The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940 Page: 267
576 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
facts and opinions recorded by the author have been edited by
his son.
The major portion of the book (pp. 4-183) mingles "facts of
history" with "personal experiences" to take the narrator from
Waterville, Maine, as a raw recruit, in 1861, to the command
of his regiment in the grand review of the victorious army by
President Johnson on May 23. The book also contains calendars
of the war years, the editor's notes totaling thirty-eight pages,
the author's diary and account book kept during six months spent
in Confederate prisons, the editor's notes to the diary, and an
adequate index.
Major Small was in the Army of the Potomac and participated
in several of its greatest battles. His account of the one suc-
cessful charge of the Federals at Fredericksburg, of what happened
on the Union right at Chancellorsville, and the sacrifice of the
regiment at Gettysburg to protect the withdrawal of troops from
Seminary Ridge affords a contribution to other descriptions of
these engagements. While the first eight chapters of the volume
give a vivid and readable picture of army life as it really was
lived, the ninth chapter supplies bits of information on an old
controversy-Confederate prisons. As Editor Small points out in
his preface, Union prisoners were no more resentful of short
rations and hard prison floors than of selfishness in their own
ranks. The prisoner's diary also reveals that good food was to
be had for those who had money.
The editor has succeeded in retaining the direct simplicity, the
evident sincerity, and the vigorous style, often humorous, of the
original narrative. His scholarly notes enhance the value of the
compilation which has been printed in an excellent format. Still,
the usefulness of the notes to the student would have been in-
creased materially by placing them in the narrative as footnotes,
rather than at the end, with the explanation: "Marks of reference
have not been intruded into the narrative part of this book, be-
cause they annoy the eye; and footnotes have not been used, because
they would be interruptions to continuous reading."
Several photographs depicting Civil War scenes and one ref-
erence map add to the value of the work.
JAMES K. GREER.
Howard Oollege.267
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940, periodical, 1940; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101111/m1/281/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.