s marred by such faults, and
the great event of Thomas's career, the battle of Nashville, is told
with clearness and in full detail.

Although Thomas is the hero of the book from the time when he took
command at Camp Dick Robinson in August of 1861, it was not till
October, 1863, which brings us to page 394 of the first volume, that
he succeeded to the command of the Army of the Cumberland, after
Rosecrans, who had followed Buell and Sherman and Anderson. Under the
other generals Thomas had served with marked ability and fidelity, and
his dealing with them is fairly reflected by the author of this work,
for he rarely criticises either of Thomas's commanding officers--for
the most part merely records the operations of the army, and puts in
most prominence Thomas's own services, just as his military journal no
doubt supplied the material. Of all that long and dreary marching and
countermarching through Kentucky and Tennessee the account is full and
clear, and we find Buell and Halleck saying that they know nothing of
any plan of campaign in the very midst of their operations. At last
with Halleck, and still more with Grant in authority, there were
movements ordered that had some relation to each other and a general
plan of operations, and then the overwhelming strength of the North
began to turn the scale. Thomas was called on by Rosecrans, as he had
been by Buell, for advice, but he was obliged to act independently
too; and then, as at Stone River, he showed an energy and a capacity
that ought to have secured his earlier promotion. At Chickamauga he
was actually left in command by Rosecrans, and while the latter
was looking for new help elsewhere, Thomas at the front saved the
shattered army and led it safely back to Chattanooga, where it
underwent its famous long siege. The measures for its relief were
planned by Rosecrans, approved by Grant, and executed by Thomas, with
large assistance from "Baldy" Smith, whose skill as an engineer was
fully attested then. When Thomas did at last succeed to the command
of the Army of the Cumberland, he showed his superiority to his
predecessors by marked improvement in his method of securing supplies,
in his use of cavalry, and in the increased efficiency of his
infantry. When Johnston, thanks to Davis's unwise interference with
the Confederate armies, gave way to Hood, the latter almost at once
gave token of his inferior skill by being defeated by the Army of the
Cumberland--by less