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John C. Brown of Tennessee: Rebel, Redeemer, and Railroader by Sam Davis Elliott (review)

Often included are descriptions of physical attributes and personalities, descriptions that enrich the text by sharing a sense of the person (such as nicknames, as in Brigadier General Richard Lucian “Ramrod” Page) and his or her individual agency in determining the outcome of military and political events rather than simply chronicling the actor’s role in those events. Sledge’s training is as an architectural historian, and this background is evident in descriptions of structures pertinent to the topic. Merely one instance is the detailed description, supplemented by a sketch, of the prison camp Castle Morgan at the site of Cahaba, an early state capital. Although passages address the impact of events and privation for all on the home front, Sledge is clearly at his best in describing military and particularly naval action. Drawing heavily on firsthand accounts, a vivid picture of the battle of Mobile Bay emerges, capturing the drama of the engagement. One example: “Perched atop Fort Morgan’s parapets, officer of the day Lt. Julian Whiting couldn’t believe his eyes. . . . [S]trengthening light and lifting fog revealed the Federal line of battle in stately procession, the Stars and Stripes fluttering from every mast. . . . All around the bay, Rebel soldiers and sailors were mesmerized by the unfolding spectacle” (p. 131). Sledge also supplies the reader with a delightfully entertaining narrative of the CSS Florida’s dash into Mobile Bay with a feverish commander John Newland Maffitt lashed to the rail. Most professional historians will find little that is new here, but Sledge’s work serves well its purpose for general audiences, as These Rugged Days provides a useful, engaging summation of a tumultuous period in Alabama’s history.