Johnny Green of the Orphan Brigade: The Journal of a Confederate Soldier ed. by A. D. Kirwan (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 18101925 , and playing cards, ca. 19051966 , all produced in Cincinnati. Yet the catalogue is a treasure trove for scholars. Also included,in the book only,are five appendices ranging in usefulness and significance. Virginius Hall contributed an admittedly preliminary list of eightyone " Cincinnati Engravers, 18251860 ," with life dates, occupations, and places of employment. One wishes the entry spanned the entire nineteenth century. Alice Cornell, Head of UC' s Archives and Rare Books Department and Director/ Editorin Chief of the University of Cincinnati Digital Press, compiled Appendix B, Fliegende Blaetter: A Checklist of Lithographs, 184647 ." The ninetyeight entries ( of about 175 images)are a chronological catalogue of prints,listing title,dimensions,volume and issue number,date, and pageall great for researchers. The next two appendices are by Christopher Lane, " Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co. Civil War Portraits "and " Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co. Backgrounds . The former lists nine political prints. fifty portraits of military officers,and eight images of naval officers; the background format employed in each piece;and locations of the originals,but no dimensions, mediums,or dates. The latter appendix is a detailed description of thirtythree backgrounds that the printers used for the portraits. Helena Wright compiled " Artists and Publishers Represented in the Smithsonian' s Graphic Arts Exhibit at the Ohio Valley Centennial Exposition,Cincinnati , 1888"from Koehler's exhibition catalogue and other files. It is an alphabetical list of names 321 in all) and the kind of work produced, e.g., Blum,Robert, etching." ( 215) Art as Image is a remarkable joint production of a book and web site,and an extremely useful starting point in investigating the graphic arts treasures of the Queen City in the nineteenth century. Theresa LeiningerMiller University of Cincinnati A. D. Kirwan, ed. johnny Green of tbe Orphan Brigade: TbeJournal of a Confederate Soldier. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky,2002. 256 pp. ISBN: 081312221 ( cloth), $ 22.00. An old cliche asserts that Kentucky joined the Confederacy in 1865 and has been loyal since. Historiography regarding the commonwealth' s Civil War certainly reflects that postwar aura of feigned southern solidarity. Although a majority of white Civil War soldiers from Kentucky fought to preserve the Union,not to mention all of the state's enrolled African American troops, 00 it is the Confederate OF THE ORPHAN BRIGADE minority that contin- rHE JOURNAL OF A CONEEDERA'11 SOLDll, R ues to receive the lion's Ii./.# share of attention. No i.* 8 T. 4$* Kentucky unit is more 3. 1 ., , tk,» t ' Jig celebrated than the 3/ 1 Orphan Brigade, five f associated regiments ofBluegrass secession- l ..».. S , - : 1"( 5:-' j'. ists that together pro- Fi# .. '. lAr . duced one of the finest of hardfighting Confederate units. Along with the Stonewall Brigade and the Iron Brigade,the Orphans are remembered as one of the conflict's elite organizations. Not surprisingly,several familiar primary and secondary sources chronicle its exploits. The bestknown and most frequently cited memoir is Johnny Green's classic work, written " from notes and memory" ( xxx) in the 18905. Starting out as a young,undersized recruit in what became the Confederate 98 Kentucky Infantry, Green rose to the rank of sergeant major by the end of the wan He was wounded twice,though not seriously. Green seemingly was in the thick of the fight everywhere: Shiloh,Baton Rouge,Murfreesboro,Chickamauga, Chattanooga, the Hundred Days Campaign, and 76 OHIO VALLEY HISTORY Atlanta. His depictions of battle and camp life are literate, detailed, and observant,which rightly had led to their frequent citation. Green's usually overlooked experiences in the newlydefeated Confederacy are useful as well. Former University of Kentucky President A.D. Kirwan originally edited the narrative, which first appeared in print in 1956. Kirwan supplied context and clarification through a full biographical introduction, explanatory footnotes, and helpful chapter introductions. Long out of print,this edition of Green' s memoir includes several additional photographs as well as a brief new foreword. In the latter,noted Civil War author and preservationist Kent Masterson Brown surveys Orphan Brigade historiography, modestly omitting only his own published essay from the list of major works on the unit. The maps, slightly modified versions of the originals, are helpful enough, but might have been updated...