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Book Reviews447 that ninety years after the end of a war that has been discussed and analyzed from almost every conceivable angle it is refreshing to take up tìiis diary and to witness witìi the author the daüy experiences of a war-torn people. This book is a re-issue of the original as it was pubUshed in England by Colonel Fremande in 1863 after his return from his American visit. Mr. Walter Lord has done a good job as editor, and his notes are weU worth reading on their own account both for their lucidity and their content material. For aU students of the Civü War, diis volume is a "must" for the bookshelf and a happy obUgation for those who have not yet read it. Even though Colonel Fremantle knew what tremendous blows Vicksburg and Gettysburg were for tìie Confederate cause, he predicted a Soudiern victory; his judgment was proved wrong, yet the reasons for his conclusion stemmed from the observations which he recorded so weU. This fact is in itseU important — diat even in the dark days of mid-1863 a visitor to the South could be so impressed by the strength and vitahty of die people he met, bodi the great and die obscure, that he could not entertain tìie idea that such a people could see dieir cause defeated in die long run. Myron H. Luke Hempstead, New York The Gray Captain. By Jere Wheelwright. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1954. Pp. 278. $350.) to anyone who has read extensively in die recorded history of die Civil War, few novels with it as a background measure up to the drama and vigor which the journals and records of that struggle impart. To anyone who has experienced combat in the past dozen years or so, fictional versions of men under ordeal are usuaUy disappointing. A rare exception is The Gray Captain by Jere Wheelwright. The author, who saw service in the second World War and who remembers stories of the Confederate Army from early chfldhood, has written one of die finest novels of die CivU War to appear in a long time. To Lieutenant Thomas Brice, recovered from wounds received at Gaines' MUl and returning to die fighting lines, I Company of die Second Maryland Infantry and its aged commander seem poor substitutes for die unit command he had expected. StiU, he recognizes and accepts the task confronting him — diat of winning acceptance by the enlisted men and the fuU confidence of Captain Stowell. When one of the men removes the shoes from a wounded Union soldier, Brice indignantly orders them replaced, but StoweU countermands die young lieutenant's order and calls him aside. 'You and I must reason togetìier," he says. At sixty, the Captain has no prospects of promotion. Too proud to ask for release, he has somehow managed to keep pace with the relendess stride of his troops. Although in physical misery, he calmly and wisely explains the changes that have occurred since diey campaigned together in the Valley. Now supplies and equipment are harder to obtain, and the soldiers have no alternative but to use what they capture or do without. This incident is but the first of many concerning the "trying out" of Lieuten- 448CIVIL WAR history ant Brice. In combat the appraisal of a new officer by the veterans he hopes to command and lead is as severe a gauntlet as any man may run. To pass dirough it aU is an ordeal, but to be fuUy accepted is no mean reward. With attention centered on StoweU and Brice, the reader foUows I Company through marches and countermarches, through the seeming endlessness of dirt roads churned to a powdery dust that billows under plodding feet to all but strangle the men. Later, after Generals Jubal Early and John B. Gordon are both concerned with the company's affairs, a new problem arises when Captain StoweU's young son is sent to them as a replacement. Torn between paternal affection and miUtary impartiaUty, StoweU finds this test a difficult one. However, battle and the aging tìiat comes so rapidly in it help solve...

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