Review: General Grant and the Rewriting of History

General Grant and the Rewriting of History: How the Destruction of General William S. Rosecrans Influenced Our Understanding of the Civil War

By Frank P. Varney

Just a few days before his death on July 23, 1885, former President, Ulysses S. Grant, penned the final pages of his memoirs.  Published posthumously, consisting of two volumes, the “Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant,” was an instant best seller, and the income derived from its royalties restored the Grant family fortune which he had lost through several bad business decisions.  Mark Twain, Grant’s publisher, lauded the memoir as a “literary masterpiece.”  The memoirs are highly regarded by military historians and literary critics alike, and nearly 140 years after its author’s death it has yet to go out of print.

Ulysses S. Grant parlayed his fame as the victor of the Civil War into a political victory when he was elected the 18th President of the United States in 1868.  Periodically historians tend to rank the Presidents from best to worst, and Grant’s lack luster performance as President, combined with several political scandals of those in his administration, typically leaves him ranked near the bottom, with most historians summarizing Grant as an honest man but a poor judge of character.

In his memoirs Grant makes several negative representations of a few fellow Union Army generals.  If Grant was such a poor judge of character, then why do most historians take what Grant wrote in his memoirs as the gospel truth?  If Grant could be wrong about the character of the men that he appointed to places of high esteem during his administration, couldn’t his negative characterizations in his memoirs be incorrect as well?  Frank P. Varney, Professor of History at Dickenson State University, has asked that very same question and his research has led him to some startling conclusions about what we think we know about the Civil War, and how much of it was shaped by the writings of Ulysses S. Grant.

Citing multiple historians, tracing their sources Dr. Varney uncovered many noted historians have taken Grant at his word, using his memoirs as a single source for various incidents of the war.  Professor Varney, using multiple primary sources, compared them to Grant’s writings to uncover striking differences compared to what his contemporaries wrote.  And in at least one instance it appears that Grant falsified the records of the War Department to the detriment of others.

Though several of Grant’s brothers-in-arms careers were, or were very nearly ruined, by his unflattering assessments of their abilities, Dr. Varney’s book, “General Grant and the Rewriting of History” focuses mainly on William S. Rosecrans, and discusses in some depth the battles of Shiloh, Iuka, Corinth, Stones River and Chickamauga.

Dr. Varney’s chapters are organized much like a geometric proof.  Each starts out with “The Context” where he sets the stage for what is about to be discussed.  “The Controversies” follow, first giving a brief bullet point list of the controversies discussed in the chapter, and then one by one discussing each controversy in depth.  Varney’s “Evaluation” follows, and when appropriate the professor discusses the historiography of the topic discussed.  He compares what both Grant and other historians have said against the primary records, and states his conclusions.

“General Grant and the Rewriting of History” is a stunning example of the craft of history.  Professor Varney may have changed future narrative of the Civil War, and William S. Rosecrans may at long last get credit where credit is due, for both his triumphs and his failures.

Professor Varney’s book is well and convincingly written and exhaustively written.  Though not a book for Civil War novices, students of the war will have their long held views of the war challenged by this thought provoking work.

ISBN 978-1611211184, Savas Beatie, © 2013, Hardcover, 336 Pages, Photographs, Maps, Footnotes, Appendix, Bibliography & Index. $32.95.  To Purchase the book click HERE.  

Review: Smithsonian Civil War, Inside the National Collection

Smithsonian Civil War: Inside the National Collection

by Smithsonian Institution,

Edited by Neil Kagan,

and photography by Hugh Talman.

Established in 1846, The Smithsonian Institution has often been described as “the nation’s attic.”  Stored within its many museums and research facilities are 137 million items, the treasures of the United States.  Its facilities contain items from every era of American History, including the 1903 Wright Flier, and Archie Bunker’s chair from the television series “All in the Family.”

One Hundred Fifty years have passed since the end of the Civil War, and the Smithsonian’s collection of items related to the war began during the war and continues to grow today.  The very best of the Smithsonian’s collection has been gathered together in a lush “coffee table” book, “Smithsonian Civil War: Inside the National Collection.”

Issued to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, “Smithsonian Civil War,” contains 150 brief chapters, each dedicated to some aspect of the war, its participants, or items in the Smithsonian’s collections.  Its article by article narrative begins with the antebellum era, works its way through the war and ends with reconstruction.  It also spans the breadth of those who experienced the war, from Secessionist “Fire-Eaters,” abolitionists, The Union, the Confederacy and also African-Americans; men, women and children.

Contained within its covers are hundreds of photographs, sepia toned, black and white, and lush color photographs of the items within the institutions vast collections.  Among the items featured are a slave ship’s cargo manifest, flags of the Confederacy, soldier’s uniforms, weapons and accoutrements, camp equipage, period photographs of many of the war’s participants, letters, drawings and paintings, Major-General Phil Sheridan’s mounted horse “Winchester,” Mary Lincoln’s purple velvet dress and Varina Davis’ jewelery, Abraham Lincoln’s pocket watch and stove-pipe hat, the chairs from Wilmer McClean’s parlor in which Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee sat and the table on which Lee’s surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia was signed, the cuff from Laura Kean’s dress stained with Lincoln’s blood, the hoods that covered the faces of the men accused in the Lincoln assassination conspiracy, just to name but a few.

“Smithsonian Civil War” is a fantastic book, its contents will provide many hours of page turning pleasure for both the Civil War enthusiast, scholar and novice alike.

