Eight Hours Before Richmond (review)

Book Reviews329 ousness was an exception, but Grant's sloppiness was fuUy appreciated by die Army of the Potomac. Despite the lack of "action" (i.e., combat) pictures—a lack abundantiy, perhaps too abundantiy, compensated in photographic records of 1914-18 and 1939-45—the pictorial "coverage" of the Civü War is an admirable achievement . For the sense of movements of troops and die "smeU of batde," one must still go to die unforgettable etchings by the many battlefield artists (for which sketches Harper's Weekly is the best source), but the photographers, North and Soudi, did dieir share and more in contributing to die total record. Their portrayal of the camplife of the soldiers is in itself a vital document in die history of American civilization. More importantiy, they were the first to present a battlefield view of any war, and diey had to edit each viewpoint carefuUy before taking the picture. The modern news photographer shoots volumes of film and later edits die results. The Civü War photographer worked with no such amenities. James A. Kent Iowa City, Iowa. Eight Hours Before Richmond. By Virgü Carrington Jones. (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1957. Pp. x, 180. $3.75.) for general readers and scholars Alke, cavalry raids have always had a special fascination. It is no mere accident diat witiiin the last few years we have had fresh accounts of Mosby, Grierson, Stuart, and a host of others. In Eignt Hours Before Richmond, Virgü Carrington Jones, whose capable books, Ranger Mosby and Gray Ghosts and Rebel Raiders, have pioneered in this field before, has given us a new and thrilling account of Küpatrick's raid to liberate the Union prisoners at Richmond. General Judson Küpatrick was only twenty-eight when he conceived of a dashing coup to end the miseries of the captives at BeUe Isle and Libby prisons. The inactivity of die opposing forces in northern Virginia was becoming tedious in die late winter of 1864; Richmond was witiiin striking distance, and east of the rebel capital, help might be procured from General Buder's Army of the James. AU that seemed necessary was dash, a wül, and proper execution. The dash and the wül were there, but, in the execution, much was left to be desired. To be sure, the raiders managed to reach the outskirts of Richmond, but dien everything went wrong. Küpatrick, unnerved by a series of reverses and bad weather, lost contact with his most prominent subordinate, Colonel Ulric Dahlgren; Dahlgren himself was ambushed and killed, and the raid fizzled out when Küpatrick and the remnants of his command appeared witiiin Butler's lines. AU this, as pointed out in die weU-written introduction by Colonel Robert Selph Henry, is told widi verve and great skül. Mr. Jones, a Virginian and chronicler of Confederate heroes, is as capable of telling a good yam about the boys in blue as he is about those in gray. He attributes the faüure of the 330civil war history raid to Küpatrick's indecisive character and die Yankees' incomplete knowledge of the situation—factors weU iUustrated by judicious use of printed and manuscript sources. Why no mention is made of the lack of co-ordination between die various Union headquarters is not clear, since Mr. Jones himself shows how this defect constantiy hampered die execution of operations as planned. AU in aU, however, it is a story weU presented and eminentiy readable. The most controversial and most fascinating part of the little book concerns the documents found on Dahlgren's body. For almost a century, governments and historians have feuded over the question of whether the twentytwo year old Dahlgren, who had lost a leg fighting for his country at Gettysburg , and on this raid was to give his life as weU, was a shining hero or a murderous assassin as charged by die Confederates. After his deadi, papers were found on his body which indicated diat he had been on a mission not merely to release the prisoners in Richmond, but also to burn the city and IdU President Davis and his Cabinet "on die spot." The outraged...