Robert E. Lee’s Lighter Side: The Marble Man’s Sense of Humor

Thomas Forehand, Jr., ed.

Pelican, 2006, 112 pp., $12.95

ISBN: 9781589803558

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                There has been a resurgence of the idea to humanize General Lee and this work tends to aid in that study.  Amidst all of the biographies of Lee, there are many which treat him as a God and the very saving grace of the Confederacy and in reading those we often think of Lee as a God-like figure.  Particularly, Douglas Southall Freeman’s four volume work on Lee lends itself greatly to those ideas.  But in this small book, Robert E. Lee’s Lighter Side, Thomas Forehand, Jr., attempts to tell a different side of Lee through a series of human interest stories and humor.  What is printed in the book, however, may not be the great humanizer which is being attempted in this realm of study.

                Thomas Forehand, Jr., works mostly in the field as a public and religious education circuit and is currently working as a civil servant.  He earned his Bachelors of Science in radio and television journalism and later in his life attended the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  In 2004, he was awarded the Robert E. Lee Award from the Tennessee Division of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans.  This book goes hand in hand with Robert E. Lee’s Softer Side, also edited by Mr. Forehand.

                Throughout the book’s seventy pages, there are one hundred and twenty-five human interest stories explaining the humor found in the writings and encounters of General Lee.  Some of them are actually humorous, but many only help to explain the man behind the deity.  The writing is interesting since it changes from story to story all compiling itself of different soldiers and civilians.  While the quotes are cited, the writing itself is from Mr. Forehand changes from story to story.  There is a definite feeling of journalism from this text with very short stilted sentences usually found in a news column.  These stories, being edited and compiled by Mr. Forehand, are sometimes a stretch into the humorous life of General Lee.  For example, one of the stories was about biscuits during the winter of 1862-63.  The story goes that there was a great amount of hunger in the army and Lee would often find a way to make food funny for the men.  One of his aides stated that the biscuits were rather hard, but Lee’s response was “You ought not to mind that.  They will stick by you the longer.”  I could not really find the humor in that statement, but there are some who might.  The entire seventy pages are filled with these types of examples, but in all reality, these human interest stories tend to lack, well, the human interest.

                I’m going to be honest here.  I’m not really sure where I stand on this book.  I think that what is in these pages are a great attempt to bring a human element to a man who has stood tall in the history books as the closest thing to a deity on earth during the Civil War.  I think this type of book should be recognized for what it attempted to do, but in the reality of the situation, does not offer too much to the study of the war itself.  It is worth a look, but does not really belong on the bookshelf of serious Civil War students or historians.  This is a great introduction book to Lee the man and may help new students understand General Lee a bit better.  But for the serious student, you should avoid this one.  

Lee’s Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865

Edward G. Longacre

The University of Oklahoma Press, 2012 paperback, 468 pp. + 14 pp. introduction, $21.95

ISBN: 978-0-8061-4230-2

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Lee’s Cavalrymen is the companion volume to Lincoln’s Cavalrymen as a study into the branch of the Army of Northern Virginia.  In this text, there is the usual history of the cavalry during the war, but the study goes even farther than others do.  Longacre gives us a look into the life of the cavalryman during battle and during the downtime of the action.  While other books about the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia tend to deal with the actions of General Stuart, this book looks into all of the men who were important in the realm of the cavalry for the eastern theater of the war.  Finally in paperback, this book has been a classic and standby for cavalry studies for years now.

 Edward G. Longacre is the author of many books on the Civil War and some of his works have become the standalone studies of their subject.  The Cavalry at Gettysburg is still the standard reading for students who wish to know more about the campaign and the role which the cavalry took part in.  He is also the author of the new work on the Battle of Manassas, The Early Morning of War which is the best book written on the campaign which started the war.  Along with Lee’s Cavalrymen, Longacre also wrote Lincoln’s Cavalrymen as a companion book to this one on Union cavalry.  He is also the winner of the Douglas Southall Freeman History Award for his book Gentleman and Soldier: A Biography of Wade Hampton III.  

