The Department of War, 1781–1795

Harry M. Ward

• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Year: 2010
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780822975465
• Subtopic: Early American History
• Index: History

Harry M. Ward examines the formative years of the Department of War as a microcosm of the development of a centralized federal government. The Department of War was unique among early government agencies, as the only office that continued under the same administrator from the time of the Confederation to government under the Constitution. After the peace was established with Britain, citizens were suspicious of keeping a standing army, but administrator Benjamin Lincoln's efficient administration did much to dispel their fears. Henry Knox was the second Secretary, and he faced the problem of maintaining peace on the frontier, as his tiny army twice lost battles with Indians. It was only after the Whiskey Rebellion and Shay's Rebellion, that the young nation fully comprehended the importance of a maintaining a national military.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• I. Coming of Age
• II. Creation of te War Departments
• III. The Office and the Powers
• IV. The Administration of Benjamin Lincoln
• V. A Transition into the Unknown
• VI. Bookseller in High Station
• VII. The Peacetime Military Establishment
• VIII. Council Fires Begin to Burn
• IX. The Final Test: Shays's Rebellion
• X. Rock among the Sands
• XI. "A Hoop to the Barrel"
• XII. Finding Roots in the Federal Government
• XIII. Council of the Executive
• XIV. The Western Debacle
• XV. Reappointment with Destiny
• XVI. Wooing the Southern Tribes
• XVII. War Powers Asserted
• XVIII. An Evaluation
• Notes
• Appendices
• Bibliograph
• Index