illustrated. In the first 27 months of combat 175,000 Southern soldiers died. This number was more than the entire Confederate military force in the summer of 1861, and it far exceeded the strength of an army Lee ever commanded. More than 80,000 Southerners fell in just five battles. At Gettysburg three out of every ten Confederate present were hit, one brigade lost 65% of it's men and 70% of it's field officers in a single charge. A North Carolina regiment started the action with some 800 men, only 216 survived unhurt. Another unit lost two third of it's men as well as it's commander in a brief assault. Why did the Confederacy loose so many men? The authors contend that the Confederate bled themselves nearly to death in the first three years of the war by making costly attacks more often than the Federals. Offensive tactics, which had been used successfully in the Mexican War, were much less effective in the 1860's because of an improved weapon. The rifle had given increased strength to defenders. This book describes tactical theory in the 1850's and suggests how each related to Civil War tactics. It also considers development of tactics in all three arms of the service during the Civil War. In examining the Civil War the book separates Northern form Southern tactical practices and discusses Confederate military history in the context of Southern social history. Although the Southerners could have offset their numerical disadvantage by remaining on the defensive and forcing the Federals to attack, they failed to do so. The authors argue that the Southerners consistent favoring of offensive warfare was attributable, in large measure, to their Celtic heritage. They fought with the same courageous dash and reckless abandon that had characterized their Celtic forebears since ancient times. The Southerners of the Civil War generation were prisoners of their social and cultural history, they attacked courageously and were killed on battlefield after battlefield. This hard back book is in very good condition, but does not have a dust jacket.

Item # AA2531