About the Author

Bruce J. Dinges is director of publications for the Arizona Historical Society and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Arizona History. A professor emerita at the University of Central Florida, Shirley A. Leckie is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including Unlikely Warriors: General Benjamin H. Grierson and His Family, The Colonel's Lady on the Western Frontier: The Correspondence of Alice Kirk Grierson, and the forthcoming Their Own Frontier: Women Intellectuals Re-visioning the American West.

Reviews

"Benjamin H. Grierson is most famous for his successful cavalry raid across Mississippi and into Louisiana during the Vicksburg campaign, but he served in many other campaigns and mingled with many important personages, as recounted in A Just and Righteous Cause: Benjamin H. Grierson's Civil War Memoir. Historians approach memoirs with caution; but editors Bruce J. Dinges and Shirley A. Leckie note that though Grierson completed his memoirs in 1892, he used his personal and official wartime correspondence while writing. Nevertheless, Grierson occasionally made factual errors, as the editors point out in their well-rounded notes, which also provide background on people and events. The memoirs have a conversational tone, and it is easy to imagine sitting by Grierson and listening to his story. There is much of interest and value in this account of a civilian who became a successful military leader during the war and then went on to serve in the postwar army. Perhaps because it was written many years after the war, it does not have quite the gritty tone that Lee's Last Casualty and The Good Fight That Didn't End possess, but Grierson's high-level perspective is valuable." --M. Jane Johansson --M. Jane Johansson "The Journal of Southern History" (11/1/2011 12:00:00 AM)

With mainly his family in mind as the intended audience, General Benjamin Henry Grierson's memoir chronicles his military service m 1861 as a volunteer aide on the staff of General Benjamin M. Prentiss through to Reconstruction duty in Huntsville, Alabama, as a brevet major general of volunteers. Written from the commander's respective, Grierson's memoir provides considerable depth and detail on the "Great Raid of 1863," executed in conjunction with Ulysses Grant's operations around Vicksburg, the Meridian Expedit­ion of 1864, Brice's Crossroads, and his raid on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in late 1864.Ben Grierson was the quintessential American citizen-soldier, North or South. They were men of courage, patriotism, energy, and intelligence who joined the service when war broke out and mastered the new difficult occupation of soldiering. As a staunch Republican and strong supporter of abolition, Grierson was quick offer his services to the government though he had no military experience. A virtuoso musician and a conscientious, though unsuc­cessful, businessman before the war, he volunteered for the "just and righteous cause" in May 1861. He served as an unpaid volunteer aide until receiving a commission as lieutenant colonel of the Sixth Illinois Volunteer Calvary, eventually becoming commander of that regiment and then rising to brigade and division commands. Grierson applied his natural qualities to his new military career. That he learned well is evident from the narrative of his cavalry operations here he repeatedly used feint, deception, and maneuver to keep the enemy pursuers off-balance and away from the trail of his main force. Held in esteem by his superiors, especially Grant and Sherman, and despite the rapid demobilization of the national force after the war, Grierson garnered a commission in the regular army. He spent the ext twenty-five years as colonel of the black Tenth United States Cavalry during its campaigns on the western frontier, serving in the Department of Arizona, and the Districts of New Mexico and Indian Territory. Grierson retired from the service in 1890 and passed away on September 1, 1911. He was eighty-five years old.Grierson's memoir is a solid contribution to Civil War literature and adds to the knowledge of cavalry operations in the Western Theater. His greatest contribution to the northern war effort came in the spring of 1863 with the raid from LaGrange, Tennessee, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For sixteen days and six hundred miles, Grierson's command rode through Mississippi destroying railroads, bridges, and military stores of all kinds, capturing horses and mules, and keeping approximately twenty thousand Confederate pursuers diverted from Grant's operations around Vicksburg. In the words of one of Grant's informants, "Grierson has knocked the heart out of the state" (p. 185). Grierson's assessment was that the raid "dem­onstrated the fact as to the internal weakness of the Confederacy" (p. 182).Editors Bruce Dingles and Shirley Leckie exercised a light editorial hand in preparing Grierson's text, intervening only for purposes of clarity. Their introduction, spotlighting Grierson's career and putting it into the context of his day, nicely complements Grierson's own work. The book is further enhanced by well-done, extensive, and useful notes identifying the people, places, and events mentioned in the memoir.In one respect, however, the book is disappointing--the lack of maps. The two maps provided are simply inadequate to do justice to General Grierson's story. As Grierson's narrative of his operation is primarily a recounting of his movements, the reader needs more help in the way of graphics than what is provided.This book would most appeal to those readers interested in cav­alry operations, specifically in the Mississippi River Valley of west Tennessee and Mississippi. In a very readable narrative, Grierson relates the events where he was the immediate commander or a major participant. Through Grierson, the reader can experience the lightning-strike movements of the Great Raid, the confusion and poor northern generalship at Brice's Crossroads, or the cold, wet, muddy raid on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in the winter of 1864. Through editors Dinges and Leckie, the reader meets General Ben­jamin H. Grierson, a voice not often heard in Civil War literature.--RICHARD L. MANION is an instructor of history at Dalton State College, in Dalton, Georgia.--Richard L. Manion "Register of the Kentucky Historical Society" (10/1/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"Ben Grierson wrote as well as he fought. No one has told the story of his famous raid through Mississippi in 1863 as well as Grierson himself. These memoirs offer an unmatched account of cavalry operations in the Tennessee/Mississippi theater of the Civil War."--James M. McPherson, author of Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief "A welcome addition to edited and annotated memoirs of the genre."--Journal of Illinois History"The memoirs have a conversational tone, and it is easy to imagine sitting by Grierson and listening to his story. There is much of interest and value in this account of a civilian who became a successful military leader during the war and then went on to serve in the postwar army."--Journal of Southern History "Grierson's memoir is a solid contribution to Civil War literature and adds to the knowledge of cavalry operations in the Western Theater."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society "Historians seeking a military analysis of the western theater will greatly benefit from Grierson's thorough retelling of each campaign. At the same time, Grierson tackles issues of race, southern culture and exceptionality, and military strategy in frank and honest language."--History: Reviews of New Books



120Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONE"Benjamin H. Grierson is most famous for his successful cavalry raid across Mississippi and into Louisiana during the Vicksburg campaign, but he served in many other campaigns and mingled with many important personages, as recounted in A Just and Righteous Cause: Benjamin H. Grierson's Civil War Memoir. Historians approach memoirs with caution; but editors Bruce J. Dinges and Shirley A. Leckie note that though Grierson completed his memoirs in 1892, he used his personal and official wartime correspondencewhile writing. Nevertheless, Grierson occasionally made factual errors, as the editors point out in their well-rounded notes, which also provide background on people and events. The memoirs have a conversational tone, and it is easy to imagine sitting by Grierson and listening to his story. There is much of interest and value in this account of a civilian who became a successful military leader during the war and then went on to serve in the postwar army. Perhaps because it was written many years after the war, it does not have quite the gritty tone that Lee's Last Casualty and The Good Fight That Didn't End possess, but Grierson's high-level perspective is valuable." --M. Jane Johansson --M. Jane Johansson "The Journal of Southern History" (11/1/2011 12:00:00 AM)

Normal.dotm0016553738SIU PRESS317459012.00false18 pt18 pt00falsefalsefalseWith mainly his family in mind as the intended audience, General Benjamin Henry Grierson's memoir chronicles his military service m 1861 as a volunteer aide on the staff of General Benjamin M. Prentiss through to Reconstruction duty in Huntsville, Alabama, as a brevet major general of volunteers. Written from the commander's respective, Grierson's memoir provides considerable depth and detail on the "Great Raid of 1863," executed in conjunction with Ulysses Grant's operations around Vicksburg, the Meridian Expedit­ion of 1864, Brice's Crossroads, and his raid on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in late 1864.Ben Grierson was the quintessential American citizen-soldier, North or South. They were men of courage, patriotism, energy, and intelligence who joined the service when war broke out and mastered the new difficult occupation of soldiering. As a staunch Republican and strong supporter of abolition, Grierson was quick offer his services to the government though he had no military experience. A virtuoso musician and a conscientious, though unsuc­cessful, businessman before the war, he volunteered for the "just and righteous cause" in May 1861. He served as an unpaid volunteer aide until receiving a commission as lieutenant colonel of the Sixth Illinois Volunteer Calvary, eventually becoming commander of that regiment and then rising to brigade and division commands. Grierson applied his natural qualities to his new military career. That he learned well is evident from the narrative of his cavalry operations here he repeatedly used feint, deception, and maneuver to keep the enemy pursuers off-balance and away from the trail of his main force. Held in esteem by his superiors, especially Grant and Sherman, and despite the rapid demobilization of the national force after the war, Grierson garnered a commission in the regular army. He spent the ext twenty-five years as colonel of the black Tenth United States Cavalry during its campaigns on the western frontier, serving in the Department of Arizona, and the Districts of New Mexico and Indian Territory. Grierson retired from the service in 1890 and passed away on September 1, 1911. He was eighty-five years old.Grierson's memoir is a solid contribution to Civil War literature and adds to the knowledge of cavalry operations in the Western Theater. His greatest contribution to the northern war effort came in the spring of 1863 with the raid from LaGrange, Tennessee, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For sixteen days and six hundred miles, Grierson's command rode through Mississippi destroying railroads, bridges, and military stores of all kinds, capturing horses and mules, and keeping approximately twenty thousand Confederate pursuers diverted from Grant's operations around Vicksburg. In the words of one of Grant's informants, "Grierson has knocked the heart out of the state" (p. 185). Grierson's assessment was that the raid "dem­onstrated the fact as to the internal weakness of the Confederacy" (p. 182).Editors Bruce Dingles and Shirley Leckie exercised a light editorial hand in preparing Grierson's text, intervening only for purposes of clarity. Their introduction, spotlighting Grierson's career and putting it into the context of his day, nicely complements Grierson's own work. The book is further enhanced by well-done, extensive, and useful notes identifying the people, places, and events mentioned in the memoir.In one respect, however, the book is disappointing--the lack of maps. The two maps provided are simply inadequate to do justice to General Grierson's story. As Grierson's narrative of his operation is primarily a recounting of his movements, the reader needs more help in the way of graphics than what is provided.This book would most appeal to those readers interested in cav­alry operations, specifically in the Mississippi River Valley of west Tennessee and Mississippi. In a very readable narrative, Grierson relates the events where he was the immediate commander or a major participant. Through Grierson, the reader can experience the lightning-strike movements of the Great Raid, the confusion and poor northern generalship at Brice's Crossroads, or the cold, wet, muddy raid on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in the winter of 1864. Through editors Dinges and Leckie, the reader meets General Ben­jamin H. Grierson, a voice not often heard in Civil War literature.--RICHARD L. MANION is an instructor of history at Dalton State College, in Dalton, Georgia.--Richard L. Manion "Register of the Kentucky Historical Society" (10/1/2010 12:00:00 AM)