Season of Fire: The Confederate Strike on Washington (review)

Abstract

l66CIVIL WAR HISTORY claiming that Longstreet arrived in Georgia after his Wilderness wound "sometime in July" 1864 (391); the general was already in Augusta by June 29, as attested by his presence in Bishop Polk's funeral procession. On the other hand, the usual flaw of battle books, inadequate mapping, is here apparent, too. Blake Magner's battle maps are too few and distressingly small in scale. As military biography, then, one judges General James Longstreet. In relating a soldier's life and service, Wert's work is admirable. But it falls short in understanding the complexities of a general officer who was immensely talented yet at times peculiarly petty. It falls short, too, in analyzing fully the charges and countercharges surrounding Longstreet's controversial place in Confederate history. For such a strong and incisive work we still stand in need. To borrow the slogan of the memorial group now raising money for a statue to Pete Longstreet, it's about time. Stephen Davis Blue & Gray Magazine Season of Fire: The Confederate Strike on Washington. By Joseph Judge. (Berryville, Va.: Rockbridge Publishing Company, 1994. Pp. xv, 300. $30.00.) One of the most dramatic campaigns of the Civil War came in the summer of 1864 when Jubal Early turned the tables on a Union army and then embarrassingly threatened the nation's capital. At the outset ofthe spring campaign ofthat year, Grant had hoped that in western Virginia, "If [Franz] Sigel can't skin himself, he can hold a leg whilst some one else skins" (10). However, at New Market that leg broke loose. John C. Breckinridge's stunning victory quickly led to Sigel's replacement and the appointment of David Hunter to the Department of West Virginia. Fortuitiously for the new commander, Lee's recall of Breckinridge provided him with a golden opportunity. His subsequent victory over "Grumble" Jones's makeshift army at Piedmonttemporarily secured Union control over the Shenandoah Valley at last. Joseph Judge aptly notes that not only "was it a calamity for the confederate cause" but that it "turned Lee's strategic flank" (76). For the first time Federals occupied Staunton. In continuing to drive up the Valley and then striking eastward toward Lynchburg, Hunter now dramatically transformed western Virginia into a dangerous and an extended left flank for the Army of Northern Virginia. By necessity Lee detached Jubal Early's Second Corps to stop the Federal drive on that city. Within sight of Lynchburg, Hunter, "filled . . . with sudden panic" (109), hurriedly retreated back into western Virginia and provided Early with the opportunity to undertake a diversionary movement to relieve Grant's pressure on Richmond. Advancing down the Valley, he swiftly moved into western Maryland. At the Monocacy River he defeated Lew Wallace's smaller army in a battle that Judge believes "was one of the hinges of our national fate, but it has been obscured" (xiii). Delayed only temporarily, Confederate forces BOOK REVIEWS167 fanned out over that section and then concentrated at the very gates ofWashington . Yet, believing in the "impolicy ofentering the city" (242), Early withdrew back into the Shenandoah Valley. He at least had the satisfaction of asserting that "we've scared Abe Lincoln like hell" (255). Joseph Judge's Season ofFire—designed for general readers, not a scholarly audience—delineates those events and movements from the middle of March until early August. Well-written, his entertaining style is engaging and carries a verve that is designed to capture the attention of his readers. For a format he employs one similar to E. B. Long's The Civil War Day by Day. Unfortunately such a treatment not only has its merits but its liabilities as well. Often the narrative becomes a series of vignettes and episodic events at the expense of sustaining a cohesive synthesis of the campaign. Accenting the roles of such controversial figures as Harry Gilmor provides glamour, but it also detracts and distorts. Judge makes extensive use of quotations and conversations, without attribution to source, to heighten interest. He often uses statements by contemporaries to make his judgments, such as in the case of the Federal failure to take Lynchburg. Hunter, as John B. Gordon charges, did fear the city's...