New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-07-02
LITERARY CRITICISM
AND BOOK NEWS
Gettysburg: the Battle and Its Heroes, North
and South-Child Life in the Animal
World-A Tract Against
Modern War.

ond battle OF Bull Run, Wnere ne
stemmed the tide of defeat and re-
ceived the thanks Of the commanding
general: at South Mountain, where he
stormed the heights at the head of his
men; at Antietam, where he was Sc
lected over the heads Of his seniors 10
succeed his wounded commander; at
Fredericksburg, where he w&s singled
out for the attack because 1.-THE Army
of the Potomac had no Drawer soldier
or better officer than Meade; and
finally at Charlottesville, where he
was the main reliance Of his command
er at a most disastrous moment OF
most disastrous field. For the first
time in its career, the Army of the
Potomac now had a thoroughly eff
cient leader, and the result was the
decisive victory at Gettysburg. Well
might Grant write to Stanton in May
of the following year: Meade and
Sherman are the flttest officers for
large commands l have come in con-
tact with"
t.
niversary OF the turning of the fort
unes Of war by George Gordon Meade
this review of his correspondence and
biography may we'll stop. Its later
pages are no less interesting. History
will gradually deliver to oblivion the
open enmities, the secret camarillas
that pursued the hero long after his
great service, preserving, self-reliant,
resourceful and able. the memory Of
the man who rose TO the opportunity
and the responsibility placed upon him
at a moments notice-the victory OF
Gettysburg.
Mr.. Young's Battle Of Gettysburg"
is a valuable contribution to the litera-
ture of the campaign and the three
days struggle. Its author, then mere
stripping. took part in both as first
lieutenant of Company B. S4th Penn
sylvania Infantry. Detached from his
regiment, he was assigned to duty as
assistant provost marshal at the head
quarters of Brigadier General Andrew
A. Humphreys. For more than dozen
years after the war he lived in and
around Gettysburg, his duties as cir
cult rider leading him time and again
over all the roads traversed by the two
armies. and making him familiar with
every village, thoroughfare and noun
tain pass connected in any way with
the campaign from the Potomac to the
Susquehanna. The country teemed
with "reminiscences. veterans came from
afar and told their tales-in short. Mr..
Young added to his own personal
knowledge a mass Of material that
otherwise might have been lost. Resi-
dence in Florida gave him access to
invaluable Confederate information, the
result Of IT all and Of the reading Of
all available works on the subject, be-
ing this book, which should first of all
be recommended to the general reader
as a most readable, understandable and
comprehensive account Of the battle
for the use Of laymen.
There is more, however. and in this
lies tue BIGdlSI VI Tic WI n. Ill .
Young has compiled the record Of all
West Point graduates who served in
the campaign and battle on either side.
including, so far as that was possible,
even those who had received only par
ttal training at the academy. A death
list Of Federal and Confederate officers
is added; the rostens of the Army Of
the Potomac and the Army of Northern
analysis Of the representation of states
in the Union and Confederate armies,
in which Pennsylvania and New York
share honors in the North. and
Virginia and North Carolina in the
South. The biographical sketches Of
officers follow their careers in later
years, and cases of individual heroism
are commemorated. For the compila-
ton Of these data, many OF them en-
tirely new, and most of them never be-
fore made available in so compact a
form, Mr.. Young deserves thanks.
General Meade apparently did not
meet Pickett during the Mexican cam
paign: at least, there is no mention Of
the leader Of the famous charge in
his correspondence. One wishes that
the two had been acquainted. for the
sake of still another Of those pithy,
Just, keen judgments TO be found in
the letters. Mrs. basalle Corben Pick
ett's biography Of her husband, Pick
EFT and His Men," first published In
1899, is most appropriately issued In
new edition at this hour with General
LonRstreets original introduction, from
which the following passage may be
worth reprinting:
No work Of blame. or censure even, OF
his superior officers ever escaped PICK
ett's lips, but ne nevertheless felt pro-
foundly the sacrifice of his gallant sol
diers. whom he so loved. AT Five FORKS
he had desperate, but a fighting chance,
and if any soldier could have snatched
victory from defeat II was the intrepid
Pickett, and 1T was cruel TO leave that
brilliant and heroic leader and MS spar
tan band TO the same hard straits they
SO nobly met at Gettysburg.
Mr. Vanderslice. a director OF the
Gettysburg Memorial Association, first
published his account Of the battle and
the battlefield as ii was in 1897 on the
occasion OF the transfer of the ground
and its monuments by the association
to the national government. He, too,
gives lists OF the Federal and Confed-
crate forces engaged in the struggle.