Military History Commons^™

The Unknown Legacy Of The 13th Amendment, Danielle E. Jones

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

On January 31, 1865, Congress passed the 13th Amendment, declaring slavery illegal in the United States. Or so it seemed. The second line of the Amendment, and the most oft unknown, states that slavery can still be used as a form of punishment for crimes, and this practice became widely used as a part of southern backlash to Reconstruction Era policies. After the end of the Civil War, many southern states struggled with rebuilding their infrastructures and government systems. In order to avoid falling into more debt, many of these states turned towards the convict lease system, which claimed that …

The 2016 Fortenbaugh Lecture: Individual Responses To Lincoln’S Assassination, Hannah M. Christensen

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Every year on November 19th, the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, a distinguished scholar of the Civil War Era is invited to speak as part of the Robert Fortenbaugh Memorial Lecture and present an aspect of the Civil War in a format that the general public can understand. This year, the 55th annual Fortenbaugh Memorial Lecture was delivered by Dr. Martha Hodes of New York University. Dr. Hodes’ lecture was based on her book Mourning Lincoln and argued, based on personal primary sources from the immediate aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, that Americans’ responses were by no means consistent. Not …

A Soldier And His Many Hats: The Evolution Of American Military Headgear, Jonathan E. Tracey

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Military headgear is a fascinating topic. It exists on a spectrum from the gaudy to the protective, but how did headgear evolve with the military? Interestingly, changes from the decorative to the practical can be examined through this blog’s favorite topic, the 1800s and the American Civil War. By tracing key changes in American military headgear in the 1800s, ideas about the nature of war, as well as how the United States was distancing itself from Europe, become clear.

[excerpt]

Where Was Canada? The Canadian Military Contribution To The British Commonwealth Second World War Campaign In North Africa, Andrew Stewart

Canadian Military History

The campaign fought by predominantly British Commonwealth forces in North Africa during the Second World War, in many respects, represented a final example of imperial solidarity and unity. Whilst the United States participated during the final stages prior to the surrender of Axis forces in May 1943, it was Britain and its Empire that provided most of the resources and manpower and contested most of the battles. Canada, however, played only a relatively minor part and this paper seeks to examine the associated decision-making process that took place in London and Ottawa and discuss the tensions that arose.

Destroying The Panthers: The Effect Of Allied Combat Action On I./Ss Panzer Regiment 12 In Normandy, 1944, Arthur Gullachsen

Canadian Military History

This article is an examination of the operational record of the World War Two German Panther tank during the Normandy Campaign of summer 1944. Challenging its perception as mechanically unreliable, this article argues Allied combat action was responsible for a large percentage of Panthers that were out of action. Secondly, the inferior resources of the German tank replacement and repair program were no match for superior Canadian Army practices during 1944. To support these arguments the author examines Canadian and German wartime primary documents as well as multiple secondary sources.

More Sieve Than Shield: The U.S. Army And Cords In The Pacification Of Phu Yen Province, Republic Of Vietnam, 1965-1972, Robert John Thompson Iii

Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the meaning and execution of pacification during the Vietnam War in the Republic of Vietnam’s Phu Yen Province. Vietnam War scholarship never defined the term, an unsurprising fact given those that directed the war itself never agreed on a lasting interpretation. Void of an analysis of the word, pacification is erroneously discussed as a separate facet, rather than the foundation, of the war. When discussed, pacification is often seen solely as the developmental aspect of the war and one far removed from the battles waged by conventional armies. On the contrary, two dissimilar and tangentially related wars …

Bearing The Double Burden: Combat Chaplains And The Vietnam War, John Donellan Fitzmorris Iii

Dissertations

Throughout the period of the Vietnam War, soldiers and Marines of the United States Military were accompanied into the combat zones by members of the clergy who were also part of the military. These chaplains attempted to bring God to the men in the field by providing spiritual and moral support through worship services and certain counseling duties. A number of chaplains, however, believed so strongly in their ministry that they refused to simply stay “on base” and instead shouldered their packs and journeyed with their troops into the most perilous combat zones. In so doing , these combat chaplains …

Combat Psychology: Learning To Kill In The U.S. Military, 1947-2012, Patrick Mckinnie

Graduate Theses

In his 1947 work Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command, historian S. L. A. Marshall convinced the U.S. government and military of the critical need for improved techniques in combat psychology. However, his more fundamental assertion that soldiers needed to be trained to overcome an innate psychological resistance to killing would prompt some in the military as well as scholars and medical experts to examine the heart and mind of the soldier in combat. As a result, an emergent science called killology became a critical component in the U.S. military’s quest to better train soldiers for the …

Faith In War: The American Roots Of Global Conflict, Gregory Daddis

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Foreign Military Educations As Pla Soft Power, John S. Van Oudenaren, Benjamin E. Fisher

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Crisis Of American Military Primacy And The Search For Strategic Solvency, Hal Brands, Eric Edelman

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Ends+Ways+Means=(Bad) Strategy, Jeffrey W. Meiser

