Major General Isaac Ridgeway Trimble: Biography Of A Baltimore Confederate [Paperback]

Leslie R. Tucker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0786421312 | ISBN-13: 978-0786421312 | Publication Date: June 23, 2005

Major General Isaac Ridgeway Trimble, one of the oldest and more eccentric officers involved in the Civil War, made himself a favorite of Stonewall Jackson through his courage and stubborn energy. Born to a Quaker family, Trimble spent his childhood on the American frontier. After graduating from West Point, he served in the Old Army and then involved himself with the growing railroad industry of the 1830s, living at the forefront of American modernization. As the war began, he sided with the South, burning railroad bridges north of Baltimore to deny Washington the support of Union troops, and then moving to Virginia. He enlisted in the Engineers and constructed battery emplacements. Commissioned brigadier general in late 1861, Trimble distinguished himself at Cross Keys, Gaines’s Mill, Manassas, and Gettysburg; was involved in the Baltimore riots; and spent time as a prisoner on Johnson’s Island. This biography covers Trimble’s personal life and career with both the railroad and the military. Simultaneously, it serves as a case study of an American who chose to side with the South. Before the war, Trimble traveled freely between states and showed no early indication of a regional attachment. The work uses Abraham Maslow’s motivation model, the hierarchy of needs, to reconcile Trimble’s self-interest with his need to belong to a community. It also raises various questions related to Southern history, including community identity, modernization, and the concept of the “New South.”

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Adjunct professor Leslie R. Tucker lives in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers (June 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786421312
• ISBN-13: 978-0786421312
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,526,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Competent biography of Trimble, January 8, 2006

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Major General Isaac Ridgeway Trimble: Biography Of A Baltimore Confederate (Paperback)

Almost 60 years old when the Civil War began, Isaac Trimble was still a major force as a Confederate commander, participating in a number of campaigns in the eastern theatre, being severely wounded twice, and becoming a favorite of Stonewall Jackson's. Tucker's biography is scholarly and academic, which might discourage some readers; but I didn't find it numbingly so.

Trimble was born in 1802 in Pennsylvania. A West Point graduate, he served in the army until 1832, when he resigned to become superintendent of a number of East Coast railroads. Siding with the South at the outbreak of the war, he destroyed railroad bridges around Baltimore. He saw action at Winchester and Cross Keys during Jackson's Valley campaign, and was wounded severely at Second Bull Run. He recuperated in time to participate in the Gettysburg campaign, leading forces up the Cumberland Valley (this account by Tucker interested me the most). He lost a leg at Gettysburg and was captured; he remained a prisoner of war until 1865. After the war he was an engineer in Baltimore and died in 1888.

Tucker's biography is not written for a general audience; the book's very few illustrations might be the biggest clue to this fact. Tucker's style is also rudimentary. His annotations are excellent, however, and as I said earlier I didn't find his scholarly approach to be overwhelming. The biography is informative and straightforward, and not particularly stylistic. Civil War buffs will find much to appreciate here.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The psycholgical gobbledygook marred an otherwise decent biography, October 9, 2005

By 

Richard L. Hanson (Monmouth, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Major General Isaac Ridgeway Trimble: Biography Of A Baltimore Confederate (Paperback)

General Trimble merits a biography. He's a fascinating man. The author's efforts though reads more like a thesis written to submit both to the history and psychology departments rather than a biography meant for the reading public. I would've enjoyed more personal anecdotes relating to the General and would've liked to have see the constant references to Maslow's hierarchy of needs jettisoned completely. It seemed like an artificial appendage added to the book, and its insertion ranged from distracting to downright annoying. It made for a dull, pedantic read.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, January 2, 2008

By 

Khadijah "History Buff" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Major General Isaac Ridgeway Trimble: Biography Of A Baltimore Confederate (Paperback)

This is way more interesting than most history books. It's great for research or just a good read. Highly recommended.