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A review by rosseroo
Company of Cowards by Jack Schaefer
2.0
Schaefer was a prolific author best known for his debut book, Shane, and the movie made of it. This one came a little later and is unfortunately far more interesting in premise than execution. Apparently inspired by an apocryphal historical footnote from the Civil War, it follows the path of a tiny unit of eight Union officers. They've been court-martialed for cowardice, but have been given the opportunity to redeem themselves by serving as privates in this ad-hoc unit, under the leadership of Jared Heath.
I guess I was hoping for some kind of Civil War era version of The Dirty Dozen, as the unit is sent to the western territories. However, the bulk of the book is about the formation of the group and the tedious logistics of their journey to New Mexico and billeting there at an obscure fort. It's not until almost the very end that there's finally an actual bit of action, where the small unit has to storm a hill in order to protect a supply wagon train from Comanches. It's all pretty anticlimactic, and more to the point, it's never clear at all why the seven very different men would have rallied around Heath as a unit, much less been bonded enough to charge into overwhelming odds together. Overall, a rather tedious disappointment.
I guess I was hoping for some kind of Civil War era version of The Dirty Dozen, as the unit is sent to the western territories. However, the bulk of the book is about the formation of the group and the tedious logistics of their journey to New Mexico and billeting there at an obscure fort. It's not until almost the very end that there's finally an actual bit of action, where the small unit has to storm a hill in order to protect a supply wagon train from Comanches. It's all pretty anticlimactic, and more to the point, it's never clear at all why the seven very different men would have rallied around Heath as a unit, much less been bonded enough to charge into overwhelming odds together. Overall, a rather tedious disappointment.