THE EIGHTEENTH MISSOURI

This book is the history of one of the famous Union regiments of the Civil War, the ""Eighteenth Missouri,"" a volunteer infantry unit noted for its participation in such campaigns and battles as Shiloh, the battle for Atlanta, the March to the Sea, and Sherman's swing through the Carolinas. Professor Anders draws heavily and expertly on contemporary sources--on official documents as well as on diaries, journals, letters, etc.--and the canvas he paints of military life at the regimental level in the 'Sixties is as striking for its vigor as it is for its human interest. Of particular value is the amount of space devoted to the attitudes, reactions, and experiences of the enlisted men of the regiment, since these ordinary soldiers may reasonably be regarded as typical components of Federal voluntary units of the time. If any criticism may be made of the book, it will be that it tells considerably more about the Eighteenth Missouri than anyone, other than the most avid cultivator of Missouriana, will want to know. For other readers, William Parrish's and Richard Brownlee's works on Missouri's participation in the Civil War will be less detailed but more satisfying.