ISBN 978-1588343895, Smithsonian Books, © 2013, Hardcover, 368 pages, 9.7 x 1.1 x 11.3 inches, 4.4 pounds, Photographs & Illustrations, Object List & Index. $40.00.  To purchase a copy of this book click HERE.

Review: The West Point History of the Civil War

The West Point History of the Civil War

by The United States Military Academy, Edited by

Clifford J. Rogers, Ty Siedule & Samuel J. Watson

The United States Military Academy was established at West Point, New York on March 16 1802.  The Academy, colloquially known as “West Point” has and continues to train its cadets in a rigorous four-year program for future service as officers in The United States Army.  Graduates of the academy have led soldiers into battle in every American conflict since the War of 1812, including the Civil War.

New estimates of the put the casualties of the Civil War at over 700,000, a figure more than all other American wars combined.  Officers trained at “The Point” led armies on both sides of the war, and often classmates found themselves opposing each other on opposite sides of the battlefields of the war.  Therefore it is fitting that the Academy has published “The West Point History of the Civil War.”  Published by Simon & Schuster, it is the first volume in a series “The West Point History of Warfare.”

“The West Point History of the Civil War” is a large book of 448 pages, measuring 10.9 x 8.6 x 1.6 inches, and weighing 4.2 pounds.  Its semi-glossy pages are richly illustrated with maps, photographs and illustrations highlighting the personalities, battles, and places of the Civil War era.  The book is divided into 6 chapters, each covering a period or aspect of the war and each written by some of Americas best and most prominent historians:

• Origins of the Civil War and the Contest for the Borderlands by Mark E. Neely Jr.
• The War in the East: July 1861-September 1862 by Joseph T. Glatthaar.
• Lee’s War in the East, by Joseph T. Glatthaar.
• Grant’s War in the West by Steven E. Woodworth.
• Coordinated Strategy and Hard War by Earl J. Hess.
• The End of the War and Reconstruction by James K. Hogue.

An in dept study of the war it is not, but nor does it claim to be.  It is an excellent survey of the war, its battles and its participants.  The maps alone, many of them 2 or 3 page fold-outs, are worth the price of this book, not only are they large and clear, but also include nearly 360° eyelevel panoramas of battlefield terrains as the participants would have seen them 150 years ago.

In addition to the text short thumbnail biographies of the war’s most notable participants are peppered throughout the book, and not only include their birth and death dates, but also when applicable the class in which they graduated from the Academy.

The books thick semi-glossy pages are a perfect format for duplicating the maps, photographs and works of art featured between its covers.  It is a thoroughly beautiful book, and would be completely enjoyable just to thumb through on a rainy day and peruse its many gorgeous illustrations.

“The West Point History of the Civil War” is a fantastic book, and would be an excellent addition to any history lover’s library.  It serves as a great introduction to the Civil War for novices, and I think even heavily read students of the Civil War would take something away from it.

ISBN 978-1476782621, Simon & Schuster, © 2014, Hardcover, 448 pages, 10.9 x 8.6 x 1.6 inches, Maps, Photographs, Illustrations, End Notes & Index. $55.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Review: Embattled Rebel - Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief

Embattled Rebel:

Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief

by James M. McPherson

Thousands of books have been written about Abraham Lincoln, but comparatively few have been written about his Confederate counterpart Jefferson Davis.  Davis and his role in the American Civil War will never get the same attention as Lincoln, but he does deserve much more shelf space in the library of Civil War literature that he has been given.

Professor James M. McPherson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his book “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” has added a volume to the shelf of books about Jefferson Davis with “Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief.”

Davis, when compared to Lincoln, is very nearly eclipsed by him.  To his credit, Professor McPherson explains in his introduction to “Embattled Rebel” that comparing Jefferson Davis to Abraham Lincoln is like comparing apples to oranges; they both had different challenges and different resources and personnel to deal with them; therefore he has intentionally resisted the temptation to compare the two Commanders in Chief.

“Embattled Rebel” is not a biography of Jefferson Davis, nor was it intended to be.  It is rather a chronological narrative of his role as Commander in Chief of the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and that is the entirety of its primary focus.  Very little biographical information is discussed, nor is the politics of the Confederate government greatly discussed by the professor.

McPherson gives a somewhat sympathetic view of Jefferson Davis, pointing out that many of his health issues may have contributed to his mediocre performance as the Confederacy’s Commander in Chief.  That being said, McPherson is completely forthcoming that his relationships with the generals he commanded was lackluster at best.  If his playing of favorites with some of his generals and displaying outright hostility to others did not lead to the failure of the Confederacy to gain its independence, it surely did not help it.

Davis’ insistence on micromanaging all aspects of the war, as well his refusal to delegate authority, as Professor McPherson also points out, negatively impacted his health, therefore inflaming his unstable temperament.

Some discussion is given to Davis’ strategy of a total defense of all of the Confederacy’s territory, thereby spreading out and weakening the Confederacy’s military forces, as opposed to a concentration of the Confederacy’s military, as opposed to a Fabian strategy of yielding territory to the enemy army, luring it in until it is vulnerable to be attacked and defeated.  The strategy of an offensive defense is also discussed by Professor McPherson, including Lee’s two northward attacks at Antietam and Gettysburg, drawing the Federal Army away from the South and into the North.

