Daredevils of the Confederate Army (review)

Book Reviews335 ever, are such phrases as, "across the field . . . powdered Stuart and Blackford "; "an officer willing to stick his neck out"; "Pettigrew's men have had it"; and "men walking like zombies," to mention a few. Readers, be they students or not, are entitled to maps. The famous Bachelder maps of 1876 are supplied with this volume, neatly folded and detached. Though large in size, they are not clearly reproduced, being smudgy, clumsy, and at times hardly readable. In a book that moves so rapidly all over the battlefield in succeeding paragraphs, maps in the text are essential. After the general map of the field facing page one, they are sorely missed. Illustrations which might well heighten the interest of the reader, too, are lacking. In the closing chapters, the author fulfills his secondary purpose, discussing Meade's critics and the whys of the battle. Meade comes out of this well and the author hopes "the old snapping turtle" will find a biographer who will do for him what Freeman did for Lee. The Longstreet debate is rehashed without new material, but in fairness and with less conjecture than appears in the chapter dealing with the battle. Ewell's delay on the 1st, Sickles' unauthorized advance on the 2nd, Meade's failure to follow up, are all treated briefly, and in the end the problems are much the same as they were in the beginning. The battle was Lee's worst, as the author points out, and the blame falls on many shoulders; but Lee in his magnanimity will not have it so. His famous words, "It is all my IaUIt," are characteristic, and throughout the book his stature remains undiminished. There are useful rosters of the armies by corps, division, and brigade, for each day's fighting. The book closes with some interesting briefs on the postwar years in the lives of the leaders. WrLLIAM C. FOWLE The Hotchkiss School Daredevils of the Confederate Army. By Oscar A. Kinchen. (Boston: The Christopher Publishing House, 1959. Pp. 171. $3.00.) in October, 1864, a band of young Confederate soldiers, led by a gallant Kentucky theology student, Bennett Young, crossed the border from Canada and settled in Vermont. They quickly made themselves known in the community of St. Albans by residing in the better hotels, courting the fine young ladies, and becoming friendly with the townspeople. Incidentally, this group of men had originally escaped into Canada from northern prison camps. After ingratiating themselves with the citizenry, they looted the local banks of more than $200,000 in greenbacks and federal bonds. They harangued the officials upon federal atrocities in the south and forced their listeners to swear allegiance to the Confederacy. Then, after terrorizing the townspeople, they began to ride off on stolen horses and tried to burn the town with a substance known as "Greek-Fire." The chief aim of the St. Albans Raiders was to create such a panic along the northern boundary that vast numbers of federal troops stationed in the Con- 336CIVIL WAR HISTORY federate area would be removed from the south. As it happened, their plan did not succeed, and the men regained the Canadian border with a band of infuriated northerners on their heels. The attention of this story is directed toward the raiders rather than upon the raid itself. Documentation of source material makes of this book a thoughtful volume, since primary and secondary works are included. At times, however , the reader finds himself bogged down in many details which may be argued as being necessary for the presentation. Nevertheless, this is a minor complaint as compared with the author's intent and accomplishment. Arthur Lerner Los Angeles, California. Vidisburg: A People at War, 1860-1865. By Peter F. Walker. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1960. Pp. xvi, 235. $5.00.) for over three years the reviewer was the historian at the Vicksburg National Military Park. During this period one of the most frequent questions asked of the park personnel was, "What did the Vicksburg civilians do during the siege?" Since there was a dearth of material available in the files on this important phase of the Vicksburg story, the visitor...