Welcome The Hour of Conflict: William Cowan McClellan and the 9th Alabama

Edited by John C. Carter
Illustrated, maps, appendices, endnotes, index, 376 pp., 2007. University of Alabama Press, Box 870380, 20 Research Dr., Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0380, $51.75 plus shipping.

Reviewer: John Deppen
John Deppen is past president of the Susquehanna CWRT, a member of General John F. Hartranft Camp #15 of the SUVCW and a living historian who portrays Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock. His articles and reviews have appeared in Military Heritage, Gettysburg Magazine, Civil War News and The Daily Item in central Pennsylvania.

Review:
William Cowan McClellan served the Confederate cause as a private in an Alabama infantry regiment. He survived the war, but, like millions of Americans, the experience changed him.

The privations and hardships he experienced, both as a soldier and later as a prisoner of war, may have contributed to his early demise just four years after the end of hostilities.

Many of McClellan's letters to his family survived and John C. Carter has assembled them in a fine volume. Carter adds historical context when necessary, but it is McClellan's earthy words and observations that are the heart of Welcome the Hour of Conflict. Readers are able to glimpse life in the Army of Northern Virginia through the eyes of a private.

McClellan wrote home often and frequently asked for supplies such as shoes, shirt and an India rubber coat. He also commented on military movements, sometimes with such specificity that it is fortunate that his letters did not fall into Union hands.

He shared his opinions of generals and comrades in the ranks, and he never minced words.

When Gen. Joseph Johnston fell seriously wounded at Seven Pines in 1862, McClellan voiced misgivings and even doubt about the abilities of Johnston's successor, Gen. Robert E. Lee.

It is remarkable to observe the transformation of McClellan's opinion of Lee over time. By the end of the war, McClellan calls Lee "immortal" and ranks him with Napoleon as one of the greatest generals of the age.

McClellan expressed heartfelt admiration for Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, believing him to be the natural successor to command of the army, should anything happen to Lee. McClellan also praised Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell early in the war, calling him the next Jackson, only to see that hope remain unfulfilled.

His greatest affection was for Maj. Gen. Cadmus Wilcox, whose praises McClellan sings in nearly every letter.

McClellan spent much of the war - and much of his letter space - asking family members to secure him a transfer to a cavalry unit. Though a dutiful foot soldier, McClellan believed that service with a mounted unit would be preferable for his health. The transfer never happened.

McClellan wrote one of the most vivid accounts of the Battle of the Crater from the perspective of a soldier on the ground. Carter includes the account in this volume. Students of the 1864 engagement will want to examine McClellan's description of what he witnessed.

William Cowan McClellan was an ancestor of editor John C. Carter and, like many Civil War publications, Welcome the Hour of Conflict is obviously a labor of love.

The book is a fascinating look at the life of an Alabama private who served the Confederate States of America loyally, even when invaders threatened his family and his home.