Adair & Smith” (Confederacy editors George Adair and Henly Smith) on how Romans had lionized General Forrest in the city. Smith was in Rome when Sherman’s forces approached the city in May 1864. He and his family joined most of the cit izenry in a panicked flight from the city. But of course he turned his experience into a funny column, one of my very favorites. “Bill Arp, the Roman Runagee” was first published in the Atlant Southern Confederacy on May 29, 1864. It was reprinted in Bil Arp’s Peace Papers (1873), a collection of articles written durin and after the war. In the piece A describes the approach of Union forces toward Rome. “Not many days ago the everlasting Yankees (may they live always when the devil gets em) made a valyunt assault upon the sitty of the hills Arp explained, suggesting that Rome, Ga., like its Italian counterpart, was called the “city of seven hills.”
But alas for human hoaps! Man that is born of woman (and there is no other sort that I know of) has but few days that is not full of trubble. Altho the troops did showt, altho their brass band music swelled upon the gale, altho the turkey bumps
commandin Genrul asshoored us that Rome wer to be held at every hazerd, and that on to-morrer the big battle wer to be fout, and th fowl invaders hurled all howlin
and bleedin to the shores of the Ohio, yet it transpired sumhow that on choosdy night the militar evakuashun of our sitty was preemptorly ordered.6
Like most Roman “runagees,” the Smiths resettled in Atlanta. On June 3, a local paper, the transplanted Memphis Appeal, announced that “’Bill
Arp’—Chas. H. Smith, Esq., better known as ‘Bill Arp,’ attorney and counselor-at-law, has opened an office in this city, with Col. J.W.H. Underwood.”
for the Atlanta newspapers, and readers loved it. “Volo” wrote in from Roswell, north of Atlanta,
“we have received today’s Confederacy, and I assure you ‘Bill Arp’s’ letter was read with shouts and with ‘good’ from every tongue.”7 Smith was in Atlanta when the Yankees had gotten so close to th city that they were able, beginning on July 20, to fire artiller shells into Atlanta. The panicked citizenry began packing up and heading out, as Arp related, albe
About this time the fust big shells kommensed skatterin their unfeelin kontents among the sububs of that devoted sitty. Then cum the big paniks….All sorts of peepul seemed movin in all sorts of ways, with an akselerated moshun. They ganed ground on their shadders as they leened forwerd on the run, and their leg grew longer at evry step….Kars was the all-in-all….The passenger depo was throngd with ankshus seekers of transportashun. “Wont you let these boxes go as bagidge?” “No madam, its onpossible.” Just then sumbodys family trunk as big as a niter buro was shoved in, and the poor woman got desprite. “All I’ve got ain’t as hevvy a that,” sed she, “and I am a poor wider, and my husband was killed in the army. I’ve got five little children, and my things hav got to go.” We took up her boxes and shoved em in. Another good woman axed very anxshusly for the Makon trane. “There it is, madam,” sed I. She shuke her hed mournfully and remarked, “You are mistakin, sur, don’t you see the injine is hedded rite up State Road towards the Yankees? I shant take any trane with the i jine at that end of it. No, sur, ain’t the Makon trane.” By and by the shells fell as
mashuns, causin a more speedy lokomoshun in the xsiled throng who hurrid by the dore….All day and all nite long the iron hosses were snortin to the ekoin breeze.
