Battle: The Nature and Consequences of Civil War Combat (review)

Framing the study of Civil War combat as an "experience of battle" is a relatively new approach, but it has many fruitful possibilities that have yet to be fully explored by historians. Editor Kent Gramm, an English professor at Wheaton College, framed this book of essays as a contribution to that topic. The essays originated, at least in part, from symposia hosted by the Seminary Ridge Historical Preservation Foundation, and thus at least one of them has a focus on Gettysburg. Some of the other essays explore more widely the phenomenon of fighting and suffering in the Civil War.

Three essays make a good contribution to the topic at hand. D. Scott Hartwig provides a solid case study of the experience of battle at Gettysburg, discussing in brief the many facets of that approach to understanding what soldiers did and what they had to endure on the battlefield. Bruce A. Evans, a practicing physician, writes tellingly of the state of medical care in Civil War armies, avoiding out-dated notions that tend to portray the 1860s as a sort of medical hell. Eric T. Dean elaborates on his important work dealing with the psychological impact of combat on soldiers.

There are, however, several essays in this book that contribute less to the topic than one would like. Paul Fussell writes about the culture of war, based on his personal experience in Europe during World War II, but includes no meaningful discussion of the Civil War. Alan T. Nolan does not discuss the experience of battle at all, but argues that slavery was a major cause of the Civil War. Kent Gramm, the editor, muses on statistics, killing, and death; while his thought-piece deals with the experience of combat in the Civil War, it is not easy to understand his ultimate point.

It is notoriously difficult to manufacture an effective collection of essays about any topic. The quality and contribution of the pieces inevitably vary, and publishers are leery about taking on the responsibility of producing yet another book of uneven parts. This collection suffers more than many from the problems inherent in the genre, but readers can pick and choose to glean what they want from it.