The Confederate Order of Battle: The Army of North Virginia (review)

BOOK reviews349 ROM include the latest and best works on each general, even including very critical books by recent writers. Richard Lowe University of North Texas The Confederate Order ofBattle: TheArmy ofNorth Virginia. By F. Ray Sibley, Jr. (Shippensburg, Pa.: White Mane Publishing, 1996. Pp. x, 486. $80.00.) F. Ray Sibley has indeed done a service for the CivilWar historian. He has spent more than a dozen years compiling what researchers will proclaim the conclusive reference on the organizational makeup ofthe Confederacy. It is a rare accomplishment that will greatly reduce the amount of time and effort spent on research. In the first of a planned three volumes, Sibley has carefully analyzed numerous resources and compiled them into a single reference book that defines the structure of the eastern Confederate forces as they went into battle. Sibley's volume will allow students of the Confederacy to remove two problems never before solved. First, knowing one named or numbered unit, the user can identify the related units that constituted the various levels of the Army of North Virginia. Secondly, knowing one commander's name, the researcher can identify not only his units but also the units and commanders of related units. Sibley's work fundamentally allows students and researchers to identify a composite listing ofa unit's history. In the same light, it enables one to ascertain the identity of a Confederate commander's combat career without having to consult other resources. In short, this powerful research tool will assist researchers, genealogists, and history writers to work faster and in a more accurate manner. Sibley has carefully defined even the most difficult to find unit identifications and commanding officer names and has listed them chronologically by battle. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, Sibley has meticulously indexed the entire reference in two distinctive and functionally worthwhile formats . First, he has provided a "Main Index" that alphabetically lists the commander's name with a parenthetical notation of the unit he commanded. Secondly, and most impressively, he has defined in three subsequent sections the Confederate "Infantry," "Artillery," and "Cavalry" units. Under these subindexes , Sibley has organized each operational type listing by the unit's state and hierarchical echelon within the Confederacy. In short, the indexes are what make this book unique and particularly user-friendly. It is the functional indexes that make Sibley's book a reference masterpiece in terms of practice value. However, what especially makes this book useful are its extensive endnotes and complete bibliography. In tandem with the main body listing of each Confederate battle, unit designation, and commanding officer, the endnotes and bibliography offer the researcher a complete single-source reference for the study of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. 350CIVIL WAR HISTORY Sibley has planned additional volumes describing the orders of battle for the Confederate western armies and armies of the trans-Mississippi and coastal defense forces. In the end, this three-set volume will be an indispensable reference and necessary for all Civil War libraries. Dominic J. Caraccilo Middletown, Rhode Island With the i8th Texas Infantry: The Autobiography of Wilbum Hill King. Edited by L. David Norris. (Hillsboro, Tex.: Hill College Press, 1996. Pp. ix, 126. $15.00.) Into the Far, Wild Country: True Tales of the Southwest. By George Wythe Baylor. Edited with an introduction by Jerry D. Thompson. (El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1996. Pp. 442. $30.00.) Both then and now, the campaigns of the trans-Mississippi theater of the Civil War have always been somewhat neglected, even though there was more territory in the Confederacy west of the Big Muddy than east of it. The balance has improved a bit of late, but the appearance of two more volumes of reminiscences will be a welcome event for buffs and researchers alike. The first memoir is the life of Wilburn Hill King. Born in Georgia, King found himself in Missouri in 1 86 1 and fought with the Missouri State Guard at Carthage and Wilson's Creek. Convinced that the pro-Southern Guard would never receive full recognition, King resigned his commission and drifted south to Jefferson, Texas. There he joined the 18th Texas Volunteer Infantry as a private , but he would eventually...