Much like Lincoln’s Cavalrymen, this book begins not by just jumping into the history of the cavalry division of the Army of Northern Virginia, but by explaining how they were organized and the roles the commanders played in the outset of the war.  As I read through the opening chapters, I began to discover that the cavalry in the Confederate army was much more trained and ready than those in the Union.  There was the preparedness for many of them since those who enlisted already had training with horses.  As it was with Lincoln’s Cavalrymen, the section which Longacre wrote about the Battle of Brandy Station was well done and is, usually, a battle not entirely looked at for the largest cavalry battle on the Western Hemisphere.  Many readers will flock to the section on Gettysburg to get an idea on what Longacre’s opinion is on Stuart’s actions.  Without ruining anything, I will not mention the details.  Throughout the text, the detail in the research is second to none and Longacre should be praised for writing an account of the Army of Northern Virginia’s cavalry in such a fine manner.  Aided with maps and pictures, there is little to wonder about what the author is talking about and gives more depth into the world of what the cavalry was like.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in cavalry history of the Civil War.  Much like Lincoln’s Cavalrymen, this should be the companion volume to that set.  The ease of the narrative makes this book easily accessible to anyone who has either been in the study for a long time or someone new to the Civil War.  I praise Longacre’s work for what he has done with the cavalry and hope this book continues to be used as one of the great standards of Civil War studies.

Asians and Pacific Islanders and the Civil War

Carol A. Shively, ed.

The National Park Service, 2015, 258 pp., $14.95

ISBN: 9-159922-703597  

Image courtesy of nps.gov

                There have been an incredible amount of studies of immigrants and immigration patterns during the Antebellum period and Civil War period but most of them focus only on the people who had come westward such as the Irish and the Germans.  Very little is ever studied about the immigration from the east.  Now, thanks to the National Park Service, a book has recently come out concerning the Asians and Pacific Islanders who fought during the Civil War.  Not only does this book deal with their actions during the war, but gives glimpses into the lives of the people before and after the conflict and other aspects about their immigration which is not usually covered.  What is produced here is a book that not only informs but educates the masses about a lesser known aspect of the people who fought this horrible war.

                Carol A. Shively is the editor of this work about the many Asians and Pacific Islanders who fought in the Civil War.  Among the contributors of this work are Dr. Gary Y. Okihiro, Ruthanne Lum McCunn, Ted Alexander, Dr. Justin W. Vance, Anita Manning and Terry Foenander.  Among the contributors were many other experts on the subject of Asian Americans in the Civil War including Jack Kuo Wei Tchen, Steve Phan, Carol A. Shively and Irving Moy. 

                The overall format of this book is quite easy to pick up and dive right into.  Many other works on immigration during the Civil War become bogged down in details to the point that the actual combat narrative of these people does not come into the text more than halfway through the book.  But here, the work is sectionalized and easy to read just tidbits of people you may have heard nothing about before.  Because of this, the reading is fast and keeps you interested.  The many contributors have put in a labor of love to not only tell you about these people, but inform you about the culture which was prevalent during the time of the Civil War when it came to the Asian Americans who arrived in the country.  Some of the stories of these men might leave you shocked to learn the way in which the United States Government treated Asians and Pacific Islanders during the reconstruction period.  But overall, it is hard not to be inspired by the acts of these men during the heat of combat. 

                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject of immigration during the American Civil War.  Very rarely do we hear about eastern immigration during the nineteenth century, but now with this book from the National Parks, that void has been filled.  The overall format of the book makes it an easy but informative read and the presentation of the book is of the highest quality.  With high resolution pictures and a glossy finish, this book definitely shows the great care in which it was produced.  When asked about a good source for any book on immigration, this will be on the top of my list for a suggestion.  A fine work that all who participated should be proud of.

Confederate Artillery Organizations: An Alphabetical Listing of the Officers and Batteries of the Confederacy 1861-1865

F. Ray Sibley, Jr.

Savas Beatie, 2014, 390 pp., $49.95

ISBN: 978-1-61121-230-3

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                There have always been books about statistics and organizations for Civil War campaigns and units, but none ever like this.  When I first heard about Confederate Artillery Organizations, I was intrigued by the idea and wondered constantly how it would be handled.  When I received this work, I was pleasantly surprised at the format of the text and how easy it was to read it.  F. Ray Sibley has provided the study of artillery during the American Civil War with something no other historian has been able to do.  He was able to list and draw out all of the batteries which participated in the war and the officers which led them.

                F. Ray Sibley Jr. Has received his undergraduate and his graduate degrees from the Southeastern Louisiana University and has worked as an educator at the St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana.  He has always had a deep interest in the war and is also the historian who wrote The Confederate Order of Battle: The Army of Northern Virginia which was a three volume study of the Confederate orders of battle which will also include volumes on the Trans-Mississippi and the Coastal Defenses.  He has retired from teaching and spends his time tutoring, hunting, growing beautiful day lilies and reading anything he can.

