Courage Above All Things: General John Ellis Wool and the U.S. Military, 1812– 1863 by Harwood P. Hinton and Jerry Thompson

Abstract

Reviewed by: Courage Above All Things: General John Ellis Wool and the U.S. Military, 1812– 1863 by Harwood P. Hinton and Jerry Thompson Jonathan M. Steplyk Courage Above All Things: General John Ellis Wool and the U.S. Military, 1812–1863. By Harwood P. Hinton and Jerry Thompson. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2020. Pp. 536. Illustrations, notes bibliography, index.) By any standard, John Ellis Wool (1784–1869) enjoyed a long and storied career in the U.S. Army through service in the War of 1812, the U.S. war with Mexico, and the Civil War and as an official observer in Europe and a department commander in the East and on the Pacific Coast. Yet strangely, Wool, a man known well enough in his own time to have had his name suggested as a possible Democratic presidential candidate, goes largely unheralded and overlooked in many histories of nineteenth-century America. Courage Above All Things goes far in redressing that neglect. The biography itself was nearly sixty years in the making. Harwood Hinton, distinguished historian of the Southwest, began the project in the early 1960s, scrupulously researching Wool’s life and reworking the manuscript until his death in 2016. Jerry Thompson, of Texas A&M International University, then picked up the baton, editing and reworking Hinton’s project to bring it to fruition. Wool was practicing law in Troy, New York, when the War of 1812 began. An energetic member of a local Jeffersonian militia company, he secured a captain’s commission and distinguished himself for bravery at Queenston Heights and Plattsburgh, successfully parleying his service into a postwar commission and lifelong military career. Wool was easily one of the best-traveled men of his time, observing artillery production on the army’s behalf in Europe and examining numerous U.S. posts as inspector general. War with Mexico gave Wool perhaps his greatest prominence. Then a brigadier general, he assumed command of a division at San Antonio and crossed the Rio Grande into Chihuahua. Occupying Saltillo, Wool endeavored both to suppress guerilla activity and restrain his rowdy volunteers’ [End Page 207] attacks on Mexican civilians. He successfully marched his division to join Zachary Taylor’s army in time for the Battle of Buena Vista, which saw Wool and his men in the thick of the fray. The authors’ account of battle highlights the personal bravery of both Taylor and Wool while persuasively suggesting the latter’s greater tactical ability. The Civil War found Wool to be a zealous defender of the Union as well as the army’s oldest general, two years Winfield Scott’s senior (although physically fitter than Scott for active service). Once again, Wool served at a critical time, during which his abilities were much needed; yet, his contributions tended to be overshadowed. He commanded Fort Monroe during the Peninsula Campaign (successfully capturing Norfolk), held district command during the 1862 Maryland Campaign, and commanded U.S. troops in New York City during the notorious draft riots the following year. Although Hinton and Thompson offer an extensively researched and thorough chronicle of Wool’s life and career, readers might have benefited from more extensive commentary and analysis throughout the work. The authors typically reserve such observations for succinct chapter conclusions, such as describing Wool as “a rigid old soldier” who “was also loyal, industrious, and predictable—invaluable qualities in wartime” (344). This style may reflect the nature of one scholar completing the work of another. Thompson’s contributions include expanding the discussion of Wool’s attitudes toward race. Taking part in the army’s enforcement of Cherokee removal, Wool wrote that the policy “will not tell well in history” (78). After the Civil War, he applauded Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction policy for not subjecting “the Saxon race” to “equality with the Negro” (373). Another recurring theme is Wool’s administering military policy while clashing with such radical, intemperate elements of antebellum America as Georgia squatters, ill-disciplined citizen-soldiers, California vigilantes, and militant Baltimoreans. Courage Above All Things offers a detailed biography of General Wool, a zealous and dedicated Army Regular, highlighting his fascinating yet underappreciated supporting roles in numerous critical episodes throughout nineteenth-century U.S...