Journal of Military History
Vol. 79, No. 3
July 2015
Articles
“Manifesting Awe: Grand Strategy and Imperial Leadership in the Ming Dynasty,” by Kenneth M. Swope, The Journal of Military History, 79:3 (July 2015): 597-634
This article examines recent theories concerning Chinese grand strategy and strategic culture in reference to China’s Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and evaluates their applicability in light of the actual policy choices and military activities pursued by Ming emperors and the types of military challenges they faced. It examines the entire scope of the dynasty to discern broad patterns and points of comparison while also highlighting the crucial importance of individual imperial agency in a despotic political system. It concludes that the Ming rulers did have a very straightforward overarching grand strategy, succinctly rendered as “manifesting awe,” and that this was in line not only with Chinese dynastic precedents, but quite similar to strategies deployed by contemporary monarchies around the globe.
“The Demise Of Stonewall Jackson: A Civil War Medical Case Study,” by Wayne E. Richenbacher, The Journal of Military History, 79:3 (July 2015): 635-55
Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, commander of the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, was wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville, during the American Civil War. He died eight days later. The purpose of this paper is to describe the details of Jackson’s wounding and death, while attempting to identify inconsistencies in published reports of this pivotal event in the War Between the States. The care and management provided to Jackson by his surgeon, Hunter Holmes McGuire, will be reviewed and placed in context with standards of medical care of that era.
“Opportunity Lost: Combined Operations and the Development of Union Military Strategy, April 1861–April 1862,” by Daniel T. Canfield, The Journal of Military History, 79:3 (July 2015): 657-90
This article examines the use of combined army-navy operations and the development of Union military strategy during the first year of the war. It argues that the army and the navy, despite differences in service culture, a paucity of joint doctrine, and the absence of a “formal” general staff system were, in fact, working together to design and implement an overall strategic concept during the crucial opening months of the conflict. Despite several early examples of impressive inter-service cooperation, however, the greater use of combined army-navy operations eventually succumbed to the confluence of personality, military paradigm, and strategic choice.
“Air Power and the Battle of the Atlantic: Very Long Range Aircraft and the Delay in Closing the Atlantic ‘Air Gap’,” by Christopher M. Bell, The Journal of Military History, 79:3 (July 2015): 691-719
The prioritization of strategic bombing over trade defense by the British Air Ministry, Bomber Command, and Winston Churchill did not delay the acquisition of Very Long Range aircraft to close the Atlantic “air gap” until May 1943. The Royal Air Force’s Coastal Command possessed enough aircraft to provide air cover in the mid-Atlantic sooner than it did. The Admiralty and Coastal Command were slow to identify the need for land-based air cover in the mid-Atlantic because the U-boat threat did not develop there until mid-1942, because they expected escort carriers to provide a solution, and for technical and doctrinal reasons.
“Buchenwald Stories: Testimony, Military History, and the American Encounter with the Holocaust,” by Adam R. Seipp, The Journal of Military History, 79:3 (July 2015): 721-44
This article examines a large body of written and oral testimonies by American servicemen who witnessed the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1945. During the decades since, the experience of liberation has become a central component of American public memory of World War II in Europe. As this article demonstrates, liberator testimony has shifted in important ways during the subsequent decades, both reflecting and shaping changes in American engagement with both the war and the Holocaust.
“Developing and Defending Britain and Her Empire: Montgomery’s 1947 Tour of Africa,” by Ian Phimister, The Journal of Military History, 79:3 (July 2015): 745-66
Against a backdrop of pressing economic and strategic concerns shaping British policies after the Second World War, Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, embarked on an official tour of Africa in November–December 1947. He visited South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, as well as other African territories. Montgomery’s controversial report and the reactions to it cast light on British attitudes towards and perceptions of her African empire in the immediate postwar period, as shaped by Labour government defence and developmental policies. At the same time, it invites reconsideration of Montgomery’s place in imperial and military historiography.
Feature:
“Aero-Static Warfare: A Brief Survey of Ballooning in Mid-nineteenth-century Siege Warfare,” by Jeffrey Stamp, The Journal of Military History, 79:3 (July 2015): 767-82
“Aero-Static Warfare: A Brief Survey of Ballooning in Mid-nineteenth-century Siege Warfare,” by Jeffrey Stamp, The Journal of Military History, 79:3 (July 2015): 767-82
Several nations experimented with military ballooning in the mid-nineteenth century, despite limitations such as lack of controllability. The key factor in whether or not the belligerents perceived ballooning as valuable was the type of warfare involved. When balloons were used in static warfare, such as siege conditions, their usefulness usually encouraged further experimentation. The American Civil War draws some stark contrasts between what balloons could do during static warfare, such as the siege of Island No. 10, and what they could not do in fluid combat, as in the failure at First Bull Run. Later, Brazil employed former Union aeronauts during the siege of Humaita in Paraguay, following which the French pioneered balloon “air mail” from besieged Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. Enemy efforts to defeat ballooning included Prussian invention of what may be the world’s first purpose-built anti-aircraft gun, making the point that if an enemy thinks an innovation is valuable, then it is.