                One would think that this is a simple book of statistics, but you would be wrong.  Not only does this book provide an outlook into the organization of the battery and its officer, it provides a plethora of useful footnotes which gives information that may or may not have conflicted with official reports.  For example, one of the batteries in question was a commission date of an officer in Badham’s Battery, Lieutenant Nelson McClees.  One source states the commission date was February 4th, 1862 while another states the commission as February 10th, 1862.  While this seems like a minor issue, the change in dates can be a larger help in the overall study of artillery and is quite useful.  Other footnotes account for actions of officers other issues which have occurred in previous studies.  The study is done in an alphabetical order which makes it easier to find batteries than if you organized them by state or division of the army.  Other statistic driven works have organized regiments in a state order and has made finding artillery that much more difficult to analyze.  But in this format, the batteries were easy to find which makes the book more valuable to any Civil War student and historian.

                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the artillery during the Civil War.  The wealth of information stored in this volume is incredible and should be on the shelf of any Civil War historian or student.  Without this study in the artillery, there may have been questions as to the organization of the officers and battery itself.  Now, with Confederate Artillery Organizations, the students and historians of the future will thank Mr. Sibley for the work which he has done in this fine work.  This is the definitive book on artillery organization on the market right now.    

Lincoln’s Cavalrymen

Edward G. Longacre

University of Oklahoma Press, 2012 Paperback, 470 pp. + 16 pp. introduction, $21.95

ISBN: 978-0-8061-4229-6

Image courtesy of goodreads.com

                While the cavalry has been studied at length in Civil War studies, Edward G. Longacre’s Lincoln’s Cavalrymen stands as one of the major analyses in the history of the mounted forces.  Many histories of the cavalry deal with the strict adherence to battle plans and scouting movements which made the cavalry famous but Longacre takes a different approach.  In the flowing narrative style which he has made himself known for, Longacre takes the reader through the complete process and life of what it meant to be a cavalryman during the Civil War.  Through the text, it becomes clear to the reader that the wealth of knowledge in its pages is rarely matched in modern Civil War academia.

                Edward G. Longacre is the author of many books on the Civil War and some of his works have become the standalone studies of their subject.  The Cavalry at Gettysburg is still the standard reading for students who wish to know more about the campaign and the role which the cavalry took part in.  He is also the author of the new work on the Battle of Manassas, The Early Morning of War which is the best book written on the campaign which started the war.  Along with Lincoln’s Cavalrymen, Longacre also wrote Lee’s Cavalrymen as a companion book to this one on Union cavalry.  He is also the winner of the Douglas Southall Freeman History Award for his book Gentleman and Soldier: A Biography of Wade Hampton III. 

                As stated before, this book on the cavalry is much different than many other studies of the mounted forces during the war.  This book begins with the very fabric of the cavalry including the men and the horses which were brought into the conflict.  I was expecting a way right into the analysis of the battles and the campaigns but instead I got an analysis of what the expectations and numerous duties of a cavalryman during the war.  Longacre looks into the way in which cavalrymen were chosen through the ranks and that only men of certain body type were chosen for the positions.  Longacre also states that though many Confederate cavalrymen were accustomed to the practice of horse-riding, many in the Union were not so lucky in the heavily industrial north.  After the duties of the cavalrymen were analyzed, Longacre takes the reader into the analyses of the battles and campaigns and the major effects which they had on the outcome of the fighting.  Accompanied by both maps and pictures, there was never any question as to what Longacre was saying in his narrative. 

                There are many microhistories or multi volume histories on the cavalry during the Civil War.  This book handles the entire war of the cavalry in the Army of the Potomac and it is handled well without being too detailed that it takes away from the research and the writing.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the cavalry.  Not only the narrative of the battles and campaigns were interesting, but the way in which he explained the process of enlisting in the cavalry and the training and duties which came with the job were a great explanation to an otherwise process not usually explained.  Along with his book on the Confederate cavalry, this book should be in any Civil War library, especially one with an interest in the cavalry.    

Learning the Battle of Gettysburg: A Guide to the Official Records

Benjamin Y. Dixon, Ph.D.

Thomas Publications, 144 pp., 2007, $9.95

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                When first studying the Official Records for the Gettysburg Campaign, any student may seem overwhelmed by the amount of information contained in those three volumes.  The main question which beginners and even some learned students have is where to begin when studying a specific area of the battlefield.  Which reports and correspondence do you use to learn more about what happened at the Oak Ridge?  Or Little Round Top?  Thankfully, this book lends itself to that very idea guiding readers and students to the specific areas of the books which correspond to the parts of the battlefield.  In this reference book, Benjamin Dixon has done a great service to Civil War students everywhere.

