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The Progressive Army: US Army Command and Administration, 1870–1914 PDF

233 Pages·1998·15.02 MB·English
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THE PROGRESSIVE ARMY The Progressive Army US Army Command and Administration, 1870-1914 Ronald J. Barr First published in Great Britain 1998 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-26890-0 ISBN 978-1-349-26888-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-26888-7 First published in the United States of America 1998 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 IISSBBNN 997788--00--331122--2211446677--88 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Barr, Ronald J. The progressive army : US Army command and administration, 1870-1914/ Ronald J. Barr. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-21467-8 (cloth) 1. United States. Army-Management-History-19th century. 2. United States. Army-Management-History-20th century. 3. United States. Army-Organization-History-19th century. 4. United States. Army-Organization-History-20th century. 5. United States-Foreign relations-20th century. UA25.B25 1998 355.3'0973-dc21 98-12706 CIP ©Ronald J. Barr 1998 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1998 978-0-333-71048-7 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WlP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 To my Parents Contents Dedication v Contents Page vii List of Maps and Tables viii Preface ix Acknowledgements XI Chapter 1 Towards A New Century 1 Chapter 2 'No End of a Lesson': America and the Spanish-American War 24 Chapter 3 Early Army Reform and the Election of 1900 49 Chapter 4 The Emergence of a New International Order 76 Chapter 5 Root's Army Reforms 100 Chapter 6 America and the Continued Extension of the White Man's Burden 123 Chapter 7 International Suspicion and Fear of Japan: 1905-1908 152 Chapter 8 Military Preparedness and the Emergence of the New Citizen Army: 1909-1914 177 Appendices 202 Bibliography 206 Index 215 Vll List of Maps and Tables MAPS The Philippines in 1902 35 American Expansion in the Caribbean 1898 to 1916 143 TABLES Table 1.1 The Average Age of both Staff and Line Officers when they Received Promotion to a Specific Grade 5 Table 1.2 World Percentage of Industrial and Foreign Trade 1870-1910 7 Table 4.1 Percentage of all Army Officers at Each Grade Likely to Serve in the Staff 81 Table 4.2 Battleship Numbers 1896-1906; Built and Under Construction 93 viii Preface The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw great social and economic changes in the United States. The forces of industrialisation created new sources of economic and political power both at home and overseas which challenged American ideals of sustaining amateur, local political control over an internationally isolated agrarian Republic. A small group of politicians and military leaders sought to combat these changes through attempting to alter the very character of the American state creating an imperial, aggressive nation controlled by strong central government advised by professionals. Such a society would regulate industrial power at home while guaranteeing continued economic expan sion by securing markets overseas. This debate over the future nature of American political life was often characterised as one between Neo Hamiltonian Republicans and Jeffersonian-Jacksonian localists. The importance of this controversy over the future direction of United States foreign policy and the nature of Federal government led to considerable debate between key literary, religious, economic and political leaders of the progressive era. This work seeks to highlight this deliberation over the future nature of American government and foreign policy by analysing the attempts to reform the United States Army. The American government was late in attempting to reform an army that had largely fallen into disrepair at the end of the Civil War. A small group of reformers borrowed selectively from American business management structures and various European states including Britain, Germany, and Switzerland to create an army that was responsive to central government control, planned for future wars, and had centrally co-ordinated command and logistics. This new efficient army was designed to secure a new American Empire. The debate over army reform highlighted the strong tradition of suspi cion and hostility to military reform directed towards the development of a professional military establishment. In tum, proponents of military reform in America beginning with Emory Upton and John Schofield at the end of the Civil War, often had a thinly disguised contempt for the amateurism of American political and military life. Army reform highlighted the determ ination of progressive leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Root, Henry Stimson, and Leonard Wood to achieve a more disciplined, profes sional and ordered American army and government through the application ix X Preface of European military ideas and American business management structures. These men believed that only such a process of reform would guarantee that United States economic and political ideals would significantly influence the world. The ultimate success of Neo-Hamiltonian Republicans in making these changes formed the basis for projection of military power by the United States in the twentieth century. Ronald J. Barr Acknowledgements While working on this project I received help from many people. In parti cular I want to thank the members of the Caledonian Society of Baton Rouge, the St. Andrews Society of Louisiana, the St. Andrews Society of Washington, DC, the US Army Military History Institute Carlisle Barracks, PA, and Louisiana State University all of whom contributed funds for travel and research. My research was also greatly aided by the library staff at Louisiana State University, Tulane University, Jackson Barracks New Orleans and the staff in the Library of Congress Manuscript Reading Room. Special thanks must go to Dr. Michael Mier who helped make sense of the records at the National Archives and to Dr. Richard Sommers and his assistant Mr. David Keogh who provided generous access to records held by the US Army Military History Institute. Mr. Al Elkins helped select prints from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. I must also thank members of the history and geography departments at LSU from whom I learned much. In particular Professor Burl Noggle, Professor Karl Roider, Dr. Meredith Veldman, Dr. Paul Pascoff, Professor Sam Hilliard and Professor Carville Earle. Peggy Seale the departmental secretary solved many problems. My major professor Charles Royster deserves special mention for his insight, advice, generosity and patience. While living in America I also made many friends who helped in different ways with this project. I thank them all. My fellow graduate students in particular provided invaluable friendship in a strange land and I thank Mr. Craig Saucier, Dr. Marshall Schott, Dr. Bary Barlow and Dr. Jay Peacock for all their support. Special thanks also go to Millar and Doddie Dial, Steve and Ann Storey and Carol Kilby. At University College Chester Dr. Roger Swift and Dr. Glyn Turton gave advice and encouragement which can only have improved this work. Lastly, I must thank my parents and my wife Alison for their generous support throughout this project. xi

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The author seeks to explain the creation of a modern American Army in a country hostile to centralised military power. The effect of various European nations on the US military are examined. The central theme, however, is how a small number of influential figures impressed with US business borrowed
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