Among the Enemy: A Michigan Soldier's Civil War Journal (review)

Book Reviews 115 and the enduring ghost story of The Baldoon Mystery provide exceptional insights into the empires of nature and the nature of empires. Some of the volume’s themes inevitably shoulder their way to the fore, while others, such as “the power of nature,” get rather less attention. Karen Travers and Rhonda Telford highlight the centrality of boundaries and deeds—the power of British treaty-making and surveying technology—to settler colonialism. Others demonstrate how industry frequently offloads the environmental consequences of their activities onto Native communities. Nearly all of the contributors address the emotional and cultural dimensions of empire, nature, and indigenous persistence. Ironically, the Great Lakes themselves barely figure in this book. (Rivers do, though—an interesting pattern that goes unremarked). Readers familiar with the region will nevertheless sense the Lakes’ implicit presence throughout and will bring to these essays the geographical knowledge (there are no maps) to properly contextualize the authors’ accounts of environmental health risks at Walpole Island (Christianne Stephens and Regna Darnall), diasporic indigenous life in London, Ontario (Mariá Christina Manzano-Munguía), and other topics. One need not know the region well, however, to appreciate the authors’ palpable love of these places—not merely as scenery, but as the homes to the peoples of the Great Lakes. James D. Rice State University of New York, Plattsburgh Mark Hoffman, ed. Among the Enemy: A Michigan Soldier’s Civil War Journal. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2013. Pp. 168. Illustrations. Paper, $24.95. Among the Enemy captures the three-year enlistment period of Union soldier William Horton Kimball. Originally from Michigan, Kimball served in the First Michigan Engineers and Mechanics regiment from September 1861 to November 1864. Kimball’s story is enhanced by the deft and sensible editing of Mark Hoffman. Hoffman is a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and author of My Brave Mechanics: The First Michigan Engineers and Their Civil War, also from Wayne State University Press. Hoffman argues that William Horton Kimball’s diary, which contributed substantially to My Brave Mechanics, is 116 The Michigan Historical Review worthy of publication on its own, thus bringing us Among the Enemy. I agree with him and enjoyed this book immensely. Hoffman’s introduction to the book is excellent. He clearly states his purpose, acknowledges the limits of the diary, and places the work within the existing literature, noting its relevance for the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Throughout the twelve chapters, Hoffman provides an introduction to each chapter that clearly sets the context and addresses a wide range of topics such as soldier pay, black soldiers, and desertion. Readers will chuckle at how mischievous these soldiers were, how hard officers had to work to keep the soldiers in camp, and at the sorts of activities the men did to entertain themselves. Each chapter centers on a main event or series of events that mark a distinct segment of Kimball’s military experience. As an engineer, Kimball spent his time building, repairing, and protecting supply and transportation lines for Union armies in the western theater. His regiment fought in a few engagements when Confederate guerillas attacked their positions, but largely his experience was that of hard manual labor, foraging in the countryside, cooking for his company, and standing on guard duty. Throughout the book, Hoffman succeeds in highlighting the significance of the engineers’ work to the larger war effort, especially as Sherman began his incursion into the heart of the Confederacy. There are fourteen illustrations and five maps included in this volume. The illustrations are sufficient but the maps are disappointing. It is difficult to follow Kimball from place to place when not all of the towns or railroads listed in his diary are on the maps provided. The bibliographic essay at the end of the book is useful, more so than the appendix of descriptions for twenty-three people mentioned in Kimball’s diary. Biographical vignettes offered throughout the book make this appendix superfluous. The volume is not really about the people, but rather the experiences of Kimball and the engineers. I would recommend this volume for use in an undergraduate Civil War course and for anyone...