The Preacher's Tale: The Civil War Journal of Rev. Francis Springer, Chaplain, U.S. Army of the Frontier.

Edited by William Furry. The Civil War in the West. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2001. Pp. xxiv, 182. $34.95, ISBN 1-55728-703-1.)

Civil War-era diaries, memoirs, and collections of letters and manuscripts abound in libraries; most of them were written by soldiers or statesmen, and most of them concentrate on the eastern theater of the war. The University of Arkansas Press is working to remedy the lack of sources and scholarship on the western states and territories with its excellent series, "The Civil War in the West." William Furry's edition of Union army chaplain Francis Springer's diary is a welcome and valuable addition to this series.

The Reverend Francis Springer (1810-1892) was stationed in Arkansas from 1862 through 1867. Together with one of his sons, he volunteered for the Tenth Illinois Cavalry in 1861 and served with the regiment until 1863, when he became chaplain of the First Arkansas Infantry. During the early years of Reconstruction he served as an agent in the Bureau of Refugees and Freedmen. His journal covers the period from December 15, 1862, through December 31, 1863. He observed the baffle of Prairie Grove in December 1862 as well as the execution of four Rebel bushwackers in 1864. The journal also contains drafts of articles, sermons, and biographical essays. Springer's observations on army life in camp and on the march, his stinging rebukes of the enemy, and his occasionally rather sharp commentary on the incompetence of army officers create a richly detailed portrayal of military life on the frontier.

Perhaps the greatest value of this journal is that as an educator (he had served as a school superintendent in Illinois) and a thoughtful, if highly opinionated, theologian, the Reverend Springer provided a fascinating discussion on many important issues of the day, including black soldiers, southern refugees, Native Americans fighting for the Confederacy, southern women, national politics, and divided loyalties in the western theater. Although he expressed some sympathy for the sufferings of slaves and frequently inveighed against the injustice of human bondage, Springer's journal hints at a belief that both Native Americans and African Americans were inferior to white people. Indeed, he expressed some contempt for the Indians he encountered in Arkansas. Still, his greatest opprobrium was reserved for the Rebels, against whom he often unleashed biting criticism, and against their British supporters, whom he all but blamed for the origin of the Civil War.

We are indebted to William Furry for his meticulous notes and for his clear, carefully contextualized biography of the Reverend Springer. Furry also unearthed hitherto unpublished photographs, and he includes in the appendix Springer's account of several executions of bushwackers, as well as his eulogy of Abraham Lincoln (who had been a neighbor and a friend of the Springer family). The Preacher's Tale is an extremely useful and highly readable journal that will be a valuable resource for any historian working on the western theater of the war.

SILVANA R. SIDDALI
Illinois State University