The Guerrilla Hunters: Irregular Conflicts during the Civil War eds. by Brian D. McKnight and Barton A. Myers (review)

In the afterword of The Guerrilla Hunters: Irregular Conflicts during the Civil War, historian Daniel E. Sutherland contends that guerrilla warfare was "the single most important factor in determining how most people—soldiers and civilians—experienced the struggle" (p. 355). From bushwhacking in Virginia and the Carolinas to the sabotage of steamboats on the Mississippi River, irregulars brutally touched the lives of many Americans from 1861 to 1865. In sixteen essays, The Guerrilla Hunters outlines the pervasiveness of this irregular warfare. The volume also shows how irregular conflict fits into the larger sphere of Civil War scholarship. The editors, determined to develop guerrilla studies as a broadly accepted field, work to see "a more comprehensive and inclusive definition of military history that includes all combatants from the 1860s" (p. 8).

The Guerrilla Hunters builds upon the work of earlier historians, most notably Michael Fellman's Inside War: The Guerrilla Conflict in Missouri during the American Civil War (1989), Robert R. Mackey's The Uncivil War: Irregular Warfare in the Upper South, 1861–1865 (2004), Daniel E. Sutherland's A Savage Conflict: The Decisive Role of Guerrillas in the American Civil War (2009), Brian D. McKnight's Confederate Outlaw: Champ Ferguson and the Civil War in Appalachia (2011), and Joseph M. Beilein Jr. and Matthew C. Hulbert's edited volume, The Civil War Guerrilla: Unfolding the Black Flag in History, Memory, and Myth (2015). By outlining the depth and breadth of irregular warfare, The Guerrilla Hunters furthers our understanding of the motivations and actions of the partisans, bushwhackers, raiders, independent cavalrymen, saboteurs, and marauders who were sometimes lumped together under the moniker "guerrilla."

The book's initial essays explain why guerrillas—who sometimes operated with regular troops—should be broadly defined. Barton A. Myers's piece on the 1862 Partisan Ranger Act and Brian Steel Wills's essay on Nathan Bedford Forrest detail how irregular units sanctioned by the Confederate government sometimes blurred the lines between partisan and renegade. Additional essays cover communities (Scott Thompson's "The Irregular War in Loudon County, Virginia"), individuals (Adam H. Domby on Georgia bushwhacker John Gatewood), the impact of the irregular war on women (Lisa Tendrich Frank), the environment (Matthew M. Stith), and guerrillas' use of whiskey (Joseph M. Beilein Jr.). In addition, Andrew Fialka presents a digital model that explains the effectiveness of Union commanders' responses to irregular violence in Missouri. Earl J. Hess, reaching for a global perspective, compares nineteenth-century American irregulars with partisans from more recent conflicts. Taken together, these essays illustrate the extensiveness of the irregular conflict.

Several essays with Kentucky connections should be of particular interest to readers of the Register. McKnight writes about the "fluidity between various roles" among guerrillas operating in the Appalachian theater (p. 37). Stephen Rockenbach explains how "home rebels," men who took up bushwhacking after taking oaths of allegiance or amnesty, affected Kentucky. Aaron Astor dissects the social networks and "kin-based cohesiveness" of guerrillas led by "Tinker Dave" Beaty, a Unionist who operated along the Kentucky-Tennessee border (p. 112). Laura June Davis investigates saboteurs who blew up steamboats on western rivers (including one near Columbus, Kentucky). Finally, Matthew C. Hulbert examines conflicting accounts surrounding the death of Kentucky-born guerrilla Larkin Skaggs at Lawrence, Kansas. Because guerrilla violence pervaded Kentucky, it is no surprise that the Bluegrass State is widely represented.

Hess writes that although irregulars "were sideshows of the big show from a military standpoint … they had an important and devastating effect on society that historians are beginning to measure" (p. 345). The Guerrilla Hunters helps explain that a deeper interpretation of guerrilla warfare is critical to holistically understanding our nation's greatest conflict. Contributors to this volume provide clarity to the subject and make their mark on this important, growing field.