Eric

My biggest issue with the book is that I find it to be intellectually dishonest and that it’s based on things that Carhart apparently made up. For that, I have absolutely no respect.

Please understand that I have no personal ax to grind with Dr. Carhart. My issue is selling something to the public as a proven fact when those who have invested years of study into this–as I have–know that there is no hard evidence to support his contentions and that most of it seems contrived. My issue is with selling supposition to the public as fact. That’s intellectually dishonest.

As for the traditional West Point curriculum, there’s absolutely nothing new there–it’s well known that Baron Antoine de Jomini’s observations about the Napoleonic Wars was the primary military textbook at West Point for the first half of the Nineteenth Century, and that generals like Lee fought battles based on that training. There’s also no doubt that Lee made a serious of grave errors at Gettysburg. I can agree with that. But that’s about where my agreement ends.

I am not alone, by the way. Have a look at this review by a professional historian whose master’s thesis was the first stand-alone book on East Cavalry Field ever published.

Eric

I thought I handled that quite well. 🙂

Eric

I did the Gettysburg College program last June–the topic was cavalry. I did participate in a panel discussion with Gary Gallagher, Pete Carmichael, and Ed Longacre, so that must have been wat you saw.

As for the Yankee horsemen, I plead guilty as charged. It’s what I’m known for. 🙂

As for Carhart’s book, one of my very first posts on this blog was a detailed review of it. There are a variety of other posts under the category of “Civil War Books and Authors” that also touch on my critique of this book that you might want to read.

Our upcoming book ends with Stuart’s arrival at Gettysburg on July 2, and does not get into this topic. That’s in large part due to the fact that I dealt with Stuart’s actual role at Gettysburg in another book, which spells out my entire theory on the topic.

Eric