Cullen Montgomery Baker, Reconstruction Desperado [Hardcover]

Barry A. Crouch (Author), Donaly E. Brice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1997

Historians have detailed the exploits of desperadoes and outlaws in the latter part of the 19th century, those who emerged immediately after the Civil War have been overlooked. These outlaws, who were most active in the tri-state area of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, harassed the Union army and Freedmen's Bureau agents and terrorized the black population. Considered the most notorious was, Cullen Montgomery Baker. In this biography, the authors researched local folklore, legend, and fact to provide an accurate account of the southern desperado, whose strong resentment towards the North created a coined New Rebellion that led rise to many outlaw gangs including indirectly assisting in the formation of the Ku Klux Klan.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press; illustrated edition edition (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807121401
• ISBN-13: 978-0807121405
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #718,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting, factually correct book., February 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Cullen Montgomery Baker, Reconstruction Desperado (Hardcover)

Crouch and Brice have done a creditable job in their biography of Cullen Baker, noted opponent of the reconstructing authorities in post Civil War Texas and Arkansas and probably America's first real gunfighter. In a complete revision of Ed Bartholomew's 1954 book, which presented Baker as a hero who opposed Yankee occupation, a "social bandit," as it were, Crouch and Brice present Baker as more of a "public monster," a wartime coward and deserter with a big psychological problem, who went around shooting innocent people after the South lost the war. As usual, the truth lies somewhere in between, depending on one's own view as to what Reconstruction means. But the Crouch and Brice book is easy to read, and ably gathers all that has been said about Baker over the years conveniently under one cover. Most surprizing is the volume's measured tone in handling historians with different viewpoints, something Crouch has never been noted for previously. Maybe he has mellowed with time or perhaps that is Brice's contribution to the volume. One wonders, however, if Reconstruction was as successful as Crouch and Brice seem to think, why has America had to go through the whole process again during the past forty years? Maybe Ed Bartholomew was on to something. In any case, it is a well-done piece of research and writing, suitable for all readers interested in the West and South during and after the Civil War.