Grant's Secret Service: The Intelligence War from Belmont to Appomattox
The study of intelligence during the Civil War is beginning to emerge from a melodramatic concern with assassination plots and secret agents. Most operationally focused histories seldom go beyond the level of reconnaissance reports, except to excoriate George McClellan for relying on the spectacularly unreliable reports of Allan Pinkerton. Edwin Fishel's pathbreaking The Secret War for the Union (1996) has until now been the principal and honorable exception. Buena Vista University historian Feis joins him with this magisterial analysis of Ulysses Grant's acquisition and use of military intelligence from his first days in command to the end of the war in Virginia. Grant's Mexican War experience taught him the advantages of combining his own understanding of a situation with learning an enemy's circumstances before undertaking a particular action. Feis makes comprehensive use of archival and published sources to show how Grant tried to "keep himself posted." He grew increasingly sophisticated in using secret service work, newspaper accounts and reconnaissance reports to understand his opponents their characters as well as their intentions. Grant never allowed himself to be paralyzed by either not enough intelligence or too much of it. When gaps in his information emerged, as in the early stages of the Vicksburg campaign, he used the initiative wherever possible to shift the burden of uncertainty to the Confederates. Shiloh in 1862, the Wilderness in 1864 and Jubal Early's raid on Washington the same year were reminders that initiative and intuition were not ideal substitutes for information, a lesson well learned as the war entered its final phase. (Apr. 5)Forecast: As the role of intelligence in war comes further to the fore of popular consciousness, this book can be recommended to readers seeking a historical perspective on military decision making, as its selection for the History Book Club suggests. Academic libraries are a lock.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.