Papers of Jefferson Davis: Volume 10, October 1863-August 1864, The

Book Reviews

The Papers of Jefferson Davis: Volume 10, October 1863-August 1864. Edited by Lynda Lasswell Crist et al. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1999. liii, 739 pp. $95.00. ISBN 0-8071-2412-5.

The latest installment in this series covers one of the most tumultuous periods in Jefferson Davis's presidency. By October 1863 the Confederacy was coming apart. Still reeling from Lee's defeat at Gettysburg and the capture of Vicksburg, Davis and other Confederate leaders had been given hope by a victory at Chickamauga. Unfortunately, it did little to quell the growing controversy in the Army of Tennessee. This volume begins with Braxton Bragg's defending his generalship to his friend Davis in the face of intense criticism from D. H. Hill, James Longstreet, and Leonidas Polk, whom Bragg had suspended for insubordination. Polk wrote the president in early October, defending his actions over the previous month. The victory over Federal forces, he claimed, had been complete and could have been exploited further had Bragg acted properly. Polk told Davis that his suspension was an attempt by Bragg to save his reputation. He asked the president "for a thorough investigation of the cause of such repeated and grievous failures [so] that the responsibility may be fixed where it properly belongs" (p. 13). In the face of such pressure Bragg resigned his command and moved to Richmond to become Davis's military adviser. Several previously unpublished documents in this volume show that Bragg's replacement, Joseph E. Johnston, quickly ran afoul of both the president and ambitious subordinates such as John Bell Hood for both his defensive strategy and his aloof manner. Davis's problems in the western theater continued until the end of the war.

Political opposition to the Confederate government matched dissension within the western army. States'-rights advocates such as Zebulon B. Vance of North Carolina and Howell Cobb of Georgia continued to be vocal critics of Davis's attempts to centralize authority. Impressment, the tax-in-kind, and moves to suspend habeas corpus angered many southerners regardless of their political leanings or social class. In February 1864 Vance wrote to Davis warning that if Congress authorized the president to suspend habeas corpus, Davis should approach such power cautiously. "Be content to try at least for a while, the moral effect of holding this power over the heads of discontented men" lest its use drive loyal states'-rights advocates to rebel against the Confederacy (p. 227). Davis replied hotly that Vance's belief that the president might abuse such powers was "unjust to my conduct, my feelings, and my character. You cannot expect me to receive such a charge from a Governor of a state without insisting on a specification" (p. 265). Facing strong support of states'-rights ideology, Davis's ability to lead a united Confederacy effectively was eroding.

By the spring of 1864 the military situation was growing more critical. Joseph E. Johnston had retreated into positions around Atlanta, and Ulysses S. Grant was pressuring Richmond like no other Union commander before him. A second Federal army invaded the Shenandoah and caused great destruction, although it was ultimately stopped at New Market. Disgusted with Johnston's strategy, Davis relieved him and appointed a favorite, Hood, to command the Army of Tennessee. Hood immediately launched an ill-advised offensive against Sherman that soon left Georgia open for conquest and ultimately lost the western theater. Historian James I. Robertson Jr. writes in the volume's preface that for most southerners "the fall of Atlanta and failure of Davis as president were one and the same." For the remainder of the war Davis became "a lone sentry of hope for an unappreciative people" (p. xii).

This documentary project is one of the most important currently under way. Lynda Lasswell Crist and her coeditors have scoured dozens of archives to give readers access to the most complete calendar of Davis papers to date. The editing and annotations demonstrate a keen eye for significance and an excellent grasp of the relevant secondary literature. Given the thousands of extant letters written to or by Davis, the editors continue the wise practice of publishing and annotating the full text of only the most significant documents, listing and summarizing the remainder for the benefit of serious researchers. A close reading of the documents in this volume will offer serious students of the Civil War fresh insight into the last years of the Confederate government and into Davis the man. No research library should be without this important collection.

RICHARD D. STARNES

Western Carolina University

Copyright University of Alabama Press Jul 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved