MTMcGurk

@mtmcgurk

Dad, Army Recruiter, aspiring historian, poet, #irregularwarfare, #poetry. #cats #LetsGoPens 🐧 #library #milsky #zettelkasten #militaryhistory

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MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· 24d

What’s everyone reading this weekend?

Paperback book, grey cover, and a b/w photo of an explosion during combat on one of the pacific islands during WWII.

Title: War without Mercy: RACE & Power in the PACIFIC WAR
Author: JOHN W. DOWER

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· 25d

29/2026, Meade at Gettysburg: A Study in Command by Kent Masterson Brown. What a close run affair. Meade takes command 3 days before the battle, earns the Army of the Potomac its first major victory, and remains in command but is pilloried for not pursuing Lee. We should know more about him.

Title: Meade at GETTYSBURG
A STUDY IN COMMAND
Author: KENT MASTERSON BROWN
Image: a hardcover book with a colorized image of General George Meade from the Civil War, Gettysburg

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· 25d

Case in point:👇🏽

duties as the general may direct. The lines as held are not to be changed without orders, the skirmishers being simply advanced, according to instructions given, to find and report the position and lines of the enemy" s Meade had to find a way to exploit the major victory on the battlefield his generalship obtained for the Army of the Potomac. The question was not as easily answered as one might expect. Before he could even contemplate a pursuit of Lee's army, he had to make sure it was, in fact, retreating rather than lying in wait along Seminary Ridge, luring Meade to attack.
Meade had studied military strategy and tactics under Dennis Hart Mahan at West Point. Mahan was a disciple of Clausewitz. Meade, a lin-quist as well as a scholar of strategy and tactics - and as a former student of Dennis Hart Mahan — was well acquainted with Clausewitz's teachines, including those relating to the pursuit of a defeated enemy. Meade was well equipped to meet the challenge after Gettysburg.
Both of the contending armies, Clausewitz writes,
, "are already physi-
cally tired when they go into battle, since the movements directly preceding an engagement are usually of a strenuous kind. A prototypical struggle on the battlefield," he continues,
"calls for exertions that complete the ex-
haustion." Meade and his army were living those words. Clausewitz then notes: "Moreover, the winning side is in almost as much disorder and confusion as the losers, and will, therefore, have to pause so that order can be restored, stragglers collected, and ammunition distributed." He continues:
Each of the thousands [of] men under [the general's] command needs food and rest and longs for nothing so much as a few hours free of danger and fatigue. The voices of those thousands of men] is what is heard in the general's council; it is conducted up a channel of senior officers who urge these human needs on the general's sympathy. The generals own energies have been sapped by mental and physical exhausti…

pursuit would suffice to exhaust the effect of the superiority gained in the battle. In addition, the victor will capture everything the loser can not take with him: sick and wounded, stragglers, baggage, and wagons of all kinds." Arguing against a direct pursuit, Clausewitz writes, "In itsel [the enemy's] forces, while pressure and parallel marches will *39 however, merely following the enemy will not accelerate the break up of Clausewitz cautions against ever following a defeated army throus mountains. Pursuing Lee's defeated army into the mountains, like th South Mountain range, would inevitably lead to the loss of all that Meade's victory had rained. Lee's army would have the advantage of high ground with every attack, and small elements of Lee's defeated army could, in the mountains, hold back much larger commands of Meade's on the narrow roads that Meade's troops would have to use in pursuit. In addition, the pressure of flanking operations, particularly the use of cavalry, in such a pursuit through mountain passes would have been severely restricted so
"Finally," writes Clausewitz, "the third and most effective degree of pursuit takes the form of marching parallel with the enemy toward the immediate goal of his retreat." Every defeated army has an "immediate goal for his retreat," Clausewitz notes. That may be because the site is where the defeated army will have to cross a river or where it might expect reinforce-ments. In any event, a pursuit along a parallel course may prompt the defeated force to speed up the retreat, a result the victorious army would wish to see happen, because the faster a retreating army moves, the more it suffers disintegration.*
If Meade could ascertain that Lee was truly retreating rather than luring the Army of the Potomac to attack, he knew that Lee would retreat on his lines of communication and support and that the "immediate goal" would have to be Williamsport on the Potomac River. If Meade knew Lee was retreating, he would no…

four miles; for Meade's army, it would be sixty-four miles. Still, following
4 July was discerning Lee's exact intentions.
a parallel course was Meade's only option. Meade's immediate concern on As early as 1:30 P.M., Meade had made up his mind about how he communication in the Cumberland Valley. "As soon as it can be definitely ascertained that Lee is retiring into the valley, I shall move rapidly in a southern direction," Meade wrote to General Couch. Meade sent a message to General William F. Smith of Couch's force not long thereafter asserting that he was "of the opinion that the enemy is retreating via Fair-feld and Cashtown, but [he was] not certain on his present information." Meade continued: "Should the enemy be retreating, [I) will pursue by way of Emmitsburg and Middletown, on the left flank. Stephen Sears writes that during 4 July, "Meade immersed himself in matters of military house-keeping, and, unlike, General Lee, seemed to devote little thought to his course of action." As Meade's letters to Generals Couch and Smith of 4 July reveal, he not only thought about his course of action but determined that day exactly how he would move the army. It must be noted, too, that obtaining from Westminster sufficient forage for nearly thirty thousand starved horses and subsistence for nearly sixty thousand starved men was no small "housekeeping" matter.*2
In the meantime, Meade decided to put pressure on Lee's army's flanks were it falling back to its line of supply and communications in the Cumberland Valley. On the early afternoon of 4 July, Meade ordered General Pleasonton, his cavalry chief, to direct General Buford, then with Colonels Devin's and Gamble's cavalry brigades at Westminster, to move to Frederick, where they would be joined by General Merrit's brigade of regulars, coming from Gettysburg. Once joined at Frederick, they would proceed along the National Road through Turner Pass in the South Mountain range to Williamsport, Lee's immediate goal. ts
Pu…

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· 25d

This book on the other hand… 👏🏽 💪🏽 And he takes down Guelzo’s arguments.

Hardcover book with a colorized photo of Maj Gen George Meade on the cover at his tent.

Title: MEADE AT GETTYSBURG:
A STUDY IN COMMAND
Author: KENT MASTERSON BROWN

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· 27d

28/2026 Touched With Fire by Eric Bergerud Exceptional look into the fighting in the South Pacific during WWII. Australian Army also gets a nod for their prowess. Thanks to #histbookchat mind for recommending this one.

Paperback book, black in color, with a black and white photo of Army Soldiers landing on a beach in the South Pacific in WWII.
Title: TOUCHED WITH FIRE : The Land War in the South Pacific
Author: Eric Bergerud

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· 29d

27/2026 War is a Racket by Smedley D. Butler The pamphlet here also includes “Common Sense Neutrality,“ “Amendment for Peace,” and photos from ”The Horror of It.” I’m glad I read this.

A small green paperback book on a white countertop
Title: War is a Racket
Author: Smedley Butler

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· 29d

Bluesky crowd once again recommending Etsy stores to spend my dollar bills and succeeding. #gettysburg

Two stickers on a white countertop.

The stickers depicts a scene from the movie Gettysburg where COL Strong Vincent shakes COL Joshua Chamberlain’s hand and says “Now We’ll See How Professors Fight.”

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jul 11

I have not but just added to the list! The only book I’ve read on intervention in the Russian Civil War is The Midnight War.

Hardback book. First edition.
Author:Richard Goldhurst
Title: THE MIDNIGHT WAR The American Intervention in Russia, 1918-1920

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jul 11

26/2026 The First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn The paranoia and crushing feelings of Stalin’s Soviet Union leap off the page. It was jarring to see so much happen…600 pages covering less than 72 hours. The state-sponsored suffocation, the illusion of control, the dignity of choice. 10/10.

A mass market paperback book from 1972.
Title: THE FIRST CIRCLE
Author: Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
Translated from the Russian by
Thomas P. Whitney

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jul 9

Me in the annual hearing test:

Meme of bladerunner 2049. Replicant k is in the booth getting his baseline test. “You’re not even close to baseline”

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jul 6

Why am I getting shunned at movie night? The movies are red, white, and blue themed. The movies:

The French Tri-Colours Trilogy
BLEU BLANC ROUGE
UNE TRILOGIE DE
KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jul 5

Why am I getting mean mugged? I’m wearing red, white, and blue on my shirt. The shirt:

A cream colored shirt with the face of a young Sir Elton John superimposed in black over a Union Jack (UK 🇬🇧) flag.

