cover image From Selma to Appomattox: The History of the Jeff Davis Artillery

From Selma to Appomattox: The History of the Jeff Davis Artillery

Lawrence R. Laboda. White Mane Publishing Company, $30 (400pp) ISBN 978-0-942597-80-6

The Jeff Davis Artillery was organized in Selma, Ala., at the outbreak of the Civil War and fought with the Army of Northern Virginia until Appomattox. Freelancer Laboda synthesizes archival and printed sources in a compelling portrait of a Confederate artillery battery at war. An excellent study of small-unit dynamics, this work demonstrates that the South's lack of technical competence compared with the North must not be overstated. The Civil War was not so ``modern'' that the skills of the farm and the blacksmith shop could not be adapted to a ``scientific'' branch of service. Initially ignorant of all but the most general ideas of gunnery service, the Jeff Davis Artillery became one of Lee's elite batteries, proving its mettle in a half-dozen major battles. The Alabamians consistently lacked men, munitions and materiel but possessed courage in full measure and proved consistently able to learn from experience. Both qualities characterized the Confederacy in general. Photos. (July)