When Will the Weary War Be Over? The Civil War Letters of the Maverick Family of San Antonio (review)

Despite the Union's best efforts, the Texas home front remained isolated from the destruction of the Civil War. Although the economic and political infrastructure of the Lone Star State remained intact, the hearts and minds of its citizens were very much occupied with their loved ones fighting on distant battlefields and with the future of their society. Paula Mitchell Marks provides an excellent illustration of a Central Texas family in her edited collection of letters and diary from the Maverick family. A politically and economically influential San Antonio family, the Mavericks' letters portray a wide array of roles that Texans played throughout the Civil War. The patriarch of the family, Samuel Maverick, was a central figure in Texas history, fighting in the battle of San Antonio de Béxar, stationed at the Alamo just before the siege, a delegate at the Texas Independence Convention, helped organize the Secession Convention, and a commissioner of the Committee of Public Safety that stormed the United States Army headquarters at the Alamo in 1861. The matriarch, Mary, was proactive in supporting the Confederacy and the main chronicler of home front concerns and events. They had three sons: Samuel, an officer in Terry's Texas Rangers; Lewis, a captain in the 36th Texas Cavalry; George, who served in Lewis's company; and Willie, the youngest, served briefly as a home guard but studied throughout most of the war at the Bastrop Military Institute.

The correspondence between the family members provides a unique insight into the southern family, ranging from their affections to a mother's concerns about the lives of her sons fighting in the war. An inimitable quality of the letters is the breadth of coverage. Within the communications the family expresses candid opinions of Texas leaders such as Henry and Benjamin McCulloch, Louis T. Wigfall, Santos Benavides, Hamilton Bee, and James Duff, to name a few. More importantly are the views from the home front. Mary penned the majority of the letters from San Antonio. She discusses events that are transpiring in the state and apprehension over the economy, Mexican raiders, losses outside of the state, and the role women played back home. She provides a uniquely female perspective that is missing from most records of the conflict. On the other hand, the sons provide military accounts of the war ranging from battles and weather to camp life sufferings and entertainment such as a baseball games played in Hempstead. The letters and diary chronicle the thoughts of the family throughout the war, from the excitement during the onset of the conflict to the anxiety of a questionable future after the defeat of the Confederate army.

Marks provide readers some seldom revealed aspects of Texas Civil War literature. Books such as Gideon Lincecum's Sword (University of North Texas Press, 2001) by Jerry Bryan Lincecum, Edward H. Phillips, and Peggy A. Redshaw, and A Rebel Wife in Texas (Louisiana State University Press, 2001) by Erika L. Murr have provided some insight but nothing close to the scope of this work. The editor's introduction and epilogue are insightful and the footnotes explain unique terminology, additional information of events and people mentioned in the correspondence. Additionally the organization is simple and efficient, organizing the letters chronologically with chapters separating the years. The only shortcoming of the book is that there are no introductions to the chapters to provide better perspective and context with the events occurring during that year in Texas and the nation. Despite this, the scope of the book is unparalleled in collecting correspondence from members of a prominent Texas family. This book is essential to historians researching the Lone Star State during the Civil War and would appeal to members of the general public looking for a unique perspective on...