Valleys of the Shadow: The Memoir of Confederate Captain Reuben G. Clark, Company I, 59th Tennessee Mounted Infantry (review)

book reviews165 Valleys ofthe Shadow: The Memoir ofConfederate Captain Reuben G. Clark, Company I, 59th Tennessee Mounted Infantry. Edited by Willene B. Clark. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1994. Pp. xxxi, 163. $24.95.) The literature of Civil War and Reconstruction era has been greatly enriched in recent years by the publication of increasing numbers of diaries and memoirs . This first volume in the University of Tennessee Press's Voices of the Civil War, Valleys of the Shadow, heralds a promising series. Germane commentary , detailed notes, and a brief history of the 59th Tennessee Mounted Infantry by editorWillene B. Clark, an art historian and granddaughter ofReuben G. Clark, make this volume an important contribution to memoirs of the Civil War. Reuben G. Clark was well on his way to financial success when the Civil War began. In spite of his rural upbringing and a spotty education, Clark saw his future in business. At sixteen he moved to Rutledge, Tennessee, where he worked in a store, and then to Knoxville, taking a job with a dry goods firm. In Knoxville Clark mingled with the city's leading citizens before moving to New York City on the eve of the Civil War. The outbreak of hostilities changed Clark's life forever. Despite his interest in business, Clark returned to Tennessee in early summer 1861 and joined the Confederate army, becoming first lieutenant in the 3d Tennessee. With scant training, his unit moved out for Virginia, arriving on the Manassas battlefield just after the first major engagement of the war. Following routine duty in northern Virginia, Clark returned to East Tennessee in September 1861 where he organized what eventually became Company I of the 59th Tennessee Mounted Infantry, becoming its captain in October 1863. Clark's command performed guard duty in EastTennessee until December 1862 when it was ordered to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Six months of campaigning in the Vicksburg area culminated with his capture, parole, and return to East Tennessee. After being exchanged, Clark took part in two ofthe most memorable eastern campaigns of the Civil War, Lt. Gen. Jubal Early's 1864 march on Washington, D.C, including the burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and his Shenandoah campaign. In October 1 864 Clark's brigade was transferred to East Tennessee where he was promptly captured, making his last year of service one ofhis most difficult. Union authorities locked Clark in an iron cage, virtually placing him on display, charged him with murdering a Union officer, and announced his impending trial by a military commission. Soon William G. "Parson" Brownlow, editor of the Knoxville Whig and Rebel Ventilator, began a campaign to confiscate Clark's property and see him hang as a bushwhacker. Aprotracted illness, Brownlow's repeated calls for his immediate execution, and a new charge oftreason seemed to doom Clark; but before his trial started Clark received a presidential pardon in October 1865. Having cast his lot with the Confederacy, Clark remained in the South after the Civil War. Seeking business opportunities first in Memphis, then in Arkansas l66CIVIL war history and Atlanta, Clark finally settled in Rome, Georgia, where he became a successful businessman. He penned this account in 1891 solely from memory. Marion B. Lucas Western Kentucky University From Huntsville to Appomattox: R. T Coles 's History ofä,th Regiment, Alabama Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A., Army ofNorthern Virginia. By Jeffrey D. Stocker. (Tuscaloosa: University of Tennessee Press, 1996. Pp. 304. $32.95.) The publication of Robert T. Cole's memoirs of the 4th Alabama Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia, edited by Jeffrey Stokes, is a welcome addition to the field of Civil War study. Robert T. Cole was a student at LaGrange Military College when the Civil War began. He enlisted in the Huntsville Guards, which became the 4th Alabama Volunteer Infantry when the regiment was organized at Dalton, Georgia, in May 1861 . Cole was made adjutant of the regiment, a position he held for the duration ofthe war. Cole and the 4thAlabama were in almost every major engagement of the Army of Northern Virginia, except Chancellorsville. Cole was also present with the4thAlabama at the battle of Chickamauga. He participated in battles from First Manassas until the regiment...