The Journal of George Townley Fullam: Boarding Officer of the Confederate Sea Raider Alabama, and: Benjamin Franklin Tracy: Father of the Modern American Fighting Navy (review)

186CIVIL WAR HISTORY ing, before finally halted by orders from Beauregard. This record of ferocious and tenacious combat Cleburne imprinted on every major battlefield of the Army of Tennessee until he was killed at the head of his division at Franklin in November, 1864. William J. Hardee later observed: "Where this division defended, no odds broke its lines; where it was attacked, no numbers resisted its onslaught, save only once—and there is the grave of Cleburne and his heroic division." This eulogy is not far from fact. By studying the Confederate high command in the West and the imbalance of odds in men and material there, it is relatively easy to understand why the South failed in that theater of the war. To answer the almost equally important question of how, considering those very factors, the Army of Tennessee fought so long, so well, however, it is necessary to study the lower command and the rank and file. And the best place to begin a study of this second question would be Pat Cleburne and his division. Aside from the importance of its subject, the chief virtue of the biography at hand is its wide ranging and intensive research. In this respect the "amateur" authors put to shame some of the presumed "professionals." Not only have they used the standard periodical, monographic and manuscript sources, but they have diligently searched government archives and employed oral history wherever possible. Herein they probably justify their somewhat immodest sub-title. Its style is the work's major defect. The inclusion vcrbation of Cleburne 's letters and all of his battle reports makes the book dull, plodding reading. Equally distressing, the authors generally engage in straightforward narration without accompanying interpretation and conclusion. The total effect is more that of a chronicle than a biography. In this case, however, it is most certainly true that the work's virtues outweigh its defects. Joseph L. Harsh George Mason University The Journal of George Townley Fullam: Boarding Officer of the Confederate Sea Raider Alabama. Edited by Charles G. Summersell. ( University , Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1973. Pp. Hv, 229. $8.00.) Benjamin Franklin Tracy: Father of the Modern American Fighting Navy. By Benjamin Franklin Cooling. (Hamdcn, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1973. Pp. xvi, 211. $10.00.) Englishman George Townley Fullam's journal of his service aboard the Alabama begins in late July 1862 when the ship—then called by one of its aliases—slipped out to sea until mid-June 1864 when the raider prepared for action against the Kearsage. Summersell's diffuse and somewhat tedious introduction provides biographical information about book reviews187 Fullam and some fellow officers, comments on the crew, summarizes the Alabama Claims, and explains how the Mobile Public Library acquired and published the journal. Seeking prize money Fullam joined the Alabama, but he soon became an ardent Confederate, referring in 1862 to the "success of our brave troops in Virginia" ( p. 32 ) . As a boarding officer Fullam secured the suspected prize—he did this 76 times—and judged whether the merchant captain and his official papers should be transferred to the Alabama , where Captain Raphael Semmes would interrogate the hapless captain. Meanwhile, the talented Fullam temporarily commanded the captured vessel, and, if so ordered, he moved supplies and crew from the merchantman to the raider and then fired the prize. Fullam's journal describes his interesting assignments and also tells about the search for prizes, some sea chases, the victorious fight with the Hatteras, difficulties with the Alabama's crew, and routine details about the voyage. Summersell greatly elaborates upon the journal entries, in fact, his footnotes total up to more than half the book. The editorial work is vital: comments on men, ships, events, and places along with the journal entries make a fairly complete history of the famous cruise. The editorial apparatus is unusual. The footnotes, which are set in smaller type than the journal entries, are placed in the body of the page; sometimes a sentence is split so that an annotation might be inserted. This confusing system and overly detailed annotations detract from Fullam's account. Some information, including details on various prizes, should have been placed in an...