Bloody Valverde: A Civil War Battle on the Rio Grande, February 21, 1862, and: Glory, Glory, Glorieta. The Gettysburg of the West (review)

book reviews281 for McDaniel's activities in northern Virginia. A four-page "Conclusion—Z. McDaniel Was Active in the Destruction of United States Property, July 1 8651870 " notes family data concerning his near-arrest in Virginia after the war and his death in 1 870. Contemporary photographs and illustrations include the five gunboats in the Yazoo action; City Point, Virginia; a map of the Vicksburg theater; a torpedo; and two glass demijohns. The author sketched two maps, two torpedoes, a friction primer, and two drawings of how the Cairo "probably" struck the torpedoes. He also includes three photos ofthe damaged forward port quarter at the Vicksburg exhibit. A thirty-page appendix consists of reports and claims files relative to the USS Cairo that are located in the National Archives, RG 45. There is a four-page bibliography. J. K. Folmar California University of Pennsylvania Bloody Valverde: A Civil War Battle on the Rio Grande, February 21, 1862. By John Taylor. (Albuquerque: University ofNew Mexico Press, 1995.Pp.xfi, 185. $29.95·) Glory, Glory, Glorieta. The Gettysburg ofthe West. By Robert Scott. (Boulder, Colo.: Johnson Books, 1992. Pp. ix, 246. $21.95.) Until recently the West has been allotted a minor place in Civil War studies. The publication of Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.'s Civil War in the American West in 1992 seems to have signaled a revival of interest in this theater of the war. The two books under review deal with the invasion ofNew Mexico as part ofa campaign to expand the boundaries of the Confederacy to the Pacific. Both works try to establish the Western campaign as being of crucial importance to the fortunes of the South. They argue that, had the Confederates been able to capture New Mexico and Colorado, all of the West, including the gold fields of California, would have succumbed to the South. The wealth thus acquired along with the control of the Pacific ports would have enabled the South to break the Union blockade and acquire needed resources and probably recognition from major European nations. The ultimate result would have been victory for secession. Viewed from this distance, such a scenario seems unlikely, and neither of these books do much to increase its plausibility. Neither author is a professional historian. This does not, of course, automatically invalidate their work, but it does hint at limits of vision and context that lead them to claim too much for the campaign they are studying. Of the two works, Bloody Valverde inspires the most confidence. It is well documented, contains an up-to-date bibliography, and has an extensive appendix listing troop strengths and casualty totals for both sides. Although the maps could be improved , Taylor's account of the first major battle of the New Mexico campaign 282CIVIL WAR HISTORY is clear and easy to follow. Taylor's assertion that the Confederate forces were so weakened by this apparent victory that it contributed to their later defeat and abandonment of the effort makes sense. Glory, Glory, Glorieta does more than its title implies. It is a survey of the entire New Mexico campaign with emphasis on the climatic battle at Glorieta Pass. A popularly written account, Scott's book lacks notes and contains only a rudimentary bibliography. Scott goes against the accepted opinion of both contemporary observers and modern commentators by asserting that the commander of the invasion forces, Henry Hopkins Sibley, was "one of the most competent officers" (vi) in the Confederate army and absolves him of charges of drunkenness. Instead Scott suggests that the Confederate government deliberately disparaged Sibley as a way of disguising the importance placed on the Western theater and its intention to renew the effort there later. No evidence is offered, and this, combined with the general lack of documentation, suggests caution in accepting the argument at face value. The general reader seeking a concise summary of the New Mexico invasion will enjoy reading Glory, Glory, Glorieta. The more knowledgeable will find themselves frustrated by the lack of authority for many of Scott's assertions. Josephy's Civil War in the American West is still the place to begin for those interested in that theater of the war. Bloody Valverde...