Trane atter trane of goods and chattels moved down the rode, leavin hundreds of ankshus fases waitin their return. There was no method in this madness. All kinds
skuously. A huge parlor mirrer, sum 6 foot by 8, all bound in ile gant gold, with a barass buzzard a spreddin his wings on the top, was sot up at the end of the kar,
and reflekted a butiful assortmen of parler furnichure to match, sich as pots and kittles, baskets and bags, barrels and kegs, bacon and bedsteds, all piled up
Smith and his family returned to Rome in December 1864, after
Sherman and his army had set out for Savannah and the sea. He resumed his law practice and in 1868 was elected mayor of Rome. A decade later the Smiths moved to Cartersville, the county seat of Bartow County. “Bill Arp” continued to write humorous pieces on the War and Reconstruction for the Atlanta Constitution, whose edi Henry W. Grady, became a close
friend. These and his wartime articles were published in severa collections. In Bill Arp’s Peace Papers (1873), the author muses on the republication in Richmond during 1864 of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. The book became a hit among Confederate soldiers in Virginia, who started calling it (and themselves) “Lee’s Miserables.” This prompted Bill Arp to comment, “sum frog-eatin Frenchman hav writ a book and kalled it ‘Lee’s Miserbels,’ or sum other sich name, which I spose contain the misfortunes of poor refugees in the wake of the Virginny army. Genrul Hood hav also got a few miserbels in the suberbs of his fiting ground….” “Hood’s Miserables” has yet to catch on in the literature, but l it to Bill Arp to give it a try. famed writer died Aug. 24, 1903, and is buried in Cartersville’s Oak Hill Cemetery. At the funeral service, a clergyman declared that Bill Arp’s name “was known around the world.”9 Even Bill would have found that statement “a little steep.” But it was solidly grounded in th tradition of comic exaggeration that one sees so often in Souther literary humor.*
*I’ll give one of my favorite e amples. In Life on the Mississipp (1883), Mark Twain comments on the mosquitoes swarming around
told Twain that the insects were so huge as to be dubbed “Lake Providence colossi.” “He said that two of them could whip a dog, and that four of them could
hold a man down,” Twain recorded. “He told many remarkable things about those lawless insects. Among others, said he had seen them try to vote.” “Noticing
a good deal of a strain on us, he modified it a little,” the writer continued; “said he might have been mistaken, as to that particular, but knew he had seen them
Endnotes: 1. David B. Parker, Alias Bill Charles Henry Smith and the South’s “Goodly Herit (Athens: University of Geor
Press, 1991), 3-14; Richard Michael Allen, comp., The 8 Georgia Volunteer Inf
Two Union generals were named for this famous explorer who “discovered” the New World in 1492. Another Northern general bore the name (in Latinized version) of this Italian explorer after whom “America” was named. Four Federal and two Confederate generals bore the name of this first president of the United States. Another four Civil War generals carried the name of this famous Pennsylvanian, author of Poor Richard’s Almanack. One Federal general was named for Napoleon Bonaparte, but surprisingly two were named for this king of Sweden (reigned 1611– 1632), credited with establishing his country as a world power. Three Union generals were named for this president of
Regiment, 1861–1865 (El Dorado Hills CA: Savas Beatie, 2018), 36. Ford Risley, ed., Dear Courier The Civil War Correspondence o Editor Melvin Dwinell (Knoxvil
University of Tennessee Press, 2018), 319 n. 2 (“he began wri satirical essays for the Couri Parker, Alias Bill Arp, 52-54. Bill Arp’s Scrap Book; Humor and Philosophy (Atlanta: Jas. Harrison & Co., 1884), 7-8. James C. Austin, Bill Arp (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1969) 19; Carole E. Scott, “Writing der the nom de plume ‘Bill Arp Charles H. Smith achieved fame as the Confederacy’s jester,”
America’s Civil War, May 2004, 16. Anne M. Christie, “Civil War Humor: Bill Arp,” Civil War History, vol. 2 (September 195 103. Parker, Alias Bill Arp, 57-58; “Bill Arp, the Roman Runagee,” Atlanta Southern Confederacy, May 29, 1864; Bill Arp’s Peace Papers (New York: G. W. Carleton & Co., 1873), 67-68. “Local Intelligence,” Memphis
Appeal, June 3, 1864; “Volo,” “On the Right Wing,” Atlanta Southern Confederacy, June 22, 1864.
the United States who served 1829–1837. 7. A Confederate and a Federal general bore the name of this famed American officer whose service bridged the War of 1812 to the start of Civil War. 8. One Federal general was named after this third U.S. president. 9. Similarly, a Union general bore the name of this sixth president of the United States. 10. Finally, let’s hear it for c sical composers. A Northern general carried the name of this Austrian composer who
wrote more than a hundred symphonies. Answers found on page 46.
