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Book Reviews These are some reviews from a recent issue of
The Civil War News:
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“Duty Well Done”—The History of Edward Baker’s California Regiment
by Gary G. Lash.
Illustrated, index, bibliography, appendices, 431 pp., 2001. Butternut and Blue, 3411 Northwind Rd., Baltimore, MD 21234, $60 plus shipping.
Gary G. Lash has written an intriguing history of a unique regiment, the California Regiment. In just over 400 pages, Lash reveals everything about the California Regiment from the average age and occupation of the soldiers to the contributions they made in 11 different engagements. Lash wastes no time ascertaining that the regiment’s western title was merely nominal since the majority of the soldiers in the California Regiment had ventured no further than their own county line. Though known as the Californians, the men in this regiment came mostly from the Philadelphia area and New York City. They were recruited by the charismatic senator from California, Edward Dickson Baker, whose monumental task it was to raise this regiment of Easterners to fight for the westernmost state in the Union. Baker’s determination as a recruiter realized immediate dividends. The men he enlisted were like any other regiment’s enlistees. Some men drank too much while others relied on prayer, some cussed while their comrades sang, and some thought of patriotic dreams while others damned the day they enlisted. Despite the differences in manner and attitude of the men, Baker formed a respectable unit, one that would one day show a bleeding nation that the state for which one fights is immaterial when liberty is at risk. After their training at Fort Schuyler, New York, the Californians fell victim to the wait-ing game so common to green Civil War units. They desperately wanted a chance to prove their mettle on the battlefield, and were constantly teased by false reports of an encroaching enemy and half-truths about their next movements. As fate so often decides the course of souls, the Californians would soon taste battle and the green youngsters would become hardened, war-worn veterans. Sometime before their baptism of fire, however, Colonel Baker met with Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin. Baker requested that his regiment be recognized as a Pennsylvania unit because “...most of the men and officers of the California Regiment hailed from Pennsylvania.” Curtin acquiesced and the Californians, while maintaining that nickname, officially became the 71st Pennsylvania Volunteers. The regiment’s introduction to battle came on Oct. 21, 1861, at Ball’s Bluff. Lash commiserates with regimental diaries as they tell of the unit’s chaotic retreat and the death of their beloved leader, Colonel Baker, who was, “felled by at least six balls." Lash’s account of the Californians then delves into a maelstrom of command changes and marching columns of men. Newly appointed colonel, Isaac Wistar, nursed his bloodied troops through the winter months of 1861-62 and by March found his regiment a part of the Philadelphia Brigade of the Second Division, Second Corps. As such, the regiment was deployed on the Virginia Peninsula during the spring and participated in the battles of Fair Oaks, Savage Station and Glendale. The 71st experienced their bloodiest day of the war at the battle of Antietam. The men brought up the rear of the assault on David Miller’s cornfield and treading over the corpses of friend and foe arrived in time to add to the ferocious malaise near the West Woods. By the end of the day, the Californians had lost 140 of 510 soldiers. The battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville passed over the 71st without in-volvement or incident. Gettysburg, though, for the 71st would be more like Ball’s Bluff and Antietam. July 2, 1863, was riddled with confusion and controversy concerning the Californians. After assuming a position on Culp’s Hill during the early evening, the 71st fired a few volleys and withdrew on the order of their new colonel, Penn Smith (Wistar had been pro-moted). No one knows why Smith ordered the retreat and Lash contends that the order was an unsolicited act of incompetence. Given the situation on the night of July 2-3, however, the Union Army had little time to deliberate about the actions of one colonel on Culp’s Hill. July 3 was another trying day for the Californians. This time, though, the trial came in the form of a Rebel onslaught, not confused battle orders. Lash spends a fair amount of time explaining the Californians’ efforts during Pickett’s Charge. They were posted at the inner and outer angles of the stone wall lining Cemetery Ridge and played a significant role in the repulse of Armistead’s supporting brigade. Once the tide of Pickett’s Charge had ebbed and the battle had ended, the Californians joined the rest of the Army of the Potomac in its listless pursuit of the demoralized Army of Northern Virginia. Lash concludes his study by recounting the efforts of the 71st in the Mine Run Campaign, at Bristoe Station, North Anna, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor. The regiment was officially mustered out of service on July 12, 1864. Gary Lash is to be commended on Duty Well Done. The book sprawls with de-tail which leaves readers with very little guess work. He traces the foot steps of a few particular soldiers throughout the work adding continuity and humanity to a very long read. Duty Well Done is a well written narrative with only a few grammatical and typographical flaws. Numerous photographs, drawings and woodcuts accent the fascinating story of the California Regiment. The majority of the book, though, revolves around camp life and life afoot—and Lash does not provide adequate maps of camp locations or general marching routes which would have made a very readable regimental that much better.
by Chuck Romig
Chuck Romig graduated from Penn State University with a B.S. in secondary education and teaches history at Penns Valley High School in Spring Mills, Pa. He continues to read and research Civil War history.
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