“Embattled Rebel” is a fast read, well written in an easily read style.  It is adequately researched, and cover’s its topic well enough.  No new information appears between its covers, but Professor McPherson’s views are insightful.  Well schooled students of the Civil War might find this book a bit of a rehash, but it is an excellent place to start for those who may not know much about Jefferson Davis and the role he played during the war.

ISBN 978-1594204975, The Penguin Press HC, © 2014, Hardcover, 320 pages, Photographs & Maps, End Notes & Index. $32.95.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Review: The Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor:

A History of Service Above and Beyond

by The Editors of Boston Publishing Company

The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest military honor.  It is awarded by the President of the United States in the name of the United States Congress to U. S. military personnel for personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty.

Since its creation in 1861 the Medal of Honor has been awarded to nearly 3,500 men and 1 woman, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, from the Civil War to the present. “The Medal of Honor: A History of Service Above and Beyond” from The Editors of Boston Publishing Company and published by Zenith Press is a gorgeous book detailing the history of the medal and the persons to whom it has been bestowed upon.  It is a history told in deeds, of self-sacrifice and acts of valor, for which of the Medal of Honor has been awarded.

The book has been divided into seven chapters; one for each period of active conflict involving the United States Military, beginning with the Civil War and traveling through The Indian Campaigns, the Wars of American Expansion (Korea and China in 1871 & 1900, Latin America 1898-1933 and the Philippines and Samoa 1899-1913, and encapsulating the Spanish-American War), World War I, World War II, and the Cold War (the Wars of Korea and Vietnam).  The final Chapter titled “new Enemies, New Conflicts, covers the Persian Gulf War, The Iraq War and the Afghanistan War.

Each chapter begins with a brief historical overview of its assigned era and sets the stage for the following stories of unreluctant heroism in the face of mortal danger, of men reluctant to call themselves heroes: of such men as Second Lieutenant Edward M. Knox who rushed his cannon ahead of the Union Lines during the 2nd day of fighting during the Battle of Gettysburg; Sergeant Benjamin Crisswell who recovered the body of Lieutenant Hodgson from the banks of The Little Big Horn River; Lieutenant Richmond P. Hobson who guided the USS Merrimac into Santiago Harbor under heavy Spanish fire before He and his crew were captured and held as prisoners of war; Marine Gunnery Sergeant Earnest A. Janson who received two Medals of Honor under two different names; Major John Jerstad who volunteered for the Ploieşti raid even though he had flown enough missions to be eligible to return home; Private First Class Joseph R Ouellette who braved enemy fire to retrieve ammunition; Sergeant Alfredo Gonzalez, Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines who was killed in the fight to retake Hue; Master-at-Arms Michael A. Monsoor and Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis who both jumped on grenades to save the lives of their fellow soldiers; and Lieutenant Michael Murphy who was killed trying to save his fellow SEALs while fighting in Afghanistan.  These are but a few of the deeds of heroism featured in “The Medal of Honor.”

The Medal is often awarded posthumously, and those who have lived to wear it say it is much harder to wear than to earn.

In a final tribute to those who have been awarded the Medal of Honor, “The Medal of Honor: A History of Service Above and Beyond,” concludes with a Register of the Recipients of the Medal of Honor from 1861 to June 2014.

The Editors of Boston Publishing Company and Zenith Press have produced an impressive book. “The Medal of Honor” is contains 70 color and 218 black and white photographs and illustrations.  It is a book that they should be justifiably proud of authoring and publishing.

ISBN 978-0760346242, Zenith Press; New Edition, © 2014, Hardcover, 11.2 x 9.5 x 1 inches, 304 pages, Maps, Photographs & Illustrations, Appendix: Register of Recipients, Bibliography, Photo Credits & Index. $40.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Review: Lincoln's Code -The Laws of War in American History

Lincoln's Code: The Laws of War in American History

By John Fabian Witt

The laws of war govern the conduct of nations at war.  They are generally agreed terms that are internationally recognized as to how warfare is to be conducted, and what actions are not sanctioned by it.  Today we familiar with them as the Geneva Conventions.  They are result of hundreds of years of negotiations between nations and adapted to meet the evolving mores of their time.  But how were they developed and who was their author?  John Fabian Witt’s book “Lincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American History” has the answer.

What we recognize today as the rules and laws of war were largely authored by a German-American jurist and political philosopher Frances Lieber.  His laws of war were encoded as Abraham Lincoln’s General Orders, No. 100 issued April 24, 1863 at the height of the American Civil War.  Before that however Professor Witt traces the rules of war from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 to the Mexican War, The Civil War until the issuance of General Orders No. 100. 

A good deal of time is spent in the discussion of what to do with slaves during a time of war.  Once captured are they to be set free?  Are they to be enlisted by the conquering foe and used as combatants against their former owners?  Or are they to be returned to their owners once the hostilities have ceased?  These questions were debated and argued over from the outbreak of the American  Revolution until slavery was at last abolished at the close of the Civil War.

Professor Witt deftly handles Major-General William T. Sherman’s idea of a harsh and total war against civilians and soldiers alike, employed during his March to the Sea and the Carolina Campaign, and argues it benefitted the Union by lessening the length of the war.  It therefore the “hard hand of war” was the most humane way of bringing hostilities to a close with the least amount of human suffering.  A view later endorsed by German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke.

Prize Courts and trials of civilians by Military Commissions are also thoroughly discussed, by the author.  Through it all Professor Witt shows how the guiding hand of Francis Lieber shaped the laws of war which are still largely in effect today.

