Hood's Texas Brigade: Lee's Grenadier Guard (review)

BOOK REVIEWS259 Hood's Texas Brigade: Lee's Grenadier Guard. By Colonel Harold B. Simpson. (Waco: The Texian Press, 1970. Pp. 493. $10.00.) Texas was located a long way from the principal scenes of the Civil War, but Texans played an important role in the drama by sending some of its finest sons, natural and adopted, to fight in die big battles of the cast. Some went individually and selected dieir own area of service, but most went in the command known affectionately as Hood's Texas Brigade . John B. Hood, its temporary commander, was not a native of die state, but his name is permanently linked widi this fine fighting force. Few units, North or South, saw more combat or suffered greater losses. A shell of itself at war's end, die few who returned brought back enough pride for the entire command. The story of this brigade has been adequately and admirably told by Colonel Harold B. Simpson of die Confederate Research Center at Hillsboro , Texas. Although a Yankee, Colonel Simpson has put his heart and soul into the study of this brigade. Already he has published countless articles and a book, Hood's Texas Brigade In Poetry and Song, on die subject, and two more are projected. Physically, this is a big book, but its print is easily read and is comfortably large. Simpson's style is simple and clear, if a bit detailed, and he seems to be straining a bit during die opening chapters to fill out his narrative. But overall it is a fine addition to Civil War letters. Simpson accurately keeps his focus on the brigade itself, dealing with die glamorous Hood only when he is in actual command or closely affiliated with it. The stories and vignettes about the men, die day-to-day events of die war, and die hardships they endured, makes die war very real to a modern reader. Overgenerous footnoting takes away most of die tedium except for diose who wish it, and Simpson does not hesitate to point out the faults of die group, such as petty theft which he calls "foraging." In fact, he seems to glory in dieir proficiency in diis military "art." The book also has some very fine maps, and not die least of its attractive features is a striking cover design, a reproduction of John Adams Elder's "The Battle of the Crater." Hood's Texas Brigade will make a fine addition to any Civil War library . Archie P. McDonald Stephen F. Austin State University A Southern Record: The Story of the 3rd Louisiana Infantry, C. S. A. By Willie H. Tunnard. Edited by Edwin S. Bearss. (Dayton, O.: Morningside Bookshop, 1970. Pp. xx, 581. $15.00.) War History of the Old First Virginia Infantry Regiment, Army of Northern Virginia. By Charles T. Loehr. (Dayton, O.: Morningside Bookshop, 1970. Pp. vii, 87. $7.50.) ...