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

The average rating for Commander of All Lincoln's Armies: A Life of General Henry W. Halleck based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-05-26 00:00:00 Jaycee Stichka The highlight of this book is the first 100 pages and the last chapter, which details Halleck's career before and after the Civil War. Most though are reading it for his actions during the war, and there the book stumbles. There are numerous minor errors about the war. The narrative is compromised by Marszalek's deep admiration for Grant, to which end Buell's role at Shiloh is not mentioned and Grant is given chief credit for winning Iuka and Corinth. One is even told the final drive on Vicksburg was not the greatest campaign of the Civil War (its easily a top candidate) but in all of American history (highly debatable). It gets to be a little much after a while. Any excuses by commanders for not moving out right away are brushed aside as signs of difficulty and incompetence, leading to some rather shallow commentary on strategy, logistics, personality, and army politics. Rosecrans was not simply being difficult in 1863, but trying to ensure his cavalry could beat the Rebels given his reliance on the railroad. Tullahoma vindicated his decision, but Marszalek does not even mention the campaign. While Marszalek's analysis of Halleck's personality is solid, if veering into psychoanalysis, he also underestimates him. By war's end most of the top commands in the Union army were held Halleck's friends, such as Grant, Sherman, Ord, Schofield, Wright, Canby, Pope, and Sheridan. Meade and Thomas were exceptions, and tellingly neither had many friends outside of their army circle. Marszalek contends that Halleck did not give positive orders, but it seems more like he gave mixed signals to those not in his favor, which only further complicated things. As such, Halleck's skill as a master manipulator of army politics, which was commented on at the time by Hooker, Meade, and others, is totally absent. The first part was promising. Yet, the book does not dig deeper, and where it purports to dig deeper such as Halleck's relationship with his father, it is unconvincing. For a better take on Halleck, the dissertation "Grant's Lieutenants in the West" should be consulted.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-12-11 00:00:00 Ja Ja 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.