History

At the time of the Revolutionary War, a fifth of the Colonial population was African American. By 1779, 15 percent of the Continental Army were former slaves, while the Navy recruited both free men and slaves. More than 5000 black Americans fought for independence in an integrated military--it would be the last until the Korean War. The majority of Indian tribes sided with the British yet some Native Americans rallied to the American cause and suffered heavy losses.

This volume presents recent archaeological and ethnohistorical research on the encampments, trails, and support structures of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. These sites illuminate the daily lives of soldiers, officers, and camp followers away from the more well-known military campaigns and battles.

Efforts upon the waves played a critical role in European and Anglo-American conflicts throughout the eighteenth century. Yet the oft-told narrative of the American Revolution tends to focus on battles on American soil or the debates and decisions of the Continental Congress. The Untold War at Sea is the first book to place American privateers and their experiences during the War for Independence front and center. Kylie A. Hulbert tells the story of privateers at home and abroad while chronicling their experiences, engagements, cruises, and court cases.

A useful overview of the American Revolution for youth. This work provides information about the people, battles, and events of America's battle for independence. It also includes information about the daily lives of ordinary people caught in the crossfire of the conflict.

This book is a narrative history of the many dimensions of the War of 1812 - social, diplomatic, military and political - which places the war's origins and conduct in transatlantic perspective. The events of 1812-15 were shaped by the larger crisis of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. In synthesizing and reinterpreting scholarship on the war, Professor J. C. A. Stagg focuses on the war as a continental event, highlighting its centrality to Canadian nationalism and state development. The book introduces the war to students and general readers, concluding that it resulted in many ways from an emerging nation-state trying to contend with the effects of rival European nationalisms, both in Europe itself and in the Atlantic world.

In early 1815, Secretary of State James Monroe reviewed the treaty with Britain that would end the War of 1812. The United States Navy was blockaded in port; much of the army had not been paid for nearly a year; the capital had been burned. The treaty offered an unexpected escape from disaster. Yet it incensed Monroe, for the name of Great Britain and its negotiators consistently appeared before those of the United States. "The United States have acquired a certain rank amongst nations, which is due to their population and political importance," he brazenly scolded the British diplomat who conveyed the treaty, "and they do not stand in the same situation as at former periods."

The War of 1812 saw the United States wracked by political dissent and saddled with a problematic military policy. The new nation notably failed in its attempted occupation of Canada in a bid to leverage better treatment from Great Britain but in two and a half years of fighting, there were American victories and defeats, none of which decisively altered events or advanced the national agenda. In the end, the grievances listed in President Madison's war message to Congress--British harassment of American shipping, the impressment of American citizens and the instigation of hostilities by Indian tribes--were all mitigated by the time the Treaty of Ghent was signed in 1814 (mainly attributable to the fall of Napoleon). This collection of War Department correspondence gives a complete account through more than 11,000 official and unofficial letters, annotated and indexed here for the first time.

Naval Actions of the War of 1812 was previously published in 1896 to study the condition of affairs that led up to the declaration of the second war against Great Britain. Although England, it must be confessed, had plenty of fighting on her hands and troubles enough at home, she had not forgotten the chagrin and disappointments caused by the loss of the American colonies through a mistaken enforcement of high-handedness.

Tecumseh dreamed of a united Indian nation that would flourish in our present-day Midwest. He worked very hard to bring this about, developing a shrewd sense of white people's politics. If he had not been killed fighting for the British in 1812, there is no telling what he might have accomplished. If he had lived, there is every reason to believe that Tecumseh could have been the one Indian leader to create an Indian State.

The Dead March provides a solid overview of the Mexican American War, starting by comparing the countries at the eve of war, and ending with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the war. The book is a useful diplomatic and economic history of the war.

This is another useful history of the Mexican/American War, but rather than telling a narrative of the different battles, it provides an overview of the cultural, social, and political aspects of the regular and volunteer forces. It also discusses leadership among the military brass of the war.

In December 1846, John Jacob Oswandel--or Jake as he was often called--enlisted in the Monroe Guards, which later became Company C of the First Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment. Thus began a twenty-month journey that led Oswandel from rural Pennsylvania through the American South, onward to the siege of Veracruz, and finally deep into the heart of Mexico. Waging war with Mexico ultimately realized President James K. Polk's long-term goal of westward expansion all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

This work is a narrative of Zachary Taylor's Mexican War campaign, from the formation of his army in 1844 to his last battle at Buena Vista in 1847, with emphasis on the 163 men in his "Army of Occupation" who became Confederate or Union generals in the Civil War. It clarifies what being a Mexican War veteran meant in their cases, how they interacted with one another, how they performed their various duties, and how they reacted under fire.

