America's First Battles, 1776-1965

Modern War Studies

by Charles E. Heller (Editor), William A. Stofft (Editor)

This volume, a collection of eleven original essays by many of the foremost U.S. military historians, focuses on the transition of the Army from parade ground to battleground in each of nine wars the United States has fought. Through careful analysis of organization, training, and tactical doctrine, each essay seeks to explain the strengths and weaknesses evidenced by the outcome of the first significant engagement or campaign of the war. The concluding essay sets out to synthesize the findings and to discover whether or not American first battles manifest a characteristic "rhythm."

America's First Battles provides a novel and intellectually challenging view of how America has prepared for war and how operations and tactics have changed over time. The thrust of the book—the emphasis on operational history—is at the forefront of scholarly activity in military history.

Genres: History, Military Fiction, Military History, Nonfiction, American History, The United States Of America

432 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1986

About the author

Charles E. Heller, a former university administrator and adjuct faculty member, holds a doctor degree in United States history from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst. An Army Reserve Colonel, he returned to active duty to teach and write for the Army at the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College and has recently left military service to resume his civilian academic career. In addition to teaching Heller has numerous publications on United States history and national security issues. He is the co-editor of America's First Battles (1986).

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eleven essays written by Army historians explain the state of the army at the beginning of each war that the U.S. has fought. They detail the training, doctrine, troops, and narrate the course of the battle.

Why I started this book: This book is on several of my Professional Reading lists, and I'm all about crossing the same thing off multiple lists.

Why I finished it: I struggled with this book. It's excessively technical and dense; very easy to put down and not pick back up. I think the most shocking was that in the last two pages it predicted that future wars (published in 1986) would bring back the draft, because volunteers couldn't sustain the long campaigns that modern war have become.

[Gary Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although dated, this is a great book for thinking about the US Army's readiness for first battles. This book covers ten first battles: Long Island - Revolutionary War; Queenston Heights - War of 1812; Palo Alto - Mexican American War; Bull Run - Civil War; San Juan Hill - Spanish-American War; Cantigny - WWI; Buna - WWII (Pacific); Kasserine Pass - WWII (N. Africa); Task Force Smith - Korean War; and Ia Drang - Vietnam War. My favorites were those covering the Battles of Long Island, San Juan Hill, Kasserine Pass, Ia Drang, and then John Shy composed a great concluding chapter "First Battles in Retrospect."

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating overview of first engagements in major conflicts by the US from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam. It is not just a tactical view of the battle. Each battle is set in a larger context of training, capability, military doctrine, and political realities of the time. In the epilogue much is made of the advancing technology of improved targeting and destructions which seems prescient considering the drone and guided bomb realities of the current Russo-Ukrainian war.

[Jacob H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about the first "real" battle of Americas first 8 wars, it also includes Vietnam. The book contains battles from, the revolutionary war, the war of 1812, the Mexican American war, the civil war, the Spanish American war, World War 1, 2 battles from World War 2, the Korean war, and Vietnam. The battles contain, long island (1776), Queenston heights (1812), Palo alto (1846), the first bull run (1861), San Juan hill and El Caney (1898), Cantigy (1918), Buna (1942-1943), Kasserine pass (1943), Task Force Smith (1950), and the Ia Drang valley (1965). This book is a very informational source when it comes to important battles.

I liked this book because it gave a informational an interesting decription of each battle. Also, it talked about what led up to the battles.last, it gives descriptions of the weapons, artillery, and if involved, the ships.


I would reccomend this book to history bugs or people that like war. I say this because it is a deep historical source and involves lots of war. Also, it desribes historical actions that may not have taken place in the war, but are related to it.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both on the U.S. Army's Chief of Staff's recommended reading list, I must say that this is truly essential reading for anyone studying military history. "First battles" does not allude to the battles at the beginning of our nation, but rather to the first battles of each of our major conflicts up through Vietnam.
It deals with training, supply, doctine, and a little politics.
The main lesson for me, a captain in the year 2010? To NEVER, while in uniform, take time and resources for granted… to ALWAYS make sure those for whom I am responsible are as ready for the next conflict as is humanly possible.

[Roy McCullough · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fascinating collection of quality essays by eminent military historians describing the experiences of American fighting men in the initial engagement of the ten major military conflicts in US history (as of 1986, the date of publication) Despite the multiple authors, there is a remarkable consistency among the essays with each one focusing on context, military preparedness, existing military doctrine, training (or lack thereof), performance in battle and, finally, the consequences of victory or defeat on subsequent doctrinal developments. I thought this was an excellent book. I hope some day an enterprising historian will undertake a new edition that will bring it up to the present day and leverage some of the new scholarship that has emerged in the last 35 years since the book’s publication.

[Jerry Levit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid overview of American military doctrine and execution. The introduction and conclusion chapters are first-rate. Likewise, the opening sections of each essay gives a very clear picture of the state of readiness or, usually, the lack thereof. The blow-by-blow recitations of each battle varies significantly from chapter to chapter and can be a bit mind-numbing.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tedious read. I read it because it is on military professional reading lists. It's a great in-depth look at the state of the military during the first battle in different campaigns. There were many take-aways from this collection of essays.

[John Sheridan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting analysis of 10 battles from the American Revolution to the Vietnam War showing common and different factors and discussing what the contributing factors were to the outcomes.

[Aubrey Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book several years ago. I have found myself thinking back on it often in recent months. The book studies the first battles of each of the major conflicts our nation has engaged in. It examines trends that have impacted the outcome of each of these battles. Two of the important takeaways are:
1. Our nation does a poor job of maintaining a military prepared to fight in times of peace. This always repeated mistake costs untold men their lives each time our nation returns to armed conflict.

2. Our military has a tendency to prepare for the was we last fought in stead of returning to the basics in preparation for the futures unknown. This also costs lives when our army suddenly finds itself in the middle of a war that is unlike that of the recent past.

[David Elkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable collection of 20-30 page summaries of America's Fist land battles in Wars from the Revolution to Vietman. Some are well known, like Ia Drang (1965) and Bull Run (1861) while others are very obscure.

This is a book for the student of military affairs, not for the casual reader. It is designed to be read by someone who knows military history.

I found the summary excellent and I recommend it to military students with an interest in our own US Army.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is how we learn from tactical mistakes.

The book is clearly written with engaging, concise description of the broader context leading up to each conflict. The interesting theme of tactical theory lagging behind technological innovation is treated repeatedly.

The book could use better maps, but is otherwise an excellent read.

[Jeff Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read if you are interested in the cyclic history of military history. Specificially the inter-war periods and how advances in technology change the future force structure to meet the needs of the previous war not the war to come.