No comments about FORGOTTEN STONEWALL OF THE WEST.

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No comments about Pemberton: A Biography.

1 comments about Case by Case: A U.S. Army Counterintelligence Agent in World War II.

1. If you are in the least way interested in hisrory or the founding of the intelligence services in the US; this book is a must have. Every page reveals more excitement in WWII Europe. Probably one of the best books I have had the pleasure of reading.

1 comments about Reminds Me of the Time: Vietnam 1968.

1. This is a must read for all Vietnam veterans. The author captures the day to day activities of Vietnam in a very real human way. Don't look for heavy battles or bitter fighting because it isn't in this book. What is in this book is a very accurate description of the often tedious life of a soldier caught in strange land in a frustrating war. At the end of this book you feel like you know the author and you've found a new friend.

2 comments about Stonewall's Man: Sandie Pendleton.

1. It's not often that staff officers receive the kind of attention combat commanders do, but even in the War Between the States, when staff officers frequently had as much front-lines time as private soldiers, Sandie Pendleton was something exceptional. W.G. Bean does an excellent job showing us why.

   I first encountered Alexander Swift 'Sandie' Pendleton in Douglas Southall Freeman's essential 'Lee's Lieutenants,' in which he cites the need for a comprehensive biography of this important officer. A few years later (Freeman wrote in the 1940s, and 'Stonewall's Man' was first published in 1959), W.G. Bean -- appropriately, the Douglas Southall Freeman Professor of History at Pendleton's alma mater, Washington and Lee University -- took up the challenge. This is a sympathetic, but still thorough, look at the man 'Stonewall' Jackson 'loved like a son,' and Dick Ewell called 'the most promising young man' in the Army of Northern Virginia.

   Pendleton was something of an intellectual, having graduated from Washington College (later W&L University) and entered the M.A. program at the University of Virginia when the War began. His quick and organized mind was ideally suited to the needs of a military staff, and he quickly made himself invaluable to Generals Jackson and Ewell. By the time of his death in 1864, shortly before his 24th birthday, he had risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and was assistant adjutant general (essentially, chief of staff) of the Second Corps.

   Bean does a fine job of relating all this. He also doesn't skip on the equally important details of Sandie's personal life, particularly his romance with, and marriage to, Kate Corbin. This book is filled with excerpts from Sandie and Kate's personal letters, as well as those of their families and friends. By the time the book is complete, I felt I knew Sandie well, and, with his wife and family, genuinely mourned his untimely death.

   Freeman said that part of his motivation in writing 'Lee's Lieutenants' was to rescue from obscurity some of the lesser-known commanders and officers of the Confederate armies. Today, when any acknowledgement (let alone defense) of the CSA is considered in some quarters a 'hate crime,' Freeman's mission is more important than ever. I'm very pleased, therefore, that 'Stonewall's Man' has been re-released, and urge its study by anyone interested in the Army of Northern Virginia. The staff corps, too, has its heroes, and Sandy Pendleton's is a life worthy of remembering and respecting.




2. Stonewall's Man, by W.G. Bean, is the biography of Alexander Swift "Sandie" Pendleton, 1841-64, who is best known as Chief of Staff to General T. J. "Stonewall" Jackson during the American Civil War. Bean, Professor of History at Washington and Lee University, focuses on Sandie's life and family, bringing the major events of the Civil War into the story only to the extent that Sandie played a role in them or they played a role in Sandie's life. This style gives the book two parallel themes: (1) The role of the military staff during the Civil War and (2) The life and everyday events of ordinary individuals in caught up in the midst of the Civil War.
   
   At the time of the Civil War, the military staff had not grown the prominence it achieved only a few years later in the Prussian army, let alone the bloated status it "enjoys" today. Jackson's Second Corps, at its height, was composed of perhaps 30,000 men, and the staff typically numbered about four or five officers, including the Corps surgeon, Dr. Hunter McGuire. Its role was to facilitate Jackson's communication of with his subordinate commanders and with higher Headquarters, i.e., General Lee. In this era, "communications" meant hand written communications when time allowed and oral communications otherwise. During battles, "transmitting" orders typically meant getting on a horse and riding until Sandie found the intended recipient. Along the way, he was expected to render all appropriate support as dictated by the situation: Rallying retreating troops, bringing damaged artillery back into action, and, on his own initiative, improvising and acting for the commander. There was, and still is, a very delicate balancing act between acting on one's initiative and overstepping one's limited authority. Apparently, Sandie, at the ages of 21 to 23, had an extraordinary sense of this balance as he was held in the highest regard by both Jackson and his subordinate commanders. In addition, Sandie enjoyed an unusually close personal relationship with his notoriously tight lipped commander. After Jackson's death at Chancellorsville in May 1863, Sandie enjoyed similar professional relations with Jackson's successors, Generals Ewell and Early, although his personal relations with them were less close than with Jackson. Sandie was killed in late 1864 in the Battle of Fisher's Hill between Early and Union General Sheridan who had embarked on the burning of the Shenandoah Valley to starve the Confederacy into submission.
   