“Lincoln’s Code,” is expertly researched and wonderfully written.  Its title may lead you to think it is exclusively Abraham Lincoln’s military policy during the Civil War, but it is so much more than that.  It is a book that not only belongs on the shelves of every student of the Civil War, but should also be equally shelved in law libraries across the country.

ISBN 978-1416569831, Free Press, © 2012, Hardcover, 512 pages, Photographs & Illustrations,  End Notes, Appendix & Index. $32.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Review: Such Troops As These

Such Troops as These:

The Genius and Leadership of

Confederate General Stonewall Jackson

By Bevin Alexander

When questioned many people may not know who Thomas Jonathan Jackson is, but nearly everyone recognizes the name of the revered Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.  In truth they are one in the same.  Jackson, the man, is himself an enigma, a devout Christian, and highly skilled military man, who wrote tender love letters to his esposita, and who did not shed a tear over the men killed under his command, but openly wept at the death of a little girl.

Stonewall Jackson’s military successes are legendary.  He drove the soldiers who served underneath him hard, and accomplished what many believed was not possible.  How he did this is the subject of Bevin Alexander’s book “Such Troops As These: The Genius and Leadership of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.”

Though Mr. Alexander does begin his book with Jackson’s early life and ends it with his death, it is far from a cradle to grave biography.  It is really not a biography at all, but rather a study of the military strategy and tactics of Stonewall Jackson during the Civil War.  Battle by battle the author demonstrates Jackson’s superior generalship with his strategy of rapid troop movements and fighting defensively on the enemy’s front while making an attack on his flank.

While correctly pointing out the error of frontal assaults against strongly fortified enemy positions and against the rapidly evolving weaponry of the mid 19th century, Mr. Alexander does come off as somewhat of a Jacksonian sycophant, claiming Jackson’s strategy superior to that of any other Confederate General, including that of Robert E. Lee.  Jackson’s biggest flaw, namely being the secrecy of his plans, is briefly dealt with, but had the author treated Jackson’s flaws with equal weight compared to Jackson’s greatness he would have had a much stronger book.

Mr. Alexander’s linear narrative is clear and easily read.  Thumbing through its bibliography and endnotes, gives one the impression that Mr. Alexander leaned too heavily on 19th century memoirs, and secondary sources, and I am always skeptical when an author sites himself as a source in an end or foot note. “Such Troops As These” is a well written and adequately researched book.  Civil War scholars and students will likely take away from it a greater understanding of Jackson’s strategy and tactics.

ISBN 978-0425271292, Berkley Hardcover, © 2014, Hardcover, 336 pages, Maps,  End Notes, Selected Bibliography & Index. $26.95.  Click HERE to purchase this book.

Review: American General, The Life and Times of William Tecumseh Sherman

American General:

The Life and Times of William Tecumseh Sherman

By John S.D. Eisenhower

Military Historian John S. D. Eisenhower, was a Brigadier-General in the U.S. Army Reserves, served as the United States’ Ambassador to Belgium during the first term of the Nixon Administration, and was the son of President Dwight D. and Mamie (Doud) Eisenhower.

Eisenhower, the author of numerous works of military history and biography including “Agent of Destiny: The Life and Times of General Winfield Scott,” “So Far From God: The U.S. War with Mexico 1846-1848,” and “Zachary Taylor,” died at Trappe, Maryland on December 21, 2013.  At the time of his death he was the oldest living presidential child.  His final book, “American General: The life and Times of William Tecumseh Sherman,” was being made ready for publication at the time of his death and will be published posthumously on October 7, 2014.

“American General” is a short womb-to-tomb biography surveying the life of William Tecumseh Sherman, a Major-General in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and later General of the Army of the United States.  Sherman, often referred to as “the first modern general” is a polarizing figure of the Civil War depending on which side of the Mason-Dixon line one hails, his is either a hero or a villain, and rarely anything in between.  Eisenhower’s biography is not heavy on historical minutia, relying heavily on secondary sources and published letters, “American General” is a brief synthesis of Sherman’s life.  His engaging narrative moves quickly from event to event from his birth to his death.

While there is nothing new between its covers “American General” is a solid biography of Sherman, though there are a more than a couple of errors of a typographical nature (such as dates of the wrong year) that should Mr. Eisenhower have been alive at the time of publication surely would have been caught, but they few and their actual meaning is clear and they do not interrupt Eisenhower’s easily read narrative.

“American General” is well written and adequately researched.  Though there is nothing really “new” within it, it is still an excellent biography of one of America’s most memorable generals, and would serve as a great introduction to those who have only a basic knowledge of the man who was William Tecumseh Sherman.

ISBN 978-0451471352, NAL Caliber Hardcover, © 2014, Hardcover, 352 pages, Photographs, Appendices, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $28.95.  Click HERE to purchase this book.

Review: The Fiddler On Pantico Run

The Fiddler on Pantico Run:

An African Warrior, His White Descendants, A Search for Family

By Joe Mozingo

Joe Mozingo knew himself as a white man with blue eyes.  The family lore was that the Mozingo surname was Italian, Spanish or Basque in its origins.  He had no reason to question it.  In his travels as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times he had a handful of chance encounters with people with the same name, some were black, and said their name was from Africa.  He also met with people from the African continent who told him his name was African.  Joe, a reporter with an eye for a good story, set about on a quest to discover the origins of his name that would take him on a personal journey crisscrossing the United States, and would spawn two trips to Africa.

