Favor the Bold—Custer: The Civil War Years (review)

book reviews283 if not poUshed style, and the book is free of editorial shortcomings. In addition , Seale, while following the Ufe of his ancestor, attempts to place him within the context of his time. Students of Texas history will be satisfied with the faithfulness of the record, although the author adds nothing to the history of the period. This is because Smyth was not an important poUtician nor an outstanding businessman. Still, this reviewer found it worthwhile to read of a particular man who fits one of the patterns found in a developing region, that of an enterprising individual providing the transportation needed before the coming of the railroad. William R. Johnson Texas Technological College Favor the Bold-Custer: The Civil War Years. By D. A. Kinsley. (New York, Chicago and San Francisco: Holt, Pinehart and Winston, 1967. Pp. x, 308. $6.95.) This first volume of a two volume biography of George Armstrong Custer is an exciting account of Custer's Ufe from his birth in 1839 to the day after Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. The title comes from Brigadier General PhiU'p Kearney's admonition to Custer when commissioning him First Lieutenant, U.S. Volunteers, to remember that "Fortune favors the bold." After calling Custer an epic hero and proclaiming that every effort has failed to debunk the man and explode the myth into which he has transcended, D. A. Kinsley perpetuates and embelUshes that image. Kinsley is identified by his pubUsher as part-Sioux and presently a resident of Missouri. Attention and controversy centered on Custer's Last Stand at the Little Big Horn have diverted interest from his significant Civil War performance which began soon after his graduation from West Point in June of 1861. He heard the roar of battle at First BuU Run and in the next four years played a decisive role in many major engagements in the East. Few, if any, cavalry leaders equaled his abihty to incite men to dash forward against deadly enemy fire. Custer was with McClellan on the Peninsula, Meade at Gettysburg, Sheridan in the Shenandoah, and Grant at Cold Harbor and before Richmond. He commanded the cavalry charge which killed J.E.B. Stuart and was tormenting Jubal Early in the last days. The exploits of Custer, breveted brigadier general at twenty-three and major general at twenty-four, so dominate the telling about men and battles that the label on the map in the book, "Custer's Civil War," could well be the title of the book. But the man comes through with his flamboyant, tempestuous, courageous pursuit of glory. Also there is the story of his tender love for his loyal wife Libby and an insight into the inner workings of poUtics of the times. Obviously, Kinsley has for years steeped himself in the abundant Custer materials and has here put together the narratives which he thinks "encompass the best of each account." He has interpolated often the thought 284CIVIL WAR HISTORY of his characters and filled pages with dialogue which he says "is not an arbitrary invention of the author, but is direcdy quoted from sources or carefully constructed from paraphrases." Yet the book is not documented and the short bibUography is inadequate. Experts on parts of the many faceted story will no doubt find reason to quarrel with him, but a parallel reading of Jay Monaghan's Custer (1959) indicates no wide variance from Monaghan 's judgments. Monaghan, in his fine study, did make the reader aware of unresolved questions of fact, but hardly ever does Kinsley do that. William A. Settle, Jr. University of Tulsa Steele's Retreat from Camden and the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry. By Edwin C. Bearss. (St. Louis: Warren H. Green, Inc., 1967. Pp. xvi, 190. $5.00.) Interest in the Civil War, always present in American historiography, has seen a tremendous burst of activity in die past decade. Historians, asking new questions or applying fresh techniques to old problems, have provided us with sharper insight into that period of our history. David Donald, T. Harry WilUams, Jay Luvaas, and others have made real contributions. Unfortunately, a tremendous number of books have been published simply to...