Steve Davis is the Civil War New Book Review Editor. He can be contacted by email at:
8. Quoted in Stephen Davis, Wh the Yankees Did to Us: Sher Bombardment and Wrecking of Atlanta (Macon: Mercer University Press, 2012), 12 9. John D. Eidson, “Charles He
Smith (‘Bill Arp’),” in Ken Coleman and Charles Stephen Gurr, eds., Dictionary of G Biography, 2 vols. (Athens: University of Georgia, 1983 2, 895; Bill Arp’s Peace Pa 81.
Stephen Davis, of Cumming, Ga., has long had an interest in Southern literature. At Emory
in American Studies; his dissertation was titled “Johnny Reb in Perspective: The Confederate Soldier’s Image in the Southern Arts.” During
his time as graduate student he had published “Mark Twain, the War, and Life on the Mississippi (Southern Studies, Summer 1979) and “Turning
Tate’s Stonewall Jackson (Mississippi Quarterly, Spring 1979).
Errors of Judgment, A Major not Intent from an Oper
The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: Preserving the Civil War’s Legacy. By Paul Kahan. Illustrations, index, bibliography, 191 pp., 2018. Westholme
Paul Kahan provides a well-written analysis of Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency and how political, economic and cultural forces unleashed by the Civil War defined many of his presidential decisions. Throughout his presidential tenure, Grant w consumed by Reconstruction. His vision of binding the nation together was always focused on the basis of justice and political equality for all, particular newly freed slaves and Native Americans. Early twentieth century historians like William Dunning charged Grant with being party to a vindictive Northern attempt to punish the South. Later histo ans, e.g., Kenneth Stampp and C. Vann Woodward, felt Grant did not do enough to advance black political and economic rights. Thus Grant was blamed by both historical schools for failures ignored his need to curtail legi lative dominance, deal with competing factions in the Republica Party, and manage a severe reces sion, international crises, west ward expansion and a Northern electorate desirous of putting t war to rest. As more of Grant’s presidential papers have become
available, the scandals associated with his associates have been placed in a proper perspec-
These included improving relations with Great Britain, promoting African-American political equality, and setting the United States on the path to becoming a world power. Thoroughly researched, balanced in his assessment of events and objective in his analysis, Kahan would agree with Grant’s own assessment of his presidency that mistakes were made but they were “errors in judgment, not intent.” Furthermore, Grant’s military career became the prism through which he understood the demands of his era. He was concerned that politicians would squander the victories won on the battlefields and that Norther support for sweeping political and economic change was shallow and ephemeral. Within this context, Grant can be seen as a politician-in-training not yet ad ept at using patronage to achieve legislative victories or besting Democrats who controlled the House of Representatives. Democrats were more concerned with embarrassing Grant by their frequent investigations, ostensibly to ferret out corruption, tha cooperating to achieve tangible gains in the legislative arena. Grant’s presidential era bears an eerie resemblance to the political landscape today. With a new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives from the 2018 elections, investigation will surely be used to hobble President Trump’s agenda and the politics of personal destruction will again reign in Washington. Paul Kahan’s book is thus not only an excellent look into how Grant shaped the presidency from a background of no political experience, but how many of his dilemmas are evident in our current political climate. This book is highly recommended for a short but insightful look a Grant’s presidency and should be required reading for presidential historians and Civil War buffs.
