Jeff Shaara and his father, Michael Shaara, have written a series of books that are an exciting, first person immersion in the Civil War. I think the best known is Michael Sahara’s Gods and Generals. Gone for Soldiers gives a similar first person view into the experiences of Robert E. Lee and others in the war that in many ways prepared the American military for the Civil War, the Mexican American war. This war could be said to start with the annexation of Texas into the United States in 1845, and ended with the capture of Mexico City and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. This treaty established the Rio Grande as the southern boundary of Texas, and cedes the Territories of New Mexico and California to the United States.
Background: The generals of the war are Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and Winfield Scott. Santa Anna has a fascinating story beyond the scope of the book. He is a European style general, believing in the superiority of numbers and a strong cavalry, forts and fortifications. Scott, seasoned in the war of 1812, has the disadvantage of smaller numbers. He uses his artillery effectively to overcome Santa Anna’s larger numbers and never attacks directly where his enemy is strongest. Vital to this strategy is the use of scouts to find the best paths around the opposing army. This is where a young engineer, Robert E. Lee, stands out and becomes valuable asset. Lee is promoted to colonel by the end of the war. The book is really his story. It is told from the point of view of the main characters, giving us their thoughts and reactions to events and telling us how they reached decisions that control events. Lee gets most of the page time, Scott a nearly equal amount, and Santa Anna is distant third in interest. One chapter each is devoted to Worth, Longstreet, Jackson and Grant, to set them up for the following Civil War books. Other characters are essentially cardboard cut outs or foils.
Historical fiction is an oxymoron; here the basic facts of what occurs are probably true although without a bibliography or even an index, it is hard to say. Lee’s correspondence has been published, so some things may be drawn from that source. The thoughts of the real people are not going to contradict what is made up for this story. But I was constantly wondering how much of Lee’s winning modestly was true and what was made up to give him a human dimension. I was also really disappointed with how the other characters were handled. Pivotal to the war history was the fact that Scott often disagreed with his subordinate Generals, but we are given a sketch outline of how it started and a one sentence summary of how it ended. Scott also was fighting politicians back home, shadow figures who sometimes seemed to want Scott to fail. The Marines have incorporated the final battles of this war into their service hymn (“From the halls of Montezuma...”), yet are not mentioned at all. Zachary Taylor’s part in this war, and the roles of England and France, get a slightly longer mention. The roles of religion in this, and the Mexican people, are brought in as side thoughts of the main characters. As an introduction to the history of the Mexican American war, this book fails. It is a character study of the development of Lee in his first real battle experience.
There is a slightly interesting anti-war current to the novel, especially at the end. The title is taken from an anti war song, “Where have all the flowers Gone” by Pete Seeger. The soldiers occasionally question the reason for the war, and often talk about how fighting is their duty and that this war is not one that they particularly believe in. It is easy for us now to draw parallels between this war and Vietnam or Iraq, both wars where we have pursued war when diplomatic solutions were either not available or ignored. But this book just skirts those issues. It is not a well developed theme.
So on the whole, did I like the book? I found it fast paced and was caught up in the action, but towards the end the flaws overcame the action flow and I ended up not liking the book. I think the reader who would enjoy it the most would be someone who had read his other books and wanted an insight into the development of Robert E. Lee. Someone wanting a good story about the War with Mexico should probably look elsewhere.
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