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The Trans-Mississippi was a really big place. From the northern Missouri border to the Louisiana shore and then west all the way into the territories, the Trans-Mississippi presented a challenge to the Confederate forces tasked with covering these vast distances. So, it was well suited to cavalry operations and there were many. Of course, there were infantry and artillery units but nothing like the eastern and western theaters of the war. The cavalry in the Trans-Miss was the vital element if the Confederacy was to have any success in holding the department at all.
There hasn't been much written on the Trans-Mississippi Department compared to the other theaters of the war and there is probably much more that could be done to research subjects pertaining to it. Confederate Cavalry West of the River is an older title, first published in 1961. The edition I have on my shelf is the third printing from 1995 and is from the University of Texas Press.
The first chapters cover recruiting and organizing the cavalry units and feeding, clothing, arming and mounting the many units raised. To me, this first half of the book was the most interesting. It describes the challenges of raising and outfitting the large number of cavalry units that were needed to cover the department. There was some meat to these chapters and, while not a complete study, it was still interesting to me who is fairly familiar with the Trans-Mississippi theater already.
The second half of the book covers some of the major actions that involved cavalry in the department: Cane Hill and Prairie Grove, Maramaduke and Shelby's raid into Missouri and Price's 1864 invasion of Missouri. It closes with a brief synopsis of Palmetto Ranch and the dissipation of CS cavalry at the end of the war. I found this to be pretty weak all in all. To the average reader who knows nothing about the department, these chapters might be of value. They are brief overviews of the various actions with very little detail and Oates seems to have just thrown these in. I would have much preferred he take more time to develop the first half of the book and include more detail to make this a thorough study of cavalry in the Trans-Miss.
There are a couple of good appendices, mainly a lengthy list of regiments and batallions of cavalry units from the Trans-Mississippi. Another appendix discusses the total strength of cavalry units in the department and the last one is an order of battle of Price's army in 1864 - something that can be found most anywhere. The bibliography is good and one might find good sources to pursue there if they wish to study this subject more in depth.
Confederate Cavalry West of the River deserves a read. If one is not familiar with the department, they will find the whole book to be of some value. For those who are students of the department, there is still value in the first half of the book, the first appendix and the bibliography.
There hasn't been much written on the Trans-Mississippi Department compared to the other theaters of the war and there is probably much more that could be done to research subjects pertaining to it. Confederate Cavalry West of the River is an older title, first published in 1961. The edition I have on my shelf is the third printing from 1995 and is from the University of Texas Press.
The first chapters cover recruiting and organizing the cavalry units and feeding, clothing, arming and mounting the many units raised. To me, this first half of the book was the most interesting. It describes the challenges of raising and outfitting the large number of cavalry units that were needed to cover the department. There was some meat to these chapters and, while not a complete study, it was still interesting to me who is fairly familiar with the Trans-Mississippi theater already.
The second half of the book covers some of the major actions that involved cavalry in the department: Cane Hill and Prairie Grove, Maramaduke and Shelby's raid into Missouri and Price's 1864 invasion of Missouri. It closes with a brief synopsis of Palmetto Ranch and the dissipation of CS cavalry at the end of the war. I found this to be pretty weak all in all. To the average reader who knows nothing about the department, these chapters might be of value. They are brief overviews of the various actions with very little detail and Oates seems to have just thrown these in. I would have much preferred he take more time to develop the first half of the book and include more detail to make this a thorough study of cavalry in the Trans-Miss.
There are a couple of good appendices, mainly a lengthy list of regiments and batallions of cavalry units from the Trans-Mississippi. Another appendix discusses the total strength of cavalry units in the department and the last one is an order of battle of Price's army in 1864 - something that can be found most anywhere. The bibliography is good and one might find good sources to pursue there if they wish to study this subject more in depth.
Confederate Cavalry West of the River deserves a read. If one is not familiar with the department, they will find the whole book to be of some value. For those who are students of the department, there is still value in the first half of the book, the first appendix and the bibliography.
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