Wayne L. Wolf is Professor Emeritus at South Suburban College in Illinois and the autho of numerous Civil War books
and articles, including Heroes and Rogues of the Civil War and
Soldiers, Sailors and Scoundrels of the Civil War. He is past pres dent of the Lincoln-Davis Civil W
River of Death: The Chickamauga Campaign. Vol. 1: The Fall of Chattanooga. By William Glenn Robertson. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibl ography, index, 680 pp., 2018. University of North Carolina
Although much ground has been made up in the last twenty years or so, it is fair to say t the Western Theater remains the figurative red-headed stepchild of Civil War scholarship. Only recently have we seen, for example, scholarly treatment of the individual battles of the Atlanta Campaign, or the battle of Knoxville. Timothy Smith has produced a campaign level trilogy of the Federal invasion of Tennessee and northern Mississippi in 1862 to rival Gordon Rhea’s Overland Campaign series, and David Powell’s recent Chickamauga trilogy matches any of the myria of intense tactical studies of t fighting at Gettysburg. Another deficiency has now been addressed. Until now, one area where Western Theater historiography lagged behind was a view of one of its most significant campaigns from an operational standpoint, similar to Edward Coddington’s classic The Gettysburg Campaign (1968). The U.S. military defines the op
erational level of war as the “l el of war at which campaigns and
major operations are planned, conducted, and sustained to achieve strategic objectives wit
in theaters or other operational areas.” In Vol. 1 of River of Death, William Glenn Robertson has skillfully portrayed, from a
operational standpoint, the first phase of the 1863 campaign for the possession of Chattanooga. Robertson’s eminent qualifications for this task are clearly reflected in his deep narrative. For years, in connection with his duties at the United States Army Combat Studies Institute in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Robertson led staff rides of mid-level officers (primarily majors) that studied the campaign on the ground, both inside and outside the Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park. Robertson gathered primary source materials continuously during that time and the book blends the first-per son viewpoints of soldiers and civilians in a manner that signif cantly enriches the text. Introductory chapters cover each army and its commanders to the brigade level as they existed in July 1863, prior to the start the campaign. Beginning in late August 1863, the Federal Army of the Cumberland, operating on a front of over one hundred airline miles on a diagonal line fro East Tennessee through northwest Georgia to northeast Alabama, advanced on Chattanooga. The Confederate Army of Tennessee was eventually maneuvered out of the strategic little town on t Tennessee River, abandoning it to the Federals on September 9, 1863. Robertson’s narrative outlines Federal Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans’ efforts at deception, and the thought processes and considerations that finally required Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg to withdraw (he hoped only temporarily) from Chattanooga. The relative strengths and weaknesses of the armies and their commanders, the logistical challenges each faced, the impact of the difficulties the te rain imposed on both armies,
Digital Issues of CWN are availa alone or with print plus CW
and the larger strategic picture are blended into a seamless, indepth treatment of this first pha of the Chickamauga campaign. Those readers with a familiarity of the Chattanooga area will particularly appreciate Robertson’s portrayal of the vast geographica scope of the movements in the approximately two-week period covered by the book, and students of the maneuvers that immediately preceded the battle of Chickamauga will note that the book ends on the cusp of a momentum shift from the Federals to the Confederates, as the large area of Federal operations that aided the capture of Chattanooga began to expose the widely-separated Federal columns to defeat in detail. Even if the study of the Weste Theater is not the first love of reader steeped in Antietam and Gettysburg, Robertson’s first-rat military scholarship is well wort the time it takes to read, if not ing else to lend depth to one’s understanding of the many moving parts of a Civil War army on campaign. For Western Theater enthusiasts, this book is the par tial culmination of our long wait to hear from the acknowledged expert on this campaign, leaving us to eagerly anticipate Volume 2 which will cover the remainder of the Chickamauga Campaign presumably through the aftermath of the fighting on September 18-20, 1863.
Sam Elliott is a practicing attor ney in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a member and former chairman of the Tennessee Historical Commission, and the editor or author of five books on the Civil W the latest of which, John C. Brow of Tennessee: Rebel, Redeemer and Railroader was the winner of the 2017 Tennessee History Book Award.
Maps, photos, notes, index, 237 pp., 2017. History Press,
Civil War Missouri does not suffer for attention. In recent years, historians have produced a steady flow of books that justl reveal Missouri’s important role in the conflict. Books on slavery guerrilla warfare, politics, unit histories and war tourism abound. Joseph W. McCoskrie and Brian Warren have added their own entry into this increasingly crowded field with The Civil War Missouri Compendium: Almost Unabridged. The authors aim to provide “a roughly chronological overview of hundreds of the documented engagements that took place within Missouri’s borders.” They then deliver on this promise with an almost daily description of battles and skirmishes that le Missouri with the greatest number of combat actions outside of Tennessee and Virginia. The Civil War Missouri Compendium is thus a valuable, and unique, book that will be of use to the buff a tourist. However, the book will also frustrate its readers with numerous editorial errors, factual misstatements, and uneven research.
