2 comments about When the Devil Came Down to Dixie: Ben Butler in New Orleans.

1. I have always been fascinated with General Benjamin Butler both because of the story of his ill fated term as military governor of New Orleans during the Civil War and because of his physical image. The photographs always show someone who seems to be a grotesque characature of a human being rather than a real person, somehow appropriate for a man known as 'the Beast of New Orleans'. This book is significant not only for its detailed account of the conflicts and controversy that surrounded Butler during his time in New Orleans, but also for providing enough complementary material to see him as more than an evil abberation. The author does detail the evidence for Butler's depredations - his thefts, corruptions and overzelous application of lethal force - but also provides ample evidence that he was a complex and sometimes thoughtful person as well. In one case, he condemns a man to be hung because he had pulled down the union flag. The man's wife and children go to Butler to plead for his life. He refuses to stop the hanging but promises to be of whatever assistance he can be in the future. Years later the widow approaches him to say that she has been cheated by her lawyer out of her life savings and that she and her children are in jeapordy. Butler finds her a government job and, at his own expense, sees to the children's education. A very complex 'devil' indeed.

   For those who enjoy new light cast upon old oversimplified history, this book is excellent. Well written and with a lot that is new to say, this book represents a chance to actually learn something new rahter than simply revisiting the old story.




2. So General Benjamin "Beast" Butler summed up his time as military governor of New Orleans. Chester Hearn's book is an examination of Butler's six-month tenure in the Crescent City.
   
   Everyone who knows anything about the Civil War knows something about Butler. A political general from Massachusetts, Butler was cross-eyed, huge, bald, loud, arrogant, stubborn, and crooked as a hound dog's hind leg. He was also remarkably inept as a military leader. His arrogant tenure as commandant of Fortress Monroe came close to pushing Maryland into the Confederacy; he lost one of the initial battles of the war, Big Bethel, largely through extraordinary incompetence; he did absolutely nothing in the capture of New Orleans, but took as much credit for it as he could; he evacuated Baton Rouge when scared by the threat of a(nonexisting) Confederate invading force; and he famously allowed his entire Army of the James to be bottled up at Bermuda Hundred during Grant's overland campaign (where he was probably less bother to Grant than he would've been in the field).
   
   But what Butler's primarily known for are two things: declaring runaway slaves "contrabands of war" and brutally ruling New Orleans. His depredations in that city are remarkable. Along with a crew of trusted scoundrels (including especially his brother Andrew Jackson Butler) equally interested in lining their own pockets, Butler stole everything he could get his hands on. He bought commodities such as sugar and cotton at forced low prices and sold them high in the North; he sold salt to Confederates stationed just across Lake Pontrachain; civilians requesting interviews with the general or travel passes routinely paid out the nose for the privilege; under the two Confiscation Acts, houses with all their possessions were swallowed up; and specie at New Orleans bank tended to disappear. Butler was smart, and although there were numerous complaints and several official inquiries, he was never caught. But it's clear he was on the take. When Butler went to New Orleans in May '62, his personal worth was about $150,000. When he left in December '62, he was worth about $3 million.
   
   In addition to being larcenous, his reign in New Orleans was also brutal. He regularly imprisoned at hard labor civilians who angered him, and he notoriously executed a man who defiantly tore down the Stars and Stripes right after the city was captured (but before it surrendered--a legally important point). Although Butler did go out of his way to feed the city's hungry, his motive seems to have been more hatred for the landed aristocracy than the unlanded poor.
   
   Hearn's book is largely derivative. There's little original research (which is okay; not every book can or should be ground-breaking). But a bit more documentation on how Butler's peers reacted to his larceny, as well as some reflection on the state of affairs during the Civil War that gave men such as Butler almost unlimited power, would've been welcome.

1 comments about Images from the Otherland: Memoir of a United States Marine Corps Artillery Officer in Vietnam.

1. These comments are from the review by Marcia Morphy that appeared in the December 4, 1995 issue of the Brighton-Pittsford (New York) Post. The following is excerpted from Ms. Morphy's review:

   "There are moments in this book that are powerfully moving. Kenneth P. Sympson takes us on a wartime journey with a descriptive account of his tour of duty as a Marine Corps artillery officer during America's longest war - Vietnam. (Quoting from the book) 'Villages in the distance. Rice paddies framed by dikes. Occassional Vietnamese in the fields. Bent over in the paddies. Shuffling along the roads. Lined with palm trees. Peaceful. Primitive. Lush and green. So pretty from up here... The helicopter about 75 meters ahead of us begins its descent into the LZ. Suddenly it's hit by ground fire from the hamlet. (Jesus, what was that!) ... Trailing smoke and clutching its Marines, it rolls to the left and free falls out of sight beneath us. Now we are the prey.'