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Crisis At Fort Sumter: The Symbolic Monument That Transformed Northern And Southern Opinions During The Start Of The Civil War, Olivia C. Cabanban

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Understanding the complexity of the Battle at Fort Sumter and the changing opinions of Northerners and Southerners acts as means of delving into the deeper roots of slavery, secession, and national discourse that laced our nation’s undeniable history. The first firings at Fort Sumter were the flashpoint of the entirety of the Civil War, triggering the four years of battle, death, destruction, and competing nationalisms that ensued between the North and South. Because the histories of the war—more specifically the battle of Fort Sumter—are biased because they are written from points of views laced with Confederate and Unionist undertones, comprehending …

Winning At The Graduate Level Of Warfare: Six Core Factors Of A Successful Counterinsurgency Campaign And The Example Of Sierra Leone, John D. Rimann

Honors Theses

The most common form of warfare so far in the 21st Century has been insurgencies and counterinsurgencies, types of warfare which are particularly challenging for industrialized Western nations to wage effectively. This paper identifies six factors of primary importance which form the key to a successful counterinsurgency campaign. These factors are legitimacy, clarity, beneficial geopolitical factors, restraint, intellectual understanding, and an enduring commitment. This paper argues that these factors must all be present for a counterinsurgency campaign to succeed, and argues that without these factors being accounted for a counterinsurgency will fail. The British humanitarian intervention in Sierra Leone in …

From The Editor, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Ensuring Effective Military Voice, William E. Rapp

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Solving America's Gray-Zone Puzzle, Isaiah Wilson Iii, Scot Smitson

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Strategic Uncertainty, The Third Offset, And The Us Grand Strategy, Ionut C. Popescu

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Commentary And Reply, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Article Index Parameters 2016, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Army's Identity Crisis, Gates Brown

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Turning It Up To Eleven: Belligerent Rhetoric In North Korea's Propaganda, Mason Richey

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Failure Of Westphalia: A Constructivist Examination Of Western And Middle Eastern Relations, Jayson Warren

Masters Theses

This thesis is not intended to be a dogmatic or pedantic endorsement of any one religion, ethic, or culture. To the contrary, it is the intent of the author to examine a number of competing ideas, philosophies, and belief systems in order to extrapolate their geopolitical implications and to pursue them to their logical (albeit sometimes inevitable) conclusions. Too often, any number of presuppositions at work within a given situation go overlooked and subsequently skew geopolitical analysis and resulting policy decisions. This thesis seeks to transcend mere opinion or speculation and achieve instead a framework of Constructivism for pragmatic comprehension …

Shakers - South Union, Kentucky (Mss 62), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 62. Diary of Shaker eldress Nancy E. Moore, and a journal, probably kept by Shaker eldress Lucy Shannon. The diary and journal record life in the Shaker colony at South Union, Kentucky, with Moore’s diary focused on the Civil War years 1863-1864.

The Disquieted Heart And The Lighted Path: Levar Burton’S Dedication Day Speech, Matthew D. Laroche

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

This Saturday past brought with it an electric sort of chill, the kind fueled by a driving breeze that lifts your jacket, steals past your socks and up your legs, worms its way through gaps in scarves and gloves, and leaves you feeling naked and afraid and alive in ways that no one else can see. The kind of wind that whisks away complicity and surety, leaving you with nothing but a burning compulsion to do something that will reignite your humanity, your belief in goodness, your claim to a kind life. For those who attended, the Dedication Day ceremony …

Ansel Brooks Smith, Letter Fragment, No Date Noted, No Location Noted, Ansel Brooks Smith Sr.

Ansel Brooks Smith, Sr. Letters

No abstract provided.

Sticking To His Plan: An Interview With Dedication Day Keynote Speaker Levar Burton, Anika N. Jensen

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The week before Dedication Day I had the privilege of interviewing keynote speaker and Emmy Award-winning actor LeVar Burton, who has starred in Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Reading Rainbow. I knew this was the perfect opportunity to engage in a serious dialogue about race, as the most dramatic and consequential presidential elections had been decided just a week previous, and I was thrilled when Mr. Burton answered all of my questions with poise and understanding, charging head-on into difficult but immensely relevant topics. The messages he conveyed are powerful and will stick with me …

Something Must Be Done: The Construction And Dedication Of The Soldiers’ National Cemetery At Gettysburg, Hannah M. Christensen

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Not only did the armies leave something of a state of chaos behind them after the battle of Gettysburg; they also left their dead buried poorly almost everywhere. Within days, the combination of rain and pigs rooting around the battlefield had exposed multiple skeletons and partially-decomposed bodies. The smell was horrendous, and residents and visitors alike were shocked by the state of the burials.

[excerpt]

Wolfgang Grossman Interview For The Veterans' Voices, Wolfgang H. W. Grossman, Jeniffer Seavey

Veterans' Voices

Wolfgang H. W. Grossman enlisted in the United States Army in 1969. He served at Fort Campbell, Fort Gordon, Fort Dix, Fort Bragg, and in Vietnam. He was awarded the Bronze Star, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Medal, and more. He attained the rank of Specialist (E-5) and was discharged in 1978.