American Military History, first published in 1956 as a one-volume textbook for ROTC courses and updated by countless historians through the years, intends to provide the United States Army with a fully comprehensive but brief account of its past in support of the military history education of young officers, NCOs, and cadets.

Just as the history of an active organization inevitably expands, so too has this new edition under the oversight of general editor Richard W. Stewart. Revised to reflect the challenging period of expanding roles and missions and of fundamental organizational change in the Army during the post-Vietnam years through the Global War on Terrorism, the resulting two volumes are highly readable and graphically handsome with many colorful maps and illustrations of period artwork and military artifacts that enhance the narrative.

The first volume traces the evolution of the Army from its birth in 1775 to the eve of World War I, covering the concept of military history, the theory and practice of war, and the American military system with European roots. Those with an interest in learning about the Army and its campaigns will enjoy having and reading these visually pleasing and instructive volumes.

INTRODUCTION
The history of the United States Army lies firmly in the mainstream of modern Western military development. Heir to European traditions, the American Army has both borrowed from and contributed to that main current. Molded by the New World environment, a product of democratic and industrial revolutions, it has at the same time evolved, along with the nation it serves, uniquely.

To the present generation of Americans faced by continuing challenges to their national security, the role that force and military institutions have played in American history becomes of increasing interest and importance. This volume is an introduction to the story of the U.S. Army and the American military history of which the Army’s story is an integral part.

What Is Military History?
Military history today has a much wider scope than previous generations of scholars granted it. More than simply the story of armed conflict, of campaigns and battles, it is the story of how societies form their institutions for their collective security and how those institutions operate in peace and war.

It is the story of soldiers and the subculture of which they are a part. It includes the entire range of economic, social, legal, political, technological, and cultural issues that arise from the state’s need to organize violence to preserve its existence and accomplish its national goals. Military history cannot be viewed as a separate, quaint, subset of the wider history of a society. It is an integral part of a society; and the essence of a military, the armed citizen, is a reflection of that society. ...

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Richard W. Stewart
General Editor

Center of Military History
United States Army
Washington, D.C., 2005

FORWARD
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 then, but the primary 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 tends to expand rapidly as the organization grows larger and more complex. The period since the Vietnam War, at which point the most recent edition ended, has been a significant one for the Army, a busy period of expanding roles and missions and of fundamental organizational changes. In planning an update, it became clear that trying to wedge this additional sweep of history into the previous single-volume format would yield a cumbersome book. We are thus publishing a revised and expanded edition in two volumes. ...

PREFACE
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. ...

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