This work is a useful overview of the U.S./Mexico border, with a focus on the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (which ended the Mexican American War) and how it fundamentally changed the U.S./Mexico relations. This is an incredible work of diplomatic history and how war, diplomacy, and the borders of nations all intersect.

Wars can have repercussions on our nation, both intentional and unintentional. One interesting repercussion of the Mexican-American War was the creation of the Mexican American/Latino identity. This article describes how the war lead to the creation of this identity and opens up a bigger question of the way that our racial identities are constructed.

A useful broad overview of the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in American history. More Americans would die in the Civil War then every other conflict after it combined. It takes a bird's eye view of the conflict, including information about most facets of the war. It describes information from the lowliest private to the presidents of the two countries at war. The book is also incredibly illustrated with photographs, artifacts, and art. The book was designed as a compilation for the Civil War DVD series, but works well on its own.

Ken Burns landmark documentary series, the Civil War, not only brought Civil War history to the masses, but changed the way many view the Civil War. While there are some historical inaccuracies sprinkled throughout (notably in the romanticization of certain historical figures), the film is considered a classic of Civil War history, and serves a solid starting point for anybody interested in the topic.

The Battle of Gettysburg of 1863 is the turning point of the American Civil War. Flush with victory after the battle of Chancellorsville, Lee and the Confederates invaded the Union in Pennsylvania in order to capture much needed supplies. Union and Confederate forces met near the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. After three days of brutal fighting, the Union would emerge victorious, forcing the Confederacy on the defense for the rest of the war.

This book describes the battle of Gettysburg from the perspective of the average soldier who participated in the battle, describing the sounds, smells, and politics of the battle.

William Henry Harrison Clayton was one of nearly 75,000 soldiers from Iowa to join the Union ranks during the Civil War. Possessing a high school education and superior penmanship, Clayton served as a company clerk in the 19th Infantry, witnessing battles in the Trans-Mississippi theater. His diary and his correspondence with his family in Van Buren County form a unique narrative of the day-to-day soldier life as well as an eyewitness account of critical battles and a prisoner-of-war camp. Clayton participated in the siege of Vicksburg and took part in operations against Mobile, but his writings are unique for the descriptions he gives of lesser-known but pivotal battles of the Civil War in the West. Fighting in the Battle of Prairie Grove, the 19th Infantry sustained the highest casualties of any federal regiment on the field.

Offering comprehensive coverage for those examining Civil War propaganda, this volume provides a broad analysis of efforts by both Union and Confederate sides to influence public opinion of America's deadliest conflict.This illuminating reference work contains excerpts from roughly 100 individual pieces of propaganda generated during the American Civil War in the North and the South, as well as contextual analysis to assist readers in understanding its utility, importance, and effect. It includes written arguments, staged photographs, and political cartoons, all of which were used to advance one side's objectives while undermining the enemy's. This helps readers to understand the underlying arguments of each side as well as the willingness of each to distort the truth for political, military, or economic advantage.

While New Mexico Territory (which also included the land that we now call Arizona) was far from the main fronts of the Civil War, New Mexico was not spared the brutality of war. From the creation of Confederate Arizona to the brutal battles of Valverde and Glorieta Pass, to the eventual retreat of Confederates from the territory, the war was a three way fight between Union, Confederate, and Indigenous forces.

A useful overview of the American Civil War for youth. This provides a brief introduction of the causes, people, battles, weapons, and leaders of the Civil War. The book also provides a useful overview of the daily lives of people who were caught up in the middle of the conflict.

Foreshadowing the twentieth-century experience, the Spanish American War was America's first modern foreign war. Catapulting the United States into an international world power, the war had lasting international implications. Besides America's acquisition of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Hawaii, and Guam, the war led the United States to take to the international stage, confronting Germany and Japan (foreshadowing the conflict of World War II), and creating a diplomatic bridge between Great Britain and the United States.

An overview of the story of the U.S.S. Maine, whose explosion sparked the start of the Spanish American war. The book, while somewhat outdated, the book is unique in that the author interviews the last survivors of the explosion, as he provides an overview of the doomed ship.

In 1898, when war with Spain seemed inevitable, Andrew Summers Rowan, an American army lieutenant from West Virginia, was sent on a secret mission to Cuba. He was to meet with General Calixto García, a leader of the Cuban rebels, in order to gather information for a U.S. invasion. Months later, after the war was fought and won, a flamboyant entrepreneur named Elbert Hubbard wrote an account of Rowan's mission titled "A Message to García."

