For the Glory of the Union (review)

book reviews285 consistently defended thepractice ofwhippingagainst what they considered to be the naive arguments of meddling Yankee abolitionists, and stressed that the whip was necessary to keep the lower orders in line. The reformers disagreed. They were worried about deviant behavior, but thought it could be controlled by disciplining the mind, rather than the body. So other tactics were tried (e.g., badges of shame or "trials" by childhood peers), which could be equally if not more humiliating than physical punishment. Antebellum reformers were no prophets of positive reinforcement; for the most part they still thought in terms of punishment , even if noncorporeal. Reformers did not altogether rule out the use of bodily punishment. Glenn believes that racial and nativist assumptions played a role, that many reformers, indignant over the swollen knuckles of white, Protestant school children, nevertheless sanctioned whipping as a last resort to maintain order among black and immigrant criminals, foreign-born sailors , and other incorrigible types. They were also held back from a decisive attack on wife beating because of lingeringpatriarchal assumptions, and because the family was shrouded with a mantle of respectability that discouraged public discussion of marital violence. The idea that the reform impulse collided with, and was ultimately limited by, other cultural assumptions is an important insight and serves to unify the book. Glenn's periodization is somewhat questionable when it comes to familial punishment; recent works by Philip Greven and Daniel Blake Smith show that religiously liberal, upper- and middle-class families were treating their children more leniently as early as the mideighteenth century. Late colonial and early republican developments are not much mentioned in this book, so these and other continuities tend to be underplayed. At times the writing is irritatingly presentistic; Professor Glenn is particularly fond of using the word "allegedly" or quotation marks to signal her doubts about the correctness of certain Victorian marital ideals. But, judged as a whole, this book (Glenn's first) is a thoughtful and useful work, furthering our understanding of these complex reform movements. David T. Courtwright University of Hartford For the Glory of the Union. By Alan A. Siegel. (Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984. Pp. 231. $29.50. The Civil War was not just a War Between the States, but a war within many of them as well. Alan Siegel's painstaking look at New Jersey militia and media during the war shows that this state north of the MasonDixon line was a surprisingly close call for the Union. A vigorous antiadministration , anti-war movement within New Jersey and many of its eighty newspapers convinced thousands that the war was not worth 286civil war history fighting, and even Lincoln supporters at times were not averse to an early, compromise peace settlement. For the Glory of the Unionwill be of interest to several sets of scholars. Those interested in seeing how close New Jersey might have come to abandoning the war effort, had there been several more early Union defeats, will enjoy studying accounts of the political discussions of 1861 and 1862. Students of military organization and morale will value the detailed reporting of the ups and downs of the Twenty-sixth NewJersey Regiment, a volunteer outfit recruited for nine months from the farms and factories of Newark and its suburbs. Despite promises that the volunteers would only have to face the dangers of garrison duty, the regiment was attached to the Army of the Potomac and equipped at first only with antique smooth-bore muskets. During its career, the Twentysixth spent five months in camp, broke and ran before a Rebel counterattack at Chancellorsville, made a daylight reconnaissance across the Rappahannock River, and eventually marched home to a hero's welcome. Historians of journalism will gain additional evidence concerning the extreme partisanship of newspapers during the war. Truth was a major casualty among New Jersey's eighty weekly and daily newspapers, which covered a spectrum of opinion from copperhead to abolitionist. Not only the expectable variance of opinion, but an amazingvariance of fact, was evident. For instance, at Bull Run 30,000 Union troops engaged 33,000 Confederates, but the Republican Daily Mercury pitted 20,000 Unionists against 90,000 Rebels...