History of the US Army

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Tbday's formidable United States Arrny has a long and proud history. Indeed, its beginnings can be traced back to those hardy bands of colonial militiamen who fought to protect their lives, liberty and property from the hostile incursions of native Indians, foreign rivals and, fmally the troops of their own mother country Thus, when George Washington created the first true American army, the Continental Army, in 1775, America's tradition of Citizen soldiery was already a century and a half old.
In this authontative new History of The US Army James Morris telis the fascinating story of how this great American institution evolved from such humble beginnings to become the mightiest war machine in history. And along the way he reminds us of just how difficult it often was to achieve this impressive growth in the context of our essentially non-militaristic American society. Time after time the Army was allowed to wither away in peacetime, only to be called upon to go to war ill-equipped and under-prepared when somé new crisis burst upon the nation. And it was precisely at such times that the Army's true glory was best revealed, for no matter how unready, it never failed to rise to the challenges presented, never faüed to deliver victory when victory was what the nation asked of it.
Yet Professor Morris' book is more than the story of a great institution. It is alsó in large measure an account of the rise of modern warfare itself. The author makes clear, for example, how certain technical innovations of the 1840s and 1850s so drastically increased battlefield firepower that in the ensumg Civil War the inability of old tactics to match new capabilities produced the greatest bloodbath in American history, World War II not excepted.
And fmally perhaps essentially, this is a story of men - of great commanders, such as Washington, Morgan, Scott, Lee, Grant, Pershingand Patton, andofmillions of ordinary footsoldiers and airmen - whose achieve-ments have left our nation forever in their debt.
To illuminate Professor Morris' vivid, expert text History of The US Army offers hundreds of maps, photographs arid ülustrations, many in fali color. It is, in sum, a cornucopia both for the amateur of military history and for every reader concerned to know more about what is best and most inspiring in our national heritage. Vissza