   Sandie had been offered promotion from his staff position as a Lieutenant Colonel to command of a bigade as a Brigadier General. He declined the promotion as he thought the staff position carried greater responsibility. It did. Sandie greatly ehnanced the effectiveness of the Jackson's command. He was the war's most effective staff officer, highly adept at implementing the orders of its most brilliant general.
   
   The personal life of Sandie Pendleton centers about his parents, his sisters, and his wife, Kate Corbin, to whom he was married less than a year prior to his death. All were prolific letter writers which provided Professor Bean with his primary source material. Sandie's relationship with his father, William Nelson Pendleton, is particularly interesting. W. N. Pendleton was, successively, a West Point graduate, Episcopal minister, headmaster of the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Lexington, VA, master of a boy's prep school in Lexington, and Brigadier General and commander of Jackson's artillery. He evidently had a profound influence on his son who taught in his father's prep school and hoped to follow his steps into the ministry. Serving on Jackson's staff while his father was an important subordinate commander must have further complicated Sandie's balancing act as chief of Jackson' staff. The personal events and letters of the family paint a clear and sad picture of lives caught up in the tragedy of the Civil War in Virginia. For example, in approximately one year, Kate Corbin lost three small nieces and nephews, her brother, her new husband, and their son who was born shortly after his father's death.
   
   Professor Bean's narrative also indirectly highlights the prominent role of religion in every aspect of these people's lives. Many of us today tend to forget, if we ever knew, that the Civil War and American Revolution both had aspects of religious crusades, the Civil War on both sides, the Revolution primarily on the American side. For more on this theme, see Kevin Phillips, The Cousins Wars.

4 comments about Fighting Joe Hooker.

1. This book did a excelent job explaning how fighting joe rose to the head of the army. This book take you through joes childhood and laterlife.



2. Concentrates well on Hooker's role within the Federal Army. There are detailed accounts of his relationships with superiors and subordinates alike. Well researched and descriptive accounts of his role and the role of his units in key battles. The author fails to use direct quotations enough and tells the reader what was said rather than allowing the speaker's own words to be used. Very helpful in researching the early movements and battles of the III Corps, 2nd Div.



3. History tends to remember Joe Hooker for one thing; the disaster at Chancellorsville. It was at that battle that Hooker for once, "lost confidence in Hooker." Unfortunately, Hooker held his highest military position at Chancellorsville and that one low point overshadows the rest of a rather illustrious career.

   Walter Hebert published this book in 1944 and while new heights in civil war scholarship have been attained since then, this is in my opinion the definitive work on Joe Hooker. Hebert does an outstanding job of bringing General Hooker to life. The General has many virtues and Hebert points those out as well as Hooker's faults. One of Hookers greatest virtues as well as one of his greatest faults was his confidence in himself. This vast confidence made him willing to actually fight while many around him were timid in the extreme. On the other hand this confidence is what caused his loud impatience with his superiors and led to his downfall. Hooker also had a keen military mind and his plan for the Chancellorsville campaign was an excellent plan if only he had had the nerve to put his plan into action. Amazingly, after Chancellorsville as Lee began his movement north, Hooker predicted the action at Gettysburg.

   Hooker had made an enemy of Henry Halleck and that, more than Chancellorsville led to his leaving the Army of the Potomac. Still, Hooker had friends in Washington and was given a Corps to take to the relief of Rosecrans in Chattanooga. Again Hooker distinguished himself but here too he had an enemy in William T. Sherman. As the Federals started out for Atlanta it was usually Hooker's men who bore the brunt of the fighting but because of Sherman's enmity, got little of the credit. Sherman finally managed to rid himself of Hooker by getting him to resign and then slandered Fighting Joe in his memoirs. Others who were involved like Henry Slocum, who was no friend of Hooker, later discredited Sherman's narratives of some events. Of course, Hooker had brought all of this on himself but it was still a sad situation.

