Camp and Outpost Duty for Infantry 1862
by Daniel Butterfield, Brigadier General

Rating: 5 on a scale of 10
Writing: Fair, in an older style
Length: short
Copyright: 1862

Review

Recently, while on vacation, my wife and I visited Fort Clinch state park on Amelia Island, Florida. The fort is a pentagonal masonry outer and earthen inner walled fort. This fort was part of a series of forts developed after the "debacle" of the War of 1812, when the country realized how vulnerable it was to attack from the sea. The fort's construction was begun in about 1847, but was never completely finished. It was designed to provide protection to the adjacent bay and river access, which could be used to offload ocean going ships of the era. Before it was finished, rifled barrels and more powerful cannons made it's design and function obsolete. It was  used  through World War II for various military purposes. Now, it is manned by park rangers and a group of volunteers who work at restoration. There are actors who play the role of fort soldiers, they stay in character the whole time you are around them, giving much interesting information about the fort and the life of a soldier there in the mid-1800's. There is a nice shop that supplies food, fishing gear, memorabilia and books. This was one of the historical books they offered for sale.

This book was written to augment other materials given to enlisted men, non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers in the "Army of the Potomac". From what is written in it, there seemed to be a need to more clearly define functions of soldiers in the field. Obviously, this is a now historical book, never the less, this book is fascinating to read in terms of what it tells us about the era from which it was written and what it can still say to us today.

If it has a focus, it would be with regard to how an army functions with regard to being on the "march". It goes into great detail regarding the posting of sentinels, pickets and outpost procedures. It describes how the army moves and all the responsibilities of the officers and men in this process. It describes camp functions and setup, health related issues, the conduct of enlisted men and officers, a large variety of standing orders, and maxims for enlisted men and officers.

I found the section written to officers entitled, "The Duties of Officers", to be quite well written. It is fair to say that little has changed in the past 150 years. I especially like this quote:

To command men worthily, it is not sufficient to hold a commission. An officer should acquire such influence over his men that they will be eager to do his bidding and to follow him any where. The possession of that influence is the mark of a good officer, and it can not be acquired without a knowledge of the names of the soldiers in his company and the study of their individual characters. This knowledge is indispensable to the proper management of your men. In dealing with men, knowledge of human nature, as well as discretion and temper, are required. [page 116]

You could make a nice list of maxims from this chapter. They would serve anyone in leadership well, in essentially any situation. This might be the most useful aspect of the book, it gives a good sense what needs to be done to accomplish sound leadership with a group of people.

There were many similar books on the shelf, reprinted from the annals of history. Is this a must read, absolutely not. It was more of what I would describe as an interesting read, a connection to the past, a voyage to a place and time I have not lived, but it is a place that I can benefit from. It fascinated me that a little book like this was written during the Civil War. It points out how the writing down of how things work is important.

All opinions are those of Curtis Climer, MD    Copyright 2011

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