1 comments about Best Companions : Letters of Eliza Middleton Fisher and her mother, Mary Hering Middleton, from Charleston, Philadelphia, and Newport, 1839-1846.

1. Best Companions is a 532 page compendium of letters between Eliza Middleton Fisher and her mother, Mary Hering Middleton. The letters bridge Charleston, Philadelphia to Newport, through the years 1839-1846. This seven-year conversation, encompassed in some 375 letters, connect the cultural and social life of the North and the South even as other forces conspired to tear America part from within. Enhanced with an Epilogue, extentensive bibliography, and comprehensive index, Best Companions is intimately showcases the joys, sorrows, frustrations, and widespread opinions of a close mother and daughter. Best Companions is not to be missed!

2 comments about Civil Wars.

1. June Jordan's collection of essays spans almost twenty years of her life, from her days as a young mother "learning to see" the world around her and beginning to make her own actions seen and voice heard, through her growing involvement in Civil Rights demonstrations, the beginnings of her teaching career, and later on in her life as a Black woman still fighting for justice using her weapon of choice: words.

   This book explores Jordan's perspective on and experience with a variety of topics, including race riots, urban housing, educational language policy, children's rights, university Black Studies programs, African liberation, land reform, and the politics of publishing. Her combination of social political commentary and personal reflection is thought-provoking and accessible to a diverse audience of readers. Her writing is clear and passionate, and most pieces, previously published, are prefaced by background information that places them historically.

   This is a book to be savored both for what it says and how it says it.




2. In Civil Wars, poet and activist June Jordan explores political issues through a very personal lens. This collection of essays, speeches, and letters, previously published but presented in this text with contextualizing annotations, masterfully blends public and private spheres. Jordan looks at critical issues such as race, homosexuality, linguistic differences, and violence by drawing on events in her own life and telling her intersecting story through vibrant prose. For instance, Jordan examines the power differential between "White" and "Black" English by discussing her novel His Own Where in relation to Shakespeare and questioning the linguistic hierarchy that values particular codes over other alternatives. Civil Wars is an engaging, moving text that will make you think deeply about social justice through a personal perspective. A must read!

5 comments about Mary Surratt: An American Tragedy.

1. Having grown up in the town whre all of this occured, I am glad that there are those that still hold an interest in this part of history, however sad it may be. I look forward to reading this book again.



2. This book has some great strengths and a few weaknesses. The research is very thorough and it shows. It also makes it a fine reference sourse for scholars of the subject. However some of the stuff included should have been edited out.
   
   I find fault the writing style, though this is a personal thing. While loaded with gems of information, the writing is a bit repetitive, even turgid in places as if the writer had an agenda of her own. This is a pity because she did all the hard work. The writing style should have made more of it. Other readers may like the writing style.
   
   The other fault I find is that two key pieces in information presented have no reference sourse. If prosecution witnesses were paid money to perjure themselves we should know what is the sourse of this information. This would have added so much more to the storyline and to the case.
   
   For all of that the book is persuasive in making the case that Mary Surratt did not recieve a fair trial. The fact that her son walked free after his trial before a civilian jury makes the case stronger. A good read with a solid information that might have been a really great read.
   
   L. Power, Ireland.



3. This is an excellent book. Anyone who is interested in the Civil War era and Abraham Lincoln, will really enjoy this book. Also anyone who studies the law will also find this book fascinating. This book touches on our constitutional rights and how they can be overlooked when a horrible crime has been committed and the government and the people want someone to pay for the crime. Anybody. This is just an excellent book!!!



4. The author did a great job in researching this book. Also presented the facts well. It does look like maybe Mary Surratt was not involved in the planning or discussions about Lincoln's assassination. Very sad.



5. this book did its best to introduce doubt about her involvement in the plot against lincoln, but the facts are simply too compelling against her.i thought her background was well researched, but when it came to the matter of her guilt and trial, it was all sentimentality, supposition and pity. the old woman was up to her neck in it.

4 comments about Tramping With the Legion: A Carolina Rebel's Story.

1. With the help of his older relatives, Gene Scruggs has gathered together the oral history left by his great grandfather, Sergeant Judson Scruggs, who served in South Carolina's Holcombe Legion during most of the Civil War.
   
   Almost nothing has been written about this effective fighting unit which was organized early in the war by Peter F. Stevens, a former superintendent of The Citadel. 'Shanks' Evans, whose brigade included the infantry regiment of the Holcombe Legion, regarded it as his best fighting unit. During Lee's 1862 campaign, the accomplished Stevens often led Evans' entire brigade on the many occasions when Evans was posted to the divisional level.
   
