Confederate Indians (review)

444CIVIL W AR HI STOR Y unreasoning tenacity. ... It is the same way with ideas. . . . His time is consumed [with] little trash which ought to be dispatched by clerks. In a postwar entry, summarizing the reasons for Confederate defeat, Kean stated: "One cause which in a certain sense may be said to include them aU [was] the absence of a Representative Man—a leader in the council as weU as in the field who should comprehend and express the movement" for independence. For Lee, Kean had great respect, though he was sharply critical of some of the general's activities. He termed Marse Robert's report of the Pennsylvania campaign "as jejune and un-satisfactory a document as I ever read," and stated: "Gettysburg has shaken my faith in Lee as a general. To fight an enemy superior in numbers at such terrible disadvantage of position . . . seems to have been a great military blunder. The battle was worse in execution than in plan—the worst disaster which has ever befaUen our arms." Adjutant General Cooper and Bragg he held in very low esteem. Judah P. Benjamin of the Confederate Cabinet he rated "a smart lawyer . . . but perliaps the least wise of our public men." Christopher Memminger, another Cabinet member, he considered intelligent and polished but "tricky, shifty and narrow." Before July, 1864, he found much fault with Joseph E. Johnston, both as a man and a commander, but when aU the reports of the Georgia campaign had been filed, he bestowed praise on Johnston the general. Randolph and Seddon he portrayed as able Secretaries of War, though he diough Seddon much less effective during the latter part of his incumbency than at the beginning. He thought highly of Assistant Secretary of War John A. Campbell. Kean's diary is expertly edited by Edward Younger of the University of Virginia. A comprehensive introduction not only tells aU that the reader needs to knowabout the man and the document, but also gives valuable information about the organization and functions of the Confederate War Department. Bell I. WrLEY Atlanta, Georgia. Confederate Indians. By Frank Cunningham. (San Antonio, Texas: The Naylor Company. 1959. Pp.. xiv, 242. $5.00.) that large numbers of present-day Americans are absorbed in the events of the Civil War is evident by the popularity of numerous books concerning this period; but comparatively little has been written about the war west of the Mississippi and practically nothing about the brave and daring deeds of the Confederate Indians. It was left for a native Virginian, Frank Cunningham , to write this saga, which presents a graphic and authentic account of General Stand Watie and his Indian troops. The comprehensive research includes manuscript sources, letters, official war records, and contemporary published accounts, thus providing a documented history which fuis a long-neglected gap in the Civil War annals. The work is well illustrated and contains an excellent bibliography. Book Reviews445 Mr. Cunningham gives a glimpse into the way of life of the aristocratic Indian planters during ante-bellum times. Living in luxurious mansions, owning many acres of rich land, and attended by numerous Negro slaves, they shared the culture of many planters of the deep South. Soon after his inauguration as President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis appointed Albert Pike to negotiate treaties with the Indians. As a friend of the Indian planters, Pike had represented the Choctaws in Washington, and it was not long until most of the Five Tribes joined the Confederacy. From then on, Watie and his Confederate Indians were actively engaged in the war until they surrendered more than two months after Appomattox. Stand Watie was as colorful as Mosby and Morgan, equaUy daring but probably not as flamboyant and certainly with less egotism. No Confederate soldiers were more loyal or suffered more than Watie's Indians. Even when lacking food, uniforms, shoes, weapons, and ammunition, the Southern Indians did not desert. And the Indian Territory shared fully in the hardships of the reconstruction era. Tributes to General Stand Watie's bravery and integrity have come from many sources; he was respected by his foes and honored and loved by his friends. Mrs. C. E. Cook, Sr. Oklahoma City...