Book Reviews

Yet by the turn of the twentieth century the Grays came under increasing criticism from a society changed by the cumulative effects of urbanization, industrialization, and professionalization. Working-class and Progressive detractors considered the Grays' privileged members (with some justification) "tin soldiers" who were perfectly willing to stay at home during times of war, all the while supplying low-born substitutes to fill up depleted ranks. Regular Army officials and National Guardsmen also harbored grievances against independent militia companies, whom they judged "incompetent, erratic, boastful, and wasteful" (79). The Grays, however, endured these myriad barbs, maintaining cohesiveness and camaraderie through the leadership of committed and well-connected commanding officers. Long after the disappearance of similar units throughout the U.S., the Grays still live on (unofficially) as Company B, 145th Infantry, Ohio National Guard.

The Grays' footprint upon the social and military history of Cleveland was perhaps large, yet the fatal weakness of Vourlojianis's work is the perfunctory treatment of the many forces that molded not only the company but also the community from which it came. Indeed, readers will find little contextual analysis within this thin volume. The opportunity to examine the Grays against the background of nationalism, sectionalism, Whig and Republican political culture, urbanization, professionalization, and labor strife is largely lost as Vourlojianis attends to mundane and repetitive anecdotes detailing the Grays' many summer encampments, parades, and social soirées. In addition, the author's warm regard for his subject at times clouds his historical vision; one cringes upon reading references to "angry leftists" (109) and the company's role as "a bulwark against anarchy" (49). Present as well are some factual and interpretive errors, including a reference to brass Civil War-era cannon barrels (they were bronze) and the claim that American-British friction during the 1830s was "muted and even nonexistent on a national level" (14). Finally, Vourlojianis culls few primary sources that might provide a fuller picture of the company as a whole. There is, for example, no use of census or tax lists to underscore the Grays' socioeconomic dominance, and no comprehensive roster of the unit's membership.

In the end, The Cleveland Grays accomplishes very little of what it sets out to do. As institutional, narrative history, it is of some use to the general reader or to those with a special interest in Cleveland's military past. As a window through which scholars might examine an American past, its deficiencies are manifest.

Christopher S. Stowe
University of Toledo
Toledo, Ohio

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