What started out as a handful of newspaper stories grew into a book, “The Fiddler on Pantico Run: An African Warrior, His White Descendants, a Search for Family.”  His genealogical search led him to Edward Mozingo, the progenitor of the Mozingo name in the United States.  Edward, as it turns out, was black man, a slave brought from Africa to the Jamestown colony in Virginia in 1644, a man whom after serving as a slave for 28 years sued for his freedom and won.  Edward Mozingo married a white woman who was the mother of his children

Through DNA testing, Joe learned that he was not a directly descended in an unbroken line of male Mozingos but was likely the a descendant of one of Edward Mozingo’s granddaughters.  Seeking out Edward Mozingo’s American descendants Joe travels across the United States and interviews a number of people who share his last name.  White and black, some know the secrets of the family’s past while others, notably the family’s white descendants, are either wholly ignorant of the family’s origins, or also share the family tradition that the name was Italian,  Other white family members were blatantly racist and could not come to terms that their ancestor was a black man.

Searching for Edward Mozingo’s African origins lead Joe to research the history and intricacies of the Atlantic Slave Trade.  Two trips to Africa did little to fill in any facts that are actually known about Edward Mozingo himself, but did help Joe place Edward within the context of the time and place from which he likely came.

“The Fiddler on Pantico Run” is an absorbing look not only at Joe Mozingo’s paternal genealogy, but also the evolving definitions of race and racism in the United States.  Mr. Mozingo deftly demonstrates the color of one’s skin, even within the same family, can influence the destinies of people for generations.

ISBN 978-1451627480, Free Press, © 2012, Hardcover, 320 pages & Index. $32.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Review: Mending Broken Soldiers

Mending Broken Soldiers:The Union and Confederate

Programs to Supply Artificial Limbs

By Guy R. Hasegawa

During the American Civil War when heavy lead bullets slammed into their targets, shattering bones and ripping apart muscle, the damage was catastrophic.  Field surgeons of the time were unable to repair such wounds and amputation was the easiest, quickest, and in all likelihood, best option when a Union or Confederate soldier found themselves shot in the arm or leg.  Four years of fighting saw bloodshed on an unprecedented scale.  Eye witness accounts of piles of arms and legs outside field hospitals after battles during the war are numerous.  What we consider unsanitary surgical practices today, coupled with yet to be discovered microorganisms, caused infections which many amputees simply did not survive.  But what about the soldiers, who wore the blue and the gray, who did survive missing one or more limbs?

                               

With his latest book, Mending Broken Soldiers: The Union and Confederate Programs to Supply Artificial Limbs, Guy R. Hasegawa, coeditor of Years of Change and Suffering: Modern Perspectives on Civil War Medicine, director emeritus of the Society of Civil War Surgeons and a member the board of directors of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, has written a detailed account of the Union and Confederate programs to supply their wounded warriors with serviceable prosthetics.

Mr. Hasegawa’s remarkably detailed research covers both the Union and the Confederate efforts to supply their maimed soldiers with artificial legs and arms, their manufacturers, their  manufacture and durability, the approval process, their costs, their fitting, and their maintenance.  No stone of this long neglected topic is left unturned.  The narrative is tilted more towards the Union efforts rather than the Confederate, but that can easily be explained by the North’s superior record keeping and surpluses of manufacturers and material over their Southern counterparts.

The author’s narrative is supported by two appendices: Makers and Inventors Associated with the Union and Confederate Artificial-Limbs Programs; and Artificial Limbs and Resection Apparatus Supplied to U.S. Soldiers and Sailors by May 10, 1866.

Too often many books published on the Civil War have subtitles such as “The Untold Story of the Civil War,” and most are topics that have been written about again and again. Guy Hasegawa’s “Mending Broken Soldiers” is one work that can justly claim (though it does not) that it is an “untold story” of the Civil War.

ISBN 978-0809331307, Southern Illinois University Press, © 2012, Hardcover, 160 pages, Photographs & Illustrations, Appendices, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $24.95.  Click HERE to purchase this book.

Review: All the Great Prizes

All the Great Prizes:

The Life of John Hay, from Lincoln to Roosevelt

By John Taliaferro

If you were anyone in the United States during the last half of the 19th Century, you most likely knew John Hay.  His list of personal friends and acquaintances is a who’s who of America from the Civil War to the Gilded Age.  He was Abraham Lincoln’s personal secretary, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and served as Secretary of State in the McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt administrations.  He was a lawyer, journalist, author and historian.

John Taliaferro has written an extensively researched biography of Hay, “All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay, from Lincoln to Roosevelt.”  It is a richly detailed narrative of the life and loves of John Hay, and the times in which he lived.  Hay was both a witness to and the author of much history from the Civil War until his death in 1905.  Unfortunately, unlike his first benefactor, Abraham Lincoln, I found the more I read about Hay, the more I disliked him.  This of course is not the author’s fault, but rather the fault of his subject.

“All the Great Prizes” is a cradle to grave biography, its linear narrative covers the entirety of Hay’s life chronologically. From his early years in Illinois and his schooling, to living in the White House during the Civil War; from London and Paris and back to Washington D. C.  Its author’s meticulous research has culled a treasure trove of Hay related correspondence which illuminates many personal and intimate details of his life that should Hay find himself alive today I am sure he would be mortified to find had become public knowledge.  His marriage to Clara Stone to Taliaferro’s readers takes a back seat to his infatuation with Elizabeth Sherman Cameron, niece of General William T. Sherman, wife of J. Donald Cameron and daughter-in-law of Simon Cameron.  Hay may or may not have been guilty of adultery, but his relationship with “Lizzie” was definitely an affair of the heart, be it an unconsummated one.

