Federals on the Frontier: The Diary of Benjamin F. McIntyre, 1862-1864 (review)

442CIVIL WA R HISTORY prison camp, but that some in the North, both the well-known and the littleknown ones, surpassed it in beastliness by a good-sized margin. The last chapter, which deals with a would-be hero who never reached the fighting front, supplies some healthy humor, giving the volume a refreshing ending. The book is not without its faults. The author's repeated references to his own collection of weapons and to his excellent marksmanship are not in the best of taste, and the illustrations leave something to be desired. Despite its drawbacks, Who Fired The First Shot? as a whole stands out as one of the few recent publications which is not mere rehash. The author has explored many heretofore neglected aspects of the conflict, and for those tired of reading about many-times-told battles and campaigns his book should make a welcome addition to their shelves. Otto Eisenschiml Chicago Federals on the Frontier: The Diary of Benjamin F. Mclntyre, 18621864 . Edited by Nannie M. Tilley. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1963. Pp. xv, 429. $7.50.) Ben McIntyre was an Iowa carpenter who recorded his day-by-day experiences in the Union army from September, 1862, to August, 1864. He saw active service on the Missouri-Arkansas border until June of 1863, when his regiment was moved to Cairo and on downriver to take part in the siege of Vicksburg. In August he was encamped at Carrollton, just above New Orleans, and on October 24 was shipped with his company, in a badly overloaded steamboat, to Brownsville, Texas. He stayed there until August 4, 1864, when he was sent back to Carrollton. As a soldier Mclntyre rose from sergeant to second lieutenant, buthe always retained the enlisted man's point of view, constantly revealing sardonic suspicion of the high brass. He reflected his comrades' dislike for General Schofield but expressed great admiration for Grant "in his old white hat and unpretending appearance." Mclntyre's diary provides a miscellany of wartime social history. He notes, for example, that the Secesh called Union soldiers "Feds" in Arkansas and "Yankees" east of the Mississippi. When a lieutenant was reported to have accepted a "20$" reward for returning an escaped mulatto woman to her master, Mclntyre registers the outrage felt in the ranks. His vivid account of Vicksburg's fall describes the day before the surrender, when Confederate soldiers raised several white flags and hundreds of men from both sides mingled in friendly fashion between the lines. Next day Union soldiers looted Vicksburg, but Mclntyre condones this becausethe shops were "mostly owned by jews." The greater part of the diary covers the controversial nine months in Missouri after Lyon's defeat at Wilson's Creek. Mclntyre took an active part in the battle of Prairie Grove, participating in the long march to relieve James G. Blount. Mclntyre says that his column arrived "at the very nick of time." Book Reviews443 The editor's footnote adds, "Mclntyre was correct," then verifies this statement by citing Monaghan's Civil War on the Western Border. As Monaghan was not present and Mclntyre was, the editor's affirmation might be better in reverse! However, this reviewer should be the last to object. The Texas entries are the most unusual and informative part of the journal because the author describes something which has been neglected by Civil War historians. The lower Rio Grande, as a shipping point for cotton and a haven for blockade runners, loomed large in diplomatic history and gave much concern to both President Lincoln and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. This section of the diary will interest students of the West as well as Civil War scholars, for it contains some pertinent references to the contraband operations of the future cattle magnate, Richard King, and corrects certain statements in Tom Lea's monumental The King Ranch. The entire volume has been unusually well edited and Nannie M. Tilley shows herself to be a careful scholar who has thoroughly mastered the primary sources. University of California, Santa Barbara Jay Monaghan ...