Review Essay:
“The American Military History Master Narrative: Three Textbooks on the American Military Experience,” by Mark Grimsley, The Journal of Military History, 79:3 (July 2015): 783-802
“The American Military History Master Narrative: Three Textbooks on the American Military Experience,” by Mark Grimsley, The Journal of Military History, 79:3 (July 2015): 783-802
Reviews:
Taiwan Straits: Crisis in Asia and the Role of the U.S. Navy, by Bruce A. Elleman, reviewed by Michael Infranco and by Edward J. Marolda, 803-5
The Struggle for Roman Citizenship: Romans, Allies, and the Wars of 91-77 BCE, by Seth Kendall, reviewed by Lee L. Brice, 806-7
Commanders and Command in the Roman Republic and Early Empire, by Fred K. Drogula, reviewed by Rose Mary Sheldon, 807-8
Widukind of Corvey: Deeds of the Saxons, translated by Bernard S. Bachrach and David S. Bachrach, reviewed by Stephen Morillo, 808-9
Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships, by Kaushik Roy, reviewed by Rajit Mazumder, 810-12
Coronado’s Well-Equipped Army: The Spanish Invasion of the American Southwest, by John M. Hutchins, reviewed by Patricia Seed, 812-13
The Irish in the Spanish Armies in the Seventeenth Century, by Eduardo de Mesa, reviewed by Francis Kelly, 813-14
Naval Resistance to Britain’s Growing Power in India 1660-1800: The Saffron Banner and the Tiger of Mysore. Worlds of the East India Company, Vol. 10, by Phillip MacDougall, reviewed by Pradeep Barua, 814-15
L'honneur du soldat: éthique martiale et discipline guerrière dans la France des Lumières, by Arnaud Guinier, reviewed by Rafe Blaufarb, 816-17
The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding, by Eric Nelson, reviewed by Holly A. Mayer, 817-19
Becoming Men of Some Consequence: Youth and Military Service in the Revolutionary War, by John A. Ruddiman, reviewed by Bradford A. Wineman, 819-20
Bonaparte, 1769-1802, by Patrice Gueniffey, translated by Steven Rendall, reviewed by Christopher Tozzi, 820-22
Empire of Chance: The Napoleonic Wars and the Disorder of Things, by Anders Engberg-Pedersen, reviewed by Peter Paret, 822-24
Burgos in the Peninsular War, 1808-1814: Occupation, Siege, Aftermath, by Charles J. Esdaile and Philip Freeman, reviewed by Scott Eastman, 824-28
The Battle of Lake Champlain: A “Brilliant and Extraordinary Victory”, by John H. Schroeder, reviewed by Andrew N. Buchanan, 825-26
Border Law: The First Seminole War and American Nationhood, by Deborah Rosen, reviewed by David Narrett, 827-28
Matthew Fontaine Maury: Father of Oceanography. A Biography, 1806-1873, by John Grady, reviewed by George Mercer Brooke III, 828-30
Ethnic Cleansing and the Indian: The Crime That Should Haunt America, by Gary Clayton Anderson, reviewed by Frank N. Schubert, 830-31
The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War, by Don H. Doyle, reviewed by Andre M. Fleche, 831-33
Lincoln’s Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton, by William Marvel, reviewed by John Matsui, 833-35
The Civil War Guerrilla: Unfolding the Black Flag in History, Memory, and Myth, edited by Joseph M. Beilein, Jr. and Matthew C. Hulbert, reviewed by Ethan S. Rafuse, 835-36
Freedom Journey: Black Civil War Soldiers and the Hills Community, Westchester County, New York, by Edythe Ann Quinn, reviewed by Allen Ballard, 836-37
Soldiering for Freedom: How the Union Army Recruited, Trained, and Deployed the U.S. Colored Troops, by Bob Luke and John David Smith, reviewed by Andrew L. Slap, 837-38
Gateway to the Confederacy: New Perspectives on the Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns, 1862-1863, edited by Evan C. Jones and Wiley Sword, reviewed by Ben H. Severance, 838-40
Shiloh: Conquer or Perish, by Timothy B. Smith, reviewed by Robert L. Glaze, 840-41
The River Was Dyed with Blood: Nathan Bedford Forrest and Fort Pillow, by Brian Steel Wills, reviewed by Christopher S. Stowe, 842-43
The Siege of Petersburg: The Battles for the Weldon Railroad, August 1864, by John Horn, reviewed by Mary A. DeCredico, 844-45
