Lamson of the Gettysburg: The Civil War Letters of Lieutenant Roswell H. Lamson, U.S. Navy (review)

I58CIVIL WAR HISTORY include nine missives from relatives or associates to provide some context for the brothers' communications. Because all of the letters are arranged by date regardless of the author, they faciUtate comparisons of what soldiers in the east and west wrote about the war. Included are grim details about engagements ranging from Chancellorsville and the Wilderness in the east to Iuka (where David was shot in the head) and Vicksburg in the west, and evenWilson's Creek and Pea Ridge in theTrans-Mississippi. Too, there are lengthy comments on the onerous life of a soldier and the obvious shortcomings of Civil War medicine. Furthermore, Reuben became quite religious, a slave named Peter accompanied him and David through the war, and all three brothers comment on the roles played by women in the Confederacy. This work has a few shortcomings. For those interested in the later phases of the war, it should be noted that more than half of these letters were written in 1 86 1 and 1862. The fall of Vicksburg in 1863, which made communication difficult for Trans-Mississippi Confederates, the wait of David and James at home for exchange, and the death of Reuben in 1 864 all combine to reduce the number of letters during those years. Of these letters, one is misplaced. Written by David to William H. Pierson, their father, it is provenanced as January 1 1 , 1 864, but discusses the defeat of John Bell Hood in Tennessee and William T Sherman's capture of Savannah, events that occurred during November and December of that year. Despite this slip, the editors' careful annotations make this a fine volume for any scholar searching for participants' comments on many fascinating subjects. Richard B. McCaslin High Point University Lamson of the Gettysburg: The Civil War Letters of Lieutenant Roswell H. Lamson, U.S. Navy. Edited by James M. McPherson and Patricia R. McPherson. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Pp. xvii, 240. $25.00.) Edited Civil War letter collections have been published with almost maddening consistency over the years. Often, one account seems to blend into another, and while most offer some insight into a narrowly defined segment of the war, few possess much breadth and scope. Fortunately, that is not the case with Lamson ofthe Gettysburg. This compilation, superbly edited and annotated by James M. McPherson and Patricia R. McPherson, offers a rare glimpse into the naval war through the experiences of an officer whose career was anything but ordinary. The outbreak ofwar found Roswell H. Lamson finishing his third year at the United States Naval Academy. Desperate for their skills, the Navy Department immediately called Lamson and his classmates up for active duty. During the first two years ofthe war, he participated in the seizure of several key points off the North Carolina coast and the Port Royal expedition, and he served as a staff BOOK REVIEWS159 assistant at the Bureau ofNavigation inWashington, acquiring a deserved reputation as one of the more competent junior officers in the navy. Finally, in the spring of 1863, Lamson received his first independent command at the head of a small flotilla of gunboats acting in support of Union operations in Virginia. He did not waste the opportunity; he quickly distinguished himselfby planning and carrying out a successfuljoint operation against a formidable Confederate shore battery. The Navy Department rewarded him with command of a small blockader off the Carolina coast, where he again compiled a sparkling record. Once more recognizing his abilities, the navy assigned Lamson to command the USS Gettysburg, widely considered the fastest ship in the Union fleet. Although occasionally detached for special service, it was at the helm of the Gettysburg that Lamson finished his sterling war career. Over the course of the conflict, Lamson almost uncannily found himself at the center of momentous events time and time again, all of which he dutifully reported to his correspondents. It was a pivot gun under his command that played a key role in the surrender of Forts Harteras and Clark at Harteras Inlet in August 1861. He witnessed the dramatic arrival of CSS Hunter and its crew of escaped slaves from Charleston in May 1...