Lee the Soldier (review)

BOOK REVIEWS253 ceitful actions cost him three months in the Old Capitol Prison. Even in his personal life Kilpatrick demonstrated contemptible and immoral behavior. His open liaisons with common prostitutes became a well-established factthroughout the army. His romp with camp follower Annie Jones received the attention of President Lincoln; and, after the war, while serving as ambassador to Chile, his affair with "a woman of abandoned morals" nearly cost him his diplomatic post. During the war, he even sank so low as to desecrate several churches located in enemy territory. Taken altogether, Hugh Judson Kilpatrick could very well be regarded as the most contemptuous and despicable officer in the Union army. While Martin is quick to recognize Kilpatrick's moral failings, he does occasionally rise to the defense of his subject. According to the author, the general was often effective when raiding into enemy territory and disrupting lines of communication and supply. He concedes that, in most instances, Kilpatrick was only marginally successful in accomplishing his military objectives; however, this was generally more than his peers could achieve. Following his unsuccessful attempt to rescue federal prisoners in a raid on Richmond in March 1 864, Kilpatrick was transferred to Sherman's command at Chattanooga.As Martin points out, "Kill-Cavalry" could be counted on to prosecute a destructive "total war" advocated by his superior. According tothe author, Sherman looked the other way while Kilpatrick's cavalry vandalized and burned civilian dwellings from Atlanta to the sea. Readers will be pleased to learn that Judson Kilpatrick's misdeeds during the war did not go unpunished. Hoping to capitalize on his military record in order to secure public office, Kilpatrick s "character would become the main issue in every political race, and his opponents would successfully exploit this conspicuous weakness" (236). Martin concludes his biography with a brief but entertaining look at the general's descendants. One granddaughter, Thelma Morgan, carried on a fiveyear affair with the Prince of Wales. Another granddaughter, Gloria, married into the powerful Vanderbilt family and became embroiled in one of the most famous custody suits is in history, the case of "Little Gloria" Vanderbilt. This is an engaging biography ofa soldier who, for the most part, bluffed his way through the war and left a legacy that is still regarded as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the Civil War. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, a colorful yet wretched man, was truly deserving of the name "Kill-Cavalry." David Dixon Slippery Rock University Lee the Soldier. Edited by Gary W. Gallagher. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996. Pp. xxv, 620. $45.00.) Was Robert E. Lee a good soldier?This anthology does not provide a definitive answerto that question. Instead, GaryW. Gallagher gathers a tremendous amount 254CIVIL WAR HISTORY of information from both primary and secondary sources well-known to armchair generals and serious scholars alike. The result is a thick compilation that will be a useful and popular addition to the bookshelves of those who are interested in learning more about Lee as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia . However, those who are interested in other aspects of Lee's military career—from West Point to Mexico and later to Texas and western Virginia— will have to look elsewhere. The material in this volume focuses almost exclusively on the period from 1862 to 1865. Gallagher begins with a historiographie review of Lee's reputation as a general , then presents his selections in four sections. The first subdivision allows Lee to speak for himself through postbellum interviews with three Confederate veterans. Two, William Allan and William P. Johnston, served on the faculty at Washington and Lee College; the third, Edward C. Gordon, fought under Lee during the war and visited him afterward. In these exchanges, Lee talks as frankly as he ever did about decisions made at the beginning of the war, on the Peninsula , in Maryland and Pennsylvania, at Chancellorsville, in the Wilderness, and at Spotsylvania. Significant in their omission are any references to the final months at Petersburg and the retreat to Appomattox. The second subdivision of this work contains ten assessments of Lee as commander oftheArmy of Northern Virginia. Excerpts...