Civil War High Commands.

By John H. Eicher and David J. Eicher. Foreword by John Y. Simon. (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2001. Pp. [xxvi], 1009. $59.95, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.)

Collectors of Civil War reference books will certainly want to add this useful volume to their shelves. Representing many years of work by two experienced researchers, the book emphasizes biographical data on Union and Confederate "high commanders." However, it also includes such varied subjects as geographical and political units, military and naval legislation, regulations, organization of the fighting forces, ranks and grades, districts and departments, corps and squadrons, and a chronology spanning the years from South Carolina's secession in December 1860 through Georgia's readmission to the Union in July 1870.

"High commanders" are defined as executive officers from presidents through cabinet secretaries (except for Lincoln's attorneys general, who are listed with "might-have-been" commanders because they did not officially hold cabinet rank until 1870); "principal subordinates in their respective war and navy departments"; governors; and "general officers in the armies and the equivalent flag officers of the navies"--in all, 3,396 persons (pp. xv-xvi). The biographical section on these men encompasses about half of the book and includes vital statistics in abbreviated form for each subject's entire life. In many cases, Eicher and Eicher provide help with pronunciation and alternate spellings of names, as well as nicknames and aliases. They also indicate familial relationships among commanders as appropriate, although spouses and offspring are not included. Confederate and Union commanders are combined in a single, alphabetically organized section in which all the high commanders are accounted for; the few hundred "might-have-beens" are treated in a separate section. Among the latter (mostly Confederates) are "acting" generals and others who were nominated but not confirmed--a few well-known examples of these are Turner Ashby Jr., John W. De Peyster, and Benjamin S. Ewell.

After the biographical entries are separate lists of individuals' birthplaces and sites of interment, followed by alphabetical lists of army and navy officers for each side (regulars, volunteers, and militia) organized by rank. (The thorny issue of brevet rank in the U.S. Army is covered in the individual biographical entries.) There are drawings of insignia and various portraits scattered throughout, but no maps. Another interesting tabulation is of those who received medals of honor and official thanks from their respective Congresses. On the Confederate side, clearly reflecting the power and number of their political friends, P. G. T. Beauregard was officially honored five times, Nathan Bedford Forrest four, and Sterling Price two, while Lee and Jackson were only so honored once each (pp. 90-91).

How do the Eichers manage to include so much information? The answer: lots of abbreviations. The reader, especially one unfamiliar with military and naval terminology, will want to mark the three-page list of abbreviations. Likewise, bibliographic sources are referred to by an assigned number, not by titles and pages, a la Ezra J. Warner's Generals in Gray (Baton Rouge, 1959) and Generals in Blue (Baton Rouge, 1964). Some biographical entries cite no specific sources, although the section is preceded by a list of works used commonly throughout. Ulysses S. Grant's entry carries sixteen citations, among them contemporary memoirs, early and modern biographies, and the ongoing Papers of Ulysses S. Grant project. Immediately following this Grant we all know is the sad case of "Grant, William W. (Grout, Groot, Grort, Gront?)" (p. 264), a brigadier in the Vermont militia in 1865--no birth date, no death date, nothing more.

Besides being a truly handy reference work, the Eichers' book is simply great fun to peruse, but beware: looking up one tidbit may lead you to browse and read for a very long time.

LYNDA LASSWELL CRIST
The Papers of Jefferson Davis
Rice University