Book Description
The 1862 battle of Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas was one of the largest Civil War engagements fought on the western frontier, and it dramatically altered the balance of power in the Trans-Mississippi. This study of the battle is based on research in archives from Connecticut to California and includes a pioneering study of the terrain of the sprawling battlefield, as well as an examination of soldiers' personal experiences, the use of Native American troops, and the role of Pea Ridge in regional folklore.
Customer Reviews:
Clearly written, compelling to read, opens a new page........2007-09-18
This book is a model for clarity in histories of the Civil War. The author describes troop movements and strategic decisions in an accessible manner. The meaning of the Pea Ridge campaign is made clear. In this book, you can follow the battlefield and get a sense of where people were at any given moment.
The South lost the West in this battle; the battle pre-saged many of the tactical innovations of the Civil War. This "sideline" battle is revealed as more important than most realize, an early indication that western battles would yield Union victories.
Shedding light on an overlooked battle.......2007-07-28
Even among Civil War buffs, Pea Ridge is pretty much a forgotten battle. Shea's book remedies that with clear, readable and moving narrative and keen analysis of the largest Civil War battle fought in Arkansas (and depending on which numbers you believe, the largest fought west of the Mississippi). Even more importantly, the book provides compelling reasons why Pea Ridge should NOT be a forgotten battle. He also spotlights the brilliant performance of Samuel Curtis, perhaps the Union's most underrated general, as well as the less-than-brilliant work of Confederate General Earl Van Dorn, who had all of Jeb Stuart's style but not of his skills.
A battle from obscurity..........2007-07-14
Many Civil War buffs, and most casual readers of Civil War history, have more than a parochial understanding of this pivotal battle. When Curtis's northern troops entered NW Arkanasas, during the winter of 1862, they knew they were facing a strong enemy.
Earl Van Dorn, recently promoted to commander of the Army of The West, had assembled a strong army and was anxious for success against Curtis's troops. He believed that he could defeat him and launch an overland campaign, against Union held St. Louis, ensuring his lasting fame. He was unprepared for what he would find with Curtis.
Curtis had entrenched his army, along Little Sugar Creek, which rests south of Pea Ridge Tavern along the Telegraph Rd. As the Rebels were wintering in the Boston Mountains, south of his position, Curtis had little worry about Rebels hitting him from the North. Fortunately, Brig General, Franz Sigel, detached from Curtis's army, and at Bentonville, was defeated, and pushed back to Curtis's position and alerted him of trouble in his rear.
Van Dorn's ingenious plan revolved around splitting his army, to traverse Elk Horn mountain, with troops under Ben McCullough taking the Ford Rd, to the mountain's south side, and his troops, commanded by Sterling Price around the north side. They would meet on the Telegraph Rd, north of Curtis's army and push them into Little Sugar Creek - blocking their means of retreat to Missouri. While conceptually, this plan was sound, in reality, the timing proved difficult and Union troops under Osterhaus and Jefferson C Davis, caught McCollough's rebels in the open. Battle followed in, and around Leetown. While the rebels were able to open the battle, their organization fell apart after brigadier generals Ben McCullough and McIntosh were killed on the field. Command of this sector fell to the next general in line, Albert Pike. Pike was leading the Civil War's first brigade of Indians, and was not up to the task. The union forces pushed them NE towards Elkhorn tavern.
Meanwhile, east of Leetown, Van Dorn's main body, unleashed a spectacular attack against Curtis's Union forces at Elkhorn Tavern. The rebels pushed Curtis's troops 1/2 mile south, along the Telegraph Rd. Even with the routing of the portion of his army, now being led by Pike, Van Dorn slept that night, confident that his troops would push Curtis's army into the Little Sugar Creek. This was the mistake that lost him the battle.
The next morning, after assembling his new battle line, Curtis's opened the day with the largest artillery barrage of the Civil War (up to that point). This artillery barrage caught Van Dorn's confederates unprepared. In the excitement of the previous day's victory, Van Dorn had not called up his supply train. Essentially, caught up against the east edge of Elkhorn Mountain, and in the open south of Elkhorn Tavern, Van Dorn's troops had almost no artillery ammunition, and very little ammunition for his infantry. Van Dorn was forced to retreat, east along Huntsville Rd.
Over the coming months, Curtis would pursue Van Dorn's army across north, and north central Arkansas. His victory would assure the Union, that Missouri would stay in the Union.
This book was extremely well written and easy to read. Shea did a remarkable job putting his text into easily visualized format. I was even more impressed with this book after visiting the battlefield, and using his maps, and pictures, to explore the battlefield (if you are interested in viewing my pictures of the Pea Ridge battle field, please email me at michael.noirot@gmail.com).
I highly recommend this book to all Civil War buffs. It will put the battles, west of the Mississippi, into proper perspective.
