Customer Reviews

Robert E. Lee in Texas

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As an admirer of Gen. Lee and as a Texan, the title and cover of the book grabbed my attention. There's an awful lot written about Lee's Civil War exploits and even a fair about of info about his Mexican War experiences. Unfortunately there's almost nothing written about the years immediately preceding the Civil War. This book covers that. If you're familiar with geographics of Texas, you'll especially find the book interesting. Lee journeyed through West Texas, South Texas, the border area along the Rio Grande and the Hill country in and around San Antonio. He chased Commanches (who proved quite elusive) and bandits throughout West and South Texas. The book is an easy read. If you've read much about Lee at all, you should get this book. For anyone who's a Civil War/Lee buff and if you've spent any time in Texas at all, it's a must have.

Having been to San Antonio several times and to Fredericksburg, Texas, I was honored to walk in the same places that General Lee may have been. The book is very good and interesting. For those of you who want to know more about General Lee before the Civil War, I recommend this book.

Robert E. Lee's periods of service in Texas constituted his only regular field command of troops prior to his joining the South in the American Civil War. This volume provides a detailed insight into his trials and tribulations as acting commander of the newly formed Second U. S. Cavalry Regiment and later as acting commander of the entire Department of Texas (and about one-sixth of the entire US Army at the time).

The sole drawback to this volume is that, quite frankly, it's dated. This book was originally written in the 1940s by a lifelong Texan. As such, it is in complete and total denial on the issues of slavery and race and their role in secession, and it treats Lee with worship and adulation far beyond anything he actually earned as a field or department commander in Texas. While it is true that Lee's time in command of actual troops in the field and as a department commander responsible for the maintenance and organization of over a dozen frontier forts and installations helped prepare him for the war to come, the original author badly overstates both the effect Texas had on his leadership skills and Lee's actual effectiveness in Texas.

Despite these flaws, this book is excellent research material, both in itself as a secondary source and as a handy pointer to several primary sources. For anyone researching Texas in the immediate antebellum years, this book is a must-have- and the re-released volume is economical enough that there's just no excuse for not giving it a permanent spot on your bookshelf.