The Civil War Letters of General Robert McAllister (review)

BOOKREVIEWS89 got along well with the dashing A. P. Hill. "I hope to stick to him," he wrote, "for he sticks to me." In contrast, Pender had keen reservations about the enigmatic Jackson. Once he tersely stated: "He forgets that one ever gets tired, hungry or sleepy." Professor Hassler, who prepared the letters for publication, has added a short introduction and incomplete index. Annotation would have been extremely helpful, as well as some enlightenment on Pender's wounding and last hours. In this instance, however, the letters themselves overcome the editorial shortcomings. James I. Robertson, Jr. University of Montana The Civil War Letters of General Robert McAllister. Edited by James I. Robertson, Jr. (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1965. Pp. x, 638. $10.00. ) Colonel Robert McAllister (general by brevet) is not likely to be remembered by the average student of the Civil War. A Pennsylvania farmer in early life, of scant formal education, a prohibitionist of ardor and a deeply devout militiaman in Juniata County, he organized with his brother, prior to 1839, the Juniata Troop, which he subsequendy commanded . Robert advanced in the Pennsylvania militia but entered railroad construction and moved to New Jersey; the brother drifted South and became a Confederate officer. Though Robert was forty-seven when the war broke, he recruited an infantry company, became lieutenant colonel of the 1st New Jersey, took it into the Army of the Potomac, and remained there until Appomattox. He became colonel of the 11th New Jersey fn 1862, and in the latter stages of the war commanded the brigade to which it belonged. His service fell principally in the Third Corps under Sickles and when that was consolidated, after Gettysburg, in the Second Corps under Hancock. The book consists of 936 of his personal letters written to his wife and two daughters—letters at morning and night, often about army trivia which may then have seemed consequential, loaded with detaik that must become monotonous to anyone except his own family. Occasionally there is a fresh flash or a hopeful lift, but the text soon boggs down. Even the high drama of Gettysburg and the deadly clashes of Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor did not radically disturb the commonplaceness of the recital or elevate its historical value. Here and there one encounters a bit of character delineation worth noting. Various remarks are revelatory of the byplay of political back scratching, personal attachment, and general throat cutting which appeared to govern promotions more than fitness or the good of the services. McAllister never got his star but was richly entided to it under any fair system of promotions, toward which the Lincoln-Stanton administration 90CIVIL WARHISTORY never aspired. He looked on West Point with suspicion extending to dislike. The Military Academy exerted a heavy influence against "those of us who have not been through that mill." He thought "the greate opposition to General Sickles comes from that source, and I will not be surprised if it will even pute Geni. Bimey down." He was a hard fighter and so was his famous 11th New Jersey; and he was much admired by his young soldiers, though they called him "Mother" McAllister. Good fighting was what kept him at a brigade level under Hancock, whose exactions were severe. About the only quality that ordained him as a writer was his atrocious spelling. He had a proclivity for putting an "e" on a word where none should be, and compensating by sacrificing an "e" where feasible. Thus, "put" becomes "pute" and "done" becomes "don." His style was seamy: "I seen Chaplain Hopkins loading and firing away. He don much to encourage the men." He often began an epistle, "I was just agoing to write last evening when. . . ." Individualistic spelling and grammar could be flavorful if the letters were meaty. Considering that these often are no more than family contact letters, written effusively, sometimes in spates of one a day (the sheer volume contributes to the monotony), and considering that they do not add substantially to the fund of intelligence extant about the war, one wonders why it is necessary to expose the colonel through 620 pages, mostly of lackluster composition. The editor...