Customer Reviews

Generals in Bronze: Interviewing the Commanders of the Civil War

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GENERALS IN BRONZE is one of those books that contains so much intimate information about figures known to the public as heroes of the past that it borders on delicious gossip. But the structure of this fine book has a history of its own and that puts the contents edited by William B. Styple into a more meaningful and lasting context.

James Edward Kelly was an artist of bas-reliefs and sculptures during the Civil War, sketching battles in the days before cameras and videotapeing were omnipresent. He also sketched famous people and interviewed them during the sketching, and this book is a series of memoirs or diary of an artist's recording of not only the images of the great names of the Civil War, but also the conversations he had with his sitters. Famous names abound in this informative and well-constructed book. We learn about General Custer's constant companion - a canteen of iced tea - and that he possessed a 'boyish chuckle' that is not at all the image of the historical Custer. Ulysses Grant discusses his drinking problem, Mary Todd Lincoln was seen pulling her hair out by the handfuls upon Lincoln's assassination, other generals talk about the complete inadequacy of Gettysburg as a battleground, and so on.

One of the pleasures of this book is that all of the interviews noted by Kelly were after the war: this is a series of retrospective commentary and as such is a sharp lesson in how we have thought about all our previous wars under the tutelage of the artists' eyes and ears and words. A fascinating and humbling document. Grady Harp, October 05

William Styple has made an incredible find. "Generals In Bronze" has over 40 interviews with famous Civil War Generals including Grant, Hancock, Chamberlain, Sherman & Howard. Artist James Kelly captures the words of the real Generals and shows their human side. The interviews are eye-opening and refreshing. Many of these recollections were not printed in their personal memoirs. I highly recommend this book to everyone from Civil War beginners to scholars. A great read with interesting perspectives.
cwbookworm
Gettysburg, PA

With Generals In Bronze, Mr. Styple has produced a GOLDMINE to the history and Civil War community. The interviews with Generals (and other historical figures, ie Teddy Roosevelt on the Span Am War) are amazing for the information they contain. For over 140 years, no one knew exactly what General Hancock wore at Gettysburg, what was said the night of July 2nd in Meade's Headquarters, Grant's drinking, who was asked to command the Army of the Potomac BEFORE Reynolds and Meade, etc. There are many candid stories from these Great men of history that fill in all the gaps left by other, more formulaic books, such as Gettysburg by Sears.

Generals in Bronze is yet another fine book of the kind Mr. Styple is known for. Anyone who is interested in knowing more about these Generals, great battles of the Civil War, the Lincoln assassination, or what these great men did NOT put in their "official" memoirs should read this book!

This book is one of the best civil war books I have ever read! It is not written in Bill Styple's word's or even James Kelly's. It is the stories that civil war generals told Jim Kelly the artist while he was sketching them long after the war. You won't be able to put it down!

If there was ever a book that conveyed the color of the Civil War, short of a television documentary, "Generals in Bronze" is it. This is a remarkable book not only for the life sketches and interviews made by artist James E. Kelly but also for the superb editing of William Styple.

Kelly, a native New Yorker, was born a scant few years before the onset of the Civil War and although he began as a sketch artist, his works are more remembered now for his statues and bronze reliefs. While Styple astutely begins his book with Kelly's observations of General Philip Sheridan in 1878 and ends with a couple of 1920's recollections of eyewitnesses to Lincoln's assassination, "Generals in Bronze" is largely concerned with reflections from the second tier of Union generals....their remembrances for sure, but also their comments about other generals and, of course, their egos. Kelly, with a discerning eye not only as an artist but with an eye to the future has a rather cheeky and self-promoting way of working his way into his subects' confidences. He captures more of these generals than they could ever have captured the enemy on the battlefield.

That so many generals lived so long after the Civil War and that Kelly, perhaps more than anyone else, was able to relate their collective histories makes him a center point for postwar interest. One of the wonderful things about "Generals in Bronze" is the language itself. How formal it was that people spoke just a mere hundred years ago, or so! Yet with this formality comes a certain humor, freedom and admiration one often finds lacking in today's jargon.

William Styple, through giving us the words of James Kelly and his quotes and assessments on the generals with whom he spoke, has done a great service. I can't recommend this book more highly. It is a serious and unforgettable read.

I highly recommend this book. Styple does an excellent job of editing James Kelly's notes and presents a picture of famous generals that is rarely seen. The general's views of each other were of particular interest. I think I will always remember that on the monument at Monmouth that actress Nell Starett posed for Molly Pitcher and that Thomas Edison posed for one of the gunners. These are facts that are little known.

This is one of the best books for candid and truthful conversations with Civil War Generals. This is archival quality and should be a must read for any student of Civil War military and social history.

This is the best first-hand account of Civil War action and detail that I have read since "Campaigning with Grant," and likely the greatest collection of its kind in American historic literature. Every page is a gold mine of detail straight from the lips of the Generals themselves, often expressing their true feelings about other officers that they never allowed into their memoirs. It also provides a rare glimpse into their true personalities as aging war heroes, reported objectively by artist and author James Kelly of NYC, while they sat for their sketches. Kelly transcribes their words, appearance, mannerisms, and peccadillos.
Myths are broken, and the detail provided by the generals is almost unimaginable -- from what style hat they war in a particular battle to where they took a nap will Lee surrendered to Grant at the McLean house.
Imagine Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock describing how the doctor removed the bullet and saddle-debris from his 8-inch deep wound at Gettysburg...simply an unbelievable treasure of information. The book also contains many of the actual pencil & charcoal portraits of the Generals, which are especially compelling, as you just read the actual conversation they had with the artist while he sketched away at the portrait you now hold in your hand, and the general autographed the sketch attesting that it was drawn from life and approved. If you have questions you always wanted to ask a Civil War general like Grant, Sheridan, Sherman, Hancock, or Doubleday, they answer your questions in this book; like a ghost returning from the grave to sit in your favorite chair. I am grateful that I caught editor William Styple on C-Span. In fact, all history buffs should fall on their knees and thank editor William Styple for finding Kelly's masterstroke memoir and resurrecting it so beautifully, in our lifetime.

Information from the Generals mouth. Well written and put together. A great idea for those Civil War buffs in your house. It was nice to read the source for a change.

DP Lance

This is a remarkable history of some of our nations greatest people. Edward Kelly was a magnificent artist and communicator. He single handedly sought out these famous people and not only captured their physical appearance but was able to offer a very unique view of these people. His stories portray these individuals as the real people that they were not as some historians view of who they were. Excellent reading!