The Civil War Letters of Joseph K. Callaway (review)

246CIVIL WAR HISTORY there is little discussion of his involvement in entrenching activity, though there is good observation of trench warfare. With respect to the changing nature of warfare there also is passing reference without detail to the introduction ofAlfred Myer's new signals system. Brianerd's unit also fell victim to the Confederate use of landmines to obstruct the approach to Yorktown and had the task of cleaning them out. His description ofthe fighting from theWildnemess through Spotsylvania and the horror of Cold Harbor is a worthy addition to eye witness accounts ofthese brutal episodes in the history ofwar. The reader leaves Brainerd with regret when his memoir abruptly ends as the Army of the Potomac approaches Petersburg. Brainerd's description of battle is complemented by vivid description of the army as a mass of men, animals, and equipment breaking camp and on the march. There is an especially good description of the camp at Rappahannock Station in 1 864. Brainerd also had some contact with the generals who led the Army of the Potomac, and in one useful observation projects a sense of the charisma surrounding George B. McClellan.The military accounts are enhanced by vignettes on the social life of a young officer during the interludes when opportunity allowed for dinners, dances, and misadventures, induding an entertaining account oflunch served by a reluctant Southern host allegedly won over by the charm and manners of Northern officers. The editor, Ed Malles, complements the narrative with a careful selection of photographs, helpful accompanying notes, and a useful epilogue and appendixes . He and fellow transcriber Fay Chandler are to be commended for converting what evidently was a difficult manuscript into a very readable book. Edward Hagerman York University The Civil War Letters of Joseph K. Callaway. Edited by Judith Lee Hallock. (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1997. Pp. xviii, 226. $29.95.) At the age of twenty-eight, Joseph K. Callaway joined the Confederate army. He left behind his wife and two young children to enlist into what was to become the Twenty-eighth Alabama Infantry Regiment. A schoolteacher before the war, Callaway proved a perceptive and thoughtful witness to the crisis. His letters home are rich and incisive, not only because they detail soldier life in the Army of the Tennessee, but because they highlight painful separations endured by countless husbands and fathers on both sides of the war. Callaway's service began on March 29, 1862, but his unit arrived on the scene too late to fight at Shiloh. He initially experienced limited combat, enduring instead weeks of marching as well as counter-marching mixed with long stretches of monotony and inactivity. Callaway's Twenty-eighth Alabama participated in Braxton Bragg's ill-fated Kentucky campaign, the Battles of Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Missionary Ridge. BOOK REVIEWS247 Callaway wrote most of the letters in this collection to his wife, Dulcinea, but a few were addressed to his brother-in-law and cousins. All ofhis letters show a man concerned about his wife and children, increasingly religious, and tired of soldiering. His faith in the Confederate cause never seemed to waver, although he only infrequently addressed his reasons for fighting. Besides the hated Yankees , illness and boredom were his greatest enemies, and he fought them constantly . The prospect of battle was exciting, but its horrific reality tempered his enthusiasm. In his last surviving letter to Dulcinea he confessed that he would be content returning to his wife and his quiet prewar existence. Judith Hallock discovered Callaway's letters while researching her book on Braxton Bragg. She recalled returning again and again to the collection at the University ofTexas,Arlington, discovering something new and memorable each time. Finally, she decided to pursue publishing the letters to make them accessible to the public. Hallock has done a fine in editing the seventy-four missives. Her introduction is short but informative, and she begins each of the eleven chapters with broad overviews oftheArmy ofTennessee's operations and locations . Hallock's notes and appendix are equally helpful, giving readers information on people, places, events, and literary references Callaway mentioned. In her editorial commentary Hallock is willing to take these letters at face value...