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In A Crisis in Confederate Command, Jeffery S. Prushankin scrutinizes the antagonistic relationship between Confederate general Edmund Kirby Smith and his key subordinate, Richard Taylor. Prushankin offers a perspective on the events in the Trans-Mississippi through the eyes of these two high-strung men and analyzes how their clash in personalities and in notions of duty and glory shaped the course of the Civil War.
Smith and Taylor, Prushankin explains, disagreed over how to thwart Federal incursions across Louisiana and Arkansas. Smith, a West Point graduate and disciple of Joseph E. Johnston, owed a debt to politicians in Arkansas and Missouri for helping him secure his appointment and so opted for a defensive policy that favored those states. Taylor, a Louisiana political general who had served his apprenticeship under Stonewall Jackson, argued for an offensive strike against the enemy. The friction between the two reached a climax at the Red River Campaign in 1864 when Taylor blatantly disobeyed orders from Smith and attacked Federal troops. Prushankin shows that what began as a dispute over strategy degenerated into a battle of egos and a succession of caustic personal attacks that eventually led to Smith's relieving Taylor from command.
Despite their discord, Prushankin argues, Smith and Taylor produced one of the Confederacy's greatest military accomplishments in the Red River campaign victory against a Yankee juggernaut. With his insightful portraits of Smith and Taylor, use of previously untapped primary sources, and new interpretations of correspondence from key figures, Prushankin imparts fresh understanding of the psychology of leadership in the Civil War as a whole.
About the Author:
Jeffery S. Prushankin is a lecturer in military history at Penn State University, Abington. He lives in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.
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Guy Johnston
reviewed A Crisis in Confederate Command: Edmund Kirby Smith, Richard Taylor, and the Army of the Trans-Mississippi on August 10, 2015
A Crisis in Confederate Command: Edmund Kirby Smith, Richard Taylor, and the Army of the Trans-Mississippi
This was a really interesting, first-person account of one young Illinois man's experiences in the Civil War. BW Baker went on to have a distinguished academic career, so his letters are very readable. The letters are fleshed out by his great-grandson, a writer and historian.
Thank goodness that the great-grandson is a historian, b/c we didn't learn much about the battles that "Webb" participated in from his letters. That information was fleshed out by the writer. I downgraded the book to four stars, b/c the last quarter of the book was a reprinting of most of the source letters in their entirety. They were nearly reproduced in the text of the book, so I felt like Mr. Bobrick was padding the page totals of the book by reproducing the letters. Maybe others will prefer to read the letters w/o the preceding text. Interesting book anyway, esp considering the author's close relationship to the letter writer.
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Add A Crisis in Confederate Command: Edmund Kirby Smith, Richard Taylor, and the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, In A Crisis in Confederate Command, Jeffery S. Prushankin scrutinizes the antagonistic relationship between Confederate general Edmund Kirby Smith and his key subordinate, Richard Taylor. Prushankin offers a perspective on the events in the Trans-Mississi, A Crisis in Confederate Command: Edmund Kirby Smith, Richard Taylor, and the Army of the Trans-Mississippi to the inventory that you are selling on WonderClubX
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