Customer Reviews

Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War (Southern Classics Series)

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At the time I write this review I am surprised to find there are only two others before me, and they are both from Louisiana, the state in which Richard Taylor resided at the outbreak of the war and which he so tirelessly strove to defend from Union depredations. A complex man, Taylor could be a stern martinet one moment, and then wax eloquent, displaying an artistic appreciation of life the next. Early on we see him ordering the execution of two of Wheat's Tigers for insubordination. Later, we see him transfixed by a flying bluebird the morning of First Winchester.

Taylor's memoir deserves to be preserved not just as an academic curiosity, but because it is the expression of a now extinct class of men who, regardless of their lofty status in society, considered it their personal responsibility to put themselves into harm's way, to lead from the front instead of sending young men out to die while they remain safely at home. As a memoir of war Destruction and Reconstruction is non pareil, due to its flourishes of erudition and vivid accounts of the battles and personalities described therein. The biblical, mythological, historical and literary references are legion and display an education unlike any in the nineteenth century South. Some graduate student should make a project of cataloging and footnoting these references for an expanded edition. Be sure to mention me in the acknowledgements.

I strongly encourage anyone wanting to read Destruction and Reconstruction to first obtain and read Parrish's bio on Taylor, for a broader background in understanding Taylor and where he came from but also for the maps which are absent from the memoir.

The most interesting thing about this book is that you get to read a first hand account of the War between the States, from one of the greatest military heads of either the North or South. And also a very cultured man. His culture comes out prominently, almost too much so. When one just wants to read about how it was, the War and the so-called Reconstruction, it becomes a little tiring to have to take in with it also all the references to European military history, ancient history et al. Those names of old generals and foreign politicians of by-gone times are just a bother to the reader.

And that brings me to -what I think is- the reason for the failing aspect of this book: It was meant for Taylor's contemporaries. It just feels from the start that the man is taking for granted that the reader knows much of the "story", and he is just telling another side to it: his own side. It is a readable book though, and entertaining, if you discount the pretension alluded to. And it is a definite contribution to the South's take on the whole conflict and the times. Elegant, sad, and full of Southern sentiment.

This is a must read for anyone who desires a true understanding of the war and aftermath before our historical perspectives are forever changed with the new history being written by liberal professors. It clearly accounts for the crimes of the reconstruction which is a topic that is definitely being rewritten by those that desire to protray the US as some type of force for good.

If your needing a really good review of Civil War history this is the book. From the beginning to the end of the Civil War and after. Tell's why the South fought and lost. Personal opinions of other southern generals are expressed by Taylor. Taylor would have taken New Orleans back! Taylor's love of the South and of Louisianan is put together marvelously.

I thought the chance to read an account of the civil war that not only came from a southerner but one who actually saw/participated would be pretty interesting. I was right. If you've watched the Blue and the Grey and North and South on television... those are movies, not the real thing. This book actually describes the politics, the social aspect and the battles of the civil war from a first hand view. At times it was a bit dry... I've read histories by much better story tellers, but you really have to give some credit for reading the account of someone who was actually there and experienced it.

Genl Richard Taylor offers his insights of the "late unpleasantness". Unlike too many other popular civil war personalities who wrote first-hand accounts, Taylor usually avoids the name-calling and back-stabbing others seem to readily participate in. His immediate supervisor, Genl Edmund Kirby Smith,however, doesn't fare too well by Taylor's standards. Taylor holds Smith responsible for failing to allow him the necessary reinforcements needed to route Banks in the Red River Campaign (North Louisiana). Taylor indeed offers a unique perspective, as the son of Zachary Taylor, as well as having served in the Eastern and Western Theaters. A well-bred, highly educated man, Taylor's writing is filled with allusions to Classic Literature and military folk-lore, which is often muddlesome. Also annoying is the lack of ANY maps -a real problem when discussion of the various bayous, rivers and small towns fill page after page. Definately recommended for those of Confederate ilk - especially his remarks on post-war happenings.