Rise and Fall of the Confederacy: The Memoir of Senator Williamson S. Oldham, CSA (review)

2??8Book Reviews349 Throughout die volume, Confer touches on several interpretive areas diat will undoubtedly be explored by future scholars. For example, she suggests diat nonacculturated Cherokee women, because die absence of men would have had litde impact on their agricultural practices, may have had a less tumultuous time during die Civil War. Confer explains diat she cannot explore this insight more fully because "unfortunately, we have scant historical evidence ofdieir lives. Probably illiterate, they did not leavejournals, diaries, or letters as records of dieir experience" (p. 135). Scholars interested in understanding die experiences ofNative Americans during the Civil War will undoubtedly want to read diis synthetic look at the Cherokee story. In clear and concise prose, TL· CherokeeNation examines both the military and civilian experiences for one ofthe most well-known Indian nations and reminds us that the war was truly a "brother's war" (p. 6). Florida State UniversityAndrew K. Frank Rue and Fall of tL· Confederacy: The Memoir of Senator Williamson S. Oldham, CSA. Edited with an introduction by Clayton E. Jewett. (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2006. Pp. 312. Appendices, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780826216854. $39.95, cloth.) Williamson Simpson Oldham stated in the introduction to his unpublished book "A History of aJourney from Richmond to die Rio Grande, from March 30th until June 26dl, 1865; or the last days of the Confederate States" that "perhaps no man in the Soudi had die same opportunities ofwitnessing die effects ofthe measures ofdie Government, and those ofmilitary administration as I had" (p. 14). Few could argue widi him. He became a teacher and lawyer in his birth state ofTennessee and later moved to Arkansas and Texas where he actively participated in politics. In Texas he supported the Democratic movement through his role as editor of die State Gazette, through several political appointments in favor ofsecession, and ultimatelyas a senator representingTexas in the Confederate States ofAmerica. Oldham remained veryactive and vocal in die Senate; and despite moving the capital to Richmond, he made the trip from Texas several times, stating himselfdiat he made it five or six. On some of these occasions he stayed in North Carolina orAlabama between sessions. These numerous sojourns gave him keen insight into the pulse of die people widiin die Confederacy and the effect of"civil and military blunders and maladministration" (p. 15). Oldham wrote his memoir immediatelyafter the war, making his critical insights powerful and valuable. He pulled no punches and took aim at military and political leaders of the North and Soudi. He blamedJefferson Davis for many of die administration 's problems and for making biased appointments, and outright lambasted Braxton Bragg. He found admirable qualities in bodi Nathan Bedford Forrest and Joseph E.Johnston. As a politician he roundly criticized the corruption rampantwith the way the Confederacy implemented conscription. Along the same lines he felt that an unchecked draft pulled needed men away from Texas. Unlike many of the odier Confederate states, Texas UuIy had dangerous borders and faced peril not only from Union landings, but attacks from bandits from Mexico and a real and present 350Southwestern Historical QuarterlyJanuary risk of numerous Indian raids. In his mind a draft served only to weaken die state's defenses. Oldham made some observations into what he called die "demoralization and lawlessness" and rampant desertion on his tour of die Soudi that particularly stood out (p. 85) . He argued that "men enough had deserted, if they had had die courage and had simultaneously returned to their commands, to have driven every Yankee soldier in the Department out of it in twenty days" (p. 85). Despite his criticisms Oldham staunchly remained unapologetic and a Southerner to die end. The book in its current rendition—Rise and Fall oftL· Confederacy: TL· Memoir ofSenator Williamson S. Oldham, CSA—was edited by Clayton E. Jewett. Part of the work originally appeared in From Richmond to Texas by Wilfred Buck Yearns.Jewett pooled Oldham's written memoirs, housed at the Center for American History in Austin, Texas, and added other sources including WaroftL·Rebellion: OfficialRecords of tL· Union and Confederate Armies to flesh out Oldham's tale. A critical historian may quickly assume diatJewett, who lives and works in...