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Southern Historical Society papers.
Vol.
X. Richmond, Va., May, 1882. no. 5.
General Webb's book is a valuable one.
It is on the whole, a clear and simple narrative of the
Peninsula campaign, or rather of the actions and sufferings of the army of the Potomac during that campaign.
It is written with that comprehension of the military field of operations and of the movements therein, that we might expect from an officer of the rank and distinction of the author, and who was at the same time a participant in the campaign he describes.
His tone is temperate, his criticisms of the various Federal officers and authorities whom he thinks blameworthy, are judicious and moderate, though in some cases, as in that of
McClellan, they are, to say the least, generous; his spirit towards his foes, “the rebels” is generally fair, and he has evidently taken pains to consult the authorities on both sides.
The book is a pleasant contrast to the mass of misrepresentation and abuse that for years poured forth from northern papers under the name of History, the end of which, it is to be hoped, is heralded by this book and others like it.
General Webb has however given rather a narrative of the doings
