This Business Of War

by Le Duc, William G.; Scher, Adam; Scher, Adam

• ISBN13: 9780873515085
• ISBN10: 0873515080
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-11-01
• Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Pr

Summary

Concerned with the logistical details of supplying the Army of the Potomac as it bogged down during the Peninsula campaign or of commandeering a steamboat to relieve the siege and get food to stranded soldiers at Chattanooga, Le Duc tells his story of mud-choked roads, incompetent commanders, and what he understands as the crucial factor necessary for the Union's success in battle: a well-supplied army. Through his close association with Generals McClellan and Meade, Hooker and Sherman, Le Duc learned to master the army's bureaucracy and overcome the hardships of trying to keep Union supplies on the move. His compelling memoir is unique in depicting the details of life in the Quartermaster Department. William G Le Duc (1823-1917) moved to the Minnesota Territory in 1850. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he volunteered into the Quartermaster Department and mustered out four years later as brevet brigadier general. He later served as the US Commissioner of Agriculture from 1877 until 1881 and retired to his home in Hastings, Minnesota.

Author Biography

William G. Le Duc (1823?1917) moved to the Minnesota Territory in 1850. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he volunteered into the Quartermaster Department and mustered out four years later as brevet brigadier general. He later served as the U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture from 1877 until 1881 and retired to his home in Hastings, Minnesota. Adam E. Scher is a curator at the Minnesota Historical Society.

Table of Contents

Foreword	v
ADAM E. SCHER
1 Family Matters	1	(8)
2 Growing Up in Ohio	9	(9)
3 Farming and College	18	(6)
4 Frontier Travel and Henry Clay	24	(7)
5 Westward to Minnesota Territory	31	(11)
6 The Crystal Palace Exhibition	42	(12)
7 Indian Trouble in St. Paul	54	(4)
8 Railroads and Land	58	(7)
9 Preparations for War	65	(7)
10 The Chickahominy Campaign	72	(6)
11 The Life of a Quartermaster	78	(9)
12 Retreat with the Army of the Potomac	87	(7)
13 With the Eleventh Corps	94	(11)
14 At Bridgeport	105	(9)
15 With General Hooker	114	(9)
16 On to Atlanta	123	(9)
17 The Beginning of the End	132	(10)
18 A Western Trip	142	(4)
19 At Brainerd, Minnesota	146	(3)
20 Commissioner of Agriculture	149	(13)
21 At Work as Commissioner	162