Taliaferro makes short work of the Lincoln years, this is well covered ground, volumes have already and will continue to be written about those four tumultuous years of Hay’s life.  The author spends a fair amount of pages on Hay’s literary and journalistic career, as well as his friendships with the literary giants of his age Mark Twain, Horace Greeley, Henry Adams, Henry James to name but just a few.

Politically speaking Hay rubbed elbows with nearly every president, sovereign, power broker, and robber baron of the Gilded Age.  And through these connections Hay’s political career soared.  Taliaferro aptly and adroitly shows many of Hay’s fingerprints on much of the United States’ foreign policy during the late 19th Century most notably the Open Door with China, the Boxer Rebellion, and the building of the Panama Canal.

John Hay was a deeply flawed man, but John Taliaferro’s “All the Great Prizes” is a tour de force biography which brings the full breadth and depth of the life of John Hay from out of the shadows of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt of and into the light of history.

ISBN 978-1416597308, Simon & Schuster, © 2013, Hardcover, 688 pages, Photographs, Illustrations, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $35.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Review: Calvert the Raven in The Battle of Baltimore

Calvert the Raven in The Battle of Baltimore

Written & Illustrated by Jonathon Scott Fuqua

Daniel is a young elementary student who is bored by history.  It puts him “asleep.”  He is so bored by history that on his latest homework assignment, a report on the War of 1812, he makes things up to enliven it which has earned him a grade of “Terrible!” scribbled across the top of the page by his teacher.  Despondently he begins the long walk home and he worries that his Mom and Dad will be furious with him.

Daniel’s walk of shame is interrupted by a talking raven named Calvert, who can’t believe that Daniel thinks history is boring.  Upon the urging of Calvert, Daniel touches his wing and mysteriously finds himself shrunken, riding on the back of Calvert and being transported backward through time to 1814 and the Battle of Baltimore.

Swooping among the soldiers and sailors, over land and water, through bullets, rockets and the blue-gray gunpowder smoke Calvin and Daniel witness the battle and the Bombardment of Fort McHenry, and back to the future to see that Daniel gets home in time for supper.  Before he departs Calvert urges Daniel to go home and rewrite his paper, even if his teacher does not change his grade.  With a new outlook on history Daniel can’t wait to get home and do just that.

Calvert the Raven in The Battle of Baltimore is a delightful book for children.  It’s alternating pages of text and very well executed illustrations are bound to draw in young readers and leave them with the knowledge that history is not boring.

ISBN 978-1610880770, Bancroft Press, © 2013, Hardcover, 32 Pages, 10.8 x 7.4 x 0.4 inches.  $17.99.  To Purchase the book click HERE.

Review: Wisdom from the Oval Office

Wisdom from the Oval Office:

Words for George Washington to the Present

By Pierce Word

A few weeks ago my cousin, who is an elementary school teacher shared a few pictures of her classroom after she had prepared it for her new class.  On the wall, above the whiteboard was the following quote from Theodore Roosevelt: “Believe you can & you are halfway there.”  Being the investigative type that I am, I wanted to track back the source of the quote, and its original context.  I did countless internet searches, and all agreed that Theodore Roosevelt said it, but nowhere could I find a speech or letter which contained to quote.  In a final act of desperation I turned to Pierce Word’s “Wisdom from the Oval Office: Words for George Washington to the Present.”

Within the pages of Mr. Word’s book, touted on the cover as being “The Ultimate Presidential Quote Book,” is collected quotations from each of the forty-two men to have been fortunate enough to hold the office of President of the United States.  The author has grouped the quotes into forty categories: America, Belief, Business, Change, Constitution, Country, Democracy, Economy, Education, Error, Freedom, Friendship, God, Government, Happiness, History, Honor, Hope, Law, Leadership, Liberty, Life, Love, Mind, Money, Office, Peace, Politics, Power, Presidency, Religion, Rights, Success, Time, Trust, Truth, War, Wisdom, Wish, and World.  Within each category the quotations are arranged chronologically by President.  Below each quote Mr. Word has noted its source, and each categorical chapter concludes with its own end notes.

Flipping through its pages, I hunt for the Theodore Roosevelt quote that started my quest.  Closing in on my prey I flip to the section on “Belief.”  There on page 20 I spied “Believe you can & you are halfway there,” and below it was the object of my desire, a source citation: “U. S. Congress, Congressional Record, October 9, 2007⁴.”  What?!  2007???  How can that be, Theodore Roosevelt died in 1919!  I then flip to the chapter’s end notes, where Mr. Word included the following note: “4 Vol. 153, pt. 19, U. S. Congress, Congressional Record, October 9, 2007.”

I’ve come too far now to give up.  A search of the Congressional Record, for October 9, 2007 brings me to the speech of Congressman Harold Rogers of Kentucky, “Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Pride – Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment,” in which he states “Theodore Roosevelt understood the need to protect our natural resources and a short sentence he once said sums up so well the spirit of PRIDE today: ‘Believe you can and you're halfway there.’”  So I’m back to where I started.  Everyone agrees that Theodore Roosevelt said it, but even Mr. Word could not track down the origins of the quote.

