Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War [Formato Kindle]

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.