August Valentine Kautz, USA: A Biography of a Civil War General
By Lawrence G. Kautz
(November 2008 Civil War News)

Illustrated, maps, notes, bibliography, index, hardcover, 303 pp., 2008. McFarland, Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640, $55 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Jonathan A. Noyalas
Jonathan A. Noyalas is a history professor at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Va., and the author or editor of four books on Civil War era history.

Review:
In recent years the number of biographies of Civil War officers has exploded. Some biographers have chosen their topics merely because no one has written about them before and they want to fill that proverbial “gap” in the literature, while others choose their subjects because they feel they are significant or they have been improperly treated by historians in other general studies.

Falling into this latter category, the nobler of the two, is Lawrence G. Kautz’s fine work August Valentine Kautz, USA: Biography of a Civil War General.

The author, a descendant of the general, has assumed the burden of writing a biography as a corrective to the analysis pegged on his ancestor in Richard J. Sommers’ Richmond Redeemed: The Siege at Petersburg.

Incensed over Sommers’ contention that Kautz’s performance during this time was dismal Lawrence Kautz decided to research his ancestor and refute Sommers. Although Kautz is not a professionally trained historian he utilized a nice array of primary sources from the National Archives and smaller repositories to present a balanced study.

The author ably describes Kautz’s life from his birth in 1828 in Germany, to his family’s journey to the United States in the 1830s and subsequent settlement in Ohio. After walking through Kautz’s early life, the author succinctly establishes Kautz’s desire to be a soldier, particularly after he served with the 1st Ohio during the Mexican War.

This became a seminal experience in Kautz’s life as after the conflict with Mexico “he yearned to return to military life.” His desire translated into an appointment to West Point in 1848. Not a remarkable student by any means, Kautz graduated 35th in a class of 43 which included George Crook. After graduation Kautz served in a number of military posts primarily in the Pacific Northwest.

When the Civil War came Kautz served in a variety of positions including the chief of cavalry in the Army of the Cumberland and in the Cavalry Bureau — where, according to contemporaries, his organizational skills were second to none. Additionally the author’s examinations of Kautz’s raids in May 1864, his role at Petersburg and the role Kautz played as a member of the military commission assembled to try the Lincoln conspirators are well organized.

The author concludes the book with a lengthy study of Kautz’s postwar life, much of it spent in the military. Kautz died in 1895 and after a temporary burial in Seattle, Wash., was interred in Arlington National Cemetery so that he could rest near the grave of his old friend Philip Sheridan.

This book not only offers a sound biography of General Kautz, but if read closely it also presents important insight into such things as the relationship between a professionally trained soldier and volunteers. Furthermore it illustrates the human side of war, particularly the author’s discussion of how Kautz dealt with the news of his brother’s capture and imprisonment at Libby Prison.

While this biography is very strong it does have a few shortcomings. For one, the book could use some additional maps, particularly with the sections on the Peninsula and Petersburg. Additionally the book contains some minor distracting errors. For example, a photograph of Kautz that appears on page 111 notes that “Kautz has the stars of a major general on his shoulder, but is still wearing the uniform of a colonel (one row of buttons).” This is incorrect. Kautz is actually wearing a junior officer grade frock coat. A colonel’s coat was double-breasted with nine-buttons evenly spaced.

Aside from those minor distractions August Valentine Kautz, USA: Biography of a Civil War General is a readable, well-organized book, and is recommended.