New-York tribune., 1907-10-05

of Artillery, Longstreet's Corps With portraits
and sketch maps by the author. Octave PIP.
xviii. 6S3 Charles Scribner's Sons.
The lapse Of years. which has given a proper
nerspective TO the study of the Civil War, which
has softened the bitterness it has hallowed
the sorrows of the conflict, has brought to light
an accumulation Of contemporary records that
mist be nearly complete. With the compilation
- the official reports and the innumerabe ac-
counts of survivors and participants upon both
sides history has the material upon which to
base its judgments. But General Alexander's
nurpose has been far beyond the simple one of
sunplying one more personal narrative OF sur
,,,vor That purpose has been. with all the rec
or5s before him, to criticise each campaign
ore would a game. marking the good and bad
nlavs with their influence on the result.
Adequately to accomplish such an end # is
,,o+ enough 70 be deeply read in the theory and
n-actice Of warfare and 10 be familiar with the
t,,s Of the material bearing on the incidents
.rd progress of this war-one must lay aside
ro-tsan bias and the prepossessions of senti-
mt one must have the judicial temperament
I'D one must have profound and genuine in
-orest in his subject. General Alexander meets
.ba reader halfway at the start by acknowl-
z,,s that il was far better for the South it
oI+ as well as for the rest Of the country and
for the world at large, that the war resulted as
g did What the South fought for, viewed IN
-a,rospect no longer seems so desirable. II
yvoIld now prove only curse and lead TO an
indefinitely subdivided country. This view-the
r-oduct OF experience and time-is maintained
with absolute loyalty to the right OF the South
10 decide as It did and with perfect devotion to
the rnenorgs Of the great dead. It is not po-
,ticaI or legal treatise with which we have TO
do but 2 technical discussion Of a life and
death struggle fought out with uneXampIed
nassion and now calmly dissected by partlcl-
pant who has lived long enough to thank Hou
that his opponents view prevailed
Although primarily addressed 10 the military
s+,dant the style Of the work is simple ana
clear. and with the aid of sketch maps the
uninstructed may follow the course or lhe mar
rative Such a reader will find, however lhal "
demands rather close attention, for it is large
y. composed of minute detail, and the author Is
not much given to large and sweeping gen
o-s1;ze+ions In the account of the events lead
,rg IN to the battle Of Bull Run he severely re-
Aec+s rpon President Davis for the use OF
qualifying phrase in an order whlch was lii'e
preted as a pernissive and not iIahua'oiS
one THE words IF practicable are always
he saws "of such doubtful Interpretation that
thew should be excluded from all important
orders. Every order should be distinctly either
the one thing or the other Lee USED lhe pm "Se
., cs+tvsburg In ordering Ewell TO press a
"
the early days Of the war both sides had much
% learn as TO when TO follow up an advantage
7,e,ie seemed 10 fear his whole army was IN
ra+reat at the very moment when stohe"Ah
Jackson was offering TO take Washington.
The enemy routed Jacks9n2, say f%ded fReT @ Ge
rnorazaton and felt that II TaPd!y aPnXe the capital
itself And every soids sh0Sfd 0 a5d nEs capture many
bss16s a. ess Of fugitives retreating by long and
roundabout roads. There was little eTorI W. VIZ 's hs
Of the name even b6% 10 ia far the pursuit might have
pushed or what II might nave atiicaiIv used
MeTf but these deficiencies sui-
cient excuse for not attempting the game OF va %sr
In that game, TO use the sang fSeTates OF TO
days il was up TO the S~ohieuet ~ dI5I I't,,ost
purgue their routed enemy TO the very sa u.tosu Sc
HIS line of retreat was ciGcuiI0bs P am1 bV snort
rare opportunity TO cut It at Cup KUN .y1Ile Dy bv
advance from Stone Bridge; or al T;orj
Sobnston and Eeauregard both sent orders TO dil.
ferent commands 10 make sucn aa1diiCc % S9c far r
tpdrd the erecdion Of the orders, though Ine 9oas
s3er the valuable hours Of daylight still left IN
riding the battlefield as NapolS0m Pas
opportunity crush Wellington at QuaIg 80 % -
by wasting hours in riding over the hed OF lAsiS'
The author. whose attitude toward Lee ap-
prosches veneration, does not hesitate to with
hold praise when he feels it undeserVed- lie
pronounces stuart's proposal OF a raid ronnd the
Union forces in June, 1863, most unwlse' ana
Lees entertainment of It still more so, and yet
constantly emphasizes the boldness that IhaFEHeu
ell Of the Confederate generals conceptions. he
gives Mcclellan credit for some notable quar-
ites but the view Of him does not differ widely
from that Of contemporaries. He would nave
been an excellent chief of staff" he says. but
was unfit for the command Of army He
was as utterly without audacity as Lee was
full Of f. His one fine quality was his ability
10 organize and discipline. He constructed
superb machine, which. being once constructed,
would fight a battle with skill and courage IL
only let alone" Lee read him like book and
speculated boldly upon the knowledge. as when
he assumed a period Of federal inaction after
Antietar To Fitz-John Porter however,
generous need of praise is given in these words
regarding his dismissaI Thus the federal
army deprived Of one among its officers Of the
very highest type. The ex-federal Confederates
who had known Porter considered this result as
one Of the best fruits Of their victory The glst
Of the charges against Porter lay In Popes
claim that Longstreets troops had not reached
Gainesville until late in the afternoon, and that
Porter could have fallen upon Jackson's exposed
right flank After the war when official reports
OF the Confederates were published, the actual
facts became so notorious that, in 1873 the
proceedings OF the court were reviewed by
board appointed by the President, with the
suit that Justice was done to injured man"
1t is an illustration of the impartiality of the
writer that he has pet theory TO exploit.
f.vorite commander to'defend. There was not,
he believes, a finer example of efficient COM
mand during the war than that displayed by
meade on the second day Of Gettysburg in
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