Historians, while recognizing the emergence of a pre-Civil War professional army, have generally placed the solid foundation of military professionalism in the post-Civil War era. William Skelton maintains, however, that the early national and antebellum eras were crucial to the rise of the American profession of arms. Although tiny by today's standards, the early officer corps nevertheless maintained strong institutional support and internal cohesion through a regular system of recruitment, professional training and education, and a high degree of leadership continuity. Through socialization and lengthening career commitments, officers came to share a common vision of their collective role with respect to warfare, foreign policy, Indian affairs, domestic politics, and civilian life. The result, Skelton shows, was the formation of a distinctive military subculture rooted in tightly knit garrison communities across the frontier and along the seaboard from which prominent Civil War leaders would emerge and whose essential character would persist well into the twentieth century.

pt. 1. Roots of the American military profession, 1784-1815: Army organization in the early national period. Recruiting an officer corps, 1784-1815. Military careers in the early republic. A frontier constabulary, 1784-1815. Seeds of military professionalism -- pt. 2. Emergence of the American military profession, 1815-1861: The era of army reform, 1815-1821. The organizational setting, 1821-1861. The stabilization of officer recruitment. Social origins and career motivations. The West Point experience. Military careers in the antebellum era. The emergence of the general staff officer. Professional thought and institutions. Officers and enlisted men. Officers, politicians, and citizens. Officers and Indians. Officers, foreign affairs, and war. The officer corps in the Sectional Crisis.