Through Mobility We Conquer: The Mechanization of U.S. Cavalry

Through Mobility We Conquer: The Mechanization of U.S. Cavalry, by George F. Hofmann (ISBN 0-8131-2403-4, The University Press of Kentucky, 663 South Limestone St., Lexington, KY 40508-4008; Web site: www.kentuckypress.com. Hardcover, 6-1/2" x 9-1/2", 578 pages, 96 black-and-white photos, maps and tables, 2006, $45.00).

The U.S. Cavalry underwent intense growing pains with the rapid technological developments of the twentieth century. Through Mobility We Conquer traces the Cavalry’s mechanized history from its tentative beginnings during World War I through to its eventual conversion from traditional horse cavalry to a mobilized branch. Author George Hofmann maintains that this transformation was arguably one of the greatest in military history.

Through Mobility We Conquer recounts the evolution and development of the U.S. Army’s modern mechanized cavalry and the doctrine necessary to use it effectively, and explores the debates over how best to use cavalry. Having reviewed thousands of official records and manuals, military journals, personal papers, memoirs, and oral histories—many of which were only recently declassified—Hofmann presents a detailed study of the doctrine, equipment, structure, organization, tactics, and strategy of U.S. mechanized cavalry during the first half of the twentieth century.

Illustrated with dozens of photographs, maps, and charts, Through Mobility We Conquer demonstrates how technology revolutionized U.S. forces in the twentieth century, and demonstrates how perhaps no branch of the military underwent greater changes during this time than the cavalry. Armor enthusiasts will enjoy Hofmann’s analysis of vehicle adaptations to the Cavalry’s missioin. Through Mobility We Conquer will become a standard treatise for any student with an interest in the United States’ approach to mechanized warfare.—JAG