New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-12
A FEW MORE WAR BOOKS.
,rOPy AND "REMINISCENCES.

States, isSaisSi. Edited ~ james Grant Wilson
s Ycah Titus Pu MsnsSu S S'I the
MINNESOTA IN THE CIVIL AND INDIAN WARS,
1s61-1565. Up. e44. st. Paul Printed for the ea'e
THE LAST FOUR WEEKS OF THE WAR; by Edmund lhnd
n Hatcher. PIP. 4l6. Columbus, ohi' Published
by the author.
FREEDOM TRIUMPHANT. The fourth period Of the
War Of the Rebellion, from september l914, 10 ~
close. BY Charles Carleton Coffin Illustrated
Pp. 6O6 Harper d Brothers
RATTLE FIELDS AND CAMP FIRES mar naTra Awe
the principal military operations u the ClVli war;
% The Of ~ NS Mill 2bb @s
PIP. ;}40. Dodd, Mead Co.
RBCoLLECIONs OF A PRIVATE story . o. f:d tte
Army Of the Potomac By warren rr lii & Co.
In the publication Of the twenty-scven addresses
embraced in the volume Of Recocctlons' the
New-York Commandery of the Loyal Legion has
at length done something-and done 1T handsomely
toward emuating the good eA, mple set Dy
other branches of the order notably, aS The IT'D
une has before remarked. 10y tho Ohio 'omnandery
Nearly every one of these papers is an Original
and personal contribution toward the sources Vi
that denitive history of the great struggle Tor the
Union that is one day TO be written only, IL may
be, after all the participants have passed away
The papers are to be valued, we think, In dlrect
proportion as they embody the personal recollec-
tons of the authors and inversey as they are gwen
I'D to criticism or discussion. Accordingly, after
General sherman remdrKdDlc VII 'i"ho
and Ransom. we like best General Francis A.
Walkers fine article Hancock. Loyal Far
raguts delightful account of his first boysh service
with his father at the perilous midnight passage OF
the batteries of Port Hudson, and General James
Grant Wilson's paper the great Red River
Dam.
The young State Of Minnesota, as in 1861 she
was, contributed TO the service of her country In
the four bloody years that followed nearly $1,000
of the best soldiers the civilized world has ever
seen since first became the handmaiden OF
peace. Consider that this was one man in eight
of her average total population, Of all ages and
races and of both sexes. As is well known, no
single regiment of the Union armies suffered such
losses as did the LIST Minnesota nor did any stand
I'D under them more stoutly Such history Is
naturally priceless heirloom. not only to the
State for all time. but to the survivors and their
descendants: wherefore Minnesota has done well
TO perpetuate the names and services OF her
defenders in the handsome book, of which the
volume under notice is the second edition of
10000 Here is another example to the state
of New-York, when it has nothing else or better
to think Of.
The closing weeks Of the war-one is not
exactly sure where the authors four begin
or end--fairly overfowed with momentous events
and Mr. Hatchers idea Of preserving in book form
the contemporary record, as written in the news
papers of the day, has something attractive abouc
it, The merit and value of the compilation would
have been greatly enhanced by little simple
editing in the form of notes, showing the sources
and perhaps the date of each extract as well as
pointing out certain conspicuous errors of names
and facts For instance, to take one at random,
the three brigades set down on page 369 as
fsl,o N,v1&l tr,,,y-
Corps, with General G. ID. Z? Curtin as division
commander actually belonged TO Dwight's division
of the disbandcd Nineteenth Army Corps And
what had become of IIartranft's Third Division of
the Ninth Corps?
Mr.. Abbot's book continues, and Mr.. Cofiins
concludes the popular narrat. YES begun by these
writer's in the earlier volumes of their war books
for boys and for other lovers of history with the
hard parts left out. OF the two, the latter is
rather the easier reading and not only are the illus
trations more numerous hut they tell more and
teach more; while Mr.. Abbots pictures, drawn
by W. c. Jackson, have the advantage in
spirit, and the narrative has an easier flow or
march-which is a good thing to have. One
could wish his publishers had eithe: let
alone the thrifty device whereby four cha oter
heads are made TO adorn the twelve chaptt OF
Battle Fields and Comp Fires, or else
had retrenched them altogether In Freedom |
Triumphant" Up. As the map marked Cedar |
Creek is in fact fairly good sketch of Fishers
Hill, whereof a really good one has already been
given on page 81. Nor has Mr.. Coffin the gift |
of severe accuracy in names and minor details |
For example. at Cedar Creek, only half of Rick !
etts's division fell back with Wheaton's division |
,miscaled Wharton's in the next beyond the |
line on which Sheridan found Getty; nor did any
bod Of TpiO foil hac rlt
10 the LITTLE village of Newtown." Yet any Amer |
can boy that cannot enjoy one the other of
these books had better wait until his |
stomach grows up TO the digestion of the great
defnitive history" so long promised threat |
ened, us the reader pleases
For once in a way it is pleasure to be able
TO Weld assent without reserves to the judg- |
ment Of Lord Wolseley when he commends Mr..
Goss's Recollcc,ions' not merely to the read
ing but even 10 the study Of all who care for |
the much-talked OF Art of War for the even |
less generally understood life Of the soldier. For.
as Britain's only general well observes, every |
thing turns upon the effect which is ultimately |
produced the spirit, and well. being. and fight, !
ing efficiency of the private soldier Just be- !
cause the American people. thank Heaven have no !
love for war. but in their Utmost hearts an abiding |
dislike even for It's very glories. the need all !
have for knowing the bottom facts Of the whole |
wrctched business becomes the greater. For the
American army and the American people are and |
ever will be, one; when you know |
the one sou know the other but you |
must know it first. Here in these Recollcctons7
Of Mr.. GOsS you have fine American soldier in his |
habit he lived for better or worse
his great virtues and his little vices, his |
courage and his coddling, his imperturbabe |
good nature. his impotence under sacrifices he
deems needless useless, his thorough relish for
q good practicable grievance Hardly any book
of the war have we found easy to read, nor
among r.any histories OF many sorts, from the
severe t'>ile slack any SINGLE volume that giv.s