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180CIVIL WAR HISTORY state's disputed vote and in the tangled negotiations which follow he bears much of the responsibility for Hayes' victory. As 1877 draws to a close Garfield is already growing disenchanted with the policies of the President he helped to seat. From now on no historian can write of any of these topics without first consulting this volume. Garfield himself emerges from these pages more as a misplaced intellectual than a politician. It requires nearly fourteen column inches of the index simply to list all the books he read or discussed in this three year span. Much of this reading matter was weighty stuff and a surprising amount of it was history. Contrary to the usual stereotype of the Gilded Age congressman, Garfield and his colleagues appear to be dedicated , serious-minded and, above all, hard working. When a group of them conclude after a dinner party "that there was a higher tone of public and private morals in public men now, than at any former period ," one is almost inclined to agree. The latest volume in this welcome series continues to display the same meticulous editorial standards as its predecessors. As in the earlier volumes the editors have set a model of professional thoroughness: each fugitive reference, each passing name, no matter how obscure, has been carefully tracked down and described, often in graceful little essays which illuminate not only Garfield's life but his era as well. After reading Warden's indiscreet biography of Salmon P. chase, Garfield decided that "it is almost dangerous for any man whose biography is to be written to keep a diary. Let such men," he warned, "tremble when they write private letters or make entries in a diary, 'For, Oh what fools may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil ....'" Garfield need not have worried; his diary is in good hands. Allan Peskin Cleveland State University Ttjler-Browns of Brattleboro. By Dorothy Sutherland Melville. (New York: Exposition Press, 1973. Pp. xiv, 306. $10.00. ) During the Civil War Centennial many letters from the actual participants in the war, especially those from the "soldier in the field" and the "sailor on the sea," were published. There still remains a definite need for more of these important materials to be made available through publication. In the Ttjler-Browns of Brattleboro, this necessity becomes a beautiful reality by the disclosure of this great family who possessed tremendous togetherness and pride not only in their personal relationships but in their patriotism and devotion to their beloved Vermont and the United States of America. Dorothy Sutherland Melville, a descendant of the family, is to be initially congratulated for her genealogical charts and early family identifications which greatly helps the reader become acquainted with the family. This task was not easy, since the family used favorite names BOOK REVIEWS181 for their children over several generations. However, the author, in atempting to further simplify the situation, frequently used other expressions , such as "John's father," which I found awkward rather than helpful . The family letters show the usual ardent patriotism for their native state or nation, since nearly all soldiers and sailors felt confident of victory in the early years of the war, regardless of whether they were from Vermont, Michigan, or Florida. There is no doubt, however, that Vermonters fought very bravely during the war, and certainly had one of the highest precentages of troops, according to their population, fighting for the Union cause. As John Steele Tyler wrote: "Our company unanimously agree that they will enlist for three years or for 15 if wanted." This company became part of the Second Vermont, in which Colonel John Steele Tyler fought and died with distinction, and which became recognized as one of the bravest regiments to participate in the Civil War, from either side of the Mason-Dixon Line. It was also the Second Vermont which "was the first regiment on the crest" of Henry Hill at First Bull Run and had the "distinction of having fired the last volley" against the Army of Northern Virginia. The two main characters in the book, Colonel John Steele Tyler and Commander Alan Danvers Brown, were men...

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