   "Sympson started writing this book as a form of self-therapy after he was stricken with non-Hodgkins lymphona, a cancer probably caused by exposure to Agent Orange. In his book, Sympson vividly and sensitively recounts the horrors of war: small pockets of Viet Cong hiding in hedgerows and tunnels, booby traps and punji stakes... "

2 comments about Combat to Compensation: A Vietnam Veteran's Battle for Compensation.

1. This book helped me collect money due my military disabled father. I did not collect $250,000 like August Jean, but I did get what I deserved.



2. AS A FORMER MARINE WHO HAS WORKED WITH THE VA FOR OVER FIVE YEARSW TO GET THE DISABLITY I DESERVE. AFTER READING THIS BOOK I AM POSITIVE THAT I CAN CONTINUE TO FIGHT AS LONG AS NECESSARY UNTIL GET WHAT I DESERVE. THE WOMAN WHO WROTE THIS BOOK MUST HAVE GONE THROUGH A LIVING HELL WITH HER HUSBAND AND WAS STILL ABLE TO TELL HIS STORY. ABSOLUTELY, AMAZING. I AM CONVINCED THAT IT IS A MUST READ FOR ALL DISABLED VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

5 comments about A Wing and a Prayer.

1. This book is real, deep and insightful. I find myself in awe of the personal courage of the men who ventured over Festung Europa during the darkest days of 1943 and early 1944. I read and reread this book whenever I need inspiration to face daunting and/or painful circumstances. I really wish that it was back in print.



2. Find a copy of this book somewhere, it is well worth the extra effort. Only the new WWII airwar novel, The Triumph and the Glory, moved me as much as Crosby's epic tale of the 100th Bomb Group



3. Harry Crosby was a navigator in the 100th Bomb Group in World War II. He was one of the original members of the 100th, a bomb group that, because it ventured into battle with less training than groups preceding it, and because of its unenviable position flying in the lower part of the formation on many missions, suffered heavy losses and became known as "The Bloody Hundredth". Crosby uses his obvious skill as a student of the English language to recreate the drama, the humor, and the terror of flying B-17's out of East Anglia in the war. He describes many of the historic missions flown by the 8th Air Force as an eyewitness. I have read the book several times and it is good history as well as a good study of human beings and the stresses they face daily in war. I highly recommend this book.



4. Harry Crosby's account of the 100th Bomb Group and the air war against Naze Germany from mid-1943 till the end is one of the most informative and thoughtful memoirs of those dark days. Crosby relates many stories in his accounts, of his own experiences as a navigator, of the impact that Curtis LeMay and other group commanders had on combat techniques, of the sometimes touchy relationships between AAF personnel and their British hosts, and some thoughtful observations of the nature of war and the overall bombing campaign.

   Crosby with a degree in English and considerable writing experience writes lucid, stripped-down prose, and his accounts of navigating under difficult circumstances brought a reality than few other accounts--written mainly by former pilots--have done. His story of an early mission to Trondheim, in Norway, is a gem of the navigator's problems--of unexpected cloud cover, of flying over Norway where, as Hobler put it, one fjiord from the air looks like another, and the element of luck and chance in any mission. As a WWII navigator in the Pacific, these types of details were welcome, as was his understanding of the "place" of navigator's in the AAF pecking order. When I was informed in December 1945 that I was on a preferred list of those to man the postwar Air Force, I politely declined knowing that navigators would be highly unlikely to advance at the rate of pilots. (I did, however, remain the reserves for 20 years}.

   What comes through most clearly, however, was the terrible losses that the 8th suffered in its campaign against Germany's manufacturing capacity and infrastructure, and of the courage and perseverence of those who served. The 100th BG, for example, arrived in midyear, 1943, with 35 crews; only one intact crew completed 25 missions, though a few other crew members from crews broken up because of casualities and other reasons also survived. Was it worth it? Did the damage done justify the loss in life, not only of the air crews but also those of German civilians and others killed by the raids. Crosby is a bit ambilavent--he joined the anti-war movement in the 1960s. Nonetheless, no one can take away from the aircrews, and those who did not return, their courage and belief that they were part of a grand but terrible endeavor to bring the war to an end and of the demented policies of Hitler and his Nazi cohorts . May they rest in peace.




5. Harry captures it all. Being a navigator in one of the most colorful bomber groups of the 8th Air Force in WWII, (if not the most colorful.) Harry is there as an original crewmember of the Bloody Hundredth. In a time where your life expectancy was 8 missions and you had to fly 25... Harry's a one off, what a story, what a history. Should be mandatory reading for anyone who claims to be American.. Well done.
   Mark

2 comments about The Death and Resurrection of Jefferson Davis (American Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield)).

