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The Crowther Letters: Family, Companions, and Rebels
By Bob Hileman Jr.
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Colonel James E. Crowther's experiences during the American Civil War come to life in
Bob Hileman Jr.'s presentation of the letters
that he wrote to his family.
In this, the first volume of Robert Hileman's The Crowther Letters, the reader will encounter the rarest of all historical biographies, that of the Common Man, or rather, common man living in uncommon times. Biographical history, by its own definition, defers to selected lives of exceptional people having impact upon events. The life of Colonel James E. Crowther reverses that process. The event - the Battle of Kernstown - is recounted through the eyes and words of one who is intricately part of the event itself, both as observer and participant. This is history as it happened, "in the midst of things," not reported from a mountaintop or recollected from an easy chair.
"Oh, but the bullets did whistle past Papa's head," wrote Crowther to his 7-year old daughter, Allie, just days after the battle. Actuality and reality: this is Crowther's ground-view of the Civil War, in particular, and military life, in general. Crowther's regiment had its troubles in the Battle of Kernstown and one wonders how the regiment will fair in the greater engagements at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, volume two of this extraordinary tale.
Hileman's treatment is sagacious; he lets a good story tell itself. Never intrusive, working behind the scenes weaving in useful narrative data, the life of James Crowther is presented in uncluttered richness. Hileman allows his subject to talk directly to readers 140 years hence. It's all there: Crowther's frustrations, his growing impatience with higher command, his understandable concern for family and future, and finally, his heart-felt pride in the men serving under him.
This is history written from the bottom up, not top down, and as such, it beckons powerfully. What is "common" becomes uncommon; facts and homespun-opinion transcend themselves into something sanctified.
Robert Mull, Penn State University, English faculty, and journalist
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