Fascinating Primary Source by the 2nd Confederate Governor of Missouri

book: General Sterling Price and the Confederacy | Thomas C. Reynolds

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	• General Sterling Price and the Confederacy Thomas C. Reynolds Missouri History Museum Press, 2009 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 2 reviews view larger image
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A welcome addition to Civil War reference shelves with a focus on primary testimonies

Before the Civil War, Sterling Price served in the Missouri State Guard. When America divided, Price was conditionally for the Union - he felt that the Union should not suppress the rights of individual states. Though he was a military leader for the South in the Civil War, he was not fully trusted by Missouri Governor Claiborne Jackson, Lieutenant Governor Thomas C. Reynolds, or Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States of America. Price shared the hardships of war with his men, and fought with them in the battles of Wilson's Creek, Lexington, and Pea Ridge. Yet his autumn 1864 raid into Missouri failed to bring Missouri into the Confederacy, earning him Reynold's personal scorn. In 1867, Reynolds began to write his version of the war's events involving General Sterling Price; Reynolds' manuscript was never completed. General Sterling Price and the Confederacy presents this unfinished manuscript for public perusal for the first time. A treasure trove of firsthand information about Sterling Price (even if the author is understandably biased), and a glimpse into the workings of the Confederate government, General Sterling Price and the Confederacy is aptly clarified with notes by historian Robert G. Schultz, and is a welcome addition to Civil War reference shelves with a focus on primary testimonies.

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Fascinating Primary Source by the 2nd Confederate Governor of Missouri

This book was originally written in 1867 by Governor Thomas C. Reynolds, the 2nd Confederate Governor of Missouri, while in exile in Mexico City. Governor Reynolds wrote it in longhand, but neglected to finish his memoirs after returning to the United States. These papers were re-discovered in 1898 and transcribed into a more permanent form.

This edition is valuable as a primary source concerning Price from 1852 to 1864, by one of his closest associates, who rather surprisingly did not have a high opinion of Price's military abilities. As the author was away in Richmond, Virginia, for an extended time during the war, his coverage of Price as a military commander is limited to the Helena, Arkansas, operation, and the 1864 expedition into Missouri that was commanded by Price. Both of these operations were unsuccessful from the Confederate point of view.

Perhaps even more interesting that Reynold's discourse on General Price's military campaigns is his coverage of the inner workings of the Confederate Government, and the Missouri political situation after Lincoln was elected. Consistent with all of the Confederate political and military actions other than those under Lee, this work discloses the conflicts between Confederate leaders, sometimes petty, sometimes important, that seemed to occupy most of their time to the great disadvantage of the Confederate cause. General Price was in the center of many of these conflicts due to his vanity and skill as a politician. Even if Reynolds is not quite fair, and I was unable to note any substantive errors, his writing is important to historians.

In addition to Reynold's primary work, the editor, Robert G. Schultz, has included a number of very valuable appendixes. The first one included by C.A. Peterson in 1904 contains a number of letters between various participants in the events covered by Reynolds, some of these coming from the Official Records (OR), and some not. The ones not available in the OR are additional primary source material. Among this material are the proceedings of the court of inquiry convened to examine General Price's conduct during his expedition into Missouri in 1864, which is another valuable primary source. The background material contained in Appendix 2 includes items like the agreement between Union General Harney and Price in 1861 to maintain the peace in Missouri, although this and most of Appendix 2 can be found in the OR.

The end notes are outstanding and transform this work into a scholarly book of the first magnitude. They contain references and clarifications that are extremely valuable.

Perhaps the only disappointment I experienced was that Reynolds was not present during several of Price's battles, most notably Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge. But that was not Reynold's fault -- it's just that I would have liked to read his take on those actions.

This book is highly recommended to all students and historians interested in the Civil War and the Confederate Government. It is a rare primary source being made widely available for the first time.

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Sterling Price began his career as commander of the Missouri State Guard, then served as a major general in the Confederate army during the Civil War. Because of his early conditional unionism - he was for the Union, but not to the extent of suppressing the rights of individual states - Price was not completely trusted in Missouri by either Governor Claiborne Jackson or Lieutenant Governor Thomas C. Reynolds. Nor was he trusted by Jefferson Davis, president of the new Confederate States of America. Price led by example, sharing hardships with his men and inspiring them with his fearlessness. They fought for him in the battles of Wilson's Creek, Lexington, and Pea Ridge. Price's 'last hurrah' was the autumn 1864 raid into Missouri. However, Reynolds, who traveled with the men, was furious that the raid failed to bring Missouri into the Confederacy. In 1867, Reynolds began writing his version of events. The manuscript was never completed, possibly because of the death of Sterling Price in St. Louis. In 1898, the Reynolds text was discovered and donated to the Missouri Historical Society. For historians, the Reynolds manuscript has proved to be a proverbial gold mine of information. This is especially true because Price's personal papers were lost in a fire in the 1880s. Now for the first time, the entire, although unfinished, manuscript is available. It is important not only for its appraisal of Sterling Price but also for Reynolds' views of the inner workings of the Confederate government and in particular the challenges that faced the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederacy.

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