One of the most famous antecedents of the Spanish American War was the charge of Theodore Roosevelt's First Volunteer Cavalry up San Juan Hill. Many New Mexicans served alongside Teddy Roosevelt during the First Cavalry's Campaigns, playing a major role in the territory becoming a state. While Theodore Roosevelt's account is not considered the most historically accurate account, it makes up for it with its exciting description of battle.

Many New Mexicans distinguished themselves during the Spanish American War, paving the way for statehood roughly 15 years later. One such New Mexican was Captain Maximillano Luna, who served alongside Teddy Roosevelt as part of the Rough Riders.

A brief overview of World War One from a global perspective. This work begins with the era before WWI, one which would be shattered with the coming of the war. The work goes over the war year by year, ending with a description of how the world was changed both physically (the death toll, the realignment of borders) and philosophically (the loss of faith in rationalism and liberalism) by the war.

This book serves as a solid overview of U.S. participation WWI. The work provides an overview as to how the U.S. Army (American Expeditionary Force) went from an undermanned, underequipped force to one of the strongest armies in the world. The book uses a mix of primary sources like official reports, diaries and memoirs. This book not only provides information about the leaders and famous individuals in the American Expeditionary Force (John Pershing, Douglass MacArthur, John York) as well as the everyday soldiers who fought and died in the trenches.

In 1918, the war was in a dire state for the Allies. With the Russians/Soviets leaving the war, the Germans were able to bring massive reserves to the Western Front for a major counterattack. Fortunately, due to logistical issues and allied grit, the German Counterattack stalled. And by that time, American troops had just began arriving in the battlefield. The American counterattack, known as the The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was one of the greatest American contributions to the war. This work describes the battle, including various perspectives of the battle as well as describe the individual heroism of its participants.

An original reinterpretation of the twelve most significant events of WWI. From the assassination of Austria-Hungary's Archduke Ferdinand to the last offensives of the war, author Ian Beckett describes many incidents of the war from a global perspective, including some of the best known battles to obscure incidents.

Mixing film history with social history, Reel Patriotism examines the role played by the American film industry during World War I and the effects of the industry's pragmatic patriotism in the decade following the war. Looking at such films as Joan the Woman and Wings and at the war-time activities of Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin, film distributors (particularly George Kleine), and the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry, this book shows how heavily publicized gestures of patriotism benefited the reputation and profits of the movie business.

The American Heritage History of World War II, originally written in 1966 by Pulitzer Prize winning author C.L. Sulzberger, is considered a classic of WWII history. The 2014 edition has been greatly edited and expanded by Stephen E Ambrose based on new discoveries and new historiography on the war. This particular work has a global scope and provides a history of the conflict from the start to the end.

This work is useful as an encyclopedic overview of WWII. It is a useful reference for various significant battles, peoples, tactics, and weapons from the war.

The Good War is one of the greatest oral histories of WWII. It includes a number of interview with various ordinary people who fought in the conflict, describing what they did in the war, how the war changed them, and providing clarity into the different perspectives that people had on the war.

This edited book includes a series of articles on New Mexico's various contributions to victory in the Second World War. The work spends a long time focusing on the 200th Coast Artillery and the Bataan Death March, the Navajo Code Talkers in the Pacific, and the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, among other contributions to the war effort.

During WWII, the Nazis banned and burned over 100 million books. The U.S., in an ideological blow against their enemies, began to arm their soldiers with 20 million donated paperback books and a series of 120 million slim paperbacks published by the War Department.

This work serves as a solid overview of the Korean conflict, covering over the origin of the conflict, the back and forth of the war, and the war's ending with a strong emphasis on U.S. involvement. The author places a focus on the process that lead to U.S. involvement, the misunderstandings that lead to Chinese involvement as well as the conflict between President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur.

In 1950, the Korean War was in a dire state. The North Korean Forces had overran the South Koreans, forcing them on a 140 mile long defensive perimeter around the port of Pusan/Busan. The U.N./South Korean lines were holding due to the superior U.N. logistics and support. That was when commander Douglas MacArthur had the brilliant idea of flanking the Northern forces by invading the city of Inchon amphibiously in order to capture the South Korean capital of Seoul and relieve pressure on the Pusan Pocket. Despite incredible difficulties including the weather and Korean resistance, the attack was a massive success, with the war turning in favor of the U.N.

Some of the most incredible fighting during the Korean War took place in the skies above North Korea. In the so called "Mig Alley," Chinese, Russian, Korean, American, and British jets clashed in the skies. This was a time of massive development in both technology and tactics as both sides began to learn how jet fighters were different from the propeller fighters used in WWI and WWII. This book provides a solid overview of the history of jet combat in the Korean war, from the perspective of the pilots who flew these aircraft.

