"A GREAT RECORD OF A GREAT ARMY": SCARCE FIRST EDITION OF VAN HORNE'S HISTORY OF THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND, 1875, FIRST AUTHORITATIVE ACCOUNT OF THE ARMY LED BY GENERAL GEORGE THOMAS, NAMED ONE OF THE TOP UNION GENERALS WITH GRANT, SHERMAN AND SHERIDAN, WITH RARELY FOUND ATLAS VOLUME CONTAINING 22 MAPS

(THOMAS, George H.) VAN HORNE, Thomas B. History of the Army of the Cumberland. Its Organization, Campaigns, and Battles. Written at the Request of Major-General George H. Thomas. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke, 1875. Three volumes. Octavo, original gilt-stamped red cloth; atlas volume in early matching three-quarter red morocco.

First edition of Van Horne's seminal History of the Army of the Cumberland and General George H. Thomas—"with Lee, Jackson, Grant and Sherman… one of the foremost military minds to come out of that terrible conflict"—complete with rarely found atlas volume of 22 color-outlined maps (16 folding).

Born in Virginia, Union General George H. Thomas "was one of the most solid and dependable commanders to serve on either side of the war, and his accomplishments have earned his inclusion, along with Lee, Jackson, Grant and Sherman, as one of the foremost military minds to come out of that terrible conflict. While most military historians rate Thomas among the top four Union generals of the war—behind Grant, Sherman and Sheridan—there are some who rank him even higher, ahead of Sheridan, Sherman and, for a few historians, even Grant… His actions were responsible for saving the Union army at Stones River and Chickamauga, and his army broke the back of the Confederates at Missionary Ridge. His army provided the muscle for Sherman's drive for Atlanta, before he was detached to deal with and eventually destroy Hood in Tennessee… Thomas compiled a record of victory unequalled by any other Union commander" (Broadwater, General George H. Thomas, 1-4). This scarce History "is the best summary of the operations of a celebrated Federal Army of the West. The work consists chiefly of a chronology of the operations of the Amy of the Cumberland… essentially worked on by Thomas himself… Van Horne brings forth an exhaustive and generally objective record of battle employing the journal kept by Thomas during his command of the army, which gives the book great life and high value… a great record of a great army" (Eicher 1024).

This first edition of the History, complete with the rarely found atlas volume, "particularly emphasizes cartography, for that army went to great lengths to furnish its officers with maps. Edward Ruger, superintendent of the Topographical Engineer's Office of the Department of the Cumberland, compiled an atlas forming Volume III of the History. Immediately after the war Ruger supervised surveys of all the Union and Confederate works pertaining to the Atlanta campaign, along with many of the Army of the Cumberland's battlefields. Ruger availed himself of these surveys, official records of the department, and General George Thomas' personal military papers while preparing the Atlas. The resulting 22 maps record the army's operations from Logan's Cross Roads (January 1862) to Bentonville (March 1865). Most maps indicate the sources Ruger consulted, including captured Confederate documents" (Woodworth, American Civil War, 106). Atlas (Volume III) with 22 color-outlined maps (16 folding). Dornbusch III:1261-2. Howes V-34. Atlas volume with bookplate, owner signature of L.L. Orwig.

Text generally fresh with small bit of occasional marginal dampstaining, atlas volume with expert repairs to folding maps, expert restoration and occasional spotting to original cloth bindings.