Allan's history of the Valley campaign.
ByMajor F. Scheibert.
The readers of the Southern Historical Society Papers may be surprised that a Prussian should venture to give a notice of an American book.
But I regard this work of Colonel Allan's, and the beautiful maps of Major Hotchkiss which it contains, as worthy of being held up as a model for military study.
The original development of the designs of Jackson—the many interesting details of his movements—the clearness with which the marches, manoeuvres and battles are described—the full survey of the whole military situation, and the vivid description of the state of political affairs in Washington and abroad—the settling of the numerical strength on both sides—and last, but never least, nay first for the foreign reader, the excellent maps of Major Jed. Hotchkiss (which, by the way, he showed me and I greatly admired during the Gettysburg campaign of 1863,)—all combine to make Colonel Allan's book a military classic.
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I had already translated into German Colonel Allan's address before the Army of Northern Virginia Association on this campaign, as it appeared in the Southern Historical Society Papers, and had made a lecture on the subject at Stuttgart, as this address gave me a clear idea of this most interesting campaign of Stonewall Jackson.
But the book gives an even better picture of it and excites a wish to possess still more of this kind.
How often have we foreigners complained of the want of good maps in your war literature, without which we cannot get a clear idea of military movements.
European military writers who give detailed accounts of campaigns are accustomed to accompany all of their chapters by accurate maps; and we hope the example of Colonel Allan will give a new turn to the military literature of the valiant South.
We tender him our sincere thanks for his able, accomplished, and greatly admired book.
Note.—We fully concur with our gallant and accomplished friend, Major Scheibert, that good maps are very essential to a correct understanding of military narratives, and have deeply regretted our inability thus far to give maps regularly in our Papers.
We hope, however, to be able to do so before long.
We again express our warm appreciation of the very valuable service Major Scheibert is doing us in translating so many of our papers into German and thus making them accessible to the military critics of that land of patient, painstaking research.
Only let them have the facts and we fear not their verdict.
