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Title details for An Environmental History of the Civil War by Judkin Browning - Available

An Environmental History of the Civil War

by Judkin Browning
Timothy Silver
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This sweeping new history recognizes that the Civil War was not just a military conflict but also a moment of profound transformation in Americans' relationship to the natural world. To be sure, environmental factors such as topography and weather powerfully shaped the outcomes of battles and campaigns, and the war could not have been fought without the horses, cattle, and other animals that were essential to both armies. But here Judkin Browning and Timothy Silver weave a far richer story, combining military and environmental history to forge a comprehensive new narrative of the war's significance and impact. As they reveal, the conflict created a new disease environment by fostering the spread of microbes among vulnerable soldiers, civilians, and animals; led to large-scale modifications of the landscape across several states; sparked new thinking about the human relationship to the natural world; and demanded a reckoning with disability and death on an ecological scale. And as the guns fell silent, the change continued; Browning and Silver show how the war influenced the future of weather forecasting, veterinary medicine, the birth of the conservation movement, and the establishment of the first national parks.
In considering human efforts to find military and political advantage by reshaping the natural world, Browning and Silver show not only that the environment influenced the Civil War's outcome but also that the war was a watershed event in the history of the environment itself.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Civil War America

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 20, 2020

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

      • ISBN: 9781469655406

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781469655390

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781469655390
      • File size: 13589 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      February 7, 2020

      Browning and Silver (both, environmental history, Appalachian State Univ.) delve into the many environmental factors that helped shape the American Civil War. Inclement weather, such as the April 1862 snowstorm at the Battle of Shiloh, quickly unraveled military plans and often had an unpredictable effect on battle outcomes. Military readiness was severely compromised by lethal communicable disease, the cause and prevention of which were poorly understood at the time. Procurement and care of animals, vital to transporting supplies to the battlefields, presented other logistical challenges. The authors also explain how animals as battlefield participants, including officer mounts and artillery caisson haulers, added to the spread of disease among soldiers. Terrain, combined with weather vagaries, added yet another complication for military commanders. The marshy, boggy east coast often slowed Union westward advances into the Confederate heartland, while unusual rain events bogged down military advances in the arid west. VERDICT For scholars of the Civil War, this book adds a fresh perspective, illustrating how ecology, nature, and weather had a striking and unpredictable effect upon military preparedness and the waging of war.--John Muller, Dist. of Columbia P.L.

      Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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