Every other quote in “Wisdom from the Oval Office” that I have checked tracks back to its original source material, I just happened to pick the one that didn’t, and I suspect with this particular quote Mr. Word was as frustrated as I.

Nevertheless, “Wisdom from the Oval Office” is a fantastic resource for Presidential quotations.  Whether or not it is the “Ultimate Presidential Quote Book” I will leave for you to decide.

ISBN 978-1933909493, History Pub Co LLC, © 2013, Paperback, 323 Pages, Chapter Notes, & Index. $18.95.  To Purchase the book click HERE.

Review: America's Great Debate

America's Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise That Preserved the Union

By Fergus M. Bordewich

Since its establishment by the Constitution in 1787 the Federal Government was dominated by the Southern States.  The steadily disproportionate population growth in the Northern States as opposed to their Southern sisters gradually chipped away at the Southern dominance in the United States House of Representatives.  By 1850 the Southerners were outnumbered in that institution.  With fifteen Free States in the North and fifteen Slave States in the South, through the guarantee of equal representation of each State in the United States Senate granted by the Constitution, the South still held power and sway in the Senate.

The discovery of gold in California and its application for statehood threatened to upset the delicate balance of power and give the Northern States the majority in both Houses in Congress for the first time in its history.  In his book, “America’s Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise that Preserved the Union,” Fergus M. Bordewich, tackles the following ten month debate over California, Slavery and the Constitution in the Senate.

Mr. Bordewich’s narrative begins by setting the stage.  He points to “Manifest Destiny” as being the idea responsible for the Mexican War.  He further explains the possibility of the spread of slavery into that territory so recently acquired from Mexico, and how that territory would be formed in the new states fueled the fire of sectional discourse.  The discovery of gold in California and the resulting exponential increase of its population due to the gold rush only exacerbated the situation. The lack of any form of organized government made it imperative that something be done to establish government and order in California or she would quickly descend into anarchy.  If California came into the Union as a new state it was a virtual certainty that she would enter as a Free State and thus upset the balance of power between the Northern and Southern States in the Federal Government.  Sensing the impending diminishment of its political power, secession was openly discussed in the Southern States.

The vagueness of Texas’ unresloved western border complicated issues even further when she claimed the Rio Grande as her western border, laying claim to half of what would eventually become the state of New Mexico.  Texas, a slave state, was readying an army to invade the New Mexico Territory and assert her claim.

Henry Clay had an answer.  Despite his self imposed retirement Clay was once again elected to the Senate by the Kentucky Legislature.  “The Great Compromiser” would return to Washington in December with a plan that he hoped would resolve the issues and heal the ever widening chasm between the country’s Northern and Southern sections.  His plan would become known to history as The Compromise of 1850.  Thereby he appealed to Congress to:

• Form Territorial Governments in New Mexico and “Deseret” (later to become Utah) without regard to slavery.
• Set Texas’ western border, and if she released her claim to the New Mexico Territory the United States would pay off its sizable public debt.
• Abolish the slave trade in the District of Columbia.
• Toughen the Fugitive Slave Law.
• Forbid the passage of any law prohibiting or obstructing trade in slaves between the slaveholding states.

Mr. Bordewich’s narrative quickly summarizes the web of tangled issues, explains each of Clay’s proposals and demonstrates why each was necessary and relevant to the situation at hand.  Once Clay introduces his compromise the author closely follows the machinations of the debate, and the ever shifting political alliances in Congress.  Speech after speech is delivered on the floor of the Senate by the great orators of the day; Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, William H. Seward and Stephen Douglas. Mr. Bordewich does admirable job summarizing these lengthy speeches, both for and against, the compromise,

Much to Clay’s dismay when the Compromise finally reached the floor for a vote it was in the guise of an omnibus bill.  All of Clay’s proposals were packed into one single pill designed to cure the nation of all its various political illnesses.  It was too big a pill for Congress to swallow as a whole, and it fell to defeat.

After the demise of the Omnibus Bill, the torch passed from Henry Clay to Stephen A. Douglas, the Senator from Illinois, who worked tirelessly to pass each of Clay’s proposals as single, standalone pieces of legislation.  One by one, by various combinations of different factions within the congress pass each bill, each a pill designed to cure the particular ill for which it was designed.

Clay’s medications and Douglas’ doctoring did not cure, but only postponed the malignancy of the secession cancer that threatened to cause the death of their patient.  North was not ready for war, Bordewich points out, in 1850 and further states that had it broken out the South would have in all likelihood secured her independence, by doing so the precedence of secession would be established, and the resulting probability that other sections would follow the example.  Without the Compromise of 1850 a map of the North American continent would look vastly different than it does today.

“America’s Great Debate” is exhaustively researched well written.  It is a must read for anyone interested in the history of antebellum America.

ISBN 978-1439124604, Simon & Schuster, © 2012, Hardcover, 496 pages, Photographs & Illustrations, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $30.00.  To Purchase this book click HERE.

Review: Giant In The Shadows

Giant in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. Lincoln

By Jason Emerson

He is known to history as Robert Todd Lincoln, the oldest of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln’s four sons, and the only one to survive to adulthood.  Never preferring to use his full name during his lifetime he was known as Robert T. Lincoln.  To those who knew and loved him, he was simply Bob.