Reference Highlights The strength of this book is i concept. Day-by-day, the authors
reveal the combat actions of the Civil War in Missouri. The list-
ings are encyclopedic in nature as they document places of action, list casualties, and briefl describe the events. Minor skirmishes usually receive a one-sentence description, while larger actions get several paragraphs. Occasionally, the authors go outside of combat to note important political milestones. Such is cer tainly the case with their entry on John C. Fremont’s proclamation of martial law and emancipation on August 30, 1861. The authors also mark many events, whether small or large, with sections variously titled “Why It Matters,” “Authors’ Assessment,” “Historical Situation,” “What If” or “What’s at Stake.” Although there is no real consistency for which events get these sections, the labeling can be helpful when trying to understand what is trul important in a book-length recitation of ambushes, raids, and skirmishes. There are two other notable features. First, McCoskrie and Warren intersperse brief biographical sketches throughout their text. Here too, however, there is little consistency as to who receives treatment. For example, Joseph Shelby and John Marmaduke are sketched, but Sterling Price is not. In similar fashion, the authors sketch Blood Bill Anderson, while providing no such information on William C. Quantrill. There are numerous other instances. One final featur of the book, and perhaps its most valuable, is the frequent inclusi of “Tourism Notes” that guide the reader to many obscure battlefiel locations and internet sites. Despite its virtues, The Civil War Missouri Compendium is significantly flawed in its research and editing. The authors have written the book for a popular audience. It thus lacks any form of direct attribution in its research. This is understandable, but it can be frustrating when th authors deal with obscure events and only reference the sourcing
of “local historians” or “some historians” in their text. No les
frustrating, the authors at times suggest further research in the
ubiquitous Official Records without indicating any specific location within the massive 128-part set. Given this approach to attri bution, it is not surprising that rors and misstatements permeate the text. The authors frequently misspell or garble important names. The single-shot Sharps rifle becomes a “repeating fire” weapon. John Marmaduke is described as retreating to his “hom base in Helena, [AR]” when that city was occupied by Union forces. The Militia Act of July 17, 1862 receives different definitions on different pages. Senator David R. Atchison is described as having a “staunch anti-slavery stance” and being an “abolitionist,” which, of course, would have surprised the slave-holding Atchison. Many problems surface with the entries pertaining to Sterling Price’s Raid of 1864. General Edmund Kirby Smith never ordered, or assigned, Price to “cross the Mississippi River into Illinois” to threaten Union supply lines in Tennessee. Joseph Shelby never joined Price at Fort Davidson following Old Pap’s attack on September 27. The 62nd USCT did not fight at the Battle Glasgow, and John Marmaduke did not command 1,500 men of the Missouri State Guard at any point in the campaign. These kinds of mistakes were avoidable, but the authors did at least anticipate that their work was not complete. The full title of the book, The Civil War Missouri Compendium: Almost Unabridged, hints at the problem. The authors explain the catchy subtitle as suggesting the intention “to improve the book in later editions.” The number of errors present in this edition su gest that the authors have plenty of work remaining.
Kyle S. Sinisi is a professor of history at The Citadel. He is the author of Sacred Debts: State Civil War Claims and American Federalism, 1861–1880 and The Last Hurrah: Sterling Price’s Missouri Expedition of 1864. He i currently at work on a biography of Samuel Curtis.
Ohio and West Virginia Colonels in Blue–Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia: A Civil War Biographical Dictionary. By Roger D. Hunt. Photos, bibliography, index, 216 pp., 2017.
