Military Necessity: Civil-miltary Relations in the Confederacy

by Escott, Paul D.

• ISBN13: 9780275983130
• ISBN10: 0275983137
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-01-30
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

Never before or since in American history have the needs and influence of the military weighed so heavily on society. Escott analyzes the militarization of life in the Confederacy and probes the relationships between military commanders, legislators, and Jefferson Davis and his administration. As the South struggled to wage an exhausting war against the North, military necessity increasingly determined policy and shaped all aspects of life. The military had an increasingly large impact not only on policy but also on events inside civil society. Military men played important roles in bringing about extensive social change, enforcing law and order, and placing significant restrictions on individual freedoms. Ultimately the crisis of the Confederacy threatened both the constitutionalism that southern politicians long had cherished and a core principle of the tradition of civil control over the military. Key figures in the army also took the lead in urging the use of slaves as soldiers and promoting the idea of emancipation. With many portraits of high-ranking generals and civil officials and telling anecdotes that reveal the nature of their relationships, this book reveals the depth of the Confederacy's social, political, and military crisis and highlights what this crisis revealed about the foundations of Confederate society.

Author Biography

Paul D. Escott is Professor of History at Wake Forest University.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	ix
Series Foreword	xi
Preface	xiii
Traditions for a New Nation	1	(14)
Policy-making Produces Innovation and Controversy	15	(24)
The Politics of Command	39	(32)
Toward a Militarized Society	71	(24)
Military Power and Civil Debility	95	(24)
Military Men and Civil Policy-making	119	(24)
Desperate Proposals and the Maintenance of Civil Supremacy	143	(22)
Citizens and Soldiers	165	(14)
Notes	179	(22)
Selected Bibliography	201	(6)
Index	207