Philip Kearny, lover of brave soldiers, colorful uniforms, and beautiful horses, has at last found a tolerable biography. Thomas Kearny's recent book is quite obviously the result of serious research into important sources hitherto unused. The dashing personality of Philip Kearny, the romantic hero who figured in five wars, is vividly portrayed. Kearny saw service with the French in Africa, the United States in Mexico, fought the Indians of the Northwest more than once, and served the Union in the War between the States. In each of these wars he performed creditable and often brilliant service.
Too often a writer of biography makes the principal character the hero or the villain. In this case Philip Kearny is ever the hero. Whether fighting, writing his severe criticism of his fellow officers-Generals Casey, Hintzelman, and McClellan, or expressing his belief that the annexation of Texas and the Mexican War were brought about by the machinations of an aggressive slaveocracy whose continued existence and wellbeing they were designed to advance, Kearny is ardently supported by his biographer.
However, in spite of the tendency to idolize his subject, Thomas Kearny has produced a worthwhile and much needed biography. In conclusion it should be remarked that this biography is more than a history of the life of Philip Kearny for it includes also some account of the more prominent and historically important members of the Kearny family. The author in particular portrays the brilliant campaign of Stephen Kearny across New Mexico to California, bringing that enormous country under the control of the United States.-George D. Harmon
