Jennison's Jayhawkers: A Civil War Cavalry Regiment and Its Commander (review)

74CIVIL WAR HISTORY of the state. At that juncture Major General Benjamin F. Butler, the Commander of the Department of the Gulf, decided to retaliate and eliminate Waller's Battalion. The Texans were caught by surprise at Bonnet Carre, where they were outmanned, outgunned, and routed. But Waller with the bulk of his command escaped capture by retreating through an almost impenetrable swamp, although the unit had to abandon horses, blankets, and haversacks. Success came in 1863 for Waller's men when they captured the Federal gunboat Diana, and at the sharp engagement at Camp Bisland, at Cheneyville, Fort Buchanan, Morgan's Ferry, and Sterling's Plantation . Waller's Battalion participated in the Federal Red River Campaign in the spring of 1864 and again distinguished itself in harassment and ambush engagements, especially at Moroville and Yellow Bayou. In September, 1864, the battalion moved into Arkansas, attacked a Federal detachment at DeVaIIs Bluff, and early in December was back in the Lone Star State. One final engagement remained, and that came on May 3, 1865, nearly a month after Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, when Waller's men surrounded and captured a Federal infantry regiment under the command of S. M. Baird. Thus ended the service of this successful and gallant Confederate cavalry battalion from Texas, a record heretofore untold. The editor and compiler has handled his subject definitively. His research is exhaustive and resourceful, and his writing is clear and enthusiastic . The only disappointment comes in the quality and length of Private William J. Craig's war diary. Craig was not as discerning as one would wish and his narrative covers only the period from March 23, 1862, to October 17, 1862, slightly less than seven months of the unit's history of more than three years. The format of the volume is attractive , the printer's proof was adequately read and corrected, and the study concludes with a satisfactory index. LeRoy H. Fischer Oklahoma State University Jennison's Jayhawkers: A Civil War Cavalry Regiment and Its Commander . By Stephen Z. Starr. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1973. Pp. xvi, 405. $12.95.) Charles Rainsford Jennison was a legend in his own time. His name struck anger into the minds of Missourians along the Kansas border. He was a "Jayhawker," that is, one who swooped down to carry away the possessions of those suspected of favoring slavery. He was a "practical abolitionist," who felt obliged to free the Missourians of their horses and slaves, apparently in that order of priority. His name became the rallying call for the recruitment of a Kansas cavalry regiment, which included several companies of abolition-minded men from Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri. John Brown, Jr., and his father's attorney after Harper's Ferry, George Hoyt, were among the recruits. BOOK REVIEWS75 Jennison was allowed to recruit a regiment for federal service with the encouragement of Kansas' two most powerful politicians. Senator James Henry Lane, a sometime Jayhawker himself, was sympathetic to Jennison, while Lane's political enemy, Governor Charles Robinson, advocated federal muster as a way of controlling Jennison's independent force. After enrollment, Union commanders tried to control Jennison by promising promotion, by threatening courts martial, and by transferring his troops. When it became apparent that the regiment would be ordered away from the Kansas-Missouri border, Jennison resigned his commission. The men of the Seventh Kansas Cavalry were neither Jennison's nor Jayhawkers during much of their service. Jennison had been their commander for only about eight months, and field leadership had been exercised by D. R. Anthony, a quarrelsome Leavenworth editor. After Jennison's resignation, new leaders emerged from the ranks. Although the men of the regiment "pillaged the loyal and disloyal alike," they were according to Starr, ". . . no better and no worse—than the men of any other regiment in the Union Army." Starr argues convincingly that the Seventh underwent a process in combat which largely eliminated inefficient political officers. A tough, battleworthy regiment emerged. Other regiments shared this change, but the Kansans, with their early experience with Missouri guerrillas, became efficient troopers before most of the federal cavalry had learned to use their mobility. The Seventh...