Rebel Private Front and Rear, and: Co. Aytch: A Side Show of the Big Show, and: A Confederate Surgeons Letters to His Wife, and: Confederate Letters of John W. Hagan, and: Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone, 1861-1868 (review)

192CIVIL WAR HISTORY progress was a constant source of interest and, at times, concern to him. All in all, he was occupied to the height of his powers. But those powers were dwindling, and in the spring of 1871 he fell ill and died, with all but one of his family about him. Father Durkin never quite sums up the man and what he did, preferring perhaps to leave judgment to the reader. This is as well. Unfortunately, such is the nature of the task Father Durkin has set himself, the book, though engrossing and well-written, seems to lack a certain focus. I suspect that it is impossible to cover in 400-odd pages both a great civil war and the life of one man without some confusion and lack of clarity; it may be that the author has written a book that is either too long or too short. While we are able to see that Mallory was steadfast, honorable, moderate, and humane; while we cannot fail to appreciate the wisdom of many of his actions and the courses he undertook as Chief of the Confederate Navy; while we today continue to reap the whirlwind of technology which he sowed as the little breezes of mines and submarines; while we suffer with him in his frustrations and the goads of his opponents; while all this and more is true, still the final portrait lacks sharpness and definition, compared, say, with Thomas' recent life of Lincoln or Freeman's Lee. Yet this is fast company indeed, and because one's first major historical writing suffers in comparison with undoubted masterpieces is no reason for discouragement. Certainly every student of the Civil War, every person interested in the long sweep of naval history must remain forever indebted to Father Durkin for the only real portrait of one of the leading figures in the second American Revolution. Samuel M. Fahr Iowa City, Iowa. Rebel Private Front and Rear. By William Andrew Fletcher. Edited byBell Irvin Wiley. (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. 1954. Pp. xvii, 162. $3.75.) Co. Aytch: A Side Show of the Big Show. By Sam R. Watkins. Edited by Bell Irvin Wiley. (Jackson, Tennessee: McCowat-Mercer Press. 1954. Pp. 231. $5.00.) A Confederate Surgeons Letters to His Wife. By Spencer Glasgow Welch. (Marietta, Georgia: Continental Book Company. 1954. Pp. 127. $5.00.) Confederate Letters of John W. Hagan. Edited by Bell Irvin Wiley. (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. 1954. Pp. 55. $150.) Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone, 1861-1868. Edited by John Q. Anderson. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. 1955. Pp. xxii, 400. $4.95.) at an informal meeting of the New York Round Table some time ago Fletcher Pratt and John Bakeless talked of the problems of locating the source material so necessary in any writing of an historical nature. Colonel Bakeless recalled many instances where old family records were thrown out during a Book Reviews193 vigorous spring cleaning or left in attics or closets and allowed to serve as the lining for rat nests. He pleaded that people who owned homes with attics go through old trunks and deliberate well before discarding any old letters, diaries, journals or records. Happily the picture is not always quite as bleak as that, since many families have not only taken great care of such papers but have permitted students to go over them and use much of their contents in articles and books. In recent years preserving and editing such family papers has been a rewarding work of historical scholarship. One of the most tireless workers in that field has been Bell Irvin Wiley of Emory University. Not only has he made a major contribution with his Billy Yank and Johnny Reh, but he has encouraged, edited, and introduced a long list of related material as well as helped in the reissuing of old, long out-of-print classics such as Rebel Private Front and Rear by William Andrew Fletcher and Co. Aytch: A Side Show of the Big Show by Sam R. Watkins. Students of the period owe Mr. Wiley a great deal for easing their own labors and for giving them a...