   In his stories, Judson recalls training camps around Charleston, the battles of Malvern Hill, Rappahannock Station, Second Manassas, Lee's First Maryland Campaign, Kinston (NC), and Jackson (MS). In the summer of 1864, the Holcombe Legion was detailed to guard the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad and (luckily) was not with Evans' Brigade at the Battle of the Crater. However, Judson was captured while guarding the Stoney Creek (VA) station and bridge and sent to the infamous Elmyra (NY) Prison. Perhaps Judson's most interesting stories recount his tunnelling out of prison in October 1864 and his experiences of running, hiding, and working his way home by late May of 1865.
   
   Gene Scruggs includes glimpses of the daily lives of his Spartanburg District ancestors as he fashions the war stories as if his great-grandfather was telling them to his grandchildren in nightly installations. This is a "good read" for anyone interested in this troubled time in American history.



2. I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Scruggs' book. It is written in such a manner that it draws the reader into the family circle while providing an amazing amount of detail into the history of the Legion and the personal recollections of Jud, the author's great grandfather.



3. Eugene Scruggs has made a valuable contribution to the history of the War Between the States with his account of the exploits of his great grandfather, Judson Puryear Scruggs, as an enlisted man in the Holcombe Legion, South Carolina Volunteers. To be sure, Scrugg's book is another in the "Johnny Reb and Billy Yank" tradition of oral history accounts from the point of view of the ordinary foot soldier. However, it is given context by a body of historical research, and a truly insightful introduction to some of this conflict's enduring themes. For many readers, the most interesting parts of the narrative will be those about life under horrible conditions in the POW camp at Elmira, NY, Judson's resourceful escape therefrom, and his traverse through enemy territory to Virginia.
   In my opinion, however, as an avid student of the conflict rather than a professional historian, Scrugg's finest achievement was in his reconstruction of Judson's narrative within a quasi-fictional framework, in which he recreates not only the voice of his great-grandfather, but also that of the grandchildren who are auditors of the story. This teachnique not only creates a sense of immediacy in the flow of the narrative, but instills a kind of novelistic suspense which makes it enjoyable for the reader. This approach also permits Scruggs to render narrative as a truly "oral history," in that he has recreated the language of the period --- the regional dialect of 19th century Southerner. His handling of the artistic problem of the use of "eye dialect," moreover, is deftly handled: instead of generating pages of mangled orthography, Scruggs includes only occasional phonetic spellings, opting instead for the dialectal phrase, the idiom, and the speech rhythmns of his people. Professional historians may take issue with Scrugg's decision to treat his material in this way; other readers may enjoy it as thoroughly as I did.
   
   Roger Cole
   January 29, 2007



4. I enjoyed reading Grandpa Scruggs' account of his experiences in Company K, Holcombe Legion of South Carolinians fighting for their state's freedom from the tyranny of the Union. The format of night time stories told by Grandpa Scruggs to his grandchildren kept a dramatic tension in the book that helped keep me reading. We learn about the courage and commitment of Judd and other soldiers to their cause. We learn of the hardships, boredom,and horror of life as a foot soldier. The ways captured soldiers were treated changed as the war progressed. Judd experienced both ways. Because of the personal focus of this book, we also learn how the war caught up extended families and effected them. We also get glimpses of life back at home while the men were at war. I highly recommend Eugene Scruggs' book.

No comments about Asa Gray: American Botanist, Friend of Darwin.

1 comments about Faces of Discord: The Civil War Era at the National Portrait Gallery.

1. I found this 300 page volume of portraits and information on many Civil War persons englightening because there are pictures of the Famous and not so famous people who I have read and written about. I will treasure this volume for many years

2 comments about Confederate General of the West: Henry Hopkins Sibley.

1. General Sibley was in charge of the Confederate Army that invaded New Mexico in 1862. He drank a bit! This bit of Civil War history never makes it into the books. This book is very informative and is very good reading. In "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" this is the Civil War campaign that the film is based around.



2. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Civil War in the Southwest. Understanding Sibley is the key to understanding the successes and failures of the invasion of New Mexico. This book provides a great deal of detail on the invasion, the centerpiece of Sibley's career and the high point of a mediocre military career.
   
   There are a number of typos and poorly worded passages that lead me to believe this book was never thoroughly edited, but they are minor and the reader can overlook them. The narrative flows easily and the book is organized mostly in chronological fashion.
   
