Four Brothers in Blue or Sunshine and Shadows of the War of the Rebellion: A Story of the Great Civil War from Bull Run to Appomattox (review)

BOOK REVIEWS87 ordinance of secession he left school and returned to the family farm at Newport News Point near Hampton, Virginia. On May 27, Federal forces landed on die Point and occupied the West estate; however, General Northcott Phelps permitted the family to migrate up the peninsula (between the James and York rivers) into Confederate controlled areas. They were allowed to take a number of their possessions, including slaves. From the end of June, 1861 until the spring of 1865 the West family resided in Richmond. During these years George Benjamin was employed by the Quartermaster Department of the Confederate Army. In 1899, when West was sixty years old, he began writinghis memoirs, which were completed seven years later. The principal stimulus for his writing was religious devotion to Almighty God. West believed that die writing of his recollections was a means of expressing his thanks to God for all of the blessings and opportunities which had been bestowed upon him. West acknowledges that he wrote from memory rather than from notes and that he wrote of "things not in order but just as they came to mind" (p. 142) . Writing without an outline and with many interruptions, one of which extended for more than a year, resulted in some repetition of material. The manuscript was preserved by members of the family until 1977 when it was published. Approximately fifty pages are devoted to the war years and conditions in Richmond. Much of the memoir concerns the efforts of the West family to regain and rebuild its fortune after the war. Eventually most of the property was returned to the family. West operated a store, rode die land boom when the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad built a terminal at Newport News in 1880, and ten years laterhe was a principal founder of a major bank in the town. By the time he completed his memoirs, West was one of the city's most influential and prosperous citizens. The editor has divided the manuscript into chapters, corrected grammar and spelling, and provided brief notes for each chapter. Although students of the Civil War may find this book ofminimal value, diose interested in post war race relations in Virginia, the history of the Baptist church in the state, and the growth and development of Newport News will find this a useful volume. W. Harrison Daniel University of Richmond FoMr Brothers in Blue or Sunshine and Shadows of the War of the Rebellion: A Story of the Great CivilWarfrom Bull Run to Appomattox. By Robert Goldthwaite Carter. Introduction and Index by John M. Carroll. (Austin and London: University of Texas Press, 1978. Pp. xxv, 537. $15.00.) Robert Goldthwaite Carter and his three brothers, from Bradford, 88CIVIL WAR HISTORY Massachusetts, served four years in the Army of the Potomac. In 1872 Robert transcribed their war letters, later added a connecting narrative drawn from memory and published documents, and then published the collection in 1913. The entire volume is reprinted here. The book is principally valuable because the four brothers collectively experienced most phases of army life and at least one was present to chronicle each major Virginia battle. John H. Carter described garrison life as a heavy artilleryman. Eugene Carter, a West Pointer, as an officer of the Provost Guard, was privileged to spend much time around headquarters. Surprisingly, this advantage produced few personal glimpses or original insights into army leadership. The best writer and most sensitive observer of the four was Robert, who, with his brother Walter, served in the ranks of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The descriptions of his emotions on nearing the front, the terrible conditions of battle, and the plight of the wounded streaming from the lines rival in intensity the Red Badge of Courage. The accounts of Gettysburg and die Wilderness fighting are particularly vivid. As with most soldiers at the lower military level, the boys were more concerned about food, filth, and rumors of troop movements than with the larger issues of the war, and the letters are oppressive in repetition of daily life. Only McClellan's removal from command elicited sustained political comment, and suggests the mutinous feeling in the army. There are glimpses...