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Book Reviews These are some reviews from a recent issue of
The Civil War News:
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"Desolating This Fair Country" The Civil War Diary and Letters of Lt. Henry C. Lyon 34th New York.
Edited by Emily N. Radigan.
Illustrated, index, maps, appendices, 209 pp., 1999. McFarland & Com-pany Inc., Publishers, Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640, $27.50 plus shipping.
The publication of letters and diaries written by Civil War soldiers continues unabated. This volume adds to that literature, but it does not provide a great deal of new information to our understanding of the conflict. Essentially, this book chronicles the experiences of a 24-year-old school teacher from the Finger Lakes region of New York State who enlists in the 34th New York Volunteer Infantry shortly after the fall of Fort Sumter, but who meets an untimely death when he is mortally wounded at Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862. Lt. Henry Lyon’s military career and life unfortunately end too soon. As an educated young man, his descriptions of army life and his battlefield experiences are well-written, although sometimes mundane. When Lyon dies of his wounds on Oct. 5, 1862, the reader is left wondering what his contribu-tion to the war’s story could have been if he had survived longer. The book is laid out well by its editor. Lieutenant Lyon wrote 23 letters and a diary that began Jan. 1, 1862, and ended five days before he was struck down. Two unique letters deal with Henry’s political experiences at the 1860 Republican Convention. The book’s format presents the letters and diary entries together, chronologically, so that there is an even flow of narrative from the young soldier. Major events are segmented by chapters. Lyon’s account could have been improved for the reader if the editor had identified persons named by the young in-fantryman through the use of endnotes. But she does, however, provide brief biographical sketches of some fre-quently mentioned individuals in an appendix. She also endeavors to set the stage with general background informa-tion as an introduction to each chapter of the book. Many of Henry’s letters and diary entries deal with his routine camp life experiences early in the war. His regiment saw major action during the Peninsula Campaign, Second Manassas and Antietam. His ill-fated wounding during the latter battle prevented any description of that action. (His last letter is dated July 30, 1862.) The editor supplements his missing version of the battle by providing excerpts from L. N. Chapin’s regimental history of the 34th New York and after- action reports from the Official Records. Henry Lyon was articulate and for the most part self-educated. His prose is sensitive and detailed with good literary style. For example, in describing the USS Monitor he writes, "The sun was just rising out of the ocean way off through the straits and a little to the left old Fortress Monroe was grim and defiant through the forest of masts while the little Monitor lay behind us guarding with a watchful eye the mouth of the James River up which she has the Merrimac at bay." He also provides a good description of Brig. Gen. Willis Gorman, his brigade commander, the fighting at Fair Oaks, and graphic accounts of how men in his company get wounded. He makes references to Lincoln, McClellan and John Sedgwick. McClellan’s actions on the Peninsula are totally endorsed because "the men one and all seemed to think that McClellan would bring it around right for all." Lyon also makes comical remarks about cavalry service being less desirable than the infantry and the "boys having fighting cuts put on their hair," meaning haircuts down to the scalp. There were two typos that should have been caught by the publisher. Fort Sumter was fired on April 12 not April 14 (p. 14) and John Sedgwick is listed in the appendix as only a major, not major general (p. 182). Nevertheless, the physical quality of this volume is excellent in keeping with McFarland’s high standards. There are some good pho-tographs throughout the text. Students of the common soldier will find this collection of letters and diary of interest.
Bruce M. Venter
Bruce M. Venter holds a B.A. in history from Manhattan College and doctorate in ed-ucational administration from the State University of New York at Albany. He lives in Alexandria, Va.
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