Forgotten Hero: General James B. McPherson (review)

Book Reviews99 erned almost every move, but his energy, initiative, courage, and determination were qualities lacking in many of his contemporaries. Vainglorious and immoral , he could be criticized for bad judgment, but never for failure of nerve or want of action. The author has given us an admirable character study of a man for whom the postman rang not twice, but many times. Charles G. ??p? Iowa City, Iowa Forgotten Hero: General James B. McPherson. By Elizabeth J. Whaley. (New York: Exposition Press. 1955. Pp. 203. $3.50.) general e. p. Alexander, in his MiUtarq Memoirs of a Confederate, emoted Union General James B. McPherson as making this observation at the outbreak of the Civil War: This war is not going to be the ninety day affair that papers and politicians are predicting. . . . For your cause there can be but one result. It must be lost. Your whole population is only about eight millions; three millions are slaves who may become an element of danger. You have no army, no navy, no treasury, and practically none of the manufactures and machine shops necessary for the support of armies, and for war on a large scale. You are but scattered agricultural communities, and you will be cut off from the rest of the world by blockade. Your cause must end in defeat. This keen perception and accurate judgment are, for the most part, not readily apparent in Elizabeth Whaley's modest and, unhappily, incomplete study of one of General Grant's favorite Corps commanders. As a Union officer who did much to further his predictions to eventual realization, General McPherson merits a study equal to his ability and achievements. Nevertheless , the author of Forgotten Hero deserves much credit for a great amount of preliminary spadework. Her researches into McPherson's early life and her tracing of correspondence and newspaper materials should prove most helpful to future biographers. James Birdseye McPherson was born on November 14, 1828, in a little Ohio settlement near present-day Clyde. His schooling was limited, and the frontier conditions were fairly rigorous, but young McPherson attracted the attention of influential persons and was chosen to attend the United States Military Academy. At West Point, in 1853, he was graduated at the head of his class, which included Philip H. Sheridan and John B. Hood; the commencement address was delivered by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, and the cadets received their commissions from the Academy's Superintendent, Colonel Robert E. Lee. Ensuing tours of duty included an instructorship at West Point and an engineering assignment in California. In July, 1861, McPherson was made a captain of engineers and soon thereafter took charge of the harbor forts at Boston. Later in the year General Halleck asked McPherson to join his staff KK)CIVIL WAR HISTORY as aide-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and in early 1862 Colonel McPherson was transferred to General Grant's staff. From here on it was to be efficient teamwork with each new battle as an example of further improvement . Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, and Vicksburg all revealed McPherson's tactical skill and ability in leadership. With the fall of Vicksburg he was made commander of the city. The most poignant portion of James McPherson's dedicated life is the account of his engagement to Emily Hoffman, a Baltimore belle whom he met shortly before the outbreak of war. With Confederate sympathies, however , her family strongly opposed the match, and the young couple decided to wait. By 1864 the family opposition dwindled, and in March of that year McPherson obtained a month's leave of absence and was on his way to Baltimore to be married. Fate intervened in the form of orders returning him at once to active duty for the spring drive on Atlanta. The rest is part of the grim saga that is so frequently part of the Civil War story. On July 22, 1864, General McPherson was killed. Not quite thirty-six years old, he had already displayed an ability one might reasonably expect from a much older man. In a moving letter of condolence to Emily Hoffman, General Sherman referred to...