The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 53, July 1949 - April, 1950 Page: 220

220 Southwestern Historical Quarterly
bibliography did not pass and offer some comment on the coun-
tryside, cities, people, or institutions." One who will never see
the book would prefer excerpts rather than itinerary. A. F. Hill's
Our Boys, for example, "is sprinkled with reconstructed conver-
sation and permeated with the atmosphere of the country." A
lower font for itinerary would have allowed space for samples
of conversation and atmosphere. Still, it is abundantly evident
that Professor Coulter has successfully pointed out the interest
and value of all narratives; and for the historian that is his task.
The ample index is not the least valuable adjunct of this
bibliography. Persons, places, titles, rivers, camps, forts-all are
easily accessible. Yet in addition to numbering the items in the
text, further classification would have been useful, such as:
men-women, Northern-Southern, soldier-civilian, foreign-native.
"Women, Confederate" in the index seems to be the only com-
pensation for this lack. In format the book is attractive. The
Oklahoma Press measures up to its usual standard of excellence
(only two misprints are noted-"superceded," p. 135, and "Ap-
pamotox," p. 213) .
THOMAS P. HARRISON, JR.
The University of Texas
Rock of Chickamauga: The Life of George H. Thomas. By Free-
man Cleaves. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1948.
Pp. xi+328. Illustrations, maps, bibliography. $3.75.)
The author has told a well-balanced story of the life of Thomas,
colored by a sympathetic tinge throughout. He gives a panoramic
picture of his pre-Civil War years: childhood and youth in ex-
treme southeastern Virginia, his cadet days at West Point, his
experience against the Seminoles in Florida, his part in the
Mexican War, instructorship at West Point, and service in the
Southwest on the eve of secession. About three-fourths of the
book is devoted to the Civil War years, from the spring of 1861,
when he cast his lot with the Union, until the collapse of Con-
federate resistance in the spring of 1865. A final chapter is de-
voted to his part in the reconstruction era until his sudden and
rather untimely death in March, 1870.
Illustrations which consist of several pictures of Thomas, other