"Kiss Each Other For Me": The Civil War Letters of Rufus Andrews, 1861-1863, and: From That Terrible Field: Civil War Letters of James M. Williams, Twenty-First Alabama Infantry Volunteers, and: One of Cleburne's Command: The Civil War Reminiscences and Diary of Capt. Samuel T. Foster, Granbury's Texas Brigade, CSA, and: War Fever Cured: The Civil War Diary of Private Joel R. Chambers, 1864-1865 (review)

78CIVIL WAR HISTORY army. Many ignored the command. Angered at the unfair reports and the new comments on his mental state, Sherman brought charges against Thomas W. Knox, a New York Herald correspondent. For Marszalek this was a "court-martial of the northern press" (p. 127). Although the court refused to convict Knox, Sherman's ploy worked; after the incident , reporters thought twice before disobeying the general's orders. In the capture of Atlanta and his march to the sea, Sherman again ordered the exclusion of reporters. This time the news blackout succeeded. Northern newspapers could only guess of his army's location and even Lincoln claimed to be mystified. Although Marszalek says the press attempted revenge through condemnation of Sherman's terms with Johnston , he adds that by now the successful general "had won his battle with reporters" (p. 204). Marszalek's study is a closely researched addition to the history of Civil War journalism. Nonetheless, in his defense of the First Amendment , the author seems to miss how unreasonably Sherman suffered at the hands of an often irresponsible press. Donald W. Curl Florida Atlantic University "Kiss Each Other For Me": The Civil War Letters of Rufus Andrews, 1861-1863. Foreword by Ralph W. Secord. (Iron Mountain, Michigan: Mid-Peninsula Cooperative, 1979. Pp. 73. $5.50.) From That Terrible Field: Civil War Letters of James M. Williams, Twenty-First Alabama Infantry Volunteers. Edited by John Kent Folmer. (University, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1981. Pp. xvi, 187. $18.95.) One of Cleburne's Command: The Civil War Reminiscences and Diary of Capt. Samuel T. Foster, Granbury's Texas Brigade, CSA. Edited by Norman D. Brown. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1980. Pp. xlvii, 192. $14.95.) War Fever Cured: The Civil War Diary of Private Joel R. Chambers, 1864-1865. Edited by Cheryl H. Beneke and Carol D. Summers. Assistant Editor, Philip C. Neal. (Memphis, Tennessee: Citizen's Education Council, Inc., 1980. Pp. 177. $5.95, paper.) Marvin R. Cain's essay in the March 1982 issue of Civil War History examined the common soldiers of the Civil War in their historiographical context. Cain concluded that "There is more about the life of the Civil War soldier in the ever increasing literature of the Civil War, but the relevancy of his attitudes, his behavior, and his motives has been generally "ignored." Therefore he directs our attention to the "human equation." What motivated men to risk their lives in combat? Why did some units stand and fight and others run away? What role did ideology BOOK REVIEWS79 play? Was loyalty to one's comrades or trust in one's officers more important than abstract ideals? Or was it all simply blind obedience or the will to survive? What were the "human and psychological dimensions" of warfare? Most important, what does an investigation of these things reveal about the nature of our Civil War? This is a new dark and bloody ground of Civil War historiography. Thus, the letters and diaries of the common soldiers assume new importance. They provide the researcher as well as the general reader with something more than the lively anecdote or the colorful detail. Through these accounts, we come closer to history as it happened, to history as actuality. And these accounts offer something else: they provide a view of battle from the bottom up. The four volumes reviewed here reflect certain universal truths about the common man in the Civil War (perhaps in any war)—the romance, the boredom, the horror of army life. Thus, the recruit is eager to get at the enemy; the recruitis bored with camp life; the recruit learns to hurry-upand -wait; the recruit experiences the dangers of the battlefield; the recruit , if he lives, is transformed into the world-weary, hard-bitten veteran . Nevertheless, each account is novel; each is unique. These are the insights that these published letters and diaries bring to the corpus of Civil War literature. Joel R. Chambers of the 89th Illinois Volunteers, Rufus Andrews of the 4th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment, Samuel T. Foster of Granbury's Texas Brigade, and James M. Williams of the 22nd Alabama Volunteer Infantry experienced what millions of others...