   Hebert does such a fine job of writing that one feels he has come to know Joe Hooker. One in fact, really begins to like the man. On occasion I found myself rooting for him to succeed, until I remembered he was a Yankee and came to my senses. I have often said that a biography is a true success if when the subject dies the reader feels a sense of loss. I felt that when Hooker died because in the pages of Hebert's book I felt I had come to know Joe Hooker personally. In a world overrun with civil war biographies, this has to be one of the best.




4. This is a fine biography of the Union General, "Fighting" Joe Hooker. The book is somewhat dated (originally published in 1944), but it holds up pretty well.
   
   The book starts with a little about Hooker's early life. But we then move ahead quickly to his Civil War record. His first real command was as brigade commander after First Bull Run (Manassas). The story of his Civil War involvement begins then. At some point, early on, he became known as "Fighting Joe Hooker," a nickname that he despised. The book straightforwardly notes that the origin of the nickname is unclear.
   
   One thing that set Hooker apart from many other early generals was that he, indeed, was a fighter. There were poor generals (Franz Sigel comes to mind), there were generals who found it difficult to fight hard and commit themselves totally to battle (George McClellan exemplifies this), some were good at brigade or division command and poor when promoted to corps command. Hooker was a fine general at division and corps command. The one question: Could he have been successful in independent command? His one opportunity was when he headed the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville. Between injury and possible loss of confidence and nerve, he threw away a winnable battle after some excellent maneuvering on Hooker's part. He remained in command briefly after that, but was gone by the time of Gettysburg.
   
   Up to Chancellorsville, as this book points out, he was a good solid general. Afterwards, when two corps of the Army of the Potomac were transported to Chattanooga, he found himself in charge of the 11th and 12th Corps. He generally led these troops creditably until he resigned after General James McPherson's death (Hooker felt he should have had that command). The book then chronicles his career thereafter and follows him until his death.
   
   The book portrays well his sometimes foolish attacks on others. He could be an intriguer. The author shows well why Lincoln had some reservations about making him commander of the Army of the Potomac. At the same time, he showed considerable administrative ability after taking the Army over from the hapless Ambrose Burnside.
   
   This is a fair portrayal of a complex person, who had more good days than bad during the Civil War, but who also had questions dogging him throughout his career. A well done biography.

2 comments about Speak Through Me: The Diary of a Military Brat.

1. The book is filled with pretty interesting poetry. The fact that that's all there is is what's misleading. I was expecting more of a diary, not a collection of poems. If you'd rather read poems you'll definitly like it.



2. This book is written in such a poetic way that it makes it an easy read. It's like you're reading someones diary. Yet, it offers words of comfort and inspiration. It gives parents the words to explain war to children and provides understanding for the loved ones of soldiers. I could read it over and over (sometimes I do!).

2 comments about Grasshopper Pilot: A Memoir.

1. The stories of the air war in Europe and Japan have concentrated on the stories of mighty bombers going off to bomb Germany or Japan and of sleek, fast, agile fighters defending Britain or the bombers. Bill Cummings did it differently. He flew a 'Grasshopper' the military version of the Piper Cub - 65 glorious horsepower (finally expanded to a mighty 100 hp).
   
   His story begins with being fascinated with flying as a kid and learning how to fly before WW II started. With 60+ hours of flying time, and an ROTC commission as a second lieutenant he was getting ready to put in for the air corp when a notice came down that all the officers who had sixty hours or more of private flying were to put in for flight training. Suddenly he was a military pilot.
   
   His military career took him to North Africa, Sicily, Italy and finally to the Philippines. Most of the time he flew in one plane, 'Maggie the Faithful,' 485 missions. His story is quite a different one from the usual Army 'I was there' book. He helps to fill a niche in an understudied dimension of the war.



2. This book is a collection of writings by Julian Cummings and assembled into a book by his wife as he lay terminally ill in 2002. As such, the book has a number of problems: it's too short to say much; it's erratic in that some chapters have a nice amount of detail and others are just a page or two long; the writing style varies from pretty good to annoying.
   
   Most people seem to be able to write well about their own experiences, whether they are professional authors or not. You can see glimmers of that here, but it's not consistent. These wartime memoirs are best written in the first decade or two after the war. Beyond that the story just doesn't seem fresh, and parts of this book show that symptom.
   
   That said, the subject is an interesting and somewhat neglected one; although there are other books out on these small planes and their pilots they're expensive and hard to find.
   
   If you're at all curious about this aspect of WW2, you'll enjoy reading through this, but I recommend you check it out of a library or find a used copy cheap. I did not find it to be a "keeper".