1. I have read many books on the War Between the States and very rarely come across a topic which is new. This book covers a subject that is little known by even culture concious Southerners. A very good read about an event that was pivotal in post war Southern History. If you are a Southerner this is a must. If you have any interest in the post war treatment of the personalities on that conflict, you will enjoy.
   
   Winston Churchill wrote - "Poor is a nation that has no heroes. Poorer still is one that has them and forgets them."
   
   This author has presented us with a way of remembering one of our Southern heroes. I think many readers will be surprised by this work.
   
   Highly recomended to Southerners and anyone who has an interest in the human experience.



2. Jeff Davis, beloved by many in the South and known as the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War died from heartbreak and mistreatment and looked old in his coffin on Dec. 5, 1889. His funeral train was as popular as Lincoln's removal to his home state of Illinois and much later FDR's train trip back from Georgia to Washington, D. C.
   
   When his body was laid in state in New Orleans, the prominence of the U. S. flags illustrated his burial as an officer in the American Army prior to his notoriety during the Civil War. He was first buried in a tomb of the Army of Northern Virginia in Metairie Cemetery.
   
   In May 28-31, 1893, after it has been displayed in the rotunda of the state capital in Raleigh, North Carolina, it was sent on to Richmond, Virginia. The route of the Jefferson Davis funeral train left New Orleans, stopped in Beavoir, Mobile, Montgomery, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, Charlotte, Greensboro, also stopped in Danville, Virginia. The funeral carriage was a remodeled artillery caisson with the U. S. flag prominently displayed. His remains were transferred to Hollywood Cemetery, The Third National Flag of the Confederacy decorated the head of his final resting place, with the Battle Flag at the foot. There is a bronze statute on his grave in the Davis Circle family plot at the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.
   
   Much maligned after the South lost the war, he was imprisoned in shackles and chains at Fort Monroe. His life and reputation has sunk to a seemingly unredeemable low. During the first three years after his death, his public image was ressurrected to a state of near adulation, and his fellow Southerners recognized him as one of their most important sons. He remains so today.
   
   The reburial three and a half years after his death demonstrated that Southerners increasingly were growing more overtly proud of the Confederacy. On June 3, 1907, a remarkable monument designed by Valentine and Noland was unveiled on what would have been his 99th birthday. It still stands in the park named in his honor in Memphis. It included the Confederate flags and symbols. Let by a group of University of Tennessee professors from the North, they are trying to have his memorial park renamed and the statue removed.
   
   It was a great American and did what he thought was best for the South, his beloved countryside. It's too bad that his life following the Civil War was so harmful to his health and what he had stood for. The flag has been removed from South Carolina's state flag, and Maryville College here in Tennessee can't keep their Rebel flag. What on earth is going on? Do those Northerners want another Civil War? It is best to leave dead dogs buried and the prejudices along with them. We natives of the South will always love Jeff Davis and what he stood for; the flag will never die. Resurrection is at hand.
   
   This historian has also written WAR CRIME OR INJUSTICE? GENERAL GEORGE PICKETT AND THE MASS EXECUTION OF DESERTERS IN CIVIL WAR KINSTON, NORTH CAROLINA and AN UNQUIET TIME: ALABAMA AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, 1950-68, among many other Southern history.

No comments about Napoleon's Enfante Terrible: General Dominique Vandamme (Campaigns and Commanders).

No comments about The Life Of Major-General Peter Muhlenberg Of The Revolutionary Army.

1 comments about A Very Violent Rebel: The Civil War Diary of Ellen Renshaw House (Voices of the Civil War).

1. Two g-grand nieces of Ellen House discovered these diaries in her trunk upon the death of an aunt. What a find! Ellen House had strong opinions and voiced them. The Siege of Knoxville (November 1863) is covered and Sutherland's footnotes make for GOOD history. Don't think, you WWII GIs out there, that "scuttlebutt" started in "our" war. There was plenty during the Civil War, some preposterous. Sutherland provides good interpretive notes. Highly recommended! Four stars only because there are a few gaps in Ellen's coverage of the War in Knoxville, but who can blame her. Deprivation was the order of the day.

5 comments about Attila: King of the Huns: The Man and the Myth.

1. This book claims to be "...a thrilling piece of historical reconstruction." Needless to say it didn't live up to its claim. I enjoy reading about history, but up to this point I have not studied the fifth century. It wasn't a bad book for getting a feel for the time period, but provided little relevant information. I have two main complaints about this book.
   1. There is actually little said about Attila. The Romans are the central figure for much of the book. I understand that the Hun and Roman interactions are where we get most of our information about Attila, but if you do not have enough information to write a book about Attila, do not try. It would be similar to someone writing a 10 chapter book on Stalin during WWII, spending 7 of those of Hitler, one on FRD and Churchill, one on Russia, and taking one chapter to discuss Stalin.
   2. There are no maps included. The book mentions many little ancient villages and gives no way of determining where they are located. I eventually gave up trying to visualize where in Europe and Asia the Huns were pillaging. Every once in a while the book will mention a major location such as Paris or Rome. Their route from one place to another is still a mystery to me.



2. for everyone who wanted more on Attila after west. civ. 101,this is the one.answers almost all of the questions you wanted to ask but shyed off because the business majors were giving you "funny looks".(you could be a closet Hun bent on world conquest or an idler searching after esoteric trivia)!!!!The story i always believed was that these rabid horsebound sadists stormed mysteriously from the East,tore everything up for awhile in the 400's and then through the grace of god disappeared.(WHEW!!)this book shows how the Huns were politically astute,absorbing other tribes and nations over a period of hundreds of years and if at times seemed less than enlightened were no more inhumane than the Goths or the Romans.The book has alot of fresh interpretations like Mr. Howarth's statement that the eastern Roman Empire was less vulnerable than the west to invasions due to better leadership.There is alot of movement in this book with tribes moving everywhere,the names of which,some i have never heard of before.The last few chapters are a summary and a "where are they now"(the Huns that is)



3. The writing is engaging. The author explores the evidence and the various views of Attila over the centuries. The first chapters gave the reader the background setting of this turbulent period. I found chapters 13-21 to be the most crucial. The authors speculations on why Attila spared Italy from more devestation was good food for thought. This book should inspire the reader to do more research on the subject. But, the index is rather brief and the absense of maps was sorely missed. The problem may be that there simply are not enough original sources? When more archaeological artefacts come to light I look forward to this book being revised.



4. This is a fair biography of Attilla and perhaps a good introduction in that respect. But if you are looking for a history with some depth in the military aspects of his reign, you will likely want to look some more. One invaluable tool for the military man that is noticably absent are maps. The battle descriptions are also rather shallow for the tastes of the avid military historiphile. Still, the writing is good and the organization of the material is equally good. One nice feature was a table at the beginning that had contemporaries listed for rulers of the western and eastern Roman empires, rulers of the Huns, and rulers of the Visigoths. It helps a great deal to have that ready reference of names unfamiliar to modern western ears. Not a bad resource and a worthwhile biography.



5. Patrick Howarth introduces the life and myths of Attila in an easy to read and ascertainable format.
   In the 5th century Attila was known by many Christian writers as the scourge of God, and managed to nearly topple the Roman Empire. He was a fierce warrior king who ruled the Hunnish hordes for approximately eight years. And of course this book more than elaborates on this tumultuous time period of barbarian kings such as Alaric, king of the Goths who sack Roman in 400AD, and Geiseric, king of the Vandals.
   Also, what makes this book so unique is that even though it's a biography about Attila and his exploits it tends more to chronologically follow the early dilapidation of the Roman Empire.
   In my opinion, throughout this book, Attila seems more of a background entity then the character taking center stage, and most of this book seems to be mostly based upon the fall of Roman and how Attila attributed to it through many battles such as going to war with Valentinian III, and scaring the wits out of the early Roman Church.
   Also, keep in mind that a good portion of this biography was lifted out of Edward Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire," so, Howarth's book is pure cream for anyone who is a Roman Historian who just can't get enough, or anyone who just enjoys this kind of material.
   Howarth also delineates the many myth that cropped up about Attila's exploits over the years. He succeeds in differentiating between fact and erroneous belief, in other words this book is a myth-buster. So, if you don't like your mythology debunked then this isn't for you.
   Overall, this entire book was a respectable attempt at telling the tale of a legend... the legend of THE KING HUN!!!

1 comments about Macarthur (Military Commanders).

1. I'd like to give this book an honest review, but I can't. The book is so horribly written that I couldn't make it through WWI. In the 40 pages I did read I discovered that MacArthur was considered good looking and that Gavin Long is an awful author. The accounts of WWI read like someone describing symbols moving around a map. A division is given an objective, the objective is accomplished and MacArthur gets a Silver Star. Oh and several thousand people died. There is no indication of what MacArthur did, why he did it, or how what he did do affected the overall situation. I'd really like to read this book through WWII and the occupation of Japan, but I can't punish myself like that. Also note that this book is a reprint and was first published in 1969.