Civil War to the Bloody End: The Life and Times of Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman (review)

2??8Book Reviews 455 with limited appeal. Texas's empresario period, along with the founding of Salado and its college by E. S. C. Robertson, son ?? Empresario Sterling Clack Robertson, is featured in a chapter on Robertson's Colony. In crafting this section of Salado, Texas, Turnbo relied upon the Robertson Colony Archives at UT-Arlington as well as input from longtime Robertson Colony historian Malcolm McLean . Texas politics and political figures are well represented in Salado's history. James "Pa" Ferguson was born in Salado in 1871, and later earned notoriety as one ofTexas's most controversial governors. Ferguson's wife, Miriam or "Ma," was also born in Bell County and attended Salado College. Ma Ferguson succeeded her husband as governor after he was impeached for financial improprieties. She later won re-election to two additional terms. Reverend George Washington Baines, Lyndon BainesJohnson's great-grandfather, moved to Salado in 1867 so that his daughter could attend college there. In addition, the first chapter of the Texas Grange, or farmers' political party, was organized in Salado in 1873. The Salado branch of the Grange lasted until the 1890s, eventually dissolving as the farmers' political forays into third-party politics and the Populist Movement fell apart. Salado, Texas will appeal to both the general public and genealogists. The first half of the book contains the history of Salado and the college. The second half features an extensive bibliography and footnotes, along with a variety of appendices that area researchers will find useful. These appendices include student rosters, cemetery listings, and a compilation of area historical markers. The book has solid production values, featuring quality paper stock, sturdy binding, and an attractive cover design. In crafting what is obviously a labor of love, Turnbo has produced an engaging work, one that is full of interesting vignettes and snapshots of Central Texas life in the second half of the nineteenth century and first quarter of the twentieth century. Texas Christian UniversityGlen Sample Ely Civil War to the Bloody End: The Life and Times ofMajor General Samuel P. Heintzelman. ByJerry Thompson. (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. Pp. 464. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 1-58544-535-5. $35.00, cloth.) Owing to the circumstances ofhis birth and early life, one might not ordinarily expect Samuel Peter Heintzelman to become a soldier in the United States Army. Born in the picturesque town ofManheim in the heart ofGerman Lutheran Pennsylvania , his interests formed at an early time were elsewhere. His life-long enthusiasms included opera, the fine arts, Shakespearian drama, belles lettres, poetry, and theological and philosophical theory, all ofwhich would seem to be more conducive to following other paths. Nevertheless, when the opportunity for a fully funded education came his way by an appointment to the United States Military Academy, he seized it. He owed the honor by way ofhis congressman,James Buchanan, who later became the fifteenth president of the United States. The small, frail boy, barely seventeen years old, described in his nomination as "the son ofa very respectable German" and "intelligent beyond what I would have 456Southwestern Historical QuarterlyApril expected from a boy his age" (p. 3) , arrived atWest Point with misgivings. Despite its alien atmosphere, where novels and poetry were forbidden, he comported himself with dignity and by dogged determination and perseverance managed to graduate seventeendi in a class offorty-two all the while avoiding athletic rigors in favor ofthe flute and chess. He got along reasonably well with his new acquaintances, including those who would play a major role as military enemies in his future—Robert E. Lee, Leónidas Polk, Albert SidneyJohnston,Joseph E.Johnston, andJefferson Davis. In early childhood, he lost his mother, and his benevolent father died in Heintzelman 's third year at die academy. Restrictions were such diat he could not attend his father's funeral, and it was more than a year before he could view his parent's grave. The rigor of his academic life allowed litde time for mourning, and he was more determined than ever to perform creditably. Upon graduation, he hoped for an assignment with the topographical engineering corps, but his grades—as good as they were—did...