Michael Noirot
Saint Louis, Missouri
The Gettysburg of the West.......2007-03-16
Authors William Shea and Earl Hess tell the story of the campaign and battle of Pea Ridge, which is sometimes grandly called the Gettysburg of the West. The Union Army of the Southwest, commanded by Brig. Gen. Samuel Curtis numbered fewer than 11,000 soldiers, the same size as a single division in the Army of the Potomac at that time. Yet, while the vast legions of Army of the Potomac hovered uncertainly near Washington DC in February 1862, Curtis launched a winter campaign that took his small army clear across the Ozark Plateau and into northwestern Arkansas.
There, Union soldiers from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa and loyal Missouri met an equally tough set of Confederates from Texas, Arkansas and Missouri. It was one of the few times in the Civil War that the Northern soldiers were outnumbered. But in the subsequent battle of Pea Ridge in early March 1862, the 16,000-man Confederate Army of the West went down to defeat.
According to the authors, bad luck, uninspired leadership and Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn's many outrageous blunders negated the Southern army's numerical advantage. On the Northern side, Curtis and three of his four division commanders maneuvered their soldiers with skill. Even Curtis' erratic second-in-command, Brig. Gen. Franz Sigel supervised a decisive artillery bombardment on the second day of the battle. Three Yankee brigade commanders showed courage and initiative, but at least one unit commander had a yellow streak.
The book devotes a chapter and a map to the preliminary operation in which the Confederates missed capturing a Union detachment that Sigel had carelessly exposed. The March 7 fights at Leetown and Elkhorn, and the March 8 battle at Elkhorn are explained in detail with maps. The Army of the Southwest's later march to Helena, Arkansas is sketched out more briefly. A concluding chapter ably critiques the strategy and tactics of both sides. There is an Order of Battle and extensive footnotes.
Compare this book with Shelby Foote's short account of Pea Ridge in his splendid "The Civil War -- A Narrative." Foote was a great historian, but it sounds like a different battle. To take only one example, Foote says Van Dorn's two pronged attack was planned. Yet Shea and Hess note that the attack was improvised after the Confederate flank march fell badly behind schedule. This is typical of the kind of detail that the authors add to the history of this battle.
My only criticism is a lack of information on weaponry. Except for one Illinois unit, it is not clear whether Union infantry and cavalry units carried rifled muskets, smoothbores, carbines or Colt revolving rifles. The Order of Battle contains detailed data about the type of cannons in each artillery battery, but in one case the text contradicts the OB. For the Pea Ridge battle and campaign, this book is a keeper, despite my quibbling about weapons.
Great description of a key campaign.......2006-11-05
Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West, authored by William Shea and Earl Hess, is a well done work describing one of the most important battles in the Trans-Mississippi theater. This Union victory ensured that Missouri would be Union territory; it also provided a spearhead for attacks further South (e.g., Arkansas). Compared with the Eastern Theater and the Western Theater, the Trans-Mississippi experienced fewer major battles; after Pea Ridge, the Confederacy lost a lot of "steam" in that district.
The battle itself resulted from a campaign headed by Union General Benjamin Curtis and Confederate General Earl Van Dorn, colorful but not the most competent Army general in the Confederacy. Other generals in the engagement were, on the Confederate side, Sterling Price, Ben McCulloch, and Albert Pike, and, for the Union, Franz Sigel (with one of his very few halfway competent campaigns of the Civil War), Alexander Asboth, and Peter Osterhaus. The Confederate side was burdened with more questionable leadership.
Van Dorn was able to maneuver his army behind the Union defensive position at Pea Ridge (or Elkhorn Tavern). In the battle that followed, Curtis was able to turn his army around, with the rear becoming the front. It was a stunning display of generalship under pressure. The Confederate attack was designed to be two pronged. On the right, initial advances were successful. Then, a leadership crisis. The charismatic Confederate general, Ben McCulloch, was cut down early and died, and chaos set in on his side of the battle. On the other front, advancing up the Telegraph Road from the North, Van Dorn attacked Curtis' position and made some headway. However, as the situation on the Confederate right (and Union left) stabilized, Curtis was able to release more troops to defend against Van Dorn's assault.
By the next morning, the Confederates were fought out. And, in a display of stupefying incompetence, the Confederate Army had not brought up the supply trains and, thus, was low on food and ammunition. The Union attack the next morning, featuring competent generalship from Sigel (well worth mentioning, given the paucity of such days in the war for him), led to a general defeat of the southerners.
The resulting retreat back to Arkansas was disheartening to Van Dorn's army. The end result: the Union solidified its hold on Missouri, turned back a major assault by a large force, and reduced the ability of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi forces to mount a major attack for some time. It is too much to say that this was the Gettysburg of the Trans-Mississippi, but it was a major Union victory. This battle is not as well known as others, but it warrants attention by those interested in the Civil War.
