Review

Abstract

Book Reviews 181 provocative reinterpretation that surely will spur other scholars to join the continuing dialogue on race and region. Raymond Arsenault University of South Florida, St. Petersburg Paul R. Taylor. Orlando M. Poe: Civil War General and Great Lakes Engineer. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2009. Pp. 354. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Notes. Cloth, $65.00. General Orlando M. Poe lived a remarkable life. He surveyed the Great Lakes, served as an engineer during the Civil War, designed and oversaw the construction of lighthouses, and traveled the Northwest with General William Tecumseh Sherman. In the past, scholars have concentrated on Poe’s Civil War contributions, most recently in Noah Andre Trudeau’s 2008 book Southern Storm: Sherman’s March to the Sea, but Paul R. Taylor, the author of three other Civil War histories, provides an original and well-balanced biography of Poe. Whereas most of the book concerns the Civil War, Taylor also chronicles Poe’s antebellum years at West Point and his later experiences in the Upper Midwest. Taylor mined archives from around the country, and his knowledge of the secondary literature is impressive, although the author’s chief source is Poe himself, which is common in any strong biographical work. He depends especially on Poe’s letters; those with the most value to readers are the missives he wrote to his beloved wife Eleanor, whom he entrusted with his deepest thoughts and concerns about the war and his life. Oftentimes, Poe found military life frustrating and distanced himself from the politics of promotion (he even received a demotion). In matters of combat, Poe believed war should follow rules and the tenets of civility whenever possible; he abhorred war’s violence, but followed orders, even when those required him to destroy civilian property. Taylor portrays Poe as a family man with a strong sense of honor, which he displayed in any task he was required to accomplish. In a letter to Eleanor, Poe confided, “My policy is to go quietly along and do my duty” (p. 173). During the March to the Sea, Poe served as Sherman’s chief engineer, and one of his primary responsibilities was to construct pontoon bridges—a crucial component of Sherman’s success. Taylor stresses the vital importance of Poe’s work, but he does not address the Ebenezer Creek disaster on December 9, 1864. It would have been 182 Michigan Historical Review interesting to know how Poe reacted to the order given by Jefferson C. Davis (Commander of the Fourteenth Corps) to leave freed slaves on the opposite shore of the icy and swollen river, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of African Americans who drowned or were killed by Commander Joseph Wheeler’s cavalry. Perhaps Poe remained silent on the issue. After the war, Poe began to help construct lighthouses around the Great Lakes and also worked again for General Sherman. In the last six years of his life, Poe would witness the death of five loved ones, including three of his children. Despite his losses and his grief, or perhaps because of them, he buried himself in his work and died from an infection caused by a fall he sustained while inspecting his final and greatest achievement, the lock at Sault Ste. Marie. As Poe commanded the Second Michigan Volunteers and spent most of his life around the Great Lakes region, Taylor’s work contributes to the history of Michigan and the Midwest as well. More importantly, however, the book stands as a testament to human willpower, because ultimately, when faced with disappointment and tragedy, like Poe, we can endure. Edward A. Gutiérrez University of Hartford West Hartford, Connecticut Tom Weschler and Gary Graff. Travelin’ Man: On the Road and Behind the Scenes with Bob Seger. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2009. Pp. 168. Discography. Index. Photographs. Cloth, $27.95. Travelin’ Man explores the midwestern influences that shaped the growing career of Bob Seger in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Based largely on the experiences of photographer Tom Weschler, who toured with Seger from 1969 until 1973 and remained close to him throughout his career, the book is more a collection of visual and anecdotal memories...