BOOK REVIEWS347 of his predecessors relied largely on artistic recreations of the clothing and equipment. Instead, McChristian's book is lavishly illustrated with over two hundred photographs of the actual uniforms, weapons, belts, haversacks, holsters , tin cups, canteens, rifles, and other items of military life. Central to the author's theme is a running discourse on the military procurement system during the period. Throughout the narrative McChristian points out that the army faced inefficiency, waste, corruption, nepotism, and stupidity in trying to outfit its troops. In addition, the army also had to contend with a stingy Congress that believed military appropriations held a low priority. The author's discussion of this exasperating procurement system will likely evoke images of those legendary $400 toilet seats supposedly purchased by the military in the 1980s. Despite all of the obstacles that the army faced in equipping its soldiers, McChristian maintains that developments in military goods made in the 1870s led to important modifications that helped bring standardization to the service in a later generation. While The U.S. Army in the West is certainly a welcome addition to the literature in the field, it is not a book designed for the general reader interested in the Indian-fighting army. Much of the author's descriptions of military hardware and uniforms are highly technical in nature, and discussions regarding the intricacies ofmilitary procurement may be viewed as somewhat tedious. Nonetheless, the book does serve as a fascinating and valuable reference source for advanced students of the frontier military and the living history community. David Dixon Slippery Rock University Black Belt Scalawag: Charles Hays and the Southern Republicans in the Era of Reconstruction. By William Warren Rogers, Jr. (Athens: University ofGeorgia Press, 1993. Pp. 279. $32.50.) Although "scalawags" were important to the political outcome of Reconstruction , only a few of these native white Republicans have received extensive examination. William Warren Rogers, Jr., adds to that number this very fine study ofCharles Hays, an Alabamian who served in the 1867 state constitutional convention, the state senate, and, for four terms in Congress. Unlike many "scalawags," Hays was a once-wealthy, former slave owner from a black-belt county who had, though perhaps reluctantly, supported secession and served in the Confederate army. By the summer of 1867, however, Hays's realism had convinced him that the loss ofthe war necessitated changes, even as he saw that the Democrats remained "wedded to the past and oblivious to the war's mandate" (42). As a result, Rogers argues, Hays worked with the Union League and became an influential Republican. Early in this process, he opposed the disfranchisement of former Confederates and later, in Congress, cast votes against high tariffs and for an inflationary currency. Despite his 348CIVIL WAR HISTORY moderation on these issues, Rogers rightly maintains, Hays in fact became a Radical Republican. Although not free from the taint of racism, Hays had a "genuine compassion" (xii) for the freed people. He consistently fought for their political and other rights. He supported, if not as consistently, but still quite forcefully and prominently, the use offederal force to ensure those rights. Rogers credits Hays with sincere convictions on these and other issues, but he also admits that Hays harbored strong political ambitions and raises the possibility that mounting postwar debts left Hays in need of public office. Rogers's considerable accomplishment in explaining Hays's actions is more impressive still because of the nature of the sources with which he has to work. Hays left no diary and only what appears to be a small cache of papers, which are still in the possession of the family. Rogers therefore works primarily from letters in other people's papers and, especially, from an impressive array of newspapers. These sources, though, limit what Rogers can do. For example, attributing Hays's initial conversion to Republicanism to his realism and acceptance of the mandate of the war, although convincing, does not seem fully sufficient. One of his speeches credited God and his conscience with leading him to support African American rights, but, save for saying Hays married in the Episcopal Church, the book reveals little about his religious life. Nor does Rogers...