Niagara 1814; America Invades Canada

Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2000. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Good/Very good. xiii, [3], 410, [8] pages. Illustrations. Maps. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Ink marks noted. Some edge soiling. Some sticker residue. This is one of the Modern War Studies series. Rich Barbuto is emeritus professor of history and has served as the deputy director of the Department of Military History at the US Army Command & General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas since 2004. A 1971 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he served for twenty-three years as an armor officer with tours of duty in Germany, Korea, and Canada. Barbuto received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. Barbuto specializes in the U.S. Army in the early republic and the War of 1812. He authored Niagara 1814: America Invades Canada, and Long Range Guns, Close Quarter Combat. He authored two commemorative pamphlets on the War of 1812 along the Canadian border for the US Army Center of Military History. Scant attention, however, has been paid the Niagara Campaign of 1814-the American army's failed attempt to wrest Canada from the British. Richard Barbuto is the first to offer a comprehensive study of the entire campaign. Barbuto covers every aspect of a campaign that saw the American army come of age, even as its military leaders blundered away potential victory and the acquisition of a coveted expanse of North American territory. Vividly recreating the major battles on the Niagara peninsula at Chippawa, Lundy's Lane, Fort Erie, and Cook's Mill, Barbuto clarifies the role of these engagements within the overall framework of American strategy. Barbuto argues that the American government was never really able to harness, coordinate, and focus its resources in ways that would have allowed the campaign to succeed. Much of the blame, he shows, can be attributed to the poor leadership and confused strategic thinking. Barbuto contends that the American soldier, led by the likes of the legendary Winfield Scott, performed well against one of the great armies of the nineteenth century.