One of the enduring images of the Korean conflict is that of the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital or MASH unit. The MASH unit would be immortalized in the Richard Hooker book MASH: A Tale of Three Army Doctors (which would later on become a movie and TV show of the same name). The real MASH units combined developments of medicine, aeronautics, and military tactics, in order to save lives on the battlefield.

A useful overview of the Cold war, from the start at the end of WWII to its end with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. While the work has a global perspective, it is necessary for understanding the scope of this global, 50 year, conflict.

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was one of the most dramatic events of the Cold War. During this incident, the U.S. learned that the Soviets were arming the Cubans with nuclear weapons. In response, the U.S. blockaded the island, preventing the Soviets from bringing any more weapons onto the island. After a tense 13 day standoff, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles. This was the closest the world has ever been to nuclear Armageddon.

Thirteen Days is Robert F. Kennedy's Memoir that describes the decision-making process of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM), which advised the president during this dramatic standoff. This work provides valuable insight into the decision-making process of the top military brass during this period.

While soldiers were stationed in Germany, Japan, and Korea on the front lines of the Cold War, many people back on the Homefront suffered during this war. Groups known as downwinders (people who lived downwind from Nuclear testing and extraction), would suffer from radiation poisoning and higher rates of cancers. This book describes the effects that nuclear weapons storage had on a small community just outside of a nuclear weapons facility. This would also, notably, occur on the Navajo reservation, where uranium mining would result in high rates of cancers and impact Navajo water supplies.

An additional note is that this is the reason why our reference librarian, Jennifer Goodland, glows in the dark (Reference Librarian Jennifer Goodland told me to add this).

Stanley Karnow's book, Vietnam: A History is one of the best works on the Vietnam War. His work provides a narrative overview of the war from both the Vietnamese (North, South, VietCong) and American perspectives. The work also contains a series of interviews with soldiers from both sides. The work begins before the war describing Vietnamese resistance to invading armies from China to France to the U.S. and ends by describing the impacts of the war on both Vietnam and the U.S.

The Vietnam War was one of the first wars in U.S. history to be widely covered by television and news crews, bringing a conflict thousands of miles away to their living rooms. Many people believe that the harsh reporting of the Vietnam War resulted in the government losing the will to continue to fight the war and pulled out. While an oversimplification of a complicated situation, it is testament to the power that reporting of the war had.

The Tet (Lunar New Year) Offensive of 1968 was one of the largest battles of the Korean War. During the celebrations, the Viet Cong attacked numerous cities across Vietnam simultaneously, in an attempt to wrest them from South Vietnamese control. While the battle was an American victory (not only were the Viet Cong units repulsed but also they inflicted a number of irreplaceable casualties), it devastated American morale, as the media had portrayed the war as being an American victory, up to that point. This book focuses on Marine Battalions in the Vietnamese City of Hue during the Tet Offensive, where fighting was particularly intense and described the impact that the war had on Morale back in the U.S.

An enduring memory of the Vietnam War are images of UH-1 Helicopters flying over the horizon in order to bring troops between bases or bring troops to combat zones. While Helicopters were first used in Korea, Helicopters were first used extensively in the Vietnam War as transports and as offensive weapons. This memoir, from one helicopter pilot describes one pilot's story and his interactions with this new element of warfare.

One of the major turning points in the Vietnam War, in the court of public opinion, was the Mai Lai Massacre. During a "routine" investigation of the village of Mai Lai, Lieutenant William Calley and his men indiscriminately killed roughly 500 Vietnamese civilians, mostly women and children, under the suspicion that they were supporting the Viet Cong. Additionally, many women were raped during the attack. The attack eventually ended after the town was "swept through." Sadly, the Mai Lai Massacre was just one of many terrible massacres in the Vietnam War which turned both the U.S. and Vietnamese publics against U.S. involvement.

This book describes the aftermath of the massacre, including the attempted cover-up (describing the company as having "run into resistance"), the trial of the main perpetrator, Lieutenant Calley, and the commutation of his sentence by Richard Nixon.

With maybe the exception of the Global War on Terror, the Vietnam War was the most controversial war in U.S. history. Massive protests took place in many cities, and many veterans were not given the respect that they were due. The construction of the Vietnam Memorial in 1993 served to help bring the country together after the war, but also helped veterans heal from the wounds of the war, both physically and mentally.

The Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991, began with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The U.S. got involved in order to protect their Kuwaiti Allies (and their bountiful oil resources). In a brief blitz, the U.S. would devastate the Iraqi army. The war would serve as slightly ominous foreshadowing to our constant involvement in the middle east in the 21st century.

