Book Review: The Class of 1861

[hoosier]

<u>The Class of 1861: Custer, Ames and Their Classmates after West Point</u> by Ralph Kirshner

The movies Gettysburg and Gods and Generals focused a great deal of attention on the character of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, and justifiably so.

It occurred to me, however, that very little attention was paid to the man who preceded Chamberlain as commander of the 20th Maine, Adelbert Ames. Since Ames presumably taught Chamberlain a good deal of the military knowledge Chamberlain eventually put to use, I was interested in finding out a little more about him, which is why I picked up this book.

The title is a bit of a misnomer, since there were actually two classes of 1861, one graduating in May and one in June. The reason was that, in the years immediately preceding the Civil War, it was customary for cadets to spend five years at West Point before they could graduate (a policy instituted by Franklin Pierce's Secretary of War - none other than Jefferson Davis). With the onset of the Civil War came an urgent need for more lieutenants to enter the Army, so Davis' policy was rescinded and the requirement to graduate was reduced back to four years. Thus, the class completing its fifth year graduated in May and the class completing its fourth year graduated one month later.

The book lists all the members of both classes of 1861, both those who graduated and those who left early to join the Confederacy. It covers the history of the war with a primary focus on the parts the members of those classes played in it, and then goes on to focus on the accomplishments of several class members who went on to achieve distinction after the war.

The author acknowledges, up front, that what he has tried to do is create a group autobiography. Where possible, he has described the men's actions in their own words, or in the words of their classmates. The book, then, is their view of themselves, so naturally it is very favorable.

Some of these men were controversial, so others might have a very different view of them than what appears in this book - as I found, when I posted a glowing review of Ames' accomplishments, only to discover that there are those who consider him the basest sort of carpetbagger, a point the book neglected to mention.

The book is, therefore, somewhat one-sided, but it is chock-full of interesting facts about the men of 1861 and insights into their characters. If you want to learn about the sort of men who came out of West Point just in time for the start of the Civil War, I would recommend this book.