On the eve of the Civil War, the Regular Army of the United States was small, dispersed, untrained for large-scale operations, and woefully unprepared to suppress the rebellion of the secessionist states. Although the Regular Army expanded significantly during the war, reaching nearly sixty-seven thousand men, it was necessary to form an enormous army of state volunteers that overshadowed the Regulars and bore most of the combat burden. Nevertheless, the Regular Army played several critically important roles, notably providing leaders and exemplars for the Volunteers and managing the administration and logistics of the entire Union Army. In this first comprehensive study of the Regular Army in the Civil War, Clayton R. Newell and Charles R. Shrader focus primarily on the organizational history of the Regular Army and how it changed as an institution during the war, to emerge afterward as a reorganized and permanently expanded force. The eminent, award-winning military historian Edward M. Coffman provides a foreword.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations   000 Foreword    000 Preface     000 Acknowledgments   000   [introduction] The Regular Army on the Eve of the Civil War The Role of the Regular Army in American Society      000 The U.S. Army before April 12, 1861 000 The Staff Departments, April 1861   000 The Line of the Army, April 1861    000 Stationing of the Army, January 1861      0000 Conclusion  000 [part 1] Regular Army Leaders and Personnel 1. Headquarters of the Army   000 Commander in Chief      000 Secretary of War  000 General in Chief  000 Formulation of Strategy 000 Direction of Operations 000 Civilian Personnel of the War Department  000 The Army Budget, 18611865 000 Conclusion  000 2. Regular Army Personnel, 18611865   000 Decision to Keep the Regular Army Intact  000 Expansion of the Regular Army, 18611865     000 Temporary Regulars      000 Enlisted Personnel      000 Officers    000 Losses of Personnel     000 Conclusion  000 [part 2] The Staff Departments 3. Overview 000 Evolution of the Staff Departments to 1861      000 Expansion of the Staff Departments  000 Staff Officers in the Field   000 Staff Enlisted Personnel in the Field     000 Common Challenges and Common Solutions    000 Conclusion  000 4. The Administrative Departments   000 Adjutant General's Department 000 Inspector General's Department      000 Judge Advocate General's Department 000 Pay Department    000 Temporary Bureaus 000 Conclusion  000 5. Subsistence Department     000 Mission and Functions   000 Leadership  000 Personnel   000 Organization      000 Operations and Issues   000 Challenges and Achievements   000 6. Ordnance Department  000 Mission and Functions   000 Leadership  000 Personnel   000 Organization      000 Operations and Issues   000 Challenges and Achievements   000 7. Quartermaster's Department 000 Mission and Functions   000 Leadership  000 Personnel   000 Organization      000 Operations and Issues   000 Challenges and Achievements   000 8. Medical Department   000 Mission and Functions   000 Leadership  000 Personnel   000 Organization      000 Operations and Issues   000 Challenges and Achievements   000 [part 3] The Army in the Field 9. Transition to War    000 Army Life on the Eve of the War     000 Confrontation in the East     000 Surrender in Texas      000 Events in the West      000 Adding More Regulars    000 The First Big Battle    000 War Begins in the West  000 A Year of Transition    000 10. The Infantry  000 Regimental Colonels     000 The Old Regiments 000 The New Regiments 000 Casualties  000 Valverde, February 1862 000 The Regular Infantry Division in the East 000 The Regular Infantry Brigade in the West  000 Regular Infantry in the War   000 11. The Cavalry   000 Regimental Colonels     000 Regiments   000 Casualties  000 Cavalry Horses    000 Cavalry with the Army of the Potomac      000 The Army of the Shenandoah    000 The Last Campaign, 1865 000 Regular Cavalry in the War    000 12. The Artillery 000 Artillery in the Mexican War  000 Regimental Colonels     000 Regiments   000 Casualties  000 Guns  000 Artillery Horses  000 Horse Artillery   000 Artillery in the Army of the Potomac      000 Gettysburg, July 1863   000 Other Union Army Artillery    000 Shiloh, April 1862      000 Regular Artillery in the War  000 13. The Fighting Bureaus      000 Corps of Engineers      000 Signal Corps      000 [conclusion] Reflections on the Regular Army in the Civil War     000 Transition to Peace     000 "The Efficient Discharge of Duty"   000 "The Performance of Gallant Deeds"  000 An Epitaph for the Regular Army     000   Appendix: Selected Acts of Congress Pertaining to the Regular Army      000 Notes 000 Glossary of Acronyms Used in the Text     000 Selected Bibliography   000 Index 000