The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-04-28
AN ENTERTAINING BOOK.
It's Author Wen Known in snvan-
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-Four Years under Marse Robert
by Maj. Robert Stiles, of Richmond,
Va. Illustrated. octave. decorated
cloth binding, handsome paper and let
ter press, pages 45O Price $500. The
Neale Publishing Co., All Eleventh
street, Washington, D. c. The author
is a relative of the Stiles family in
this city and is we'll remembered as
having made an eloquent address to
the veterans here two years ago. The
book should be Of especial interest
to Savannahians,. as one of the features
| is Judge Fallgants heroic conduct at
! Cold Harbor of "a and the failure to
promote him for it. 1t also does JUS
! tice to Gen. McLaws and puts for
ward his real claims to the high re-
| gard of the people.
| Judge Christian, who writes the let
| ter, is one of the best known and most
| universally respected men in Virginia;
| a leader in every move for the upltft
| of the community; senior member of
a law firm, which stands abreast of
any other in the state: and is under
stood to be as well up in the history
of our Confederate struggle as any
isman in the entire South.
AS chairman of the History Commit
tee of the Grand Camp of Virginia,
| his reports and papers have attracted
| wide spread attention and comment
! dation, and he has just been appointed
a member of the corresponding COM
mittee of the United Confederate
/ Veterans.
-Four Years Under Marse Robert"
Editor of The Confederate:
My dear Madam-In response to
your request of the Both ultimo, that /
should send you. for publication in
your patriotic journal, brief account
of my experiences during the times
| that we were fighting for our rights,
l have thought, instead of writing
| about myself although 1 did have
some experiences" during those time
| that might be Interestingly, l could best
| Interest your readers, prospectively, at
| least, by heralding the early advent of
the above entitled book; a work, filled,
as it will be, with Incidents and expe-
riences that will not only interest, but
many of which will instruct and even
thrill its readers, both North and
South.
OF course, this letter must not be
| mistaken for any attempt at a review
| of this book. This would certainly be
| premature and, perhaps, misleading.
| But it is only intended as an announce
ment of the feast of fat things"
which has been so admirably prepar-
ed by the distinguished author of
-Four Years Under Marse Robert"
and to give the writer's impression of
some of the viands of that feast, after
he has had the privilege of tasting of
these, by hearing large part of the
| MSS. read. s-'ts~tsa. q ss-'..
1t is right that 1 should state in adj
vance, too, that l do not claim to be
either a competent or a disinterested
critic. Maj Stiles has been my friend
| for nearly forty years; and in addition
to this, commenced his career as a SOL
der, in the Richmond Howitzer Bat
| talon, in which my soldier life was
spent, and therefore, whatever ema-
mates from, or pertains to, that gallant
| and glorious command necessarily
concerns me deeply. Whilst these.
things are true, l think it no egotism
to claim that l ought to, and do know
what is mefdtorious Confederate war
history, and especially what will and,
should both interest and instruct Con-
federate and Federal readers, relative
to that war, as we'll as the descendants
| of those on both sides who did and
dared so much in defense Of the princi-
i Piles for which they, respectly, fought
! In the first place, Maj Stiles rem
joyed peculiar advantages, for the sue
cessful performance of his self-irn-
posed task, which has indeed been to
him "a labor of love" Born and reared
j in the South, of Southern ancestry, and
! both by conviction and sympa-
thy Southerner, he, nevertheless. re-
ceived his collegiate education at the
! North; was studying law in New York
when the war broke out, and hence
can appreciate and portray the under
| living fanliOnc of "a Of Hok
sections, better than one who did not
| have these advantages and environ
ments.
He entered the Confederate service
as a private, and served in that ca
pacitY until he won his promotion to
the rank of a field officer by conspic-
uous gallantry in action He was for
long time the adjutant of his bat
talon, a position which enabled him
to mingle Unfortunately, with rank
and file, at the same time that it gave
him opportunities for observation. and
information along the whole line"
which no other position would have af-
forded. AS his first experience as a
soldier, therefore, brought him in di-
rect contact with the men; so his later
position and rank as an officer brought
him in contact with the. commander
| of the army, and with many of his
| most trusted and distinguished lieu
| tenants. With all of these opportuni-
| ties, and possessing, as he does, in an
| eminent degree, the native capacity,
the culture, the faculty for observing
and remembering details, together with
almost marvellous powers of present.
! ing and describing these details, Mai.
| Stiles has, in his book presented us
! pen pictures of Gen. Lee and many of
| his general officers, which are as faith
full as they are fascinating to the read
er. and which will invest all of these
! officers with new charm and interest
to his readers. +.-. rs tnf
4 The reasons he assigns why Gen
Lee was called "Marse Robert are
| in the main new to the writer Al
the same time, these reasons are sc
cogent, so natural, so Southern, anC
| so delightfully."- and. uniquely put, that
| they throw around the form and char
| acter of that incompatible hero" 8
| new halo of glory and renown anc
| explain, as / have seen nowhere else
set forth, why he fills to-day in the
eyes of the world the place he filled
in the hearts of the men who followe5
him, and who went
"Where'er His mandates babe then
steer,
In duty's paths, or glory's bright ca
| reer."
The authors comments on McCleI.
Ian, Grant Meade Hooker, and other
federal generals are fair, and, for the
most part, singularly discriminating
and these cannot fail to interest botf