Bluecoat and Pioneer: The Recollections of John Benton Hart, 1864-1868

Late in life John Benton Hart, with the encouragement of his son Harry, recorded his reminiscences of Civil War service and later experiences in the West. Hart served in the 11th Kansas Infantry (later converted into the 11th Kansas Cavalry) and after the war spent several years in Montana. Son Harry embellished his father’s recollections, and some of the episodes recorded, especially some long conversations, beggar belief. Yet especially in the post-Civil War sections, the narrative is unfailingly interesting and in places quite revealing

Untouched by the Conflict: The Civil War Letters of John Singleton Ashenfelter

“Civil War” in the title of this book might appear to be a crude marketing ploy because very few of the letters—written by Singleton Ashenfelter to his closest friend Samuel Pennypacker—even mention the war in passing. Instead the collection drives home the essential but often forgotten truth that ordinary life goes on even during a great national crisis. In this regard, I once heard historian Philip Paludan remark in a lecture that you could not hold supper just because there was a war on

The Shattering of the Union: America in the 1850s

Forgotten dissent Detractors of Confederacy in the Civil War South In the past several years, the long ignored Southern Unionists have suddenly attracted serious attention. Margaret Storey\u27s useful new book on Alabama Unionists during the Civil War and Reconstruction is the lat...

Isham G. Harris of Tennessee: Confederate Governor and United States Senator

A New Look at a Wartime Governor Students of the