Stringfellow of the Fourth (review)

Book Reviews103 detail by the massed arguments of critical analysts. Multiplicity of authors and views makes this the easier: it enables each author to support his point upon a premise that denies the thesis of one or more of his colleagues. In arguing that superior Northern military leadership won the war, Mr. Williams tacitly denies that superior Northern numbers and material resources were decisive, which is what Mr. Current has just attempted to prove. In arguing that superior Northern political leadership won the war, Mr. Potter denies that Northern military leadership was superior, which is what Mr. Williams has just attempted to prove. Thus it goes. Editor Donald says also that if these essays do nothing more than demonstrate the complexity of historical causation and the dangers of oversimplification , they will have served their purpose. This they do brilliantly. Mastery of subject, cogency of exposition, and clarity of phrase combine to make this book a valuable addition to the interpretive literature on the Civil War. Charles P. Roland Tulane University Stringfellow of the Fourth. By R. Shepard Brown. (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1960. Pp. 307. $4.00.) Here is an epic worth telling and an epic worth reading. Mr. Brown has written itin such a way that his achievement is reminiscent of John W. Thomason 's Jeb Stuart. The hero is one of those characters who have made our American history come along, and the author makes the most of what he was able to learn about him. Starting off with a wonderfully brisk beginning, the interest never lags. Frank Stringfellow, the Confederate scout who is the subject of this book, is in himself a natural attraction, especially to male readers, for his career embodies the type of adventure that stimulates imaginations. Most men at one time or another have pictured themselves alone, on foot or on horseback, stealing through the lines into enemy territory. This was common routine with Stringfellow. He brought back valuable information on more than one occasion , usually after hairbreadth escapes, and then, if a fight happened to be in progress, whether by Stuart's storming troopers or Mosb/s daring guerrillas , he laid aside his routine duties and took part in it. He was always a man of action. When the war ended, however, and he went back to peaceful ways, he became an Episcopal minister. With such a subject, about the only thing an author need do in order to provide an interesting book is organize his material, write it in understandable prose, and keep his hero human. This Mr. Brown has done in commendable fashion. At the start, Stringfellow had trouble joining the Confederate forces. Troop after troop turned him down as too young and too frail. So he finally captured three Union pickets and took them to headquarters of the Fourth Virginia Cavalry to prove he was fit for service. An unusual description of Jeb Stuart results from a conference Stringfellow had with him before accepting an assignment as scout. He quotes the Confederate cavalry leader as saying: "If you lose your life in the depth of some forest, we'll mourn your passing, but we'll mourn more the loss of your information." Stringfellow admits he was always frightened enough to make him careful and to keep him alert. He worked well with other scouts, including Will Farley and Redmond Burke, and he tells of the training they had to go through in order to be successful. Pathos and drama and romance are sprinkled throughout. There's the time Stringfellow stopped to drink coffee and saw an ambulance pass, with soldiers running along in front removing rocks and branches. When the scout inquired as to the identity of the wounded, he was told it was a Confederate officer. He guessed it was Lee, not knowing it was Stonewall Jackson . And there's the romance of Stringfellow and Emma, an intimate glimpse into an eventful courtship. This volume unquestionably is one that should be added to the Civil War bookshelf. This reviewer finds only one part of the book that seems a bit thin, and that part concerns Stringfellow's stay in Canada after the war. Some interesting Confederates were there...