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BOOK NOTSS Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia: Arms, Uniforms, and Equipment of the Union and Confederacy. By Francis A. Lord. (Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Company, 1963. Pp. 360. $17.50.) Although this volume is intended for Civil War buffs and apprentices alike, its greatest appeal wiU be to the growing, hard core of artifact collectors scattered across the nation. Dr. Lord knows Civil War accoutrements about as well as most persons know the three R's. His knowledge of an almost overpowering subject is no more evident than in this large, attractive, heavilyillustrated , and data-packed compilation. The hundreds of items discussed are arranged in encyclopedic form and cross-referenced. An index provides an additional guide to subject matter. Thus, whether one be interested in Civil War uniforms, flags, shovels, harnesses, chess sets, signal equipment, arms, musical instruments, insignia, leg irons, or one of countless items which the men of blue and gray encountered and/or used, it is described (and generally pictured) in this exceptional reference guide. This is a volume for anyone whose Civil War interest extends beyond the casual reading stage. Recollections of a Civil War Quartermaster: The Autobiography of William G. Le Due. (St. Paul: North Central Publishing Company, 1963. Pp. xn, 167. $3.75.) What could have been a somewhat useful book here has been all but obliterated by insufficient editing and poor production. WiUiam Le Due, an adopted Minnesotan and man of many talents, joined the Federal army in 1862 as a quartermaster. He was with James J. Dana's brigade during the Peninsular campaign, then served with the Eleventh Corps for most of the remainder of the war. Le Due penned his reminiscences at the age of eightyfour . He seems to have referred occasionally to a fragmentary diary. His descriptions of movements and battles are too brief to be of value; his personal encounters with such generals as Sumner and Sedgwick are unreliable because of long, quoted conversations which Le Due could neither have recorded at the time nor have remembered verbatim a quarter of a century later. Augustive V. Gardner, who knew Le Due in the latter's final years, has written an introduction for the slim recollections. It confuses more than it enlightens, particularly since Mr. Gardner chose a nursery rhyme for the framework of his remarks. The publishers then added the killing blow by 214 omitting footnotes and index. Le Due's memoirs may contain many rich nuggets of information. To find them, however, will necessitate much mining on the part of the reader. West Virginia Civil War Literature: An Annotated Bibliography. By Charles Shetler. ( Morgantown: West Virginia University Library, 1963. Pp. xn, 184. $7.00 cloth; $5.00 paper.) Bibliographical works are unequivocably the most necessary and needed volumes in the massive field of Civil War literature. This need is almost critical on the state level. Should one or more commonwealths undertake such compilations in the future, they should use this volume as a model. The compiler, a member of the library staff at West Virginia University, has not only listed 892 titles relative to the Civil War in his state; in addition, he has added descriptive and/or critical annotations to each. The result is a reference guide as useful to the scholar as it is informative to the layman . No less than four indexes have been appended to facilitate investigation . The bibliography itself contains references to books, pamphlets, periodical articles, maps, theses, and dissertations. Professor Festus Summers correctly states in his foreword that Mr. Shetler 'has selected and arranged with scholarly, painstaking care" titles that make this a work of prime importance . George Washington Diamond's Account of the Great Hanging at Gainesville, 1862. Edited by Sam Acheson and Julia Ann Hudson O'Connell . (Austin: The Texas State Historical Association, 1963. Pp. xvi, 103. $5.00 clotii; $3.50 paper. ) Divided sentiment was a chief characteristic of the Southern Confederacy . This was especially true in the counties of north Texas, whose citizens in 1861 voted overwhelmingly against secession. A year later a "Peace Party Plot" originated in the area; its aim was an armed revolt against the Confederacy. Local authorities, however, moved in swiftly and defeated the coup...

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