This assessment of the archaeology of the American Civil War fulfils a variety of significant agendas in a way that will prove to be highly important for historians and archaeologists alike. Such is the scope of the scholarship present in this well-written and well-organized collection that whilst it makes a demonstration of the utility of an archaeological approach, it also serves as a manual and manifesto for researchers and it furthers the study of the soldiers, the tactics and the politics of the conflict. In this manner, this edited volume, which provides case studies and surveys from across a broad spectrum of sites, illustrates how the study of the material and minutiae of the battles and areas behind the lines can transform our understanding of the war.

The edited collection is divided into three sections that study the events of battle, the logistical support and life of the soldier, and the interpretation and preservation of earthworks and defensive features. This arrangement enables the reader to comprehend the use of an archaeological analysis at a variety of levels, aiding the military, the social and the political study of the war. The first section of the book, examining the battles, skirmishes and engagements between opposing forces, is the most theoretically and methodologically developed within the collection. Each chapter details how archaeological studies of artillery and musket fire, skeletal remains and landscape surveys can be combined with documentary evidence to uncover the “flow of battle.” The authors of chapters on the battles of Boonville (1861), Centralia (1864) or Palmito Ranch (1865) expertly depict how the position of troops, the types of weaponry and the processes of engagement can be used to reveal political support, economic provisions and ideological agendas alongside points of camaraderie, morale and commitment. The editors provide a framework for this assessment using the modern-day military acronym for assessing the field, METT-T (“mission, enemy, terrain, troops, time”) and KOCOA (“key terrain, observation, cover and concealment, obstacles, avenues of approach”). Using these terms, the first section of the book forwards a standardized approach for the examination of fields of conflict. Whilst this could serve as a valuable model for future analysis, Steven D. Smith in his chapter on the Civil War in South Carolina cautions that an “archaeological” agenda in the study of conflict and violence will only be realized when it can demonstrate its original contribution to knowledge.

Perhaps this unique quality of archaeology can be better observed in the often overlooked aspects of the Civil War, the logistical arrangements of the armies and their material effects, which concern the final two sections of the edited collection. In the study of logistics, rather than dealing with figures that mask the experience of the war, the daily life of the soldier can be explored. For example, chapters examine the material culture of the Union troops campaigning in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864, and the camps occupied by General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia around Orange County after the 1863 defeat at Gettysburg, as well as the deployment of horses and mules during the conflict. Such assessments reveal how individuals were fed, maintained, supported and inculcated into military life through the study of artefacts and remains. For example, Joseph F. Balicki's chapter on the 1863 fall encampment of the 14th Connecticut Infantry in Northern Virginia details how this site reflected the conditions of the frontline soldier. Materials retrieved from the camp were those that the soldiers had only carried with them; few personal artefacts or trappings of civilian life were found. This was a military unit that was conditioned by the brutal reality of war.

The final section of this edited volume, concerning the earthworks and structures erected by the opposing armies, continues this uniquely archaeological approach that is concerned with the materiality of the war. These chapters provide methodological instruction and analysis on the defences and munitions of the armies of the Civil War. This assessment of the types, functions and uses of the forts, bivouacs and guns of the war also demonstrates the ability of archaeology to dispel some of the myths of the conflict. A war fought for a nation over a century ago can appear to be shrouded in sentiment and romanticism. Tourist sites can obscure the devastating and bloody effects of an industrialized war fought by individuals for deeply held political convictions. To overcome this obstacle to knowledge, this edited collection illustrates a new field of enquiry, thereby ensuring an original approach to the study of the American Civil War.