Customer Reviews

General John Buford

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In a period with so many personalities around whom legends have grown, it's refreshing to see a lesser-known but hardly unimportant character from the Civil War given respectable attention. Buford found some prominence as a personality at Gettysburg, but his career has been given scant attention over the years. Longacre's account is relatively short and to the point, with most detail being rightfully reserved for the events at Gettysburg. Buford's ability was certainly validated years after his death, as his methods of combat became a model for future leaders. The book succeeded in giving me--a good ole southern boy--a whole new respect for one of the Union's most effective fighters.

As mentioned in the other reviews the author was limited in the amount of primary resource material available to him whilst writing this biography. Taking that into consideration he has produced an excellent account of General John Buford. I found the narrative was fluid and easy to read and the chapters concerning Gettysburg and after very interesting. The book is 312 pages in length, contained in 12 chapters with 6 maps and 16 photos. Overall this is a well presented and researched book but does not offer an extensive account of this man's life due to the lack of material. I would think that any person who enjoys Civil War history should find this an enjoyable account of a professional Union cavalry officer.

Longacre succeeds in bringing to life the exploits of a "common" soldier. Buford did not have the press of Jackson, Longstreet or Hancock, but the book makes clear that he was the glue that held the Union army togetheir.

The strength of the book is its simplicity and easy flow. It takes you through Buford's military life and in so doing describes the evolution of the United States and Union armies. Longacre does a fine job describing the deficiencies of the Union and where appropriate Buford.

The only limitation on the book is its lack of depth. The most likely cause is the lack of historical detail on Buford's life. But Longacre did the best with what he got.

As the author states, there isn't a lot of source material available for Buford research, so given that, I think Longacre did a credible job. The book is short and very straightforward, so don't go looking for in depth examinations or startling revelations, but as an overview, it's an enjoyable read.

Yes, thank goodness for the movie, Gettysburg since without that movie, this fine and very needed biography on General John Buford may never been written or published. The movie brought forward General Buford's finest day as a soldier and this biography bring forward the real man behind the Hollywood image.

Its appears that writing a biography on Buford may have been a problem due to lack of first hand material. Its appears that Buford was not a writer or many of it did not survived. But what comes out from Longacre's book is story of a decent and highly motivated man who took the long road to Gettysburg. His premature death probably robbed him of greater Civil War fame since he have proved to be one of the best cavalry commanders within the Army of the Potomac by the time Gettysburg came about. What he could have done if he lived would be one of the great "what if" of Civil War trivia.

Longacre's book is bit short on Buford's early life, lacking material would be my guess on this short coming. But the author was successful in bring out Buford's early military career, thus doing justice the subtitle of this book, "Military Biography".

Only part I am not sure on Longacre's account was his take on where Buford and General John Reynold's initially met on that first day of Gettysburg. Most well known and movie take would be at the Lutheran Seminary Cupola where that most quote "The Devil's to Pay" came out. Although the actual words may be questioned, I don't exactly buy the author's contention that the first meeting came about in the town of Gettysburg. Why would Buford be there, away from a crucial battle? This was based on civilian eye witnesses, of course the same type of civilians even today who can't tell the difference between a new born 2nd LT and a three star general!!

Other then that, this book proves to be quite readable, nicely researched and quite informative on the life of John Buford. This is the only biographical material I have read on Buford outside of that booklet I brought at Gettysburg back in 1995 written by Michael Phipps and John S. Peterson titled "The Devil's To Pay".

Many readers, even educated readers, see the US Civil War as an event in a glass bubble between 1861 and 1865 and the people who fought that conflict as having sprung up at First Bull Run. Mr. Longacre does an excellent job of giving depth and context to a truly professional cavalryman -- John Buford. A product of the "Old Army" and the ante-belleum Dragoons, General Buford was representative of the best qualities of that hard profession. While the popular movie "Gettysburg" may have brought General Buford to the eye of the public, he had a long and varied career before June 30 - July 1, 1863. Longacre puts it all in perspective.

Edward Longacre's General John Buford: A Military Biography is exactly what it presents itself to be-a military biography. Unlike more famous commanders, Buford's biography is not bogged down with mind-numbing detail, but instead focuses only briefly on the early and non-military aspects of his life. This is primarily due to the lack of information about Buford, which Longacre freely admits was a major problem in the writing of this book. This is not a point of detraction however, as Longacre fills in the historical gaps with very plausible suppositions based on Buford's well-known character.

One of the more interesting aspects of this work was the description of Buford's early career on the plains. In the literature and television programming that followed the release of Gettysburg, one had the impression that Buford was a battle-hardened Indian fighter in the pre-war years. Longacre does a good job of showing that while he had some experience, he was by no means an expert in cavalry warfare when the Civil War broke out. Nevertheless, this part of the book was fascinating because it turns out that Buford was involved in several little known, but major campaigns in the antebellum west, including actions in Kansas and against Bringham Young's Mormons.

The Civil War career of John Buford definitely climaxed on McPherson's ridge, July 1, 1863, it is therefore proper that his biography climaxes on the same episode of his life. Though exciting to read about, it was at the same time disappointing, as Longacre seemed intent upon dispelling every popular myth about Buford at Gettysburg-it seems the truth never makes a good story!

After Gettysburg, the author tracks the twilight of Buford's career and life, as he literally rode himself to death. Though Longacre is over-zealous and unconvincing in his evaluation of Buford's contribution to cavalry warfare, he does leave the reader questioning how the war may have been different if he had lived.

I had high expectations for this book and I must admit that I am disappointed. I agree that this was well researched but I must say that I could not read more than a couple of pages before putting it down and doing something else. A couple of things Longacre lacks, and possibly this is from a lack of primary source material, is a weak background of the Union General. We learn little about where he was born, what his young life entailed, and most importantly who his family was. We also get a mediocre summary of his involvement at Gettysburg, the most important campaign in his military career. I think Longacre could have went deeper. He should have discussed the first day in more depth, and perhaps compare/contrast Buford's character with the one portrayed in the movie "Gettysburg."

But overall I would recommend this book to anyone simply because it is the only biography out there on Buford. I think you do get a sense of who the General was and how he commanded and respected his men. I just wish it was better written.

A very decent effort on Buford, but even the author admits he was reluctant to write a bio on this important, but obscure Civil War figure as there wasn't much original resource material to rely on. He decided to go through with the project after the movie Gettysburg came out in which Buford played such a dominant role on the first day. but the basic lack of resource material shows over and over in the book as the author is reduced to infering what Buford thought, and in some cases what he actually did. Still, there is much to learn here about this gallant soldier.

Edward Longacre's "General John Buford" is good summary of General Buford's career. It is written in straight forward language and is therefore an easy read. Anyone who has a strong interest in the American Civil War probably is familiar with Gen. Buford through such works as the book "Killer Angels" and the movie "Gettysburg". Longacre's book provides much desired pre-civil war and civil war background information. He does interpolate a certain amount of descriptive coloring, but as an attempt to get a feel for the subjective qualities of the man this is not necessarily a bad thing. One could always hope for more detail and information, but Longacre does an admirable job with the available resources.