In the spring of 1861, secessi fever swept across the southern United States, cannibalizing the meager ranks of the regular army. President Abraham Lincoln faced the immense challenge of suppressing a growing rebellion with an estimated 5,000 officers and enlisted men. Although the Mexican War served as a proving ground for a number of future generals, few men of fighting age possessed military experience beyond that provided by loosely organized local militias. In addi tion to escalating the crisis, th president’s bold call for 75,000 loyal citizens for three months o service on April 15 initiated an enlistment process based on patriotic fervor, unbridled enthusi asm and social popularity, rather than on military experience. To the detriment of early volunteer regiments, state governors tasked with meeting enlistment quotas appointed commanders more gifted in rallying men than in leading troops. Throughout the war, additional calls bolstered t ranks, and eventually able subordinates replaced the officers who failed to gain the necessary expe rience and leadership skills. By the war’s end, more than 2.6 million men and women had served
and researchers have resurrected buried information offering new perspectives and fresh insights into one of history’s most researched wars. Although Roger D. Hunt’s motivation is unclear, his Colonels in Blue series offers new life to group of individuals often overshadowed by mythologized battles and leaders. Organized into volumes by region, the series serves as a biographical dictiona of individuals who achieved, but did not advance beyond the rank of colonel in the Federal army. Like the previous books in the se ries, the fourth volume, featurin colonels from Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia, is meticulously researched and organized. Arranged by state, each sectio begins with a list of commanders in order by regiment, followed by each man’s biographical data in alphabetical order. Each biographical entry includes a general service record, personal dat such as vital statistics, educati occupation, residences, and images when available. Although the title clearly highlights wartime service, Hunt further humanizes and affirms his deep interest in his subjects through th inclusion of postwar data. Shrouding the often messy process of research and data collection, Hunt’s sleek organizational style makes for easy reading. Even the most experienced researcher is sure to find unfamili gems hidden among his research and bibliographical notes. This handy reference is worthy of consideration by anyone with an interest in the Civil War-era Feder army.
Krista Castillo manages Fort Negley Visitors Center and Park i Nashville, Tennessee and serves as the president of the Nashville Civil War Roundtable. Fort Negley built during the Federal occupation of Nashville, was the larges inland masonry fortification constructed during the war.
Definitive Book on the U.S. Mo US Model 1855 Series of Small Arms. By John Willyard. Photos, endnotes, index, 224 pp., 2018. Mowbray Publishing,
The U.S. Model 1855 rifle musket was so named because it was developed and approved in 1855 when Jefferson Davis was the U.S. Secretary of War. holds an odd place in the hist of American-made military arms It was created during a transi tional period of the mid-19th century, when new technologies and innovations were becoming feasible for military applicat At that time the United States was not engaged in any major conflict. While all that was a to change dramatically in a fe years, this lull in activity e
Rifle Musket the U.S. Model 1855 to evolve through a number of changes over its four years of production, 1857 to 1861. The most immediately noticeable characteristic of the U.S. Model 1855 small arm is a feature called the Maynard tape primer which resulted in a lock plate with a hinged door, a high hump and an arched hammer to fit around it. Maynard was a former West Point cadet and dentist by trade. In the mid-1840s he came up with the idea of “making primers of fulminating mixture to ignite by percussion…and secondly the mode of moving and measuring out the primers by the movement of the lock.” His notion was based on the premise that the act of priming the cone with a separate percussion cap was a major impediment under combat conditions. The original idea was used in the conversion of big bore flintlock muskets to the new percussion system beginning in the late 1840s. However, the Maynard tape primer was not a feature of the part-interchangeable .69 caliber U.S. Model 1842 smoothbore musket, although there was a prototype with a European-type back lock. It was also not a feature of the U.S. 1841 percussion rifle, which was originally .54 caliber. The odd lock primer design was instead reintroduced for the first generation of .58 caliber rifled arms, the socalled U.S. Model 1855 series of small arms and the subject of this
book. The U.S. Model 1855 has a kind of cult following today for several reasons. It looks differen and yet because it was the direct predecessor of the U.S. Model 1861, at the same time much of it looks familiar. The barrel band are held on with band springs, the bright finish on most of the iron parts (except the sight), the swelled ramrod with its tulip-shaped head, the arched hammer and the bolster with a cleanout screw. The U.S. 1855 rifle muskets broadly fall into three (3) basic types. 1. Lock plate marked Springfield or Harpers Ferry 1857/8, with walled (long range) ladder re sight, and a brass nose cap. 2. Lock plate marked Springfield or Harpers Ferry 1858/9, with solid base rear sight with th sighting leaves marked 1,3, 5 for yardage, and a brass (ear transitional) or iron nose ca 3. The same as #2, dated 1860/1 but with an iron nose cap onl and an iron patch box. However, it is not unusual to encounter specimens that fall outside of these three broad categories or “types.” The author correctly points out that to fully understand these arms it is necessary to know how many were produced, as well as when, where and why they were made. It turns out there were quite a few more than the three broad variations listed above.
