Reflections on the Civil War (review)

176CIVIL WAR HISTORY retelling of an exciting if well-known tale. And his claims to the contrary notwithstanding, Warren's account differs little if at all from earlier versions. This book follows essentially the same course as his thesis (1969), which was recently published by University Microfilms and is a mine of information. Unfortunately, his interpretation of the material is not always convincing. His assessments of the personalities involved are far from novel or penetrating, and his harsh judgment of Lord Lyons might have been modified by an examination of his Papers. (Another significant omission from the bibliography is the Somerset collection) . The estimate of Seward's role appears to be influenced by the far from objective opinion of Gideon Welles. In 1861, Seward had reason to fear British meddling in the Civil War, and by his behavior he did much to discourage them from pursuing this line of conduct. One obvious strategy was to remind the British government of the vulnerability of Canada, and to this extent the October circular to the governors of seaboard and Great Lakes states served a purpose. As for opinions and attitudes of Canadians toward the troubles of the Union, Professor Warren's view of them is somewhat naive. Finally, his suggestion that the international crisis persisted until news of the surrender of Mason and Slidell reached Britain is not supported by the evidence. Once the initial excitement subsided, there was no imminent danger ofwar. Long before the reply to the British government's demand forthe return ofthe Confederate emissaries arrived in London, concern for the security of Canada, fear of possible Napoleonic mischief in Europe, and an awareness of a shift in public opinion had combined to persuade Palmerston and Russell to continue negotiating with the Americans. Only a blunt rejection of the British demand, which was never likely, would have brought a severance ofrelations. In short, the Trent affair was assured of an anticlimactic conclusion before the final curtain was rung down on the drama. Brian Jenkins Bishop's University Reflections on the Civil War. By Bruce Catton. EditedbyJohnLeekley. (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, 1981. Pp. xxiv, 246. $15.95.) So many giants are departing the Civil War field: Bell Wiley, T. Harry Williams, and this volume's respective author and introducer, Bruce Catton and E. B. Long. Published three years posthumously, this is probably Bruce Carton's last Civil War book. Ironically, he never "wrote" this book. Rather, he taped this material for audio-visual presentation. Only after his death were the tapes edited by John Leekley and published. In conversational format, Catton outlines the Civil War, calls it the first modern war, discusses common soldiers, and sketches Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. book reviews177 For high schoolers and other novices who use audio-visual material, these topics deserve learning. But as textrather than tapes, this presentation suffers transcription errors and lapses of fact and phraseology which sometimes creep into conversation but which glare in print. Clearly, Catton did not read scripts onto tapes (otherwise, those scripts would form this book) but simply spoke. Had that knowledgeable historian and polished writer lived to proofread the transcription, he would unquestionably have corrected those lapses before publication. Surviving errors are thus not really his fault. Besides, one shouldnotbelabor lapses of someonewho contributed so greatly to Civil War history. Rather let us hail the book's strengths: abiding understanding of the war and its soldiers, throughout but especially in two concluding chapters. In chapter 5, he passes beyond broad overviews and focuses on generalizations pegged to specifics of one private's experiences: John Geyser, Seventh Pennsylvania, U.S. Engineer Battalion, and Veteran Reserve Corps. Those generalizations sometimes transcend the Civil War to offer refreshing rebukes to recent servicemen, as when Catton, so familiar with Civil War veterans in person and in sources, writes: "[Postwar] . . . the Civil War soldier . . . spent no time moaning about the cruelty and injustice of life . . . and he never saw himself . . . as a member of a 'Lost Generation ,' brutally sinnedagainstbyhis elders." And"theCivilWar . . . did not infect its veterans with the virus of self-pity. Itwas not followed by a generation of serious thinkers who kept assuring the ex-soldier that...