| The Upper South —
Arkansas, Tennessee,
Kentucky, and Virginia — was the scene of the most
destructive war ever
fought on American soil. Contending armies swept across the region from
the outset of the Civil War until its end, marking their passage at Pea
Ridge, Shiloh, Perryville, and Manassas. Alongside this much-studied
conflict,
the Confederacy also waged an irregular war, based on
nineteenth-century
principles of unconventional warfare. In The Uncivil War,
Robert
R. Mackey outlines the Southern strategy of waging war across an entire
region, measures the Northern response, and explains the outcome.
Complex
military issues shaped both
the Confederate irregular war and the Union response. Through detailed
accounts of Rebel guerrilla, partisan, and raider activities, Mackey
strips
away romanticized notions of how the “shadow war”
was fought, proving instead
that irregular warfare was an integral part of Confederate strategy.
|
The Uncivil War
Irregular Warfare
in the Upper South, 1861-1865
by Robert R. Mackey
University of Oklahoma
Press, 2005.
Order
a copy.
Also
available
Raiders of the Civil War
|
