Unlikely Warriors: General Benjamin Grierson and His Family (review)

BOOK REVIEWS83 same ground as the former as to almost render it unnecessary. Patrick Cleburne rises from Arkansas enlisted man to captain, then colonel, and then major general by the end of 1862. The fifth essay is, perhaps, the weakest of all. It is a rather disjointed and rambling account of Cleburne's various staff officers, focusing on Capt. Irving Buck. Written by a descendant of Captain Buck, this chapter sheds more light on the captain than on his commander. Other chapters cover the defense of Ringgold Gap, the Battle of Pickett's Mill, the Tennessee Campaign of 1864, and Cleburne's final battle at Franklin. One of the most interesting entries is Mark Hull's "concerning the Emancipation of the Slaves." On January 2, 1 864, Cleburne presented his formal plan to emancipate all those slaves, and their families, who would fight for the Confederacy . He saw Confederate defeat as very likely and with it the end of slavery . So ifthe South were to lose its slaves, it would be better to at least gain the political independence for which it was fighting. Voluntarily ending slavery, he believed, would cause England, which had instituted emancipation in its possessions in the 1 830s, to openly side with the South. He further felt that such a move on the part of the Confederacy would sap the Union's effort to use Black soldiers against it. He even asserted that Southern-born Black Union soldiers would no longer see a need for their services and would desert, return home, and take up arms for the Confederacy! Hull reproduces Cleburne's controversial proposal in an appendix and does a good job in putting it into a wider context. And even though such a plan probably would not have succeeded, the reader certainly is able to see things from Cleburne's probable perspective. Hull also clarifies the price Cleburne paid for his outspokenness when other, perhaps less qualified, men were promoted to corps command instead of him. Another good chapter is Mauriel Joslyn's essay on Cleburne's character and personality. It shows Cleburne the man, as opposed to Cleburne the soldier. In summation, there is probably not much here that is not already in the Purdue or Symonds biographies. Mauriel Joslyn's writing—she wrote four of the entries—is among the best in the collection, and she might have been better served to have written a complete biography instead of trying to pull together these disparate essays. James M. McCaffrey University of Houston Unlikely Warriors: General Benjamin Grierson and His Family. By William H. Leckie and Shirley A. Leckie. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998. Pp. xv, 368. $18.95, paper.) War has been known to pluck ordinary, or even lackluster, men from obscurity and thrust them into national prominence. This was the case with Benjamin Grierson, who gained fame during the Civil War for his bold cavalry raid through Mississippi in 1863. Grierson was neither successful nor exceptionally talented, 84CIVIL WAR HISTORY except for his musical abilities, when the war began. He had failed miserably as a businessman and was forced to move his young family to his parents' home, where he earned a meager living giving music lessons. The conflict between the North and South changed all ofthat, as he quickly established an enviable reputation as a tireless combat commander who obtained results. Unlikely Warriors is far more than an exciting recital of the battlefield accomplishments of Benjamin Grierson. The book represents an intimate biographical portrait ofa nineteenth century American military family. The authors, William and Shirley Leckie, combine a stirring narrative of the campaign trail in both the Civil War and the Indian wars with a poignant and oftentimes tragic story of the Griersons' life together. The Leckies' portrayal of Alice Grierson underscores the loneliness and despair frequently felt by military wives. The long separations from her husband, combined with the constant responsibilities ofraising children without the presence of a father, consumed her energies and often left her physically and emotionally drained. Nonetheless, she served as a stalwart companion to her husband throughout his long career. Grierson was also beset with frustration and despair that plagued his military career...