Thaddeus Stevens (review)

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 McPherson as "that bright particular star." In any number of accounts of the Civil War, the name of James McPherson stands out with an emphasis not so readily apparent where many other commanders are concerned . There must have been an uncommon quality to the man to thus give his name a glow which has so successfully survived the tarnish of time. Arnold Gates Garden City, New York Thaddeus Stevens. By Ralph Korngold. (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. 1955. Pp. xiv, 460. $6.00.) thaddeus stevens HELONGs t? that coterie of well-known Americans about whom it is difficult to write with complete objectivity. A center of controversy during his long tenure in public life, particularly as a symbol of opposition to both Lincoln and Johnson, he has remained a man of considerable interest and importance to historians and biographers. He was both condemned and praised for his policies during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods, and has received the same ambivalent treatment by succeeding generations. Mr. Korngold enters the lists definitely on Stevens' side and therefore renders a service to those who are interested in interpreting the basic issues of an extremely complicated era. A jury must hear both sides of a case before rendering a reasonable judgment, and the author of this latest biography presents the case for Stevens with clarity and precision. The major portion of the book is devoted to the issues of the increasingly bitter controversy between Congress and the Executive leadership from I860 to the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, and the merits of Stevens' position are examined with considerable sympathy. "Old Thad" emerges from this study as a man fiercely imbued with a crusading spirit and a forthright Book Reviews101 conviction of the Tightness of his point of view which helps to explain not only his leadership in the struggle but also his uncompromising attitude. His wit, sarcasm, mental agility, and skill in mustering arguments to support his chosen objectives are clearly represented as segments of his power, and — regardless of whether or not one agrees with his position — he is convincingly portrayed as one of the most powerful men in Congressional history. His knowledge of the uses of party machinery and his fanatical adherence to his principles made him one of the most formidable opponents that any president ever had. While Mr. Korngold allows many of Stevens' Congressional speeches to speak for themselves, he brings to the reader a realization of the fire and zeal that burned in the breasts of the abolitionists. They were sincere men driven by a powerful urge, and if one chanced to be endowed with the gifts of Thaddeus Stevens he made an opponent to be feared and respected. The reader is left with no doubt that Stevens was...