of Bvt. Maj. Alfred Mordecai’s
Artillery for the United States Land Service, the Army had for the first time a full, accurate description of its system of artillery. Secretary Davis sent Mordecai, along with Maj. Richard Delafield and Capt. George B. McClellan, to Europe to study all aspects of the Crimean War in particular and European military institutions and development in general. The study of American military theory was stimulated by the publication in 1846 of Henry Wager Halleck’s Elements of Military Art and Science. Such volumes as Scott’s Instructions for Field Artillery, the General Regulations for the Army of the United States, Hardee’s Tactics, and the new volume on infantry tactics sponsored by Davis were made available to Army officers and a few others; though not enough were obtained to furnish copies to the militia. A number of military schools had been founded throughout the country, with the South having a slight edge, an advantage that was to provide numerous capable officers to the Confederacy when the Civil War broke out.
