The Union Must Stand: The Civil War Diary of John Quincy Adams Campbell, Fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry (review)

The Union Must Stand: The Civil War Diary of John Quincy Adams Campbell, Fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. Edited by Mark Grimsley and Todd D. Miller. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2000. Pp. xxiii, 267. $38.00.)

All too often, wartime diaries suffer from hurried and brief entries that either lack valuable tactical detail or fail to offer much insight into the individual's awareness of the Civil War's larger themes. Fortunately, this is not the case with the diary of John Q. A. Campbell of the 5th Iowa Infantry. With this volume, historians Mark Grimsley and Todd D. Miller have brought to print the writings of a man who recorded his regiment's movements and engagements and expressed his personal views on the war's ultimate purpose with remarkable clarity.

An outspoken abolitionist and churchgoing reformer, Campbell was employed on the staff of his hometown newspaper in Newton, Iowa, when the war began. He left little doubt as to his decision to enlist in the 5th Iowa in the summer of 1861. In his initial diary entry, the new recruit justified his desire to serve his country as stemming "not from any feeling of enthusiasm, nor incited by any hopes of honor [or] glory," but instead from a desire to crush what he viewed as rebellion by the Southern states "to secure the extension of that blighting curse--slavery" (2). Within the first year of his enlistment, Campbell rose to the rank of lieutenant and saw combat in the battles of Iuka and Corinth. Later his regiment was involved in the actions around Vicksburg and participated in the attack on Missionary Ridge. When his regiment failed to reenlist in November 1864, Campbell transferred to the cavalry, but service in the mounted arm was brief, as he soon resigned his commission to return home and assume family responsibilities following the death of his father.

Campbell's commentary on the country's political struggles deserves attention from those currently involved in the continuous debate over the ideological commitment of Civil War soldiers. He criticized the government's slowness in openly waging a total war on slavery. Upon learning of Lincoln's decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, Campbell wrote emphatically: "His proclamation would have been in better time, however, if it had been made a year ago. But better late than never" (61). All the same, he applauded Lincoln's move on the Southern institution and revealed a clear understanding of the document's importance when he wrote: "The President has placed the Union pry under the corner stone of the Confederacy and the structure will fall" (61).

Military enthusiasts will likewise find much to excite them, specifically in the detailed descriptions of combat. Campbell took no pains to hide his opinions on the conduct and intelligence of his superiors. Following his regiment's assault on Tunnel Hill at Chattanooga, in which the 5th Iowa suffered terribly, Campbell offered this opinion of his army's commander: "I am not now (nor ever was) an admirer of Gen. Sherman for he has only succeeded in failing" (138). Diary entries surrounding battles and engagements are often unusually lengthy, written with an unbelievably sharp eye toward minute details. Grimsley admits in the introduction that this edited version was not made from the original journals (which are not known to exist). This may raise suspicion as to whether Campbell revised them after the war; nevertheless, his accounts should not be readily dismissed.

The editors have nicely fleshed out the text of the diary. Introductions to the book and to each chapter include a wealth of background information as well help to place the diary in its larger context. During the war, Campbell continued to ply his trade as a journalist, and fifteen letters written to his hometown newspaper form an appendix. These letters effectively complement...