Amazon.com
If the sub-category of mysteries called "Cozies" are your passion, then you probably know all about Churchill and her series of paperbacks about a cat-loving Chicago housewife and amateur detective named Jane Jeffrey. (The last one was called -- ready? --
The Silence of the Hams.) Now Jeffrey is making her hardcover debut, in a story full of the same kind of homey, light-hearted stuff. The head of the Snellen Museum, founded by pea king Auguste Snellen, has been shot to death during a Civil War battle reenactment at the annual pea festival. Jane -- single mother of three troublesome teenagers -- helps her policeman boyfriend solve the case in typically clever style.
Book Description
Wealthy old Auguste Caspar Snellen, the legendary Pea King, is long gone, but his greatest legacy lives on: the Snellen Museum, an institution dedicated to the glorification of local lore and legumes. But at this years annual Pea Festival, the museum sustains a terrible loss when its able, innovative director, Regina Price Palmer, is shot to death during a noisy reenactment of a Civil War battle.
Suburban single mom Jane Jeffrey was a costumed participant in the deadly pageant. Now her part-time work at the museum has put Jane and best friend Shelley Nowack in the midst of a veritable podful of murder suspects. And its up to Jane and Shelley to determine who fatally beaned poor Regina--before another victim is planted six feet under.
Customer Reviews:
Don't Pass the Peas? Sweaty Re-enactment. How Real is it? Dangerfield? Museum Director Down........2006-10-17
The opening scene in this # 8 in the Jane Jeffry series caught me off guard, as it set Jane and Shelley (modern-day, Chicago-suburb-housewives) back in time as heavy-skirted pioneer woman dragging long, hot petticoats, trudging across a prairie, in bullet-hissing jeopardy from soldiers engaged in a Civil War skirmish.
What? Would Jill Churchill work a sci fi time-warp into this series?
The confusion cleared when the amateur sleuth neighbors approached a cluster of aluminum lawn chairs holding an audience of applause, and the setting-shift crystalized when Shelley quipped an aside to Jane about how many Elizabeth Arden treatments it would take to undue the damage from the historic enactment in which they had immersed their bodies, attempting to get their souls to play, too.
Instead of immediately stepping into a Jane and Shelley novel, as usual, I had to reread that opening scene a couple times to allow it to "sink in"; and then to trod onward past that shift in plot initiation. The work was worth it, as reading gears engaged effortlessly when Mel sauntered into the scene and gallantly helped Jane out of a painful dilemma of what to do first in her heated exhaustion, grab a chair and sit, or dredge up water and drink.
As soon as Jane had seated herself and taken a swaggering swig of the lemonade obtained by Mel, murder was up.
The amateur sleuth housewife quickly found herself lifting out of her chair and handing over her drink to an overwrought young woman who had discovered that her boss had been downed by a too true-to-life firearm used in the enactment.
After only a few pages into the book (with the murder on page 7), Churchill had the story pleasantly percolating. I sighed in relief along with the women when they were generously given plot space to take turns releasing themselves from itchy Civil War clothing, and sliding into hot & cold showers. After I had connected securely into the narrative flow, I looked back at the opening toss of a time curve to notice its ingenuity, even though the twist had caused a short-term hurdle.
The suspect sleuthing and motive menagerie were entertainingly convoluted in this one, working around various people and positions related to the museum board of directors, staff, and family funding. With a bit of old-money snobbery schmoozed into the labyrinth, Shelley shined, honing her abilities to snub, snort, snicker, or sneeze at social-strata brats.
Kindly outside the strata, one quiet scene immediately took hold, deepening my interest. A mannerly older man, visitor to the museum, happened to snag the attention (luckily) of the most polite and caring staff member, telling his story about an experimental pea from Snellen, which he had grown, then lost years prior to his current retirement. The pea had been unique in growing along the ground rather than vertically up a trellis, which made that variety difficult to pick, yet which allowed a surprising quality to take hold. Potatoes and other vegetables grown in the presence of the slithering pea vine gave phenomenally increased outputs of quality and quantity. Somehow the seed was lost, however, and not recovered by this man nor by Snellen, as far as he knew.
There was something mesmerizing to me about the way that story was told, gracefully and graciously by the gentlemen, and about the way at least two listeners attended the tale (Jane happened to be in a position to eavesdrop, unnoticed).
Speaking of eavesdropping, a second scene which took hold in a similar way to the above, took place with Jane overhearing a snippy conversation between Derek Snellen and Tom Cable, who had discounted the fact that Jane was in the room. I enjoyed the way Jane described (to the reader) the cause of her "invisibility" to these two men who had emotionally charged each other into giving away a few secrets, which they likely would not have done in any other complex run of circumstance. The beginning of that scene, prior to Tom's entrance, had also triggered my interest, when Derek had stepped into the room, which he had thought was empty, and was taken off guard by Jane's presence, as she was typing entries on the museum's computer.