   I found myself wanting to know more when I was finished. The author was very thorough in most respects but some small questions were left unanswered - why it took 70 years for his grave to get a headstone - what was the resolution of his lawsuit against the government for residuals on the sale of the Sibley tent and whether his family ever got any money from such a settlement - why Sherman was so involved in helping Sibley later in life (it was never made clear if they were close before the Civil War or if they served together for any significant period).
   
   But these unanswered questions do not detract from the excellent job the author did in portraying Sibley. I feel a greater sense of sympathy for him now because I understand more about him - the author brought him to life.

2 comments about Lost Crusader: The Secret Wars of CIA Director William Colby.

1. Anyone who thinks of Saint Paul, Minnesota as an Irish Catholic stronghold ought to be able to imagine Margaret Egan Colby giving birth to William Egan Colby here on January 4, 1920, (p. 20), only one day after my own mother was born someplace else. LOST CRUSADER/ THE SECRET WARS OF CIA DIRECTOR WILLIAM COLBY by John Prados (Oxford University Press, 2003) is full of such close associations. Prados does not approve of everything that was done, however much Colby might. For example, after Hugh Tovar's service in Jakarta, "What Colby did can only be interpreted to show that he thought highly of the Indonesian affair: Colby dispatched the CIA's man on the scene of the bloodbath to Laos to run the agency's secret war there, probably the Far East Division's most sensitive covert operation." (p. 157). A number of issues are pursued throughout the book, over many chapters and in many settings. References to crusaders (what would Osama say?) might be considered a geopolitical red flag in 2003. Is CIA policy in the Middle East like certain popes who considered the rulers of the Holy Land (long ago) as of the wrong religion to control Jerusalem? This is still a dicey question today.

   As an undergraduate at Princeton, starting in the fall of 1936, "Religious Catholic that he was, Bill had a problem with the Princeton rule that first- and second-year students had to attend at least half of Sunday chapel services, as the school was strongly Presbyterian. Colby fulfilled this requirement by becoming an altar boy at the Catholic Chapel." (p. 25). I'm not sure why this would be a problem, unless Presbyterians automatically take attendance, but the priest doesn't look to see who is at mass, wouldn't remember anyway, and only keeps a schedule of who is serving as altar boy. Later, while Colby was working for the CIA in Rome under Ambassador Clare Booth Luce, it is reported that Pope Pius XII had excommunicated all Italian communists in 1949, (p. 55) a sure sign that he didn't want to see them around anymore.

   The early part of LOST CRUSADER fills in a lot of information on his OSS activities in France and Norway, where Colby wanted to capture the town of Lierne in Operation "Rype," but was delayed until after the German capitulation in May, 1945, when the Germans "gave up on May 11 without difficulty. Major William E. Colby corralled 10,000 German soldiers." (p. 33). He was not so lucky on his first day in Saigon, where he was assigned as CIA deputy chief of station in February, 1959. Cambodian troops had arrested Cambodian General Dap Chhuon just days after he had been visited by Ed Lansdale and senior U.S. Pacific Theater Commanders who "were traveling on a survey of United States military assistance programs and stopped in Cambodia." (p. 67). Among the items captured by the Cambodian troops on February 21, 1959 was "a CIA radio and its agency operator, Victor M. Matsui." (p. 68). Colby had to explain to the Cambodians what Matsui had been doing there. Richard M. Bissell had ordered some communication with the plotters because "Bissell had wanted to know about Cambodian events as the plot unfolded, perhaps to see how these things worked" (p. 68) purely as a means of gathering intelligence, but Norodom Sihanouk (with Wilfred Burchett) published a book in 1974, MY WAR WITH THE CIA, that bitterly complained, "The CIA was in the forefront (except, when it suited their purposes, to remain concealed) of every plot directed against my life and my country's integrity." (p. 68, see Chapter 6, n. 1, p. 350).

   In Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the links that tied CIA activities in those countries to Bill Colby were so similar in nature that one of the few jokes in the book tying them all together came from Army Colonel Charles Wilson, at Pleiku in 1964, who `described the Ho Chi Minh Trail as the "Averell Harriman Memorial Highway," which must have tickled Colby, who had to deal with Harriman during the Laotian negotiations at Geneva.' (p. 133). Considering that Woodrow Wilson and Bill Colby both attended Princeton, an amazing coincidence is how often each of them disagreed with a Henry Cabot Lodge. The Lodge who became an ambassador to South Vietnam in 1962 was the Junior of the two, but he still had a mind of his own.

