The Conflict of Convictions, American Writers Report the Civil War. A Selection and Arrangement from the Journals, Correspondence and Articles of the Major Men and Women of Letters Who Lived through the War (review)

68CIVIL WAR HISTORY The book is more occupied with the time and place of a particular speech, UtUe known and mysterious still, rather than with Lincoln's understanding, and that of his audience, of a moral issue with national consequences, a cause which is not fully appreciated and thus buried beneath a syndrome of "paranoia." Ronald D. Rietveld Wheaton CoUege The Eighteenth Missouri. By Leslie Anders. (New York: Bobbs Merrill , 1968. Pp. xi, 404. $5.95.) There was a time when the mention of a regimental history conjured visions of the old, prolific post-war studies of Confederate and Union organizations. These accounts were often not only poorly written, but contained much extraneous material —long prefaces on the right of secession, long character sketches of prominent officers , and a turgid company by company account of the regiment's activities during the war. Professor Anders' sketch of the Eighteenth Missouri breaks from this tradition. He presents a colorful sketch of a border state Union infantry regiment which saw action in many of the major western campaigns. The regiment was recruited in northern Missouri and other surrounding border states. It first saw action during the unsettled months of border war in Missouri during the autumn of 1861, and then became a part of Henry HaUeck's massive Mississippi Valley campaign in early 1862. Here, in April, it received its first stern trial at Shiloh. During the remainder of 1862 and the first part of 1863, the regiment remained out of the main current of Union activity in the West. Although it saw service in Wüliam Rosecrans ' defense of Corinth in October, the regiment did not participate in either the Kentucky or Murfreesboro campaigns. In late 1863, however, it was transferred to the Chattanooga front after the disaster at Chickamauga. Now under Sherman's direction , it became a part of his Georgia invasion column, and participated in the North Georgia and Atlanta campaigns. With Sherman it continued to Savannah, through South Carolina, and finally saw action in the North Carolina campaign of March-April, 1865. With such a broad span of time and geography to deal with, the writer was presented with several difficult problems which he seems to have overcome. The deta üs of regimental life do not become tedious as they have been presented in some simüar accounts. Also, the problem of exactly how much general war information to include without losing the main topic of the book was met with in a good fashion . Enough general knowledge is presented to keep the reader orientated as to time and place. There was also the problem of the most complicated terrain in the western theater; Professor Anders' terrain descriptions show a familiarity with the subject. Other facets of the writing merit attention, particularly the detaüed research. The author has utüized many journals, diaries and other primary material. A welcome appendix to the book is a chapter on what happened to the men of the regiment foUowing Johnston's surrender in North Carolina. AU in all, the author appears to have done a good job with a somewhat difficult topic. Thomas L. Connelly Mississippi State University The Conflict of Convictions, American Writers Report the Civil War. A Selection and Arrangement from the Journals, Correspondence and. Articles of the Major Men and Women of Letters Who Lived through the War. Edited by Jack Lindeman. (Philadelphia: Chilton Book Company , 1968. Pp. xiv, 308. $7.95.) Compüed and edited by the former graduate student in American history at one of BOOK REVIEWS69 the southern universities, this volume brings together a convenient coUection of contemporary writings about the Civil War by seventeen prominent literary figures. Much of the material was not intended for publication in book form and has either been long out of print or is buried in dusty periodical files. More than half the authors were connected in some way with New England, and aU but four of them were civilians, the four soldiers being equaUy divided between North and South. In general the book foUows a chronological sequence, and included among its themes are characterizations of important public figures and descriptions of prisoners of war, army hospitals, Negro soldiers...