Yankee Cavalrymen: Through the Civil War With the Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry (review)

360CIVIL WAR HISTORY never identified. His research is local in the extreme. The wealth of materials in the Library of Congress, National Archives, and in numerous state archives is ignored. Even many recent secondary works appear nowhere in bibliography or footnotes. Finally, was Charleston really under "siege" for four years? Although the author argues that "it was a siege even though the back door was open," he is not convincing in portraying all that a "siege" implies. It is doubtful if the citizens of Vicksburg would have agreed that Charlestonians were truly besieged from 1861 to 1865. The open back door did make a difference. James P. Jones Florida State University Yankee Cavalrymen: Through the Civil War With the Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry. By John W. Rowell (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1971. Pp. 280. $7.50.) John Rowell's story of the Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry is a successful attempt to evoke a feeling for the patriotic fervor of the plain people who became the common soldiers of the Union Army. "From Maine to Iowa," he writes, "people responded [to the crisis of Civil War] with an enthusiasm and a determination that exceeded any demonstration of patriotism before or since." The book was inspired by the diary of the author's grandfather, Cornelius Baker, an enlisted man of the Ninth Pennsylvania, who kept notes on the daily activities of the regiment. Rowell has also secured and relied heavily upon the diary of William Thomas, one of his grandfather's fellow troopers. Between the two, he had a soldier's notation for every day of the war. And both men, according to Rowell, "seem to have been cast from the same mold." They liked soldiering, fought because of patriotism, and reflected pride in their regiment. In addition to these sources the author has made use of the Official Records, material gathered from various historical societies and commissions, and the usual secondary sources. The result is an attractive, carefullyresearched and well-written volume. At the beginning of each chapter, in the upper right hand corner of the page, there is an interesting, attention arresting quotation, reproduced in italics, from one of the troopers' diaries. In chapter two, for example, which is entitled "Volunteers All," the quotation is brief and reads: "Had to leave home and all That was near and dear to us and go forth in defense of our country's Flag That Has been trampled in the Dust by traitors." The author is to be commended for not cluttering up the diary quotations by pointing out grammatical errors. In the present age of pronounced antimilitary sentiment some readers may lift their eyebrows after reading the first sentence of the author's preface: "If they expected that war would be adventure, excitement, book reviews361 and glory, the Yankee cavalrymen who served with the Western armies during the Civil War were not disappointed." The key words in appreciating the truth of the statement are "cavalrymen" and "Western." In spite of their frequent exposures to danger and hardship which are evident on many pages of the book, the wide ranging western troopers, when compared to the eastern cavalry campaigning in northern Virginia, or the relatively stationary infantry in either the East or West, knew a war of movement. It was a war with frequent scouting, foraging, skirmishing and raiding, in addition to participating in major battles at Perryville, Chickamauga and Bentonville. Their exploits took them over large areas of Kentucky, Tennessee, northern Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas. In some four years of military duty the western cavalrymen probably saw the South in more detail and traveled more miles than any other group of soldiers in the Union Army. One comes away from the book with the feeling that Rowell has supported his statement concerning adventure, excitement, and glory. This book contains a minimum of errors and should be of interest to local historians of the southern states in which the Ninth Pennsylvania campaigned, as well as to anyone interested in cavalry operations during the Civil War. James L. McDonough David Lipscomb College Grant as Military Commander. By General Sir James Marshall-Cornwall . (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1970. Pp. xi, 244. $9.95...