Research Catalog

Ben McCulloch and the frontier military tradition

Title
Ben McCulloch and the frontier military tradition / Thomas W. Cutrer.
Author
Cutrer, Thomas W.
Publication
Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [1993], ©1993.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

1 Item

StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
Request for On-site UseRequest Scan
How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?
TextRequest in advance F391.M128 C87 1993Off-site

Details

Description
402 pages : illustrations; 24 cm
Summary
  • A protege of David Crockett and Sam Houston, Ben McCulloch (1811-62) led an extraordinary life as a frontiersman, entrepreneur, and soldier. This first modern biography tells his colorful life story and through his career illuminates mid-nineteenth-century American military culture. In particular, Thomas Cutrer focuses on the tension between traditional volunteer citizen-soldiers and the emerging professional military establishment.
  • McCulloch was heir apparent to a long line of popularly chosen frontier military officers who rose to leadership positions despite a lack of formal training. Born in Tennessee, he figured prominently in Texas history, participating in the battle of San Jacinto and serving as a Texas Ranger and U.S. Marshal. He won distinction in the Mexican War, and during the Civil War he became the first civilian to receive a general's commission in the Confederate army when he took command of the Confederate forces in Arkansas and the Indian Territory and organized the Army of the West. He won a substantial victory over the Union army at Wilson's Creek in 1861 but was mortally wounded at the battle of Pea Ridge in 1862.
  • Despite McCulloch's many successes, Cutrer reveals, his career was hampered because he was not a member of the West Point-trained cadre that gained influence in the 1850s. Although by the last half of that decade he was seriously spoken of as a candidate for the U.S. Senate and the governorship of Texas, McCulloch was repeatedly passed over for the army appointments that he coveted. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis sought to form a new model army led by professionally trained officers, and McCulloch's purely practical experience put him at a disadvantage.
Subjects
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
0807820768 (alk. paper)
LCCN
92050812
OCLC
  • 26974122
  • ocm26974122
Owning Institutions
Columbia University Libraries