In plot places like these I often notice that I've "fallen into" a scene, whereas prior to that I had been reading along in comfortable containment, but not at a level of "awakening later" to realize I had been so thoroughly immersed I had lost awareness of reading.
Awareness of this captivating ability of eavesdropping scenes reminded me that Sue Grafton regularly used a similarly effective technique when she had her P.I., Kinsey Millhone, point out the guilty pleasure she relished when in process of breaking into someone's house to unlock clues.
Another engrossing scene in PEAS featured Babs recounting to Jane and Shelley a horrifying time she had in her youth, verbally purging what she had done to end the nightmare of a short marriage.
For me, it took a while to get cozy in the setting at the museum, with Jane and Shelley having set themselves up for volunteer work. But, as I passed that second hurdle (which probably wouldn't cause any slow-down for most readers), I noticed that this book seemed a bit longer than some of the others, and was pleased to discover I was glad of that fact, because, once I had warmed into it, I didn't want to leave any time soon.
From page 206 of the mass market paperback, through a few pages of soliloquy, Jane gave an interesting slant on amateur sleuth-ery, which I marked to reread periodically.
This type of mystery has a nearly unsolvable problem in excusing amateur actions within criminal investigations, because in any point-of-globe reality, police-related-personnel cannot allow civilian outsiders extensive access or ingress to any type of procedural investigation, let alone a murder.
The elderly Miss Marple, as one of the first of her kind (amateur sleuths; see my review of Murder At The Vicarage) handled this situation amazingly well, with her natural reticence, gracious manners, and trod-gently respect toward police presence, ultimately winning a quiet place in an investigation, from which vantage point she had an opening to subtly expose her unique types of insight, in a believable, acceptable, even admirable manner.
My problem with most amateur sleuth series I've read is that the amateurs are inevitably irritating in their feelings of superiority over police professionals. Since, to me, this is an essential "pea-in-the-mattress" of this mystery category side-genre; I've purposely seated a habit of dissolving this type of irritation in favor of enjoying the story (sometimes an author uses the potential irritation to tap my funny bone, which usually works). When my "suspend irritation" habit has been activated, I'm impressed when I come across a better than normal explanation, which Jill accomplished here, of the amateur's unique "powers" of criminal-act solution, and an elevation of excuses offered for his/her being allowed into the informational (and sometimes action-al) inside of an investigation.
Even Private Eye offerings have their problems acting within and around police policies, but in that case there is a historic reality (in our world outside the art of the novel) from which to work, since P.I.'s often have well used contacts within a police organization.
Some of the more difficult situations of accomplishing the amateur's acceptance by police and by readers are in the cases of suburban housewives, cookie store or catering operation owners, and cordon blue chefs. All of these female sleuth series provide entertainingly unique setups to allow entry into closed areas, with a particular chef winning the ribbon (see my review of RED HOT MURDER, by Joanne Pence), using the type of relationship she has with a San Francisco police inspector, and the unique type of spirited personality she possesses.
Speaking of difficulties getting into the framework of a murder investigation, even police personnel are very much preyed upon by natural human conflicts around who gets the clues and who gets to polish them to crafty completion. Sometimes boundaries are hurdled between jurisdictions; other times the tension juggle-and-hustle is in-house. But, where there's murder there's curiosity afoot, and competitive desire to be on top of an unraveling ball of mystery. Even the reader is not immune. In fact, ...
But we won't go there. At least, not in this review which is coming to a close.
As was the case in WAR AND PEAS, in this series Churchill has repeatedly been successful at incorporating various hobbies and industries which had never been areas of overwhelming interest in my natural inclinations.
In the concluding scenes of PEAS the author (metaphorically) pulled a cat out of the bag, and unlocked a "closed room," as she teased about a historic misconception about one of the most natural of functions. With the door open and the cat romping free, Churchill made me smile at Jane's final, somewhat open-ended statements to Shelley.
Since I've already read and reviewed (see my Listmania for blurbs on each book, listed in order) the latest books in this series, now I have only 2 more Jeffry novels left to read. Now, THAT'S a tragedy. Thankfully, a huge variety of other cozy mystery series are available out there, and within Amazon's vast domain. I've been alternating and rotating many of these, to my great engrossment.
I've just started reading MERCHANT OF MENACE, # 10 in the Jane Jeffry series, and my mass market paperback of that one (with the most recent cover design worked around the "C" in Churchill) includes promotional excerpts from a few other series into which I could burrow when the bottom of the Jeffry well runs dry, and I'm forced to wait for the next faucet to fall off the press. (Mixed metaphors really make a mess of logic, don't they?)
I picked up MERCHANT (along with A GROOM WITH A VIEW, # 11) during the pilgrimage trip to Portland, OR, mentioned in my recent review of Jane's # 5, A KNIFE TO REMEMBER.
Oh! There's the coop! I should flew it.