   Buddhists were expected to be the kind of people who would cause little trouble for either side, but just having demonstrations created a weird scene in which `Madame Nhu spoke sarcastically about bonze "barbeques," while Nhu himself demanded a hard line, resisting concessions.' (p. 110). In Vietnam, the French "had created an indigenous elite using Catholicism as a means of ascription." (p. 111). 70 percent of Vietnamese generals were raised as Catholics and "an additional 16 percent of Vietnamese generals converted to Catholicism after Diem's rise to power. Nguyen Van Thieu stood among them. Most telling of all, only four Vietnamese generals would admit to being Buddhists, out of a cohort of almost a hundred." (p. 110). By early 1965 the CIA was seeking "extension of covert support to key Buddhist leaders." (p. 145). Nguyen Khanh, "himself a Buddhist" (p. 142), who had been a Viet Minh in the August Revolution of 1945, (p. 177) became the South Vietnamese leader in 1964, while Henry Cabot Lodge was Ambassador, but Maxwell Taylor took over as Ambassador in the summer of 1964. (p. 142). On August 25, 1964, a CIA cable to Colby complained that Khanh "has in effect put his government entirely in the hands of Tri Quang." (p. 142). In January, 1965, Colby went to Vietnam with McGeorge Bundy on a trip that included an incident in Pleiku "that killed many Americans in their barracks." (p. 145). "Another feature of Mac's Vietnam trip would be a meeting with the Buddhist Tri Quang. He emerged bewildered." (p. 145). Great!




2. This book is less than the sum of its parts. It provides a workmanlike review of the career of William Colby (if one discounts the constant political carping), but it offers no new insights and precious little new information. This deficiency is compounded by the book's lack of adequate sourcing and documentation. As an example, on page 283, discussing the post-1973 Paris Peace Agreement period in South Vietnam, the author writes, "Not even Saigon could hide the fact that a government outpost in the Central Highlands, well-armed, defended by 600 troops with several months' supply of food and ammunition, had surrendered the moment it came under serious threat." There is no footnote to support this claim, no mention of the name of the outpost or the date of the "surrender," etc. I was in Vietnam at that time and have studied that period extensively, and I have never heard of such an incident. It is possible that the author might have been referring to the April 1974 abandonment of Tong Le Chan, but Tong Le Chan was not in the Central Highlands, its defenders had been under constant communist siege for two years without relief or replacements, and there was no surrender - the defenders all made it safely back to South Vietnamese lines. The only major surrender of a South Vietnamese Army unit during the entire war involved elements of the ARVN 56th Regiment, but that was during the spring 1972 communist offensive, before the cease-fire, and it happened on South Vietnam's northern border, not in the Central Highlands. I am at a loss as to what the author was talking about in this quotation.
   In many respects, the author seemed more interested in pushing his own political line, which is considerably left of center, than in telling Colby's story. His effort to claim that Colby and CIA provided the Indonesian government with "target lists" for use in Suharto's brutal repression of Indonesian communists (pages 155-156) in spite of the lack of any hard evidence that such lists existed became so convoluted that it gave me a headache.
   This book contains an especially egregious allegation that I would be remiss not to point out. On page 245, in his effort to support the discredited claims made in Alfred McCoy's book "The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia" of CIA collusion in narcotics trafficking, the author writes:
   "...McCoy received further support from Tran Van Khiem, a former Saigon security chief who had investigated corruption charges for Diem and had kept up his contacts with Saigon intelligence services: 'My security agents...firmly confirm that a few CIA agents in Indochina are involved in opium trafficking.'"
   A footnote (fortunately, one is present for this citation) notes that this quotation was from a letter Khiem wrote that was printed in the Washington Star in 1972.
   Even the most basic research by the author would have revealed that the letter writer, Tran Van Khiem, was in fact the criminally insane brother of Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu. Khiem was NOT a "former Saigon security chief" (although there were some allegations, principally by Khiem himself, that during the last days of the Diem regiment Madame Nhu appointed Khiem the head of a pro-Diem assassination squad). In the early 1990s Khiem brutally murdered his father and mother in Washington D.C. in a lurid crime that made national headlines and of which the author surely should have been aware. Court-appointed psychiatrists found Khiem to be so deranged that even forcible administration of anti-psychotic drugs failed to render him sufficiently mentally competent to stand trial. If the author wishes to use this quote to support an allegation of such a serious nature as involvement in opium smuggling, he owes it to his readers to let them know that the source of the quote is a mentally incompetent paranoid schizophrenic.

