Commander of All Lincoln's Armies: A Life of General Henry W. Halleck Book

In this energetic and balanced tome, Marszalek fleshes out Halleck's intellectualism, ambition, and his delegating leadership style.

The popular image of Halleck is an aloof, inflexible, responsibility-evading traditionalist with an inability to lead and direct; of a bureaucrat rather than a fighter. Marszalek doesn't dispute this too much, speculating that Halleck's relationship with his father may have had something to do with it. Although Halleck's strengths did not seem to outweigh his shortcomings, Halleck obviously wasn't a complete nitwit, and his greatest contributions usually came from his supporting roles; he excelled at administrative, coordinating and advisory roles, and his role as Grant's chief of staff was where his talents and inclinations really manifested themselves. Marszalek gives the impression that, while flawed, Halleck's contribution outweighed any of his deficiencies. Halleck was without a doubt a good organizer, but the chaos of war was often his main enemy. And while Halleck was fairly ambivalent toward Grant, and often expressed dislike for him, this may not have been not out of jealousy but rather due to Grant's neglect for the proper, regimented military procedure that Halleck seemed so fond of (Halleck did eventually grow to respect Grant).

Often it seems like Marszalek wants to skip over Halleck's intriguing side, and he never really looks at the question of whether or not Halleck wanted to wreck Buell's career or how he wrote reports of battles he wasn't present at to protect Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan. Some more coverage of Halleck's ill-defined role as chief executive and discussions of the general staff's impact would have been welcome.

A thorough, well-researched biography of Old Brains.