Commanding Boston's Irish Ninth: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Patrick R. Guiney, Ninth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (review)

346civil war history the yard quickly expanded its personnel and facilities to accommodate and carry out its primary mission of victualing ships for the blockade. In addition to supplying and refitting ships, Portsmouth yardworkers also constructed the famed U.S.S. Kearsarge, which engaged the CS.S. Alabama, and the double-turreted ironclad monitor U.S.S. Agamenticus, as well as twenty-two other vessels during the war. The author credits much of the success of the Portsmouth Navy Yard to Civil Engineer Benjamin F. Chandler. Chandler wanted the Portsmouth facility to be a first class yard, which lead to the construction of "reservoirs, a quay, ... a machine shop and foundry, a smithy, a boathouse and carpenter shop, and a paint shop" (205). Chandler also oversaw the completion of a futtock saw mill and the conversion of much of the yard's buildings from timber to stone or brick. Winslow contends that because ofthese improvements by 1 865 the Portsmouth Navy Yard had been transformed from a "prewar, sleepy, and secondclass status [yard] . . . into a first-class establishment" (285). Combined with exhaustive research and well-written prose, Winslow has produced a quality examination of the U.S. Navy's attempts to construct and maintain viable wartime vessels at one naval yard. Despite these merits, this monograph contains one pervasive problem. In an ambitious attempt to recount every piece of information pertaining to the yard, Winslow continuously becomes sidetracked with events that only indirectly relate to activity at Portsmouth. This forces the reader to shift from pertinent data to superfluous material, leading the reader to possibly ascertain that the latter is more critical. If carefully read, however, Constructing Munitions of War provides a valuable addition to naval Civil War historiography. R. Blake Dunnavent Lubbock Christian University Commanding Boston 's Irish Ninth: The Civil War Letters ofColonel Patrick R. Guiney, Ninth Massachusetts VolunteerInfantry. Edited by Christian G. Samito. The Irish in the Civil War Series. (New York: Fordham University Press, 1998. Pp. xxxii, 280. $29.00.) In Commanding Boston's Irish Ninth, Christian G. Samito pledges to present "not only the experiences and thoughts of a Boston Irish Catholic soldier, but also the hidden tensions within that immigrant community" (xxxii). Col. Patrick R. Guiney was a prosperous attorney, Republican, and outspoken supporter of Lincoln and emancipation who rose to command the 9th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War. His letters provide insights into camp life, ethnic conflict, and the development of a raw determination that defined Guiney's military and civilian career. Samito began editing Guiney's letters while a student at the College of Holy Cross, Guiney's alma mater. While not a historian by profession, Samito's work BOOK reviews347 is a worthy contribution to the Civil War historiography and offers new perspectives on the problems that plagued Federal planning and operations on several levels. Guiney diagnosed the flawed military strategy in 1862 as lacking aggressiveness and misdirected at the Confederate capital rather than destroying the Rebel armies. Guiney demonstrated repeatedly his military ability, from his command of a stubborn rearguard defense during the Seven Days battles to his final actions in the Wilderness, where his wounds resulted in the loss of an eye, severe head trauma, and a medical discharge. Samito places the conflict within a larger social context as well—with editorial commentary addressing the intraethnic rivalries that plagued Guiney's command, which were largely the results of his unpopular political and social ideology. Despite his impressive examination ofthe IrishAmerican community, Samito fails to offer a comparable analysis when Guiney reveals his prejudices against other ethnic groups, especially the German-dominated nth Corps. Like many in the army, Guiney holds the "disgraceful flight of the flying Dutchmen" as largely responsible for the Federal defeat at Chancellorsville, yet Samito offers no penetrating discussion ofthis criticism ( 1 88). In other correspondence, Guiney demonstrates contradictory views on African Americans. In one letter Guiney recounts proudly his personal emancipation ofseveral runaway slaves who crossed his picket line, while in another note he promises to send home to his daughter the first "black contraband" he finds (22). Both examples offer opportunities to address the interethnic. rivalries of the Civil War...