Civil War Goats and Scapegoats
By H. Donald Winkler
(November 2008 Civil War News)

Illustrated, index, bibliography, softcover, 378 pp., 2008. Cumberland House, 431 Harding Industrial Drive, Nashville, Tenn. 37211, $16.95 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Clint Johnson
Clint Johnson’s latest book is Pursuit: The Chase, Capture, Persecution and Surprising Release of Confederate President Jefferson Davis

Review:
This book, though mistitled in my opinion, would be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of anyone who wants to have a handy, short book to describe the war’s major battles in both theaters.

I say it is mistitled because the title leads the casual browser in the book store to believe it to be mini-biographies of the generals on the cover, who presumably are the goats and scapegoats.

What Winkler has really done is describe the battles in some detail then use decisions made by generals in those battles to point out errors they made. The focus is on the battles rather than the generals.

There is nothing wrong with that at all; just don’t expect a full biography of Henry Heth, who Winkler rightly describes as being responsible for bringing on the battle of Gettysburg before Lee was ready to fight.

Winkler found a postwar article where Heth blamed the loss of Gettysburg on “the absence of cavalry.” John Singleton Mosby saw that comment by Heth and wrote that he thought the Gettysburg loss could be attributed to “the presence of Heth.”

I personally had never heard that smart aleck – but true – remark by Mosby. Winkler has sprinkled such historical references throughout a book that covers well-trod ground describing the battles.

Another example of a nugget of info that Winkler uncovered is exchanges between Lincoln, his staff and George Meade pertaining to Lincoln’s frustration that Meade had not crushed Lee on the retreat south from Gettysburg. Winkler agrees, saying it was “unforgivable” that Meade did not attack Lee. For that reason Winkler lists Meade as one of the obvious goats of the war and deserving of a spot on the book’s cover.

Who knew that Lincoln was a poet? Winkler ends the Gettysburg chapter with an atrocious, comical poem Lincoln wrote about Lee’s attempt to “sack Phil-del.”

The book is divided into Eastern and Western theaters with a separate chapter on “Andersonville – Misdirected Popular Clamor.”

The last chapter lists those who Winkler thinks were goats and scapegoats. His choice for most maligned scapegoat was Union Col. Charles P. Stone, who was imprisoned for the disaster at Balls Bluff, Va., since no one wanted to blame Lincoln’s dead friend Col. Edward Baker for the debacle.