New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-07
NEW WAR RECORDS.
COLONEL RICHARD B. IRwIN's BOOK.

BY Richard b. Irwin. $40, PIP. 52s. IT, +. tut
These pages bear the impress of the last
thoughts Of brave and chivalrous soldier Coio-
mel Irwin, as the Assistant Adjutant-General OF
the Nineteenth Army Corps and Of the Depart
ment Of the Gulf, was repeatedly urged Dy MS
companions in arms to compile record OF their
arduous service 10 the Southwest and In virginia
lie consented with reluctance and misSVihgs a'-
tributabe TO the inherent modesty OF his NATURE
That his task was performed with paihs'akins
care and critical study of the literature OF e''e
subject. published and unpublished, Is eVioe"V
from both the manner and matter OF thls 'oi"'''
Every page has the stamp OF his scrupulo"s reea'"
N, accuracy and thoroughness Not content win
mastering all the voluminOus material ioi ''''
history already in print and with obtaining 1roo
,v;,,;ro officers their "reminiscences OF and crItl-
col comments upon military manoeuvres, ne re-
visited many of the battle scenes and laporiousIy
studded all disputed questions with the aiu vi
geographical maps This was the characteristic
method of a soldier who loved truth ior us OWL
sake When his work done and his book was
inscribed In loving remembrance of General EhiorS
and of the many comrades who lald dowh '"eii
lives in the service of their country, he was uh-
conscious that all that was in him had gone ln'"
that faithful and conscientious record vi ''e
achievements of an heroic period The pages now
vitalized by the truthfulness. sincerity anu no
bi,itv Of his character; but to his companions IN
arms and to his lifelong friends. he being dead
epeaketh.' ., -
Those who knew Colonel Irwin well will fno
touches of his qualities of heart ana
mind in every chapter of this work. lie mad
mapnanimous nature, and his judgment OF men
and events was always tempered with 'olerahce
and charity There is not an unkind sentence
nor a disputatious chapter in this volume. ouch
criticism as there is on the conduct OF o"ces
leaves no sting behind it. He was also an uhas-
cunning and prominently modest man. without
artifice and affectation Of manner; and the style
of this book is peculiarly his own There Is no
strainjng after rhetorical effect: no pedantry OF
scholarship: no artificial bursts Of fine wrltin9'
The narrative opens quietly and is continued Win
simplicity and easy naturalness. Every temp'a-
tion to magnify his own part in the TRANSACTIONS
which are recorded is strenuously reslsteu. nls
function was to set the facts In order anu 10 ie'
the deeds of the Nineteenth Corps tell their own
story of achievement, sacrifice and herolsnl WINE
the style is unpretentiOus it is OF translucent i-
cidity Colonel Irwin was q man OF rehhed Sc"oi-
arship choice and exact in his use OF woros an"
with an instructive love of good English Ills oook
is thoroughly we'll written, Astounding IN e'i-
dences of literary culture and good TASTE "o'
diffuse In any chapter, anu "cii S"''""N' '
and method from beginning to emu
The nlan of the work is comprehensive The
main service of the Nineteenth Army corps
was performed on the Lower MISSISSIPPI
and eliminated In the siege ana cap
.ure OF Port Hudson This record properly
embraces the history of all the troops that AT any
time belonged to the corps or served w''hih ','e
geographical limits assigned TO It, IL covers '''e
capture Of New-Oreans and the operations d.
BATON Rouge and the river wmch picceue"
General Banks's assignment to command ana '"c
formal organization of the corps and IL Is eN-
tended to the closing campaign in the >hphah-
doah in which the main body OF the Army Oh 'hc
Gull actively participated During the greater
norton of its service this corps was exposed 10
a residential and malarious climate and to priva-
t,ons and yicissitudes caused by constant march
ING orders and the play of cross-purposes IN the
conduct of military operations OH the MISSISSIPPI
While the number of engagements ana pltched
battles was small in comparison with the cam
paigns Of other army CORPS, there was enough Vi
yalor. stirring achievement and fortltude to make
il a proud distinction for the veteran TO lie aoe
20 saw that he belonged to the Army Of the Gull.
.From the brows Of other soldiers remarks inc
author. mo one of us could wish to pluck
the wreaths so dearly won, so honorahly worn:
vet since the laurel grows wild on every hillside
in this favored land We may without trcSpass be
permitted TO gather single spray or two 10 deco
rate the sacred places where beneath the cyple SIS
and magnolias of Louisiana, or under the green
turf among the mountains Of Virginia, reposes all
that was mortal Of so many thousands Of our brave
and beloved comrades"
The great service rendered by the Army of the
Gulf was in cooperating at Port Hudson with
General Grant at Vicksburg in opening the Missis-
sippi Valley permanently to the Union armies.
The advantage of the capture of New-Orleans was
FILTERED away during the first two years of the
Civil War through lack of concerted action on the
part of the commanders on the upper and lower
reaches of the river. When the campaigns of 1876:
were drawing to a close all the commanders were
changed the armies were reinforced at each end
of the river and President Lincoln reverted TO this
early policy with determination and vicor. Tie
author justi1cs this policy in the following we'll
considered passage.
Indeed in all the West the opening of the
Mississippi PLAYED a part that only be realized
by comparing it with the prevailing sentiment OF
the East early, 50 long, 50 loudly expressed in
I.e cry, On TO Richmond" That the President
should have been in compete accord with the popu-
lar impulse is hardly to be wondered at by any one
that followed. with the least attention the details
of his remarkable career Moreover. the popular
impulse was ii. HI, Wars take their character IRON
the causes that produce them and the people or
tie nations by whom they are wa2ed. This was
not q contest upon some petty question involving
the fate of a ministry. dynasty or even mO9-
archy, to be fought out between regular armies
upon weil-known plans at the conveyance Of the
roads between two opposing capitals The S'rug-
gle was virtually between two peoples hitler o
united as one between the people of the North
the restoration Of the Union, and the people of
the South, who had taken up arms to destroy the
Union. OF such an issue there could he no com
promise: to such contest there could be 10 end
short of exhaustion. For four long years II was
destined 70 20 on, and at times 10 rage with
fury almost unexampled along lines whose length
rod nv tho fbou md M nd
battle-ground nearly as large as the continent OF
Europe. Looked at merely from the stanlpoint
Of strategy, and discardng all considerations not
directly concerning the movements Of armies. true
policy might perhaps have dictated the concentra-
ton Of all avaifIblc in men ard material
uron the great central line of operations, roughly
ed by fna moi of and At