A return letter. With war on the near horizon, Ellen recognized her husband’s innate attachment to military life. “Now I have for some time past been convinced that you will never be happy in this world unless you go into the Army again,” she wrote again. “I will own that I am less reluctant to have you go into the Army again because I believe that if war should rage you will be impatient of any other employment and join some volunteer regiment. In regard to Julia Grant, the book states, “By all accounts, no woman has ever enjoyed being First Lady more than Julia Grant ... she retired and redecorated the White House with delight. She hosted scores of parties and dinners. Julia and Ulysses lost none of their attachment to each other as they entered their third decade of marriage during Grant’s presidency.” Four black and white photographs of Julia and different family members in the book show her “decided preference for being photographed in profile, with a somewhat rare full-face photograph.” This book will make you pause and rethink what you know about the Civil War. It will remind you of the importance of relationships and how each partner can influence the other for better or worse. It reminds us to consider the unknown influencers of American History as heroes and praise their achievements as well. Jonathan Herbert is an award-winning writer who grew up in Englewood. His third novel, “Chasing Palms,” was recognized at the William Faulkner Literary competition. You can follow him on Twitter @herbertnovels or online at herbertnovels.com May/June 2017 GASPARILLA ISLAND 15 time, to be sure, the failure was not his alone, in what was uniformity hailed as Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s “brilliant and spectacular Valley campaign. Frémont’s book garnered acceptable reviews, with critics stepping delicately around Jessie’s apparently well-known tendency to be a bit melodramatic, and instead emphasizing instead her lady-like approach to her subject. “Mrs. Frémont is a true woman and has written a true woman’s book,” read part of the Atlantic Monthly review. According to the book Nelly McClellan and her husband wrote to each other at least once a day every day they were apart; he had given that promise to her when they became engaged. Fortunately he withheld nothing from Nelly in his letters. A collection of excerpts from more than 200 letters from McClellan to Nelly were made public in 1887 as part of “McClellan’s Own Story,” which was represented as the general’s autobiography. Although Lincoln did not live long enough to learn why his expressions of friendship and his exhortations were utterly futile, readers of those letters, including many of Lincoln’s and McClellan’s contemporaries, easily solved the mystery that had plagued Lincoln about his relationship with the general. Ellen Sherman stayed with her husband despite the tired cliché that Sherman failed at everything until he joined with Grant to win the Civil War, but even tired clichés hold an element of truth. As Sherman pursued careers in the army, banking, land surveying, law, and the street car business, Ellen and their children often followed him. In a letter to Ellen the general declared, “I feel no desire to follow an army necessarily engaged in Civil War.” BOOK REVIEW “Hooper’s book gives us a fresh look at some of the most famous military men in American history - through the prism of their marriages. Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives proves the old adage that the toughest job in the military is that of a military spouse.” —GEN US Army (Retired) Paul Kern Lincoln’s General’s Wives can be purchased in most bookstores and on amazon.com Visit candiceshyhooper.com
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