Medical Demonstrations in the Living Histor y Village
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i e n c e a C i v i l Wa r We d d he Sutler Village in a Period Worship Service Food/Bevera ge Vendors
The author, John Willyard, ha made a careful study of original correspondence (much of it unpublished) which sheds considerable insight into how and why various changes in the design were made. While it is fun to debate the idiosyncrasies found in original firearms, we must be mindful that we are looking back from a modern perspective. The armorers at Springfield and Harpers Ferry were not privy to subcategories and distinctions that we assign to their production now. The author uses the pa tience of a forensic detective t reconstruct production variation as well as the numbers stored at and shipped from the Springfield and Harpers Ferry Armories at different times. For example, as many have suspected, the quantity of arms traditionally repor as of Harpers Ferry 1861 production is somewhat inaccurate. Additionally, arms considered by collectors today as “transitional models” because of their lock and barrel dates were in fact pa tially finished production alter later when the supplies of the more current versions became exhausted. For the valuable information contained, the many charts included in the appendices of this book are worth the very reasonable cover price all by themselv In addition to the more commonly encountered rifle muskets, the author covers the rifl made at Harpers Ferry as well as
pistols, carbines, bayonets and cadet models. While virtually all of the U.S. Model 1855 series of small arms utilize the Maynard tape primer, the book includes the Springfield Armory Model 1855 rifle carbine, which does not. The 224 pages of text are supplemented with an extraordinary number (580) of high-quality color photos. The book that this most compares to is Claud E. Fuller’s clas sic, The Rifled Musket (1958). While the author does not state this specifically, I imagine that it was his intent for the book to create something along the lines of The Rifled Musket for the U.S. Model 1855 series of small arms. The author points out his initial area of interest was with the U.S. Model 1861, and when he first encountered the earlier U.S. Model 1855, it piqued his interest and he began a lifetime of research which would culminate with the publication of this book. US Model 1855 Series of Small Arms ends (logically) with the destruction of the Harpers Ferry Armory in 1861, which is right about where The Rifled Musket continues the story. The only criticism to offer her is the decision to use endnotes after the appendices instead of the much-preferred footnotes at the end of each chapter. This was ill-advised. Perhaps this reviewer is in the minority, but I read the footnotes and have often found that they contain important information that support and clarify the point made by the text. The endnotes here are crammed into two pages and treated as an afterthought to what is otherwise an excellent piece of research. Further, the endnotes are printed in such a tiny font as to almost require magnification to read. The publisher did, however, find enough room for three pages of color advertising at the end for their other books and magazines.
Civil War Quarterly, Craig L. Barr currently writes the column “The Unfinished Fight,” publishe written four books as well as two volumes of essays on the material culture of the Civil War and tw editions of The Civil War Musket: Handbook for Historical Accuracy (2006, 2011).
Economic Motivation among Union Soldiers during the Civil War. By William Marvel. Photos, illustrations, notes, bibliogra index, 360 pp., 2018. Louisiana
According to Webster’s 7th New Collegiate dictionary, the definition of mercenary is “one who serves merely for pay.”
