Balloons of the Civil War - Softcover

US Army Command And General Staff College

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1497406315 ISBN 13: 9781497406315

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

This historical study investigates the military effectiveness and combat power of Civil War balloons. The categories inherent to military effectiveness include timeliness, accuracy, usefulness, operational considerations, and logistics. Limited by available material, especially those documenting Confederate efforts, this book highlights the history of ballooning prior to the Civil War, and focuses on the Union balloon operations during the initial fall and winter of 1861-2, the Peninsular campaign, and Chancellorsville. The analysis of the measures of effectiveness from these three periods indicates the Union balloon corps amply validated its worth. War, however, is more then just science. In this case, the "art" of warfare better explains the collapse of Thaddeus Lowe's organization after Chancellorsville. The first two modern implications of this case study involve both the unfavorable impact of personality, and the commander's influence on the assimilation of new technology. Are we better today at bringing on line the benefits associated with technology? The final point links tot he concept of battle command. With the massive infusion of information available tot he modern commander, are we still sending him to the lions without a whip?

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1497406315
• ISBN 13: 9781497406315
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 88