                While Dixon gives some narrative at the beginning of each chapter and section of the battlefield, the main meat of the book comes in the cross referencing of the reports.  For example, when talking about the morning actions of the First Day of combat, he sorts the reports out by the opening of battle then moves to the Iron Brigade Defeats and Captures General Archer and then moves to Reynolds Woods and Reynold’s Death.  Some of these reports may appear more than once in the separation of action showing that the person involved was at numerous events in the area at hand.  General Doubleday reports in both the Iron Brigade Defeats and Captures General Archer and Reynold’s Woods and Reynold’s Death.  The creation of tables and events such as this gives the student and scholar of Gettysburg a great starting point to their studies.  One such area of difficulty which has stunned some early Gettysburg students is that some commanders and regiments did not write reports for the campaign.  Many of the German speaking officers from General Schimmelfennig’s and Coster’s Brigade did not write reports, but some of the regiments did supply their correspondence and writings.  But here in this book, there is a reference to where some of the writings are in the three heavy volumes of the Official Records.  Not only does Dixon work out the three days of combat, but there is some background information which is referenced in the records and there are also chapters on the aftermath, miscellaneous events and incidents and quotes from soldiers.  This gives a comprehensive collection of the close to 2,100 pages of the records.

                I highly recommend this book to anyone who is studying the Battle of Gettysburg and is having a hard time wrangling the Official Records.  While the records themselves are organized into the corps level, it does not help in the study of the sections of the battlefield.  Here in this book, we get a better idea of what to look for and where to find it.  Dixon should be praised for creating a great reference book that should be owned by every Gettysburg historian and student.    

The Long Road to Antietam: How the Civil War Became a Revolution

Richard Slotkin

Liveright Publishing Company, 2012, 480 pp. + 33 pp. introduction, $32.95

ISBN: 978-0-87140-411-4

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                The Battle of Antietam has been analyzed many times in the history of Civil War writing and many wonder if this conflict, much like Gettysburg, has reached its cap of knowledge on what can be written.  Here, in The Long Road to Antietam, Richard Slotkin takes an in depth look not only into the battle itself, but more so the months preceding and the political effects during the aftermath.  Throughout his text, he turns the movements of the army along with the changes in the high command into a political narrative which is enthralling to the very last word.  The end product is a new work which shines new information on the campaign as a whole and is a welcome addition into the echelon of the Antietam academia.

                Richard Slotkin is an award winning historian and author and has written many books not only about the Civil War but about American History as a whole.  He is the professor emeritus at Wesleyan University and is the recipient of the Michael Shaara Award for Civil War fiction and his work Abe.  His American History Trilogy, Regeneration through Violence, The Fatal Environment and Gunfighter Nation won numerous accolades.  He also is well versed on the Battle of the Crater with his fiction work The Crater and his nonfiction work No Quarter.

                When readers approach this work, they should realize that the body of the research is not just about the Battle of Antietam, but more of the political ramifications of what happened because of this battle.  The political world of the army during the onset of the campaign was brutal in the military not only with General McClellan in command, but the maniacal ways in which he applauded the resignation of General Winfield Scott.  Most books state that Scott resigned due to medical reasons, but Slotkin presents information which may change the way people think about that whole event.  Throughout the text, McClellan’s actions show how dedicated he was to his soldiers but not so much to his fellow staff and officers.  As the armies begin to move and converge on many locations, including a chapter on the Second Battle of Manassas, it becomes clear that anyone wishing to stand in the way of McClellan was about to get steamrolled over.  However, it seems that McClellan himself still wanted the approval from his superiors in Washington at every turn.  The premise of the work, which is never lost through the text, is that this campaign would thrive on the future Emancipation Proclamation and this idea of the Civil War would then become a revolution of freedom for those in bondage.  Slotkin handles this with a great amount of scholarship and academia unmatched in many works on the politics of the war.

                The Long Road to Antietam is highly recommended for anyone reading about the Civil War, especially Antietam enthusiasts.  This book gives new light to otherwise overlooked segments of the campaign mainly the realm of the political spectrum.  The narrative was quite flowing and at some times even page turning due to the very nature of the military and political backstabbing.  Mr. Slotkin has once again delivered a fine work to the Civil War audience.