Mark Twain on War and Peace: The Missouri Rebel and "The Campaign that Failed"

Abstract

IN THE OCTOBER 1884 ISSUE OF Century Magazine, ADVANCE NOTICE WAS given for what shortly proved to be one of the most successful features in the history of the journal, a series entitled Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. The editors, not unknowledgeable about the postwar appetites of a reading audience increasingly interested in sectional reconciliation as well as in remembering a war almost two decades old, promised a balanced treatment: Decisive battles, the leading characteristics of army life . . . and the lives of the most prominent commanders are to be the subject of the papers . . . written by officers who wore either the blue or the gray. 1 True to their word, they enlisted the talents of such illustrious figures as Generals Beauregard, Grant, McClellan, Longstreet, Rosecrans, D. H. Hill, Lew Wallace and a host of others. Within six months of the first installment, Century's circulation soared as an enthusiastic and responsive reading audience indulged an interest in the series which never flagged until its conclusion three years later. Century's claim to an unprecedented success had its foundation in factors more significant than mere circulation figures, however. The good temper and unpartisan character of the various accounts made possible a contribution to Civil War military history of enduring value. Though genteel almost to a fault, the narratives rarely fell victim to that maudlin sentimentality which generally, though perhaps somewhat unfairly, has been regarded as the hallmark of Civil War literature. Indeed, the image of the soldierly-looking, chivalric young gallant is barely discernible amidst the sheer mass of unadorned battle reports. While the consistently serious tone and the care devoted to the presentation of the