The Civil War Book of Lists: Over 300 Lists from the Sublime to the Ridiculous

The hardcover bargain version of "The Civil War Book of Lists" has just been published, and is a joy for an Civil War enthusiast to breeze through its pages. You'll find entries about the best and worst Civil War Generals, the Best Regiments, the strangest hairstyles (Ambrose "Sideburns" Burnside an obvious choice), the ugliest generals (Nathan Bedford Forrest occupies a prominent spot here),and Generals who served in the Mexican War,and the Union and Confederate Generals who helped unite the country 33 years after Appomattox by their service as U.S. Army Generals in the Spanish-American War. They include Union Cavalry Generals Wesley Merritt and James Harrison Wilson, both contemporaries of George Armstrong Custer; and Confederate Generals like "Fighting Joe" Wheeler and Robert E. Lee's nephew and cavalry commander under Jeb Stuart Fitzhugh Lee. There are entries on women who served, Black-Americans, Native Americans and significant actions (though victories by Stand Watie are curiously omitted), on foreign born officers on both sides, and even on Jewish Medal of Honor Winners - six of them. Even fairly comprehensive lists of casualties. The Union losses in battle or died of disease are fairly accurate, the Confederate ones ??? (they're not broken down as completely as the Union figures are), and are initially hard to locate. Edward S. Salomon of the 82nd Illinois, a Jewish Colonel who fought gallantly at Gettysburg and was promoted later to the brevet rank of General is not even mentioned as one of the top ranking Jewish officers on either side in the Civil War. Overall, a solid work, but the inaccuracies are not that minor, especially regarding the great Cherokee Stand Watie, or Salomon, who later was appointed to a Governorship in the Northwest by President U.S. Grant as recognition of his services. Also, I'm not sure if John Pope would qualify as one of the worst Generals of the Civil War. He performed admirably at New Madrid, Island Number 10, and at Corinth, and he was poorly served by McClellan and his minions at Second Manassas. Judson Kilpatrick, the coward who recklessly sent Farnsworth to his death on the 3rd day of Gettysburg and who later rode to the gates of Richmond and was scared off by a few militia, would qualify many times more than General Pope would. For what it does contain, however, it is still an excellent reference tool for Civil War researchers.

The Civil War Book of Lists declares on its cover that it contains over 300 lists from the sublime to the ridiculous, and that is certainly true. It could also be said that it goes from the objective to the incredibly subjective. Some of the lists contain matter of fact information such as States and Territories Ranked by Black Troops Recruited for Union Service. As factual but slightly less dry is Hair Color of Union Soldiers. Some lists are heart breaking, such as Eleven Confederate Regiments with the Greatest Number Killed at Gettysburg. Personally I found the book more enjoyable as it began to move into the subjective and I could start arguing with the lists, such as The Five Most Oddly Named Civil War Battles. What's so odd about Island Number Ten? That's where it was fought. The death of General Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh was the Eleventh Top Turning Points of the War? That could be debated. Second Best Union General was Benjamin Grierson? Fans of fourth-ranked Sherman might disagree, especially with George Thomas ranked third. And then there's the list of the Ten Ugliest Generals, where Sherman was ranked uglier than Benjamin Butler. And certainly not least is Karl Marx and Frederick Engels' "The Civil War in the United States" being ranked as the Second Funniest Work Ever Written About the Civil War. This is an informative (Ten Actions by Black Troops Before the Celebrated Attack of the 54th Massachusetts on Fort Wagner on 18 July 1863) as well as a fun book.