United States Army Historical Series

Advisory Committee
(As of October 2004)
 

Jon T. Sumida
University of Maryland

Eric Bergerud
Lincoln University

Mark Bowden
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Brig. Gen. James T. Hirai
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College

Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Jones
U.S. Army Training and
Doctrine Command

Brig. Gen. Daniel J. Kaufman
U.S. Military Academy

Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck
Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel

Adrian R. Lewis
University of North Texas

Brian M. Linn
Texas A&M University

Howard Lowell
National Archives and Records Administration

Col. Craig Madden
U.S. Army War College

John H. Morrow, Jr.
The University of Georgia

Reina Pennington
Norwich University

Ronald H. Spector
The George Washington University

U.S. Army Center of Military History

Brig. Gen. (Ret.) John S. Brown, Chief of Military History
 

Chief Historian
Chief, Histories Division
Editor in Chief

Jeffrey J. Clarke
Richard W. Stewart
John W. Elsberg

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     American Military History intends to provide the United States Army—in particular, its young officers, NCOs, and cadets—with a comprehensive but brief account of its past. The Center of Military History first published the book in 1956 as a textbook for senior ROTC courses. It has gone through a number of updates and revisions since, but the intent has remained the same. Support for military history education has always been a principal mission of the Center, and this new edition of an invaluable history furthers that purpose.
     The history of an active organization inevitably expands. The period since the Vietnam War, at which point the previous edition ended, has been significant for the Army, a busy period of expanding roles and missions and of fundamental organizational changes. In planning an update, it became clear that wedging this additional experience into the previous single-volume format would yield a cumbersome book. Thus we are publishing this revised and expanded edition in two volumes.
     The first volume covered the Army’s history from its birth in 1775 to the eve of World War I. During this time, the Army grew in skill and professionalism as it conquered much of the North American continent while also suffering the torments of a nation at war with itself as North struggled with South. As the nineteenth century ended, the Army and the nation moved outward and sent expeditionary forces beyond the American hemisphere to the Philippines and other locations. World war—global war—was still to come.
      This second volume takes up the story and extends it into the twenty-first century. The American Army faced the challenges of creating huge citizen armies and then transporting them across the Globe in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Then, in a sense returning to its roots, transformed itself into a smaller, all-volunteer professional Army that has deployed to dozens of contingencies since the unsettling end of the Vietnam War. Throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, the U.S. Army has continued to be an instrument of American power in the defense of freedom and American interests around the world. As it has evolved, the Army has undertaken missions as diverse as humanitarian assistance, nation building, occupation, reconstruction, and peacekeeping. Today the Army, like the nation it serves, is committed to prosecuting the Global War on Terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout the World while fulfilling its essential homeland security responsibilities. This is necessarily an evolving story. This second volume ends with the war in Iraq and against terrorism still under way, and the Center intends to revise and expand this volume in future years as the Army’s story continues to unfold.
      We have developed a new design to reflect the often highly visual nature of contemporary textbooks. Though our primary audience is still the young officer and NCO, by adopting a more accessible format we also hope to promote a greater awareness of the Army’s history within the American public. We remain mindful of the Center’s responsibility to publish an accurate and objective account. We owe no less to the soldier and the veteran, to the student and the teacher, and to those pursuing a personal interest in learning more about the Army’s campaigns—and about its role in the larger history of the nation.

