Recollections of Grant's Last Campaign. By Frank Wilkeson. (George Redway.)—The
author of this book, who describes himself as a private soldier, devotes a considerable amount more of his book to grumbling at the treatment the soldiers received in the last campaign of the Civil War, than to the manoeuvres which brcught success to the North. He writes graphically enough, and more than acridly enough ; but one cannot help wishing that he had had a little of the somewhat lurid " power " of Mr. Stephen Crane. Mr. Wilkeson appears to be doubtful as to whether his own statements will be accepted as conclusive as to the imperfect discipline of the Army of the Potomac, especially before Petersburg, and says that one hundred thousand privates using the same language might have been heard. He further hints that graver charges may be made, on such subjects as volunteering, against the authorities in a later edition. It is to be regretted, however, that Mr. Wilkeson had not said all he has to say at once, especially as many years have elapsed since the events to which he alludes took place. Historians of the Civil War in the future cannot afford to ignore this book. We find it querulous and in parts dull. Its frankness is not in- frequently, as when the private soldier is actually represented as wishing he could see an officer shot, positively appalling.
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