Linda Shelnutt
Not the best of "cozies".......2004-07-07
For what it is, I believe War and Peas is fine. With a light plot, pseudo-interesting, under-developed characters, and an interesting setting, it fills its job description. However, the "plot twists" were rather implausible, and coincidence is too prevalent. If cozy, light, mystery reads are what you want, this is an "ok" choice; there are better options out there.
A fun read.......2003-01-02
I'm a sucker for titles that make me groan, and I've liked other light mysteries by this author, so I knew about what to expect. It is not profound literature, but it was a fun, fast read. And, gee, I don't think I've ever read a murder mystery set in a pea museum, so it was a familiar experience with a touch of novelty.
A Catchy Title.......2000-07-19
The best thing about this book is the title. Jane Jeffry and Shelley Nowack are not interesting characters and the action drags. It wasn't quite bad enough but what I was able to finish reading the book, but I wouldn't buy another in the series. Well, anyway, now if someone asks me if I have read "War and Peace" I can say, "Well, not exactly. . . ."
A Fun Fast Read.......2000-06-24
How does Jill Churchill come up with the ideas for her stories? It amazes me that each of her books is always so fresh and original. Jane and Shelly feel like old friends and it was good to catch up with them again. I had no idea peas could be so interesting, or the workings of a museum, for that matter.
Book Description
Wilson’s Creek, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove were three of the most important battles fought west of the Mississippi River during the Civil War. They influenced the course of the first half of the war in that region by shaping Union military efforts while significantly contributing to Confederate defeat. Wilson’s Creek, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove, the first book to provide a detailed guide to these battlefields, takes the visitor step-by-step through the major sites of each engagement. With numerous maps and illustrations that enhance the authors’ descriptions of what happened at each stop, the book also includes analytical accounts explaining tactical problems associated with each battle as well as vignettes evoking for readers the personal experience of those who fought there.
An indispensable companion for the battlefield visitor, this guide offers not only touring information and driving tours of sites associated with the campaigns that led to the battles, but also a brief history of each battle and an overview of the larger strategy and tactics of the military action in which these battles figured.
Book Description
Few ships in American history have had as illustrious a history as the heavy cruiser USS Portland (CA-33), affectionately known by her crew as "Sweet Pea." With the destruction of most of the U.S. battleship fleet at Pearl Harbor, cruisers such as Sweet Pea carried the biggest guns the Navy possessed for nearly a year after the start of World War II. Sweet Pea at War describes in harrowing detail how Portland and her sisters protected the precious carriers and held the line against overwhelming Japanese naval strength.
Portland was instrumental in the dramatic American victories at the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, and the naval battle of Guadalcanal—conflicts that historians regard as turning points in the Pacific war. Portland was the only cruiser ever to fight twice in night battles against enemy battleships, winning both times, and her skilled crew kept her from being hit during innumerable attacks by kamikazes. She rescued nearly three thousand sailors from sunken ships, some of them while she herself was badly damaged. Only a colossal hurricane ended her career, but she sailed home from that, too.
Based on extensive research in official documents and interviews with members of the ship's crew, Sweet Pea at War recounts from launching to scrapping the history of USS Portland, demonstrating that she deserves to be remembered as one of the most important ships in U.S. naval history.
Customer Reviews:
So Sweet to own a book about Sweet Pea, USS Portland.......2007-08-31
My grandfather TK Erickson served as a five inch gun "talker" on the USS Portland in world war two. He died in New Mexico about 15 years ago, and I've missed hearing his stories. In remembrance of him, I built a working radio controlled model of the USS Portland, but was never able to find any books about the ship.
When I ran across this book, I immediately had to purchase it. The book is a high quality, and it provides a true account of each battle star earned by the crew of the Sweet Pea. From the pre-war years when Portland escorted FDR on the USS Houston, to the final battles in the Pacific War, and finally the big Navy day celebration in Portland, Maine, this book lays it all out. My grandfather gave me a newspaper clipping from Navy day in Maine, and it was so cool to read more about that event, which obviously meant so much to the crew.
Like any other book about historical events, this one is not perfect, but regardless this book is a treasure as one of the few books about one of the most significant ships of the US Pacific Fleet in world war two.
Portland was great; Generous is all wrong.......2007-07-05
"Sweet Pea at War" is seriously flawed. The author, William Generous, really knows very little about naval warfare of the period, with the result that his interpretations of events are misleadingly wrong. I'll give two examples:
1) Generous obviously has looked into the Portland's battle reports, but he does not have the knowledge level to interprete them correctly. In one, the commanding officer included a number of technical commentaries and complaints and suggestions from various crew members. Generous goes into a psychological rant about how this shows that the commanding officer was insecure, and how this reflected on his poor leadership style and why he was disliked by the crew, and on and on and on. Obviously he has not read other battle reports; if he had, he would have found that it was standard procedure for crew comments to be included in the reports, ver batim, when they were available. There are reports of AA actions that include the comments down to the seaman second firing 20mm guns. COs were instructed to sit their troops down and get written after-action reports from anyone with something to contribute - often not done because of circumstances, but still a required process. Thus Generous ends up trashing the reputation of an officer because he did not understand the procedures for naval after-action reports.
