Shanks: The Life and Wars of General Nathan G. Evans, CSA

Rating:
Summary: An engaging read and scholarly sound
Review: I purchased this book a few weeks back because it was written by one of my favorite college professors and advisor, Dr. Silverman at Winthrop, hoping the book would be as good as his lectures. I was not disapointed.

For someone unitiated to the life of General Evans, like myself, the narrative portions of the book gave a real feel for his times and motivations. The battle descriptions are certainly more than who moved his forces where and such. A real sense of the character of Gen. Evans and how his leadership style meshed with the flow of the Confederate Army opened up to me the depth of the military action and struggle of battles, like Manassess, that I am already familiar with.

Letting the participants speak for themselves through their own personal letters is well done, especially since the narrative flows well with the letters.

Again, the only complaint would be the lack of maps, other than that this is a fine read for the general reader and for those concerned with the details of the Civil War and Confederate leadership.

Rating:
Summary: The First Biography of Shanks Evans Is a Solid Success
Review: Winthrop University historians Jason Silverman and Samuel Thomas have teamed up with the late Beverly Evans to produce a thoroughly enjoyable biography of Confederate Brigadier General Nathan "Shanks" Evans of Marion, South Carolina.

The strength of the book lies in the authors' skillful use of the private papers of General Evans that his descendent, Beverly Evans, had carefully conserved and made available to his two co-authors. Rather than foisting their own interpretations of Evans on the reader, the authors allow the general to speak for himself, mostly through his previously unpublished family letters as well as his military correspondence. The picture of Evans that emerges from the book is at odds with the common perception of him as an impetuous, brawling brigadier with a fondness for alcohol.

A West Point graduate and an accomplished Indian fighter before the war, Evans' resigned his commission in the U.S. Army shortly after his native state seceded from the Union. Despite his spectacular early successes at First Manassas, Ball's Bluff and Secessionville, and solid performances at Second Manassas and Antietam, Evans' promotions stalled out at the rank of brigadier general. His failure to obtain the coveted rank of major general traced to a series of running disputes with both his subordinate and his superior officers that resulted in two courts martial of Evans during 1863. Though acquitted in both proceedings, Evans' public reputation never recovered, and he spent the balance of the war in obscurity. He died in 1868, aged only 44, still struggling to rebuild his life from the war.

Superbly written and grounded in sound research, SHANKS contains some previously unpublished photographs of Evans and his family. Maps would have augmented the battle descriptions. But despite their absence SHANKS is a fine book that sheds positive, new light on an obscure but important military figure. Readers with an interest in South Carolina, or in the early Civil War in the East, will especially enjoy the book.

Review by C. Michael Harrington

Mr. Harrington is a member of the Houston Civil War Roundtable and Civil War Aficionados. He has written articles on two officers in Evans' Brigade. A practicing lawyer, he has degrees in economics from Yale and Cambridge and a law degree from Harvard.

Rating:
Summary: The First Biography of Shanks Evans Is a Solid Success
Review: Winthrop University historians Jason Silverman and Samuel Thomas have teamed up with the late Beverly Evans to produce a thoroughly enjoyable biography of Confederate Brigadier General Nathan "Shanks" Evans of Marion, South Carolina.

The strength of the book lies in the authors' skillful use of the private papers of General Evans that his descendent, Beverly Evans, had carefully conserved and made available to his two co-authors. Rather than foisting their own interpretations of Evans on the reader, the authors allow the general to speak for himself, mostly through his previously unpublished family letters as well as his military correspondence. The picture of Evans that emerges from the book is at odds with the common perception of him as an impetuous, brawling brigadier with a fondness for alcohol.

A West Point graduate and an accomplished Indian fighter before the war, Evans' resigned his commission in the U.S. Army shortly after his native state seceded from the Union. Despite his spectacular early successes at First Manassas, Ball's Bluff and Secessionville, and solid performances at Second Manassas and Antietam, Evans' promotions stalled out at the rank of brigadier general. His failure to obtain the coveted rank of major general traced to a series of running disputes with both his subordinate and his superior officers that resulted in two courts martial of Evans during 1863. Though acquitted in both proceedings, Evans' public reputation never recovered, and he spent the balance of the war in obscurity. He died in 1868, aged only 44, still struggling to rebuild his life from the war.

Superbly written and grounded in sound research, SHANKS contains some previously unpublished photographs of Evans and his family. Maps would have augmented the battle descriptions. But despite their absence SHANKS is a fine book that sheds positive, new light on an obscure but important military figure. Readers with an interest in South Carolina, or in the early Civil War in the East, will especially enjoy the book.

Review by C. Michael Harrington

Mr. Harrington is a member of the Houston Civil War Roundtable and Civil War Aficionados. He has written articles on two officers in Evans' Brigade. A practicing lawyer, he has degrees in economics from Yale and Cambridge and a law degree from Harvard.