3 comments about Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences, 1815-1897 (Classics in Women's Studies).

1. Reading the book not only helped me to understand the political and legal environment for women during Ms. Stanton's life, but also helped me to understand Ms. Stanton as a person and her inner drive for equality. Her narrative provides us with stories to illustrate her passion for justice and her perservance in working toward the woman's vote. We get a picture of the territories and the states during those early times as she stuggles to get to places by means that would seem alien to us now.

   Ms. Stanton demonstrates that her partnership with Susan B. Anthony was inevitable as their strengths complimented each other to help them fulfill their work toward equality. Although neither women lived to see the amendment pass, there are no signs of regret for all the years of dedication. We know she knows it will happen. Through her reality, we share the frustrations, the angers, the joys, and the triumphs.

   I liked knowing Ms. Stanton had written the book and feel I got to know her courage, wit, and character by reading it. I highly recommend the book.




2. This is one of the most interesting books I've ever read. Stanton was a 19th century women's rights activist who had a complex, rationalist personal theology that changed and evolved thoughout her lifetime. This book reveals this theology, her weaknesses, and her. Recomendo este livro altamente!!!!!!



3. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the struggle for suffrage. Stanton takes the reader on a journey throught the trials and triumphs that marked her life. Fabulous read! Highly recommended.

4 comments about Distinction in Every Service: Brigadier General Marcellus A. Stovall, C.S.A..

1. This book about Marcellus Stovall was flawless! I could
   not put it down! The author was able to bring to life not only
   a fascinating subject from history but Stovall's family members,
   and his own struggles, as well. I learned so much about the South and the Civil War from this work, and I am grateful to its
   author for bringing it to readers in the readable style that he did. I very much look forward to any and all future works by C.L. Bragg! Thanks for this wonderful, wonderful book!



2. I was extremely excited to get this book. In fact, I asked for it as a Christmas present and opened my gift with glee! I have a large collection of books concerning Confederate leadership and am constantly on the lookout for books about Confederate officers that are less well known. Most recently I have eagerly read works on Generals W.H.F. "Rooney" Lee, James L. Kemper, and Wade Hampton. My bookshelves "groan" with the weight of books on dozens of other Confederate (and Union) commanders

   I expected FAR more from both the subject and the author of this book. I was keenly disappointed.

   As I read this book I gradually began to wonder why the author had even decided to write about Brigadier General Stovall. Certainly, the facts of his life appear, to me at least, to be less than flattering. Just a few of the facts that are presented in the book, yet are glossed over or excused:

   Confined to quarters and was dismissed from West Point in his first year because of Desertion. He wasn't AWOL, or just hitting the tavern down the road.....he had deserted with absolutely NO intention of ever returning.

   Given a battalion at the start of the war because of his "experience" and then spent the next several months harrassing the Governor and his superiors for additional troops so that he could have a regiment rather than just a battalion. they turned him down time and again....one cannot help but wonder why....

   Brought his completely inexperienced teenage son into his own unit and then promptly promoted him to the rank of Battalion Sergeant Major over the heads of all other soldiers in the unit.

   At least one petition from his officers was received by higher authority requesting transfer from his command. This could be written off as back-stabbing politics, and it may have been, but combined with the rest of Stovall's history there may have been something behind it.

   The author cites an occasion in which his men were engaged in a shooting competition and Stovall ordered one of them to load a rifle for him. The soldier deliberately gave it a double load and was overjoyed to see the massive recoil that practically knocked the general down and the fact that the General's shot went "200 yards" wide. The author mentions this as if it were good-natured fun that showed how much Stovall's soldiers loved him.....having been an enlisted man myself I would tend to see just the OPPOSITE! The last thing a soldier would want to do to an admired officer would be to bruise his shoulder severely and embarrass him in front of the troops.

   Stovall was constantly "sick" and absent from his Brigade and the front, spending months at home with his family while other Confederate officers remained with their men even though virtually at "death's door". General Stovall in fact missed most of the actions in which his Brigade participated, including the great battles around Atlanta.

   During the retreat from the disasterous battle of Nashville, Stovall's superior officer, General Clayton, was unable to locate Stovall with his command and gave orders to the senior Colonel. He in fact mentioned that colonel as being in command of the brigade. Stovall's fellow Brigadier, General Gibson, also noted in writing that Stovall was not present and that his senior colonel was in command. The author simply states that they were not "looking in the right place" but after the above mentioned absences from his command, I wonder......