2) In one action Portland was off-axis from the line of approach of a Japanese air attack on a carrier. The Portland gunnery officer decided to put up a fixed barrage over the CV to deter / interfere with Japanese dive bombers. In the after-action report he claims that the barrage worked very well, and recommends that all CV escort ships follow the procedure. Generous then spends some ink telling the readers how this shows that the particular gunnery officer was so innovative and forward thinking and contributing to the advance of the art of AAA. This was, in fact, not the case. Barrage AA fire was an early technique borne of the lack of a good director. With the advent of the US mk 37, and good fuse setters, tracked fire was possible and more effective than barrage. The gunnery officer's "innovative thinking" was actually regressive. Generous does not know this; in addition, later in the history, when the Portland's gunnery officer again uses the barrage technique, and it fails, he is silent about this, ignoring the event, likely because it would undermine his previously-made case. Either we have a case where Generous picks out and highlights facts that support his positions and ignores those that do not, or Generous simply did not recognize that the later incident shattered his previously-made argument. In either case, we have a situation where the author really does not understand what he is commenting upon, something like reading a high-school paper on quantum theory.
There is lots of dross like that scattered throughout: Generous' analysis of Midway is sophomoric, and he continually makes editorial comments on things that just are not so, such as his statement that the .50 cal AA guns on the ship were replaced because they were "flimsy."
Given all that, you have to recognize what is available in this book. You are not buying Generous' expertice, obviously; you are buying the story of the ship, and the tales related by the crewmembers, **their** views and anecdotes and histories, along with the occasional direct quote from action reports, if one can assume that Generous quoted accurately, such as ammunition expenditure or AA aircraft kill claims.
From that approach, "Sweet Pea at War" is a worthwhile acquisition if you are savvy enough in naval warfare to separate the good from the bad, or if you are just looking for an interesting read on WW II in a cruiser mostly from the enlisted point of view. This book would be a worthwhile read for someone expert in naval warfare and the Pacific campaigns, but I would not recommend quoting the author on anything else, and I would not
recommend it as a casual read for anyone not an expert in the field.
Dr. Alan D. Zimm CDR USN (ret).
If He Had Only Stayed with the Portland.......2007-03-24
I am grateful for Generous' contribution of the details of the USS Portland and all the officers and men who served onboard her from launching to decommissioning. He is deserves praise for the efforts made to insure that those stories would not be lost to history. If he had just concentrated on this great task, I would have had no problem with his work. But he was not content with this. He seems to have taken this opportunity to project himself as a great naval tactician and analyst. It was bad enough that he proved himself nothing more than an amateur, but he did this at the expense of some great naval figures of the war. I, personally, cannot tolerate those who attempt to promote themselves at the expense of others, especially when facts are not properly researched or left out to accomplish this goal. His treatment of Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan, the Officer in Tactical Command (OTC) of the task force that met the Japanese at the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ("Night Cruiser Action") is the most blatant example of this. Generous seems to have had a grudge against this fine officer, who lived and died in the best of United States Navy tradition. He states that Callaghan "never had a major sea command before" taking on this task. It just so happens that he commanded the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco (a more prestigious command than that of the Portland) for a year before being promoted to admiral and being taken by the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief South Pacific Area. Admiral Ghormley had his choice of many who were senior to Callaghan, but chose him because of his competence. I would choose an admiral's evaluation for ability and competence over any academic historian of the following century. If, as Generous maintains, Ghormley was also as much a failure as he was, he would have sought out as his chief of staff one who he felt made up for what he lacked. Generous proved completely ignorant of the tactical situation that enveloped the days before this battle. He praised Rear Admiral Scott (well deserved) for his ability to train the ships in his force prior to his victory at the Battle of Cape Esperance. Generous leaves out the fact that Scott had weeks to accomplish this. He neglects to inform his readers that Callaghan only knew of his task and the ships that would be at his disposal the day of the battle. Escorting the supply ships and providing protection for them left him with no time to train or even meet with the commanders of all of his ships to discuss the strategy that would be employed. This was typical of the situations that confronted our forces at that time. While Generous again comes down on Callaghan for the placement of his ships, real naval analysis has never been able to come to such a conclusive conclusion. Generous, is so intent on destroying Callaghan's reputation that he also leaves out that he was killed in that action as a result of his not staying in the battle-hardened command and control station. He, as many other brave officers felt that they could not maintain proper perspective of the battle within an area that so restricted their observation. He died because he put his supreme duty before his personal safety. Generous exhibits such contempt for Callaghan that he even uses his receiving the Medal of Honor as a means of getting in a final stab. This is hardly what makes a competent writer of military history. Only his treatment of the crew of the Portland keeps it out of my trash can.