Mourning Lincoln, by Martha Hodes, reviewed by Michael E. Woods, 845-46
After Appomattox: Military Occupation and the Ends of War, by Gregory P. Downs, reviewed by Andrew F. Lang, 847-48
Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War, by Brian Matthew Jordan, reviewed by Daniel E. Sutherland, 848-49
The Memorial Art and Architecture of Vicksburg National Military Park, by Michael W. Panhorst, reviewed by A. Wilson Greene, 849-50
The Naval Route to the Abyss: The Anglo-German Naval Race, 1895-1914, edited by Matthew S. Seligmann, Frank Nägler, and Michael Epkenhans, reviewed by Terence D. Gottschall, 851-52
The Wars for Asia, 1911-1949, by S. C. M. Paine, reviewed by Matthew D. Johnson, 852-53
General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. My Life, edited by Robert E. Dohrenwend, translated by James Pierce, reviewed by Brian C. Johnson, 853-54
The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War, edited by Hew Strachan, reviewed by David Simonelli, 855-56
Trial by Gas: The British Army at the Second Battle of Ypres, by George H. Cassar, reviewed by Marion Girard Dorsey, 856-57
Secrets in a Dead Fish: The Spying Game in the First World War, by Melanie King, reviewed by Mark Stout, 857-58
The Unsubstantial Air: American Fliers in the First World War, by Samuel Hynes, reviewed by John H. Morrow, Jr., 858-59
Woodrow Wilson and World War I: A Burden Too Great to Bear, by Richard Striner, reviewed by Douglas Craig, 860-61
Remembering Armageddon: Religion and the First World War, edited by Philip Jenkins, reviewed by Joe Ryan, 861-62
Other Fronts, Other Wars? First World War Studies on the Eve of the Centennial, edited by Joachim Bürgschwenter, Matthias Egger, and Gunda Barth-Scalmani, reviewed by Matthew Stibbe, 862-64
Karpathenschlachten. Der erste und zweite Weltkrieg am oberen Karpathenbogen, by Roland Singer, reviewed by Sean Krummerich, 864-65
War in Peace: Paramilitary Violence in Europe after the Great War, edited by Robert Gerwarth and John Horne, reviewed by Benjamin R. Beede, 865-67
At the Crossroads between War and Peace: The London Naval Conference of 1930, edited by John H. Maurer and Christopher M. Bell, reviewed by Peter John Brobst. 867-68
From Guernica to Human Rights: Essays on the Spanish Civil War, by Peter N. Carroll, reviewed by George Esenwein, 869-71
Guerreros y traidores: De la Guerra de España a la Guerra fría, by Jorge M. Reverte, reviewed by Judith Keene, 871-72
Shanghai 1937: Stalingrad on the Yangtze, by Peter Harmsen, reviewed by Mark Wilkinson, 873-74
War, Pacification, and Mass Murder, 1939: The Einsatzgruppen in Poland, by Jürgen Matthäus, Jochen Böhler, and Klaus Michael Mallmann, reviewed by Annika Frieberg, 874-75
Hong Kong’s War Crimes Trials, edited by Suzannah Linton, reviewed by Fred L. Borch III, 876-77
Demilitarization in the Contemporary World, edited by Peter N. Stearns, reviewed by Tomoyuki Sasaki, 877-78
China’s Battle for Korea: The 1951 Spring Offensive, by Xiaobing Li, reviewed by Pingchao Zhu, 878-80
The Southern Flank of NATO, 1951-1959: Military Strategy or Political Stabilization, by Dionysios Chourchoulis, reviewed by Simon Moody, 880-81
The Six-Day War and Israeli Self-Defense: Questioning the Legal Basis for Preventive War, by John Quigley; and Israel’s Silent Defender: An Inside Look at Sixty Years of Israeli Intelligence, edited by Amos Gilboa and Ephraim Lapid, reviewed by Kevin Keaney, 881-83
A Higher Standard: Leadership Strategies from America’s First Female Four-star General, by Ann Dunwoody, with Tomago Collins, reviewed by Michele Curran Cornell, 883-84
30 Years After: Issues and Representations of the Falklands War, edited by Carine Berbéri and Monia O’Brien Castro, reviewed by Jennifer Adair, 885-86
BOOKS RECEIVED: 887-892
RECENT JOURNAL ARTICLES: 893-901
DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS IN MILITARY HISTORY: 902-911
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: 912-913