This book describes the Persian Gulf War through a series of essays describing various topics of the war from U.S., Iraqi, and global security perspectives.

This initial volume in an ongoing study of the potential health consequences of service during the Persian Gulf War responds to a request from Congress to determine whether actions taken to evaluate health effects have been appropriate. It reflects the committee's examination of health outcomes and related research efforts, women's health and reproductive health issues, infrastructure and procedures for data collection, health services influences, the role of psychiatric diagnosis, and a review of the activities of boards and coordinating groups, as well as how issues stemming from involvement in the Persian Gulf might be relevant for possible future conflicts. While the committee continues its full-length study of the problem, the recommendations in this volume are for actions it feels should be taken immediately.

While the Persian Gulf War has mostly been forgotten in the national consciousness due to its short length and the fall of the Soviet Union (and the end of the Cold War) later that year. However, one enduring image of the Gulf War was the image of U.S. fighter jets flying over burning oil fields. Air power played an incredibly important role in the U.S. victory in the Gulf War, and allowed for the field testing of a large amount of new equipment such as the F-14, F-15, and F-16 fighters.

Norman Schwarzkopf was the commander of all U.S. and coalition forces who participated in the Gulf War. He served as a face of the war and one of the best known figures from one of our least known conflicts. This work provides a solid overview of General Schwarzkopf's military career, starting with his boyhood during WWII, his education at West Point, his service during the Vietnam War and ending with his service as supreme commander during the Gulf War.

The global war on terror began with the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It would then escalate into invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other military operations in other countries. This work describes how the government escalated the attacks into the global war that we know it to be today.

A documentary history of the Iraq War, starting from president Bush's first calls to invade the country and ending with the continuing struggle to create a stable state. This work provides incredible insight into the perspectives of the decisionmakers during the war and the progress of the war to collapse the Saddam Regime.

A series of written interviews with veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflict. The interviews are roughly divided topically, based on the different phases and actions of the war. The book provides a greater understanding of the actions of the soldiers in the war and their mindset during the war.

One major issue that has come from the War on Terror has been the civil rights abuses that have come from the conflict. From the Patriot Act and violations of the 4th Amendment to the torture at the Abu Ghraib Prison to the large number of civilian casualties, the so called "global war on terror" has caused a large amount of backlash.

Like with the war in Vietnam, the war in Iraq was more than just killing the enemy. It was winning the hearts and minds of the civilian population and creating a government that could withstand the forces attempting to bring it down. While the U.S. was victorious in destroying the Saddam Regime, it has been less successful in creating its own regime to replace it.

While on the surface, the U.S.' quick victories in toppling the Iraqi and Afghanistan regimes made it seem like the war was going well, the truth was far more complicated. A lack of understanding of the situation on the ground in Afghanistan as well as the lack of understanding of the Afghan culture, resulted in the toppling of the Afghan national government, quickly after the U.S. pulled out of the country. This work, created through interviews and leaked documents, describes the series of manipulations and misunderstandings leading to the collapse of the Afghan national government in 2021.

A solid overview of U.S. Military History, starting from the Revolutionary War and ending in the middle of the Global War on Terror. This book describes, in chronological order, the major factors that lead to various conflicts and descriptions of the major battles.

This work is an encyclopedic overview of American Military History, It includes a series of articles on various significant people, battle, tactics, weapons, and technologies used by the U.S. Military. Goes from the Revolutionary War to the Gulf War.

A brief history of the U.S. Army, from its origins before the Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terror. The book describes, narratively, the development of the armed force and the various battles fought by the Army.

The U.S. Army Nurse Corps serve as an intersection of gender, medicine, and military history. This book runs through the history and exploits of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps from WWI to the Vietnam War.

The U.S.'s greatest defense are two oceans that separates it from the geopolitical powers of Europe and Asia. Defending those waters are the U.S. Navy, which is the largest naval force in the world (by tonnage). This work provides a narrative history of the development and battle of the U.S. Navy from its humble origins during the Revolutionary War to the 21st Century.

Throughout U.S. Military history, many of our greatest military, scientific and political minds attended our military academies. Some examples include Ulysses S. Grant, Dwight Eisenhower, Buzz Aldrin and Jimmy Carter, to name a few. This work provides a solid overview of the history of these academies and the influence that the graduates have had on U.S. and general military history.

Since the creation of the United States Army Air Service during WWI to the advanced fifth generation fighters used today, air power has played a major role in victory and defeat on the modern battlefield. In many instances, the U.S. air forces have been on the cutting edge of this developing technology. While this work has a global scope, it includes a large amount on the history and development of U.S. air power.