Into the Fight: Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg , and: Gettysburg: Regimental Leadership and Command (review)

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS8l Sturtevant was a student at Yale University in the 1820s when debate about slavery was avoided because "Yale was the favorite college for Southern families and numerous sons of planters were there" (1 1). In fact, utterances against slavery could result in "insult or even physical attack" (18). Sturtevant observed the movement towards the Civil War—the Mexican-American War, Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Conflict, and the election of Lincoln—while president of Hlinois College. Sturtevant's strongest condemnation of slavery surfaced after Lincoln's election: he was "most deeply impressed with the belief that we cannot have a country half slave and half free" (251). After the attack on Fort Sumter he became an ardent Unionist who argued that "slavery was contrary to Christian principles of brotherhood and equality" (256). Three chapters in the text relate dkectly to the sectional conflict and provide a unique interpretation of the slavery issue from the perspective of frontier America. In discussing Sturtevant's mission to England (1863), Yeager provides an interesting and important argument about the British pro-Southern tendencies and argues that they originate from British ideas on aristocracy. The three Civil War chapters are the best in the entire text. Yeager is to be commended for his ability to weave a multifaceted individual into a logically organized monograph. The entire text is balanced, clearly written and well documented. My single criticism is short-ckcuited by Yeager, who states early in the text that his biography "is consciously sympathetic to Sturtevant and the causes he espoused" (xii). Some references to Sturtevant's critics would balance the account and might even add additional color to the Sturtevant persona. Aside from this minor criticism, Yeager has produced a readable, interesting, and factual "old style" biography. James T. Carroll lona College Into the Fight: Pickett's Charge atGettysburg. By John Michael Priest (Shippensburg , Pa.: White Mane Books, 1998. Pp. xi, 278. $34.95.) Gettysburg: Regimental Leadership and Command. Edited by Mark Snell. Introduction by Carol Reardon (Mason City, Iowa: Savas Publishing, 1999. Pp. v, 199. $12.00.) John Michael Priest, a Maryland high school teacher and the proUfic author and editor ofnumerous books on the Civil War, turns his attention in his latest work to one ofthe most legendary events ofthat conflict. Like Priest's previous works, Into the Fight: Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg narrowly focuses on the battlefield experiences of the soldiers and officers on both sides. The author completely ignores the social, political, and even the strategic context of the bloodshed. Priest's narrative is essentially a series ofmore or less disconnected vignettes, which abruptly shift from one side to another, and from one part ofthe battlefield 82CIVIL WAR HISTORY to another. Using workmanlike prose, Priest does manage to portray vividly many of the battle's remarkable incidents. Who can forget Union Ueutenant Alonzo Cushing clutching his mangled groin while dkecting the devastating fire of his battery during the last minutes of his Ufe, Confederate sergeant June Kimble nervously assuring himself before the attack that he would do his duty "so help me God," and Robert E. Lee courageously and accurately informing the charge's demoralized survivors "it is all my fault." These, and many less familiar but equally powerful scenes, give the book considerable interest and readability. Priest effectively captures the fear, confusion, and horrifying violence of July 3, 1863. Civil War buffs exclusively interested in the fighting as individuals experienced it may deUght in this book's straightforward presentation of these memorable events. Most scholars, however, will likely find that Priest's failure to contextualize events, look for relevant themes, or draw conclusions sharply limits both the book's interest and its importance. Also, even within its limited scope, there are some problems. Priest states that "Confederate morale was not as high as it should have been" (85) going into the charge, but the evidence he presents doesn't really substantiate this conclusion, nor does his description of the fighting indicate that poor morale played any significant role in the poorly conceived attack's failure. Oddly, the author relates two separate versions of Lee's conversation with the seemingly mortally wounded Gen. James L. Kemper at...