At the very introduction of the book I became concerned for what might follow when Generous admits that he had never even heard of the USS Portland until two years before he wrote the introduction. I knew then that the writer would not be of the caliber that normally writes on naval history subjects. Anyone who had not heard of the Portland could not have known much of the war in the Pacific. The rest of the book only supported my fears. I began to feel that I was not reading well researched material but what had been gleaned from interviews from crewmembers. This really comes out when the ship did not get a battle star for its one-ship raid on Tarawa in October 1942. He makes a major point of this at the event and then ends the book with a reminder of this neglect on the part of the Navy. Add this to his repeated effort to convince his readers that the turning point of the war was when the Portland played its most important role (where he blasts Admiral Callaghan) instead of the Battle of Midway. Both of those seem to be supported mainly from the tactical viewpoint of most sailors. There is nothing wrong with a crew seeing things as they do and judging events and their treatment from the perspective of themselves. But when a historian takes the same view, he misleads his readers if they are looking for the facts. He seems to think that a war's turning point is a tactical rather than a strategic event. This extends to the incident at Tarawa where Admiral Tisdale forces a cease fire before the captain wanted to. It is right for a captain to want to continue an engagement. But an admiral has a bigger picture of what the goals of whole operation encompasses. For Generous to imply cowardliness on the part of Admiral Tisdale is, once again, irresponsible.
After reading the first hundred pages, I reverted to just reading sections that talked about the ship and crew. By that time Generous had lost all credibility with me. By doing so, I enjoyed much of the remainder. As I said at the beginning, Generous is to be commended for his treatment of the ship and crew.
A great book.......2006-08-29
A great book I cant say enough about it. When I came to the last page I was sorry the book ended.I wish there were more books like this.
Don't miss this one.......2004-03-29
This book finally shows what the USS Portland was all about. The book is a page turner, it kept me interested and made me cry. The author brought to life the environment on this ship as well as the comraderie aboard her. I had always wondered what had happened to her, now I know. I think everyone who wants to learn about WWII, needs a copy of this book.
Average customer rating:
- Well written, but too brief
- A well written analysis of little known Civil War battles.
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War in the West: Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove (Civil War Campaigns & Commanders Series)
William L. Shea
Manufacturer: Not Avail
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1893114295 |
Book Description
Early 1862. Union forces under Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis drive Confederate forces led by Brig. Gen. Sterling Price out of Missouri and into Arkansas. The Confederates, now representing combined forces under Gen. Earl Van Dorn, Commander of the Trans-Mississippi District, counter-attack and strike Curtis's isolated Union army at Pea Ridge in March 1862. Despite being outnumbered and almost surrounded, the Union army wins a stunning victory. Nine months later, a new Confederate army under Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman tries again. At Prairie Grove in early December, a furious and bitter battle results in another Confederate defeat. The matter of Missouri is decided on two cold, rocky battlefields atop the Ozark Plateau in Northwestern Arkansas. Never again would the Confederates make a serious effort to recover Missouri; never again would they make a serious effort to stop the conquest of Arkansas. The story of dramatic campaigns, ferocious battles, and grim heroism that decided the outcome of the Civil War west of the Mississippi.
Customer Reviews:
Well written, but too brief.......2005-06-21
This book is balanced, well written and very readable, so it pains me to give it such a low score. I like the book, but unfortunately, it is too brief and too lacking in detail to satisfy my appetite. What Shea has written is an excellent overview or summary of the battles and the campaigns. However, the level of detail is low. Therefore, while I strongly recommend this book to a more casual reader, I cannot make the same recommendation for those seeking a good detailed monograph of the battles. Shea's excellent description of the battle of Prairie Grove in "The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd Edition" is nearly as detailed as in this book about the battle. I was disappointed by the brevity with respect to Prairie Grove, since that was my primary reason for selecting this work. Prairie Grove wasn't shorted in favor of Pea Ridge, both are brief. However, for Pea Ridge there is a detailed book by Shea and Hess to fill the gap. Those wanting more information on Prairie Grove may have no other alternatives.
The maps are adequate, although regimental labels would be a plus. The order of battle is provided with commander names. The major officers are well profiled. The missing pieces are more first hand accounts, anecdotes, and observations by participants based on letters and diaries. There are some, but they are few and brief. The author's skill prevents this from becoming a dull read. Tabulations or author estimates of troop strengths and casualties are largely absent (past the full army level.)
Note:
I am also puzzled by the listing of at least three different "Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove" titles with the same approximate length, but varying listing of authors (besides Shea.) The coauthors appear to be publishers?