From his birth to his death, and since, Robert T. Lincoln has remained hidden in the shadows of his martyred father and controversial mother.  With  “Giant in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. Lincoln,” journalist and an independent historian, Jason Emerson has delivered Robert T. Lincoln from the shadows of his famous parents and given him his own well deserved place in history.

Comprehensive in its scope, “Giant In the Shadows,” details the life of Robert T. Lincoln from his birth on August 1st, 1843 in a rented from of Springfield, Illinois’ Globe Tavern to his death on July 28, 1926 at Hildene, his private estate in Manchester, Vermont.  During his nearly 83 year lifespan, Robert would be present at Robert E. Lee’s surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House; he would be the only person in American History to be closely associated with three presidential assassinations (those of his father, James Garfield and William McKinley); he would become the 35th Secretary of War, serving under Presidents James Garfield and Chester Arthur; United States Minister to the United Kingdom during the administration of President Benjamin Harrison; President of the Pullman Palace Car Company; but most notably Robert was the keeper of the historical legacy of Abraham Lincoln.

Much of “Giant in the Shadows” explores the dynamics of the Lincoln family and their personal relationships with one another.  Mr. Emerson demonstrates that Abraham Lincoln’s relationship with his son, Bob, was a warm and intimate one, rather than cold and distant as it has often been portrayed.  Robert’s often tumultuous relationship with his mother, Mary Todd Lincoln is thoroughly examined.  During his childhood Robert shared a close relationship with his mother, but the cumulative effect of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in combination with the deaths of three of her four children took its psychological on Mary Lincoln.  As his mother’s mental health deteriorated Robert and Mary Todd Lincoln’s roles were reversed; the son became his mother’s protector.  With few options and a fear for his mother’s safety, Robert had his Mother declared insane and placed her in an institution, causing a deep family rift that never fully healed.

Biographers often fall in love with their subjects, and Mr. Emerson is not immune.  In the book’s only major shortcoming Robert Lincoln’s role in the Pullman strike of 1894 is not fully examined and murky at best.

With all of the tragedy in his life, it is easy to feel sympathetic toward Robert T. Lincoln, and that is completely understandable.  Emerson demonstrates time and again, that Robert Lincoln is not a man to be pitied.  It is true, his name opened many doors for him, but time and again Robert shut those doors, opened other doors of opportunity of his own choosing, and never once used his father’s memory and legacy to his own advantage while rising to his own prominence.  Much like his father Robert T. Lincoln was in many ways a self made man.

ISBN 978-0809330553, Southern Illinois University Press, © 2012, Hardcover, 640 pages, Photographs & Illustrations, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $39.95.  To purchase click HERE.

Review: Here Is Where

Here Is Where:

Discovering America's Great Forgotten History

By Andrew Carroll

Part history book, part travel log, Andrew Carroll’s “Here is Where: Discovering America’s Great Forgotten History” crisscrosses the country from Florida to Alaska, from Maine to Hawaii, and spans four centuries of American history.  All but forgotten the incidents and places featured in Mr. Carroll’s delightful tome are little known and all are unmarked.

For instance, SS Sultana could legally carry 376 passengers and crew.  When it left Vicksburg Mississippi it carried an estimated 2,400 passengers, a large number of which had recently been released from the Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia.  When it exploded and sank near Mound City, Arkansas on April 27, 1865 the official death toll was 1,547, and it is still the greatest maritime disaster in American history, surpassing even the sinking of RMS Titanic, which had 33 fewer deaths.  Overshadowed by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth, it remains today largely forgotten.  Though there are monuments dedicated to the victims and survivors of the Sultana, no monument or plaque marks the spot where remains of the ship were found in 1982.

Would you be surprised to learn Al Capone had a brother that changed his name to Richard James Hart who lived in the tiny town of Homer, Nebraska and became a Federal Prohibition Agent?

Or how about this?  Madison Grant, one of a trio of what we could call today, conservationists, responsible for founding the “Save the Redwoods League” would also write a book on eugenics that Adolph Hitler praised as his new “bible.”

Or that a fourteen year old Philo T. Farnsworth had a brainstorm while plowing a field on his father’s Idaho farm that would eventually lead him to develop the first fully functional television system.

These are but a few of the stories found in Andrew Carroll’s book.  Though I would love to see a breakdown of his itinerary and budget for his cross-country journey into forgotten history, Mr. Carroll did not organize his book in the chronological sequence of his travels, but rather he has divided his book into themes:

• Where To Begin: Starting Points
• The World Before Us: Coming to, Exploring and Conserving America
• This Land Is My Land: The Dark Side of Expansion and Growth
• Landmark Cases: Crimes and Lawsuits that Changed the Nation
• Sparks: Invention and Technological Advancements
• Bitter Pills And Miracle Cures: Medical Pioneers and Discoveries
• Burial Plots: Forgotten Graves, Cemeteries and Stories about the Dead
• All Is Not Lost: Finding and Preserving History

Each of Mr. Carroll’s themed chapters are subsequently divided into their individual stories, many of which interconnect in some way, shape or form.  Histories coincidences never cease to amaze.

“Here Is Where” is well written, in a conversational style, that is at once educational, entertaining and amusing to read.  It is easily one of the most enjoyable books I have read in quite some time, and would make a great addition to anyone’s home library whether they are a self-proclaimed “history nut” or not.

ISBN 978-0307463975, Crown Archetype, © 2013, Hardcover, 512 pages, “Acknowledgements and Sources,” $25.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.