The Third Texas Cavalry in the Civil War (review)

book reviews163 7"Ae Third Texas Cavalry in the Civil War. By Douglas Hale. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993. Pp. xvii, 347. $28.95.) Douglas Hale first studied the 3d Texas Cavalry "as a simple act of filial piety " (xv). While investigating his great-grandfather's war records, Hale's historical curiosity grew to include his Southern ancestor's entire Civil War regiment. The author's purpose was to uncover as much as possible about the 3d Cavalry's socioeconomic background, regional culture, fighting effectiveness , and collective ability to endure the frequent misery of army life. Hale resolved to follow the regiment's progress from front to front, comparing these East Texas volunteers to their fellow fighters in the Rebel cause. To add the human dimension, Hale proposed to let the 3d Cavalry's common soldier "speak for himself (xvi) whenever possible, or as archival sources allowed. The author was remarkably successful in achieving what he set out to do. He discovered that most of the 3d Cavalry's officers and men were drawn from the upper echelon of East Texas society. With over half of the unit's original 1 ,097 volunteers from slaveowning households, many had a personal stake in the defense of slavery. With six of every ten born in states of the Deep South, most were regionally "predisposed" (44) to approve of seccession and serve in the Confederate Army. Once organized as a regiment, the officers and men of the 3d Cavalry served on a great number of fronts in a great number of ways. The regiment saw action from as far west as the Indian Territory to as far east as Georgia. It fought in seventy-two engagements, including several key campaigns from Vicksburg to Atlanta. The regiment's duties ranged from scouting expeditions to temporary infantry combat. As promised, Hale allowed his subjects to describe these varied wartime experiences in their own words, as recorded for posterity in the volunteers' letters, diaries, and memoirs. The 3d Texas Cavalry suffered its share of hardships and loss: 22 1 of its officers and men were wounded, 90 died in battle, and 1 17 succumbed to that greatest wartime killer, disease. Despite these losses, Hale was the first to admit that the 3d Cavalry suffered far less than most Confederate regiments. According to the author, the Texan volunteers fared better largely as a result of good fortune (they consistently avoided the bloodiest phase of battles) and their elite military status (the cavalry enjoyed inherent advantages over more vulnerable infantry and artillery units). Less traumatized by the war, veterans of the 3d Cavalry readjusted to postwar life with far greater ease than most soldiers of the Lost Cause. In sharp contrast to the despair displayed by many returning Rebels, East Texans reportedly faced the future with a defiant determination to recreate their old way of life. Not surprisingly, they resisted Reconstruction policies and were among the reactionary leaders of the post-Reconstruction era. The author did not hide his disappointment in this outcome. While admiring the 3d Cavalry's "exemplary record" in war, Hale was forced to temper his praise of men who tragically performed "noble deeds ... in the pursuit of ignoble ends" (285). ?64civil war history This is a well-written book by a scholar particularly skilled in keeping complex national, regional, and local events in clear perspective. Hale is likewise able to describe troop movements and battle scenes without losing sight of the common soldier and his sacrifices in the line of duty. Based on these and other attributes, The Third Texas Cavalry in the Civil War is a fine contribution to the increasingly crowded shelfofregimental histories, both North and South. Richard Melzer University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War. Edited by Catherine Clinton and Nina Silber. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Pp. 339. $15.95.) When a historian of James MacPherson's interests asserts, as he does in his brief introduction to this volume, that "women's history has been the most dynamic part of the most dynamic field [social history] during the past two or three decades," we may be forgiven for believing that a significant...