Soul of the Lion: A Biography of General Joshua L. Chamberlain (review)

Book Reviews99 outskirts, in sight of Fort Stevens, in the afternoon of the eleventh. But by that time there were already troops enough to repel an attack and, learning that night that additional troops had reached Baltimore, Early gave up all hopes of capturing Washington and, during the night of July 12, recrossed the Potomac into Virginia. Mr. Vandiver convincingly contends that, on the whole, the raid was a sound campaign, despite the failure to seize Washington. It had forced Grant to detach veterans to protect the capital; it had also made possible the harvesting of the crops in die Shenandoah Valley; it probably prolonged the conflict through 1864; and it had demonstrated that the Confederacy had not lost its offensive power. While Mr. Vandiver does not rate Early as another Jackson, he does consider him the equal, at least, of Ewell, his predecessor in command of the Second Corps—an opinion with which Sandie Pendleton, brilliant assistant adjutant general of the Second Corps under Jackson, Ewell, and Early, would have agreed. General Lee retained his confidence in Early's ability, even after he had been subsequently defeated by General Philip H. Sheridan. Dr. Vandiver is the author of several books dealing with the Confederacy, the most recent being Mighty StonewaU. JubaTs Raid is a much-needed story of a neglected episode, the last Confederate offensive. It is written with the author's usual clarity and brilliancy. W. G. Bean Washington and Lee University Soul of the Lion: A Biography of General Joshua L. Chamberlain. By Wülard M. Wallace. (New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, I960. Pp. 357. $5.00.) The first reaction of the reader who opens Soul of the Lion is apt to be, "Why, this is the same as J. J. Pullen's The Twentieth Maine." Since Joshua Chamberlain was lieutenant colonel of the Twentieth, this is not surprising. The principal difference between the accounts of the war is one of literary style in the two books. Both authors have picked many of the same dramatic punch lines from the same primary sources, and have given us excellent military history. Strangely enough, they seem to have followed the same outline in describing battles. Thus, in recounting the fight for Little Round Top, both give the same details about Sickles' appearance at Meade's headquarters (pp. 86 and 106) . Both also stop at almost the same place (pp. 94 and 111) in the ensuing action to soliloquize, in quite different words, about Chamberlain's coming greatness and his uncanny gift for knowing where the enemy would attack. Perhaps this similarity is inevitable when two writers draw from the same sources. A reader notices, too, that both Wallace and PuDen accept Chamberlain's statement that at Fredericksburg he "talked back" rather impudently to Hooker. Perhaps he did, but the publication which both authors cite for 100 CIVIL war history the incident is Chamberlain's own account written some fifty years later. To this reviewer the elderly general's story sounds like the tale of a reminiscing buck private who explains how he "told off the second lieutenant. Certainly it is advisable to discount old soldiers' battle memories in direct ratio to the time which has elapsed since the fight. However, this in no way mars the thorough research and vivid—sometimes moving—descriptions in these two books. Soul of the Lion contains much on Chamberlain's life which cannot be found in Pullen's book, material which is state history rather than military. This includes the General's career as governor of Maine and as president of Bowdoin College. Wallace's book also uses a better method of footnoting than Pullen's, his bibliography is much larger, but he includes fewer maps. Does one excel the other in literary style? That depends on the consumer 's taste. Is apple pie better à la mode or with a slice of cheese? Jay Monaghan Santa Barbara, California Europe Looks at the Civil War. Edited by Belle Becker Sideman and Lillian Friedman. (New York: The Orion Press, 1960. Pp. xx, 323. $6.00.) It was to be expected that this centennial would bring forth a multitude of books on the Civil War—an expectation...