A Decisive Level of Command: Brigade Leadership in the Army of the Cumberland, 1861-1864

Abstract

The American Civil War is too often studied from the top down, focusing on the lives of army commanders and politicians. More recent scholarship has focused on the men in the ranks and their view of the war. Left out in this are the contributions made by mid-level brigade commanders. These men represented the core of the Civil War army's command structure. Brigades were large enough to act on their own and contained enough power and force to determine the outcome of engagements. This thesis focuses on four brigade commanders -William P. Carlin, Charles G. Harker, John C. Starkweather, and August Willich - and the commands they exercised during the conflict. Through training and drill these leaders shaped their men into soldiers. By learning to work within the framework of the army as a whole thesemen made it possible to maneuver and fight in large units. Their influence created solid, hard fighting units responsible for winning the war.