| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 93.4

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 93.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

The Business of Civil War: Military Mobilization and the State, 1861–1865. By Mark R. Wilson. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. xiv, 306 pp. $45.00, ISBN 0-8018-8348-2.)
Mark R. Wilson's The Business of Civil War is a much-needed analysis of Union production and procurement issues. Relying heavily on unpublished correspondence, contract registers, and payrolls of the Quartermaster's Department, the book examines the commercial and government enterprises that supplied Union armies as well as the policies and personnel of the federal supply bureaucracy.	1
With few supplies on hand when the war erupted, the federal government initially relied on state governors and even private individuals to outfit new regiments. State efforts proved inadequate and inefficient, evidenced by the lack of uniform standards, purchasing scandals, and escalating costs fueled by competition among the states. By late 1861, Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs had shifted procurement to a national system, placing federal supply officers in state capitals and limiting the reimbursements paid for state-provided items. Meigs's bureau enjoyed a high degree of autonomy under senior officers who had continental logistics experience and were relatively independent of Republican party influence.	. . .

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