Adapt or Perish: The Life of General Roger A. Pryor, C.S.A. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS187 must realize that "personalities were not as important as ideologies." As proof of his own concern for ideology, he uses variants of die word "liberal" no less than twenty-four times in a space of only tiiree pages. And his relentiessness in catagorizing Abraham Lincoln and William Seward as "liberals," although contemporaries and later historians frequently described them as "conservatives," is disconcerting. Indeed, from the first sentence of the book, wherein "ideology . . . presented a . . . form." to the final sentence, wherein the United States was "assigned" a "record in Mexico during the 1860s," die reader must struggle to wrest meaning from murky, dogmatic language. Needless to say, tiiis reviewer was disappointed in Professor Schoonover's book. Nevertheless, die volume is not entirely without merit. The author's thesis is wellsupportedbyhis evidence. His research was diorough and imaginative. And his references to die "LincolnSeward administration" (even to the"Seward-Lincolnadministration"), as well as to die "Johnson-Seward administration," and his recognition tiiat "the man most responsible for establishing . . . United States economic involvement in Mexico during the 1860s and after was Secretary of State Seward," all show laudable perception. Even Professor Schoonover's title comes from a statement by Seward, referring to die tendency of contemporary Americans, regarding Mexico, to "value dollars more, and dominion less." Such insights deserve a better vehicle. Middle Tennessee State UniversityNorman Ferris Adapt or Perish: The Life of General Roger A. Pryor, C.S.A. By Robert S. Holzman. (Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1976. Pp. 209. $13.50.) Roger A. Pryor (1828-1919) is little known except for scattered references in studies of secession or in histories of Virgina. As this biography suggests, he deserves a better fate. Born in Virginia and trained as an attorney, Pryor became a formidable, brawling journalist when a tiiroat problem diverted him from die law. After serving in die Thirty-sixth Congress as a forceful spokesman for Southern grievances, he carved his special niche in American history. An avid secessionist, he goaded the Confederacy into demanding Fort Sumter's surrender, acted as one of Beauregard's agents in presenting terms to Anderson; and was instrumental in Virginia's withdrawal from the Union. During the war, Pryor gained the rank of brigadier general, but resigned when Davis reshuffled his command without giving him a definite assignment. Pryor then reenlisted as a private, served as a scout around Richmond until captured, and eventually gained presidential parole. Peace found him destitute with no employment prospects. In a wrenching decision, he left his family at home, moved to New York 188CIVIL WAR HISTORY City, and began a new life against tremendous odds. Initially helped by former Peace Democrats, Pryor laboriously made an eminent legal career. He gained cases including die Henry Ward Beecher adultery trial, theHaymarket defendents' appeal to theSupremeCourt, and early antitrust litigation. In the process, he became friends with such erstwhile enemies as Ben Butler, Daniel Sickles, and Winfield Scott Hancock. Meantime, Pryor functioned as a visible symbol of sectional reconciliation . He belittled the Confederacy, advocated black suffrage, and stressed reunion. To cap Pryor's amazing comeback, considering his background, Democratic Governor David Bennett Hill appointed him a judge on the state Court of Common Pleas, soon to be merged into the New York Supreme Court. On the bench, Pryor strove for die central theme that had dominated his life, defense of personal liberties. Despite the dramatic possibilities in Pryor's life, the book must be evaluated as well-intentioned but inadequate. Since the author does not compensate for the lack of Pryor's manuscript material and relies heavily on secondary works, particularly Mrs. Pryor's published memoirs, a reader senses him only second-hand. Equally questionable, die book suffers from over-long, tangential quotations which are often fillers. As a result, analysis is sacrificed and meanings imposed which die evidence does not support. Perhaps the book's major contribution lies in die reminder of Pryor's importance. On that basis, one hopes for a more scholarly study. University of AkronJerome Mushkat Iron Road to the West: American Railroads in the 1850's. By John F. Stover (New York: Columbia University Press, 1978. Pp. 266. 14.95.) This short volume primarily describes...