The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 133
605 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
Jane Long's life is described in a rambling collection of legends
interspersed with amusing anecdotes and an occasional sprinkling
of documented events. Miss Turner's account of the "exciting world
and times" of Jane Long is a naive and frequently confused reiter-
ation of United States history heavily embroidered with a collection
of miscellaneous, though occasionally interesting, historical trivia.
Genealogists may find the histories of the Wilkinson and Dent
families useful. There are some nice reproductions of E. M. Schiwetz's
sketches.
University of Texas at Arlington S. L. MYRES
Braxton Bragg and Confederate Defeat. Volume I: Field Command.
By Grady McWhiney. (New York: Columbia University Press,
1969. Pp. xiv+421. Bibliography, maps, illustrations, index.
$10.oo.)
An American scholar once said of Braxton Bragg that he was
"noted more for what he failed to accomplish than for his positive
achievements, for which he received little credit." In this proposed
two-volume work, Grady McWhiney is endeavoring to portray a com-
plete picture of General Bragg, the good and the bad, the successes
and the failures, the opinions of his admirers and of his critics, to-
gether with an analysis of the character and the career of this complex
and controversial Confederate military leader.
More than one-third of this volume, which takes the reader to
April, 1863, is devoted to Bragg's pre-Civil W'ar career, with two
chapters on his services in the war with Mexico. Two early chapters,
titled "Naturally Disputatious" and "Distinguished for Attention to
Minutiae," give an insight into the personality of this distinguished
southerner. Later chapters present detailed accounts of the campaigns
of 1862 in Tennessee and Kentucky, and examine Bragg's relations
with Generals Beauregard, Polk, Breckinridge, and Kirby Smith. There
are numerous quotations from contemporaries concerning Bragg's
leadership in these campaigns. In some instances the author evaluates
Bragg's decisions and strategy. He takes issue with historians who
have insisted that the Kentucky campaign "caused nearly every
Confederate except Davis to lose confidence in Bragg."
That Braxton Bragg was a stern disciplinarian, inept at getting
along with people he disliked, impatient, outspoken, and tactless,
cannot be denied. On the other hand, it can hardly be disputed that133
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970, periodical, 1970; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117147/m1/149/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.