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      Despite the popular image of the solitary historian immured in the stacks of a library or archives, history is very much a collective enterprise. This is true not only in philosophical terms (all historians stand on the shoulders of previous generations of scholars) but also in the practical sense that historians rely heavily on the work of many others when they attempt to weave a narrative that covers centuries of history. American Military History is truly such a collaborative work.
      Over the years numerous military historians have contributed to the earlier versions of this textbook published in 1956, 1969, and 1989. In this latest telling of the story of the U.S. Army, additional scholars inside and outside the Center of Military History have conducted research, written or revised chapters and inserts, or reviewed the texts of others. Other experts have edited text, proofed bibliographies, prepared maps, and located photographs to bring this book together.
       It is important to highlight those historians and other professionals who have helped make this book a reality. Indeed, there were so many contributors that I hasten to beg forgiveness in advance if I have inadvertently left someone off this list. First, I wish to thank those many scholars outside the Center of Military History who voluntarily gave of their time to review chapters of this book and provide their expertise to ensure that the latest scholarship and sources were included. These scholars include: John Shy, Don Higginbotham, Robert Wright, John Mahon, William Skelton, Joseph Dawson, Joseph Glathaar, Gary Gallagher, Carol Reardon, Mark Grimsley, Perry Jamieson, Robert Wooster, Brian Linn, Timothy Nenninger, Edward Coffman, David Johnson, Stanley Falk, Mark Stoler, Gerhard Weinberg, Edward Drea, Steve Reardon, Allan R. Millett, Charles Kirkpatrick, and Eric Bergerud. Their careful reviews and suggested additions to the manuscript enriched the story immeasurably and saved me from numerous errors in interpretation and fact. Within the Center of Military History, of course, we have a number of outstanding historians of our own to draw upon. The Center is, I believe, as rich in talent in military history as anywhere else in the country; and I was able to take advantage of that fact. In particular, I would like to thank the following historians from the Histories Division for their writing and reviewing skills: Andrew J. Birtle, Jeffrey A. Charlston, David W. Hogan, Edgar F. Raines, Stephen A. Carney, William M. Donnelly, William M. Hammond, and Joel D. Meyerson. Within the division, every member participated in writing the short inserts that appear throughout the text. In addition to the names previously listed, I would be remiss if I did not also thank Stephen J. Lofgren, William J. Webb, Dale Andrade, Gary A. Trogdon, James L. Yarrison, William A. Dobak, Mark D. Sherry, Bianka J. Adams, W. Blair Haworth, Terrence J. Gough, William A. Stivers, Erik B. Villard, Charles E. White, Shane Story, and Mark J. Reardon. Whether they have been in the division for one year or twenty, their contributions to this work and to the history of the U.S. Army are deeply appreciated.
      I particularly wish to thank the Chief of Military History, Brig. Gen. John Sloan Brown (U.S. Army, Ret.), for his patience and encouragement as he reviewed all of the text to provide his own insightful comments. He also found time, despite his busy schedule, to write the final two chapters of the second volume to bring the story of the U.S. Army nearly up to the present day. Also, I wish to thank Michael Bigelow, the Center’s Executive Officer, for his contribution. In addition, I would like to note the support and guidance that I received from the Chief Historian of the Army, Jeffrey J. Clarke, and the Editor in Chief, John W. Elsberg. Their experience and wisdom are always valued.

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I wish to thank the outstanding editor of American Military History, Diane M. Donovan, who corrected my ramblings, tightened my prose, and brought consistency to the grammar and style. Her patience and skilled work made this a much finer book. I also wish to thank those who worked on the graphics, photographs, and maps that helped make this book so interesting and attractive. This book would not have been possible without the diligence and hard work of Julia Simon and the Army Museum System Staff, Beth MacKenzie, Keith Tidman, S. L. Dowdy, Teresa K. Jameson, Dennis McGrath, and the indexer, Susan Carroll. Their eye for detail and persistence in tracking down just the right piece of artwork or artifact, providing the highest quality map, or preparing the comprehensive index was of tremendous value.
       Although countless historians have added to this text over the years, I know that any attempt to write a survey text on the history of the U.S. Army will undoubtedly make many errors of commission and omission. I take full responsibility for them and will endeavor, when informed, to correct them as best I can in future editions. In conclusion, I wish to dedicate this book to the finest soldiers in the world, to the men and women who have fought and died in service to the United States over two centuries and those who continue to serve to protect our freedom. They have built America into what it is today, and they continue to defend the principles upon which our great country was founded. This is their story.

Illustrations courtesy of the following sources: cover illustration by Elzie R. Golden; 3, 213, 312, U.S. Air Force; 8, Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum and Library; 11, 20, 27, 31, 33, 48, 54, 55, 66, 78, 79, 82, 85, 89, 91, 92 (bottom), 112, 133, 145, 148, 152, 155 (top), 159, 160, 179, 193, 200, 201, 211, 241, 264, 265 (top), National Archives; 14, Fort George G. Meade Museum; 44, Virginia Military Institute; 63, Bettman/Corbis Archives; 64, 302, Library of Congress; 84, Illustrated London News; 167, U.S. Navy; 73, 254, Smithsonian Institution; 256, National Park Service; 266, Corbis; 335, Lt. Col. Ernest I. Gruber, U.S. Army; 340, Department of Defense; 344, University of California–Berkley, Indochina Center; 373, 374, 381, 382, 392, 395, 397, 398 (top), 413, 414, 417, 422, 423, 429, 430, 434 (bottom), 435, 442, 460, 461, 462, 470, 487, 490, 493, Defense Visual Information Center; 390, 403, Soldiers magazine; 484 (top), U.S. Marine Corps.

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