Financing Armed Conflict, Volume 1 Resourcing US Military Interventi
This first part of a two-volume series examines in detail the financing of America’s major wars from the American Revolution to the Civil War. It interweaves analyses of political policy, military strategy and operations, and war finance and economic mobi
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Volume 1
Financing Armed Conflict, Volume 1
Thomas M. Meagher
Financing Armed Conflict, Volume 1 Resourcing US Military Interventions from the Revolution to the Civil War
Thomas M. Meagher Armstrong State University Savannah, Georgia, USA
ISBN 978-1-137-38289-4 ISBN 978-1-137-37742-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-37742-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016954975 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: © PAINTING / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Nature America Inc. New York
To Patricia, Cowboy, Kendall Jackson, Stonewall Jackson, Barksdale, and Sherman—without you, my life would be incomplete
Preface
“Wars are not decided exclusively by military and naval force; finance is scarcely less important. When all other things are equal, it is the longer purse that wins.”1 For some time now, there has been an ongoing academic debate regarding an “American Way of War”. This debate has its roots in the work of military historian Hans Delbruck, who, in his landmark analysis of the German army, argued that there were two strategic approaches to modern warfare: annihilation and attrition.2 With this framework in mind, Russell Weigley argued that the United States has, since the Civil War, pursued a strategy of annihilation.3 Brian McAllister Linn, by contrast, argued the opposite; that is, the United States instead has employed both approaches.4 Antulio Ecchevaria and other distinguished military historians have also weighed in with opinions on the subject. However, I believe that a pure focus on military strategy and operations misses a critical point; any discussion of an American Way of War must include a detailed analysis of political, economic, and financial factors as well. Why study the interaction between politics, strategy, military history, finance, an
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