5 comments about Custer and Little Bighorn: The Man, the Mystery, the Myth.

1. Custer and the Little Bighorn was simply a great read! Not only are the illustrations and photos absolutely gorgeous - giving the reader a perfect visual context for the fascinating and tragic story of George Armstrong Custer, but once I started reading I couldn't put it down! The author obviously knows his history AND knows how to grab the reader's interest from the get-go and not give it up until after the final, bloody battle. This is a great coffee table book - with it's multitude of great photos, illustrations and maps. I think it's a terrific gift for any history buff - male or female, of any age. I'm keeping the first one I bought for myself, but it's also a definite on my gift-giving list for family and friends!



2. Custer and the Little Bighorn was simply a great read! Not only are the illustrations and photos absolutely gorgeous - giving the reader a perfect visual context for the fascinating and tragic story of George Armstrong Custer, but once I started reading I couldn't put it down! The author obviously knows his history AND knows how to grab the reader's interest from the get-go and not give it up until after the final, bloody battle. This is a great coffee table book - with it's multitude of great photos, illustrations and maps. I think it's a terrific gift for any history buff - male or female, of any age. I'm keeping the first one I bought for myself, but it's also a definite on my gift-giving list for family and friends!



3. This was fun to read for the most part. There really is nothing new and I do take issue with the claim that this is" the first major illustrated work" on Custer. Lawrence Frost's book, The Custe Album, holds that distinction



4. The most thorough and well-researched book I've ever read on Custer. The beautiful illustrations, supporting historical documents, and Dononvan's insightful analysis evoke the myth that is our American West. Custer embodies that myth. Donovan succeeds in humanizing this compelling, tragic man while celebrating his immortality. The author does an exceptional job of establishing and explaining the legend of Custer and why his last battle seized the imagination of the American public. Securing not just a place in American history, but in our culture.



5. A large book well armed with pictures of not only Custer, his family, but also of key major military personnel, Forts, leading confederates and best of all, great Indian leaders. Besides the large presence of photographs, the book provides a nice compressed history of Custer from Birth to his postmortem. It's an accelerated read with direct references to historical events without gratuitous detail. In reference to his CW career, Donovan is a little light on Custer in the valley in 1864 as Custer has some conflicts with colleagues over such things as who earned the captured flags versus who actually took them. In addition, Custer's role at Five Forks is a bit large in contrast to the infantry's 5th Corps who crushed the isolated Confederate left. Overall, it's a pretty good overview of Custer's Civil War and pre- LBH western career. I do note that pictures sometimes fill in voids such as the destruction of Lt. Kidder's command and Custer's meeting with Satanta, which are missing from the narrative. The best part of the book deals with the LBH and the author pulls no punches in explaining what he thinks happened. His theory reflects Michno's "Lakota Noon" primarily in that he theorizes that Custer held his battalion on the east side of the river waiting for Reno and Benteen to rally to him to squeeze the Indians his battalion and theirs. But of course that does not happen and the command is destroyed. The author captures all the personal conflicts in command such as Reno's fitness and Benteen's pouting causing his leisurely stroll. The after the LBH evaluation is also quite good recognizing that several elements caused Custer's defeat, not just Custer's brashness, Reno's ineptness or Benteen's bitterness but the loss of surprise, the pressure to attack, the confidence of the Indians, their stubborn resistance capitalizing on the fractured commands and collapse and the primary fact that they didn't run like everyone perceived. Other elements include Crook's stepping out of the campaign with his 1300 men after the battle of the Rosebud the week before against smaller numbers then Custer. But also it's noted that Custer preferred the standard morning surprise attack but after discivering Indians on his back trail, he felt the need to attack immediately with reconnaissance done while on the move. Many forget that Colonel Reynolds inder Crook was nearly Court Martialed for botching the March Powder River attack. Although not mentioned directly, all commanders were under pressure to attack before the Indians dispersed. Terry's and Crook's subsequent post LBH campaigns attest to the Indian mobility challenge. The latter part of the book deals with the Custer legend based on writings, movies and historical hindsight that are based on the culture at the present, WWII era versus post Vietnam. This latter portion reminds of Hutton's great book the "Custer Reader" which is also worth a very good look since it also deals with participant' writings and fellow historians. This is a good book for those looking for a pretty good capsule on Custer that includes excellent pictures and an argument. Then they can venture into the books with greater analysis and detail and of course a greater feel for why the battle is so controversial.