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Michael J. Forsyth
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The Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1861-1865: A Study in Command Kindle Edition

by William Royston Geise (Author), Michael J. Forsyth (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 35 ratings
William Royston Geise was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Texas at Austin in the early 1970s when he researched and wrote The Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1861- 1865: A Study in Command in 1974. Although it remained unpublished, it was not wholly unknown. Deep-diving researchers were aware of Dr. Geise’s work and lamented the fact that it was not widely available to the general public. In many respects, studies of the Trans-Mississippi Theater are only now catching up with Geise. This intriguing book traces the evolution of Confederate command and how it affected the shifting strategic situation and general course of the war. Dr. Geise accomplishes his task by coming at the question in a unique fashion. Military field operations are discussed as needed, but his emphasis is on the functioning of headquarters and staff—the central nervous system of any military command. This was especially so for the Trans-Mississippi. After July 1863, the only viable Confederate agency west of the great river was the headquarters at Shreveport. That hub of activity became the sole location to which all isolated players, civilians and military alike, could look for immediate overall leadership and a sense of Confederate solidarity. By filling these needs, the Trans-Mississippi Department assumed a unique and vital role among Confederate military departments and provided a focus for continued Confederate resistance west of the Mississippi River. The author’s work mining primary archival sources and published firsthand accounts, coupled with a smooth and clear writing style, helps explain why this remote department (referred to as “Kirby Smithdom” after Gen. Kirby Smith) failed to function efficiently, and how and why the war unfolded there as it did. Trans-Mississippi Theater historian and Ph.D. candidate Michael J. Forsyth (Col., U.S. Army, Ret.) has resurrected Dr. Geise’s smoothly written and deeply researched manuscript from its undeserved obscurity. This edition, with its original annotations and Forsyth’s updated citations and observations, is bolstered with original maps, photographs, and images. Students of the war in general, and the Trans-Mississippi Theater in particular, will delight in its long overdue publication.
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  1. Print length
    219 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Savas Beatie
  4. Publication date
    August 30, 2022
  5. File size
    5.6 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Geise’s study closes a yawning gap in the historiography of the Trans-Mississippi theatre in the Civil War. Military events provide modest but necessary connective tissue to a narrative of unremitting Confederate foundering off the battlefields: chain of command problems, ragged administration, general officer in-fighting, logistical neglect, confused purposes, divided command, and more. This is institutional and administrative history at its finest.”
Thomas E. Schott, Ph.D., author of Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia: A Biography (1988)

“A skillfully edited and treasured contribution to the ever expanding library of American Civil War histories…”
Midwest Book Review

“This is a must read for any student of the Civil War, and particularly for those interested in the Trans-Mississippi.”
The NYMAS Review

“Geise’s writing is masterful and his perspective takes the reader beyond a chronological or personality driven narrative and into a military analysis of the war in the Trans-Mississippi. Michael J. Forsyth’s editing is every bit as insightful and informative as Geise’s work. This book deserves a place on any Civil War bookshelf.”
Jeffery S. Prushankin, author of A Crisis in Confederate Command (2015)

About the Author

William Royston Geise graduated from the Missouri Military Academy in 1936 and was attending the University of Texas at Austin when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He joined what would become the Air Force and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1961. He earned Bachelor’s in English from the University of Arizona and his Master’s in English and Ph.D. in American History in 1974 from UT-Austin. Geise taught history at San Antonio College for 15 years and published articles in a variety of periodicals before passing away in 1993.

Michael J. Forsyth is a retired U.S. Army field artillery colonel and currently an assistant professor in the Department of Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Operations at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He is a veteran of Operation DESERT STORM, served three tours in Afghanistan, and is a Ph.D. candidate at the Royal Military College of Canada. Michael is the author of many articles and four books, including The Great Missouri Raid: Sterling Price and the Last Major Confederate Campaign in Northern Territory (2015).

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BBP9N61F
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Savas Beatie (August 30, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 30, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5.6 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 219 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 35 ratings

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Michael J. Forsyth

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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Customers find the book well-researched and informative, with one noting how it helps elevate understanding of a neglected area of study. The writing quality receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as easy to read.

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8 customers mention "Information quality"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and well-researched, with one customer noting it helps elevate the understanding of a neglected area of study.

"...Thoroughly researched, graced with clear prose and keen insight, Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West is a must read for any..." Read more

"...West, 1861-1865: A Study in Command”, the reader will find an engaging study, not specifically of battles and tactics, but of the intricacies and..." Read more

"...A great addition to your Civil War collection and a fine introduction to the struggles in the Confederate Trans-Mississippi." Read more

"...command and staff operations in the Trans-Mississippi theater is well-researched and leverages the author's own military experience and knowledge to..." Read more

6 customers mention "Writing quality"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well written, with one noting it is easy to read and another describing it as concise.

