Guide to Louisiana Confederate Military Units, 1861-1865 (review)

188erra war history warfare than in these pages, and his chapter on women in the war is a major contribution. Quoting frequently, Fellman skillfully weaves primary material into the fabric of his interpretation. He concludes that individuals lived in terror, and desired justice and security above all else. They drew upon their religious heritage to justify their actions and to explain their circumstances, told 'survival lies,' sought revenge against their enemies, were sometimes numbed by what they experienced, and sometimes panicked and fled from such chaotic conditions. Fellman's approach causes some repetition, but more importantly, produces a book that fails to suggest change in the intensity of experience over time and in different parts of the state, although the bulk of his examples come from the years 1863 and 1864, and many of them come from western and central Missouri. This static quality and these broad generalizations cry out for substantiation, and make the interpretation open to question. Statements such as "Though eventually most rural Missourians did become war refugees. . . " (49) and "Lynching of blacks commenced in Missouri at the end of the war" (70) without any footnotes or further commentary leave the reader wondering. Fellman also fails to get some of the little things right. The towns of Sedalia and Forsyth and the county of Nodaway are misspelled, and Sarcoxie, another town, is mislocated (chapter 3, note 104), as are Chariton county (27) and Reynolds county (placed by the author in both southwest [27] and southeast [234] Missouri). John C. Breckinridge's last name is also misspelled (5), and A. J. McRoberts (49) becomes A. J. McReynolds four pages later. Perhaps these are the results of sloppy editing. Finally, the treatment of Richard S. Brownlee's classic Gray Ghosts of the Confederacy: Guerrilla Warfare in the West 1861-1865 is curious. Brownlee's work is not cited until chapter 2, note 2, although Fellman acknowledges the aid of the former director of the State Historical Society of Missouri in the preface, and he cites what he calls "the best studies of guerrilla war" in an earlier note, leaving Brownlee's book out. In his initial citation, the author gives Brownlee a J. for a middle initial and in that note and in subsequent citations fails to include the book's subtitle. Of course, Brownlee's book deals with a number of the themes treated by Fellman and focuses on Missouri. Lawrence O. Christensen University of Missouri-Rolla Guide to Louisiana Confederate Military Units, 1861-1865. By Arthur W Bergeron, Jr. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989. Pp. 229. $24.95.) This work should meet with a warm reception from genealogists, Civil War enthusiasts, hobbyists, and scholars who specialize in state and local BOOK REVIEWS189 history. Drawing on published histories of Louisiana Confederate units, personal reminiscences, the Confederate pension files reposed in the Louisiana State Archives, articles in scholarly journals, Civil War diaries, and other pertinent primary and secondary sources, the author presents a brief account of each of the 111 Louisiana units that saw service in the armies of the Confederate States of America. The unit histories are arranged alphabetically by branches of the armed service and chronologically within each of the above categories. There were twenty-seven artillery units, twenty-eight cavalry units, and fiftysix infantry units. A list of the field and company grade officers precedes each short historical sketch. Additionally, the units' places of organization , original numerical strength, engagements, numbers of deserters, death tolls, and mustering out points are given. However, by focusing largely on the history of the units, the author has missed a golden opportunity to flesh out an important story about the men who made up these units. A unit's history consists of more than the story of its organization, battles fought, the men who were killed, and the points where the survivors were discharged. It would be useful to know the prewar occupations of the company and field grade officers; did they come solely from the planter class? If so, what percentage were small planters as opposed to large planters? If not, were the yeoman and artisan classes represented among the officer's corps? Such an analysis would shed...