War upon the Land: Military Strategy and the Transformation of Southern Landscapes during the Civil War: A Review 

The one thing that I felt this book by Lisa Brady brought to the forefront of my mind is that in regards to war, many people think more about the loss of life and that the death toll of the armies that fight said wars. However I feel that this book brings an interesting look at the biggest sufferer when it comes to warfare, the very land upon which the war is fought. I felt after reading the book that I am slightly more enlightened by this fact.

The one thing that I always knew about war was that in some cases a “scorched earth” policy ends up taking place at some point during the conflict, the prime example during the Civil War is William Tecumseh Sherman’s march to the sea, in which he literally burned down everything from Atlanta, Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean. The one event that I never knew took place was the raiding of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia by both Union and Confederate forces. This raiding not only prevented the troops for either army from securing supplies to fuel the war effort, but also hurt the many citizens that happened to live in the area that would soon be raided to help fuel a war, that even many of the people of the area felt wasn’t necessary.

One of the strongest things I find in this Brady’s book is that she brings to mind that her approach in her work could be applied to any war, and she has since moved on to explore other military conflicts to prove that point. This helps paint a clear picture that in every war, even the very land that we fight over is a part of the conflict.