The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 107, July 2003 - April, 2004 Page: 485
660 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
Mexico's state of Texas-Coahuila." Nevertheless, "so many private American
companies hastened to Texas ... that the Texas Revolution became transformed
into the most successful filibuster in American history" (p. 9). Professor May's
understanding of the complex events of the Texas Revolution is more than a lit-
tle simplistic.
Did criminal motives drive all those private American citizens into Texas in
1836? A deep patriotic faith fired at least one, Kentuckian Daniel Cloud: "The
cause of Philanthropy, of Humanity, of Liberty and human happiness through-
out the world, called loudly on every man who can to aid Texas." True, the
Neutrality Law of 1818 failed to deter Cloud and others like him; they observed
a higher law. As Cloud explained: "If we fail, death in the cause of liberty and
humanity is not cause for shuddering."
If you find Cloud's words stirring, you might want to pass on Professor May's
latest effort. As bizarre as it seems today, many antebellum Americans truly
believed in the greatness of republican institutions. They came to believe them-
selves a breed apart, a race forged in destiny's fires to achieve the promise of
humanity. Providence, many asserted, had ordained them to extend the hand of
brotherhood to all who hungered for freedom. For men such as these, liberty
trumped law. David Crockett did not, after all, say: "Be sure you're legal, then go
ahead." If you find their behavior to be quaintly heroic, May's book will probably
annoy you as much as it did me.
Still, many nowadays find Cloud's words naive, simple minded, and expressive
of an especially iniquitous strain of jingoism. To them, I heartily recommend
this book. They will be heartened to learn that Daniel Cloud received the fate he
deserved-a brutal death alongside the other "filibusters" and "criminals" inside
the walls of the Alamo.
The Vzctoria College STEPHEN L. HARDIN
Lone Star Confederate: A Gallant and Good Soldier of the Fifth Texas Infantry. Edited
by George Skoch and Mark W. Perkins. (College Station: Texas A&M
University Press, 2003. Pp. xxii+163. Foreword, preface, maps, appendices,
notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 1-58544-238-0. $27.50, cloth.)
"Since the object of this work confines me to individual experience-whether on
battlefields-in camp-in Hospital or on furlough. So whoever may chance to read
this work, will pardon me for an adaption to the moves and motions of self' (p. 81).
Only twenty-one years old at the end of the Civil War, Robert Campbell was
a battle-scarred veteran of the Army of Northern Virginia. He intended for his
private account of his experiences, written shortly after the fighting stopped,
to be read only by family and friends. Thus, while Campbell chronicles the
career of Company A, Fifth Texas Infantry, he mainly concentrates on what
he saw and did. His experience included the various aspects of soldiering
(marching, messing, frolicking, fighting, and healing). Whether meaning to
or not, Campbell left behind a remarkable detailed record of life in Hood's
Texas Brigade.485
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 107, July 2003 - April, 2004, periodical, 2004; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101224/m1/543/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.