William Marvel presents a detailed case to prove this point In 236 pages of text, divided into nine chapters, he attempts to drive this point home. Using charts to define the median income of each Northern state, he regales us with the economic motivation for Union soldiers’ enlistment. This is presented i the early chapters. Later chapt cover each year of the war, and the changing economic situation in the nation. The last chapter summation. This is a well-written book w
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tion to press the premise home. I particular, he presents a plethor of letters sent home by soldiers to augment the point of the book. The result of this research is th financial stability is the sole, not major reason, for enlistment. There is little mentioned about patriotism, abolition, or Union. I did feel that the presentation more in tune to academics. This is a fact-based presentation and not in-step with other books by Mr. Marvel, which are told in a story mode. I agree that money is a great motivator, particularly with lower-economic citizens, who made up the vast majority of enlistees am not sure I agree with the conclusions reached here, but do believe further study is warranted. This is the first serious attempt to broach this subject that I am aware of. It is little discussed Civil War literature. This conclusion distresses me. Perhaps I am an old-school romantic but I have always felt tha enlistees’ devotion to the Union was the prime motivator. I, as a
student, need to delve further in this idea. I believe we need fur-
ther studies with larger samples of demographic information on motivation. That said, this is an intrigui study, worthy of consideration. My only reservation is the high cost of the book. I fear this wil limit the audience and prevent it from getting the attention it deserves. Perhaps there will be an e-book or Kindle edition available.
Joseph Truglio, of Manchester, N.J., is president of the Phil Ke Civil War Round Table.
Crossing the Deadlines: Civil War Prisons Reconsidered. Edited by Michael P. Gray. Illustrations, photographs, maps, tables, index, 272 pp., 2018. Ken
two meanings. Deadlines were lines parallel to, and some ten t fifteen feet back from, the inter of the walls of Civil War prisone of war stockades which prisoners were not allowed to cross. This assisted the guards in keeping order by preventing prisoners from approaching the palisade and keeping them in a central area where they were easier to monitor. Deadlines can be seen most notably in Stalag Luft III, the World War II movie epic The Great Escape. The second meaning of the titl is explained by the statement on the inside front flap of the dust jacket: “Crossing the Deadlines crosses those boundaries of old scholarship by taking on bold ini tiatives with new methodologies, filling a void in the current sch arship of Civil War prison historiography, which usually does not go beyond discussing policy and prison history.” The volume is divided into thr parts: Part I, “New Encounters, Sensing Nature, Society, and Culture in and out of Prison”; Pa II, “Revelations in Retaliation, Race and the Repressed”; and Part III, “Unearthing Material Culture, Resurrections a Reconciliation.” Each part has three stand-alone essays discussing a relevant topic. Sample essays are: “Civil War Captives and a Captivated Home Front: The Rise of Prisons as Dark Tourist Attractions”; “De Bottom
Rails on Top Now”; “Black Union Guards and Confederate Prisoners of War”; and “Lost and Found on the Southern Side: The Resurrection of Camp Lawton.” The editor and the authors of all the essays are specialists i their fields, public and private historians and archaeologists. A can be expected, their essays ar knowledgeable, scholarly and extremely well researched, if at times a bit dry. One niggling concern is the r erence to the Civil War prisoner of war (POW) camps as prisons. A prison is designed to punish a person for a crime, a POW camp is not (although admittedly bein incarcerated in a POW camp can feel like one is being punished, the POW literature from the earliest writings attests.) The edi and authors accept the term Civi
War prison without questioning the appropriateness of its use. Crossing the Deadlines brings new scholarship to a neglected area of the Civil War. Its best is Part III, “Unearthing Materi Culture, Resurrections Reconciliation.” This volume is not for everyone but will reward those with especial interest in the subjec those who want something differ ent in their Civil War studies. recommended with those caveats.
Capt. Joe Derie is a longtime C War buff with a special interes in Civil War naval history and Civil War in the West. He is a tired USCG officer and a licens officer of the Merchant Marine, currently self-employed as a ma rine surveyor and marine accide investigator in Portland, Or.