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jul 4

Good tidings

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jul 1

This right here is a masterpiece of “making history come alive.”

Touched by Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific
Author: Eric Bergerud

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 30

25/2026 American Strategy in WWII, A Reconsideration by Kent Roberts Greenfield A book from college on a second read. Well worth it.

A paperback book with image of American and allied power eating away at German and Japanese power

Title: American Strategy in WWII, A Reconsideration by Kent Roberts Greenfield

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 27

Looking good Utah #utah #hiking

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 27

Today’s lift mix #LegDay

Album screenshot of A Perfect Circle, Thirteenth Step album

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 25

No comment. What’s everyone’s hometown known for?

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 24

Mountains in Bozeman Montana with green fields in the foreground

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 23

24/2026 Pacific Blitzkrieg, WWII in the Central Pacific by Sharon Tosi Lacey Her work details the development and implementation of army-marine training, doctrine, and amphibious warfare employment from Guadalcanal to Okinawa. A main point is the importance of leadership to build relationships.

A paperback book on a brown table. It shows a painting of US Army soldiers landing on a contested WWII beachhead.

Title: PACIFIC BLITZKRIEG: WORLD WAR II IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC
Author: Sharon Tosi Lacey

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 20

Painting of a volcano 🌋 erupting. It is in a gold frame 🖼️

Sebastian Pether
English, 1790-1844
The Eruption of Vesuvius, 1825
Oil on wood panel
This dramatic scene of Mount Vesuvius emphasizes the grandeur and terror of lava against the night sky. Sebastian Pether traveled to Naples, Italy, to paint the volcano, which erupted in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
The volcano's activity allowed artists like Pether to imagine its destruction of the Roman city of Pompeii in 79 c.E. Rather than depicting a contemporary scene, in this painting he represented the only eyewitness account of the historic eruption as described in an ancient letter by Roman author Pliny the Younger.
Purchase: Nelson Gallery Foundation through the exchange of various Foundation properties, F96-17

Sebastian Pether
English, 1790-1844
The Eruption of Vesuvius, 1825
Oil on wood panel
This dramatic scene of Mount Vesuvius emphasizes the grandeur and terror of lava against the night sky. Sebastian Pether traveled to Naples, Italy, to paint the volcano, which erupted in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
The volcano's activity allowed artists like Pether to imagine its destruction of the Roman city of Pompeii in 79 c.E. Rather than depicting a contemporary scene, in this painting he represented the only eyewitness account of the historic eruption as described in an ancient letter by Roman author Pliny the Younger.
Purchase: Nelson Gallery Foundation through the exchange of various Foundation properties, F96-17

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 19

Pallas Cat is a mood

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 19

The polar bear is putting on a show for the kids.

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 16

It’s full of win.

An aluminum drink can of Alani Cherry twist in the office

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 15

Now we wait…

Banana bread in a metal baking pan on a stove

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 14

I follow that up with @alanallport.bsky.social ”Britain at Bay” and I got a greater sense of the political and military figures behind those investment (lack of investment) decisions and how they dealt with the consequences. A multi-faceted answer to Shirer’s question of “why didn’t they…?”

Hardback book, red on cover with three black and white images
Title: BRITAIN AT BAY: THE EPIC STORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR,
1938-1941
Author: ALAN ALLPORT

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 14

From what I can gather, force management / design is part of the answer. One of the next books I read next was “Victory into Defeat.” If you think USA 🇺🇸 postwar drawdowns are steep, the opener will shock you. It was a lost decade of investment. No investment now = limited (bad) options later.

A hardcover book with British soldiers from the 1930s on a training exercise
Title: victory into defeat, the British army 1918-1940
Authors: Richard Dannatt and Robert Lyman

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 14

So an example about force design / development /management. In “Berlin Diary,” Shirer repeatedly asks while the western allies don’t sweep in and defeat Hitler in 1935-1939. He laments French and British 🇬🇧 inaction between the fall of Poland 🇵🇱 and the fall of France. 🇫🇷 So why didn‘t they?

Red paperback book
Title: Berlin Diary
Author: William Shirer

MTMcGurk@mtmcgurk· Jun 11