"...Thoroughly researched, graced with clear prose and keen insight, Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West is a must read for any..." Read more

"He wrote clearly, identifying the people, their responsibilities and the confusions that came about in the Confederate command authorities in the..." Read more

"...It is well written, concise, and informative -- exactly the kind of information that helps paint the picture of what was happening...." Read more

"...The book is well written and very informative. Anyone who calls themselves a student of the Civil War should read this valuable resource...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Jeffrey W. Hunt
    5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Book
    Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    The Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department has not been as totally ignored by history as some think. Most of its major battles -- Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove -- have been the subject of very good books, as have many of its smaller but more famous fights -- Belmont, Galveston, Sabine Pass, Palmetto Ranch. Donnie Frazier has written an excellent series of books on the war in the west, Tom Curter has recently published an overarching history of the region and its war, and the Red River Campaign has received a great deal of attention, as has the New Mexico Campaign. Many of its principle generals have biographies and even some of its better known units --Walker's Texas "Grayhound" Division, for example. But the operation of the Trans-Mississippi high command, how it functioned as not only a military organization, but also a pseudo-political entity which provided the glue that held the Trans-Mississippi states together and to the Confederate nation as a whole, has never really been written about until now. This book fills that yawning gap, allowing the reader to see the Trans-Mississippi through the eyes of its principle commanders and that of their political partners as they addressed the myriad difficulties confronting their efforts: huge distances, an underdeveloped and often sparse civilian infrastructure, the demands made by Richmond to support operations east of the Mississippi, the vagaries of the cotton trade and efforts to build from scratch a military-industrial infrastructure that could support the region's Confederate forces once Federal forces gained control of the Mississippi River. This is not a book about battles or campaigns. It operates on a higher level than marching armies by examining the decision making that addressed where and why those armies marched, who led them, as well as how they were supplied and financed. Thoroughly researched, graced with clear prose and keen insight, Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West is a must read for any serious student of the western war. --Jeffrey Wm Hunt, author The Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmetto Ranch
    6 people found this helpful
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  • P. Whit
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Welcome Addition to the Historiography
    Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2022
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    The Confederate Trans-Mississippi region has long been a neglected operational theater in the study of the Civil War. It doesn’t have the draw that the Eastern or Western Theaters bring with their battles that ring out in the annals of American history, such as Antietam, Gettysburg, or Vicksburg. Additionally, Confederate leaders were mostly lackluster in their competency and generally less-than-equal to the tasks set before them. In Dr William Geise’s “The Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1861-1865: A Study in Command”, the reader will find an engaging study, not specifically of battles and tactics, but of the intricacies and intrigues of command matters that crossed military and civilian responsibilities in a region largely left to its own devices by the Confederate government. In this previously unpublished dissertation from 1974, editor Michael Forsyth and publisher Savas Beatie have provided a foundational study that fills a large gap in the understanding of a critically-undervalued theater and the impact that operational arena had on the overall war effort. This work is a very welcome addition to Civil War historiography and deserves a spot in the library of any Civil War student.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Dale Boatright
    4.0 out of 5 stars Have not finished but good so far.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    He wrote clearly, identifying the people, their responsibilities and the confusions that came about in the Confederate command authorities in the Trans-Mississippi West.
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  • Amazon Customer
    3.0 out of 5 stars Condition of book
    Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2024
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    The book is fine except three pages were printed incorrectly and had to be cut so that you could read the pages.
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  • Christopher J. Army
    5.0 out of 5 stars Continued study in command from the ACW
    Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Coddington’s Gettysburg “A Study in Command” opened up the field of study of command to the general public. Much as been written in the area of command, but not so much on the topic of command in the Confederate Trans-Mississippi region.

    Dr. William Geise’s “The Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1861-1865: A Study in Command” changes that gap! The information provided by Dr. Geise will help the student understand the operational art in an area that doesn’t “get a lot of press” in Civil War histography.

    The Civil War student will benefit from Dr. Geise’s work to better understand the war and command arena in the Trans-Mississippi, thus rounding out the overall continued study in command of the operational arts in the Civil War.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Daniel A. Masters
    5.0 out of 5 stars Superb addition to the history of the Trans-Mississippi
    Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    William Royston Geise's study of the Trans-Mississippi is a solid treatment of this often-forgotten theater of the Civil War. One thing that struck me was that the command issues that plagued the Army of Tennessee also affected the army west of the Mississippi; the early war dynamics between McCulloch, Sterling Price, and Earl Van Dorn made me wonder that the western army accomplished anything at all. I was familiar with Kirby Smith's services in the east but gained a new appreciation for what he accomplished in "Kirby Smithdom" despite a surfeit of supplies and the general struggles Richmond had with directing the war in the West. A great addition to your Civil War collection and a fine introduction to the struggles in the Confederate Trans-Mississippi.
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  • Louis S. Menyhert
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book about a little covered field
    Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    The book covered a relatively neglected area of the conflict. I appreciated the coverage of the logistical problems as well as the difficulties imposed by the size, communication, and poor transportation and resources in this area. Outstanding coverage of the commanders who get little coverage.
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