A well written analysis of little known Civil War battles........1999-07-23
Most Civil War buffs concentrate upon the war east of the Mississippi. By comparison, the two battles of Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove are obscured by their distance from the main scene. I was interested, as my g-grandfather set up and ran a field hospital at Fayetteville, during the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. The book is one of the best I've read in it's description of the tactics employed. Even better, the timely maps are simple, clear and placed closely to the verbage they cover. Similarly placed are short biographies of the major officers on each side of the battles. Unit narratives seldom drop below company level and the book cannot be considered an exhaustive study. But, at the end of 126 pages, a reader will have a sufficiently clear view of the events to gain a good grasp of the strategy and tactics used in these two important battles.
Average customer rating:
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War and Peas
Michael Foreman
Manufacturer: Andersen
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Binding: Paperback
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The Butter Battle Book: (New York Times Notable Book of the Year) (Classic Seuss)
ASIN: 1842700839
Release Date: 2002-03-28 |
Book Description
A dazzling early picture book by the award–winning author and illustrator Michael Foreman.
Customer Reviews:
Thanksgiving story.......2007-07-29
This book is excellent to read to students around the time of Thanksgiving to teach them to be thankful for all they have because there are always people who are less fortunate than them--just like in the story!
Product Description
Contents:
THE LONG STRUGGLE TO END
CONVICT LEASING IN ARKANSAS
COTTON PICKIN AT CUMMINS
PRISON: A 1930s PERSPECTIVE
(INTERVIEW WITH HASKELL
WOLFF AND M. G. STUDWELL)
THE SECOND GREAT EMANCIPATION:
THE RUST COTTON PICKER AND HOW IT CHANGED ARKANSAS
SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN SALINE COUNTY, ARKANSAS
THE CONFEDERATE DEFEAT AT CACHE RIVER
MOB JUSTICE IN THE AMERICAN CONGO:
JUDGE LYNCH IN ARKANSAS DURING THE DECADE AFTER WORLD WAR I
THE ROAD TO PEA RIDGE
DISLOYALTY AND CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS IN SOUTHWESTERN ARKANSAS, 18621865
ARKANSAS IMAGES FROM
HARPERS WEEKLY
GUERRILLAS: THE REAL WAR IN ARKANSAS
THE WILLIAMS CLAN: MOUNTAIN FARMERS AND UNION FIGHTERS IN NORTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS
THE LORD HAS NOT FORSAKEN ME AND I
WONT FORSAKE HIM: RELIGION IN FREDERICK STEELES UNION ARMY, 18631864
WHO KILLED JOHN M. CLAYTON? POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN CONWAY COUNTY, ARKANSAS, IN THE 1880s
THE STRIKE AND THE STILL:ANTI-RADICAL VIOLENCE AND THE KU KLUX KLAN IN THE OZARKS
THE STRANGE CASE OF PAUL D. PEACHER, TWENTIETH-CENTURY SLAVEHOLDER
Product Description
Contents:
CONGRESSMAN WILBUR D.MILLS INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL LEGISLATION
ORVAL E. FAUBUS: OUT OF
SOCIALISM INTO REALISM
NOBLESSE OBLIGE AND PRACTICAL POLITICS: WINTHROP ROCKEFELLER AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
THE BIG THREE OF LATE TWENTIETH-CENTURY ARKANSAS POLITICS: DALE BUMPERS, BILL CLINTON, AND DAVID PRYOR
JOHN E. BUSH: THE POLITICIAN AND THE MAN, 18801916
ARKANSAS AMENDMENT FOR VOTER REGISTRATION WITHOUT POLL TAX PAYMENT
DEATH WIND ON THE GRAND PRAIRIE OF ARKANSAS
HOT N NASTY: BLACK OAK ARKANSAS AND ITS EFFECT ON RURAL SOUTHERN CULTURE
THE CIVIL WAR IN A BOfl1E: BAflLE
AT FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS
NO BETTER OFFICER IN THE
CONFEDERACY: THE WARTIME
CAREER OF DANIEL C. GOVAN
AFRICAN AMERICANS, CIVIL WAR, AND AFTERMATH IN ARKANSAS
THE ENEMY WERE FALLING LIKE AUTUMN LEAVES. FRAUDULENT NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF THE BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE
BASEBALL CALLS: ARKANSAS TOWN BASEBALL IN THE TWENTIES
THE ORIGINS AND FATE OF THE MARION COUNTY FREE BLACK COMMUNITY
DIVERSITY WITHIN A RACIAL GROUP:
WHITE PEOPLE IN LITTLE ROCK, 19571959
CONLON NANCARROW: AN ARKANSAS ORIGINAL
Average customer rating:
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The Battle of Pea Ridge 1862
Manufacturer: Pea Ridge National Military Park
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ANQM8G |
Product Description
Covers the Pea Ridge Campaign, Elk Tavern History, Leetown, Benton County during the Civil War, the commanders at Pea Ridge, Butterfield Overland Mail Co., the indian regiments at Pea ridge, reunions of the blue and gray, and trail of tears.
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