   During the retreat from Nashville the Army of the Tennessee reached Augusta by train on its way to join Johnston in the Carolinas. Upon arrival at Augusta Stovall promptly went "on furlough"! No mention of illness or wounds....he just basically abandoned his men at their lowest point. He was never to rejoin them. His brigade fought on under a series of other officers and surrendered with Johnston on April 26th, 1865. The author merely states that "Stovall's precise whereabouts at war's end are undocumented, but in all likelihood he was in Augusta." PLEASE!

   Finally, from a study of many other works I know that General Stovall was one of the General officers that signed a petition to President Jefferson Davis requesting that General Bragg be removed from command of the Army of Tennessee. Startlingly, the author completely omits this fact! This was a HUGE development at the time that had a colossal effect on command relationships within the army. To fail to mention that Stovall was one of the officers at the center of this command debacle is beyond understanding.

   I found myself greatly disappointed and disquieted by the time I had finished the book.




3. Unlike the first reviewer above, I am greatly appreciative of C. L. Bragg writing this book.

   Is any biography "definitive?" No. In that frame, the points raised by the negative review above deserve rebutting.

   1) Due to illness, Stovall had not taken winter exams, therefore was not sworn in, nor off provisional status. Simply, he was trying to get tossed.

   2) His "experience" consisted of years of militia duty. He did not harass the governor, and did far less than many to secure higher command. His superiors endorsed his efforts with high praise. "They turned him down time and again....one cannot help but wonder why...." It's obvious why, it says so in the book: the Gov. of Georgia did not have the additional companies to give him.

   3) He did at one time suffer from backstabing politics from some subordinate officers, but their views were contrary to all of the good things everyone else in every context said about him.

   4) The target shooting was one of many instances that proves, as reported by most of his own soldiers, Stovall was well thought of by his troops.

   5) Stovall's frailty was consistently caused by stress more than illness, and that fact makes it more of an attribute that he continuously returned to his brigade.

   6) It is fact that Stovall skilfully directed his brigade and helped save the army at Nashville and did a splendid job in covering the army's retreat. Afterward, Clayton stated that S. D. Lee had been wrong in criticizing Stovall.

   7) Illness or wounds....(the Augusta furlough)? Again, nothing is definitive. The circumstances are not known. There is no evidence either way, unless the previous reviewer has some.

   8) "Finally, from a study of many other works I know that General Stovall was one of the General officers that signed a petition to President Jefferson Davis". The previous reviewer is obviously very, very well learned on this topic. In fact, this statement shows more than a passing interest in Stovall before ever reading Bragg's book. The fact of Stovall being on this petition is nearly not to be found in any book or publication, and though the petition is in the official records, the list of signatures is not. Only after months of work has any reference to corroborate this statement been found, and it, too, is relatively obscure.
   
   Stovall would never have enjoyed his popularity as a leader, his political successes, business successes, or become VP of the Augusta UCV if he were not regarded generally as a man worthy of admiration. The claims made by the other reviewer are simply inconsistent with what is known to be factual about Stovall's life.

   For anyone looking to further their knowledge about another mostly obscure Confederate leader whose life is past due this examination, look no further.




4. Dr. Bragg has authored a mesmerizing account of Brig. Gen. Marcellus Stovall, from early childhood to his death. I heartily disagree with the reviewer above that slights the book [personally I wonder if he simply skimmed the book], and Mr. Young rebuts his points very credibly. Most of us have our books on Generals Lee and Jackson, but books on the lesser known leaders are few and far between. Dr. Bragg brings Marcellus to life, documenting Stovall's intense dedication and devotion. Gen. Stovall was immensely admired by his men, making the most of each engagement despite his continuing health problems. Gen. Stovall was courageous and daring, plucking victory from the jaws of defeat on several occasions. Even after the war Stovall demonstrated the courage of his convictions, once repaying an enormous debt incurred by a relative. Stovall had immense civic pride and devotion to duty - to himself, to family, and to his state of Georgia.
   
   Dr. Bragg brings other items to light as well, such as the arrest and fining ($10) of Stovall's daughter Amne for singing the "Bonnie Blue Flag' AFTER the war, and adds detail to the relationship between Union General William T. Sherman and Cecelia Stovall.
   
   All in all in a masterpiece, quick-paced and insightful, that brings to life a man who did receive 'Distinction in Every Service'. The state of Georgia has ample reason to be proud of Gen. Stovall, and of Dr. Bragg.