Review - "William Barksdale, CSA: A Biography of the United States Congressman and Confederate Brigadier General" by John Douglas Ashton

[William Barksdale, CSA: A Biography of the United States Congressman and Confederate Brigadier General by John Douglas Ashton (McFarland, 2021). Softcover, maps, photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index. Pages main/total:x,256/307. ISBN:978-1-4766-8374-4. $39.95]

Confederate brigadier general William Barksdale is best known to Civil War students for leading a stalwart defense of the streets of Fredericksburg in December 1862 and conducting a fierce charge against the Union left at the Battle of Gettsyburg on July 2, 1863. Under Barksdale's leadership, his Mississippi Brigade earned a reputation as one of the best formations in the Army of Northern Virginia, excelling in both defensive and offensive roles. Until now, this deserving politician-general has received no full-length biography, making John Ashton's William Barksdale, CSA: A Biography of the United States Congressman and Confederate Brigadier General the first attempt at filling that void.

Though born on a farm in Tennessee, it was in Mississippi that William Barksdale made his name and fortune. Ashton traces Barksdale's social and political rise in his adopted state, which was achieved through a combination of formal education, drive, and wise investing. Barksdale entered the law, edited a newspaper, and eventually entered the planter class. Coinciding with all that were political ambitions, and Barksdale served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1853 to 1861. Those eight years in the House were among the most socially and politically turbulent in the nation's history (obviously), and Barksdale developed a well-earned reputation as a staunch and vocal defender of States' Rights and slavery who was willing to back up his beliefs with physical violence.

Building on earlier work from others, Ashton's research dispels the notion still held by many that Barksdale was a participant in the infamous caning of Senator Charles Sumner. Of course, that did not preclude his involvement in other political brawls and near brawls during one of which his wig was knocked off his head to all-around amusement. In a number of places in the text, Ashton objects to Barksdale being labeled a "fire-eater," instead preferring the term "southern radical." The distinction might seem like splitting hairs, but most fire-eater definitions do attach a long-term commitment to secession that Barksdale, though otherwise extremist in his political views, seems to have lacked.

Though Aston's effusive defense and praise of Barksdale's character and actions will probably not resonate with readers who would see the most historically significant parts of Barksdale's life (ex.  radical proslavery politician, secessionist, and Confederate general) as having a much more complicated legacy, far less likely a source of contention is the author's equally enthusiastic appreciation of Barksdale's development as a military leader. After Mississippi's secession, Barksdale's political prominence in combination with his quartermaster experience during the war with Mexico led to his appointment as quartermaster general of the state's militia. However, combat leadership was Barksdale's true calling, and he was soon appointed colonel of the 13th Mississippi. In tracing Barksdale's leadership and conduct at First Manassas, Edward's Ferry/Ball's Bluff, and the Peninsula Campaign (the Seven Days battle at Savage's Station in particular), the author's detailed narrative of events clearly demonstrates that Barksdale adapted very well to increased responsibilities during his rise from relative military novice to brigadier general. Barksdale followed up that early promise with a very strong performance in the Maryland Campaign at both Maryland Heights near Harpers Ferry and in the West Woods at Antietam. All of the battlefield accounts presented in the book are supported by excellent maps.

There was only one big, notable hiccup in Barksdale's climb. It occurred early in the war and was potentially fatal to his budding military career. On one occasion he became belligerently intoxicated and abused his men. This led to his arrest, but he was afforded a second chance that he maturely grasped. Confederate president Jefferson Davis helped save his friend by delaying the court of inquiry for an extended period of time during which Barksdale was able to repair his leadership reputation and relationship with his men. Thereafter, according to Ashton, Barksdale took great pains to credit those below him in his official reports. In turn, the men of the brigade appreciated the high level of care that Barksdale devoted to their welfare.

Ashton offers justifiably high praise for Barksdale's determined defense of Fredericksburg on December 11, 1862 when the general's tactical arrangements in the town stymied the Union crossing for some time and affected the course of the battle by significantly delaying the Army of the Potomac's deployment across the Rappahannock. Barksdale's brigade was also tasked with defending the town during the next great campaign. Pushed off the heights above Fredericksburg in what proved to be the sole black mark in what was otherwise a great Confederate victory at Chancellorsville, Barksdale became embroiled in a feud with Jubal Early over who bore the most responsibility for the event. History has attached little blame to Barksdale personally for his brigade's withdrawal in the face of insurmountable odds on that day, and Ashton concurs with that assessment.

During the late afternoon of July 2, 1863, Barksdale led one of the most renowned charges of the war against the Union left flank south of Gettysburg. In a war with numerous noteworthy brigade-level attacks detailed in just as many exhaustive histories, its questionable whether Barksdale's mile-long assault was "unparalleled" in the annals of the war, but the charge was by any measure an exceptional feat of arms. The Mississippi Brigade smashed all in its path before finally being halted by enemy reinforcements and stiffened resistance near Plum Run, where Barksdale was mortally wounded and captured. Ashton agrees with those who argue that even more would have been achieved by the assault had corps commander James Longstreet and division commander Lafayette McLaws better coordinated the attack and Wofford's Brigade supported Barkdale's as intended.

A detailed account of Barksdale's last hours is provided, as is the story of the general's delayed posthumous journey to his final (albeit unmarked) resting place in a family plot. Though the war affords a multitude of examples of well-respected officers promoted beyond their capacity, Ashton seems very confident that Barksdale, had he lived, would have eventually been appointed to head the division (especially given the rocky relationship between McLaws and Longstreet).

A common complaint about biographers is how often they become overly enamored with their subject, crossing the line between critical detachment and unreserved advocacy. You do frequently gain that impression from the tone and content of Ashton's analysis, but the key considerations of Barksdale's Civil War career as a fighting officer are notably well presented and convincingly defended. Primarily on the strength of its military biography aspects, William Barksdale, CSA is recommended reading for those wishing to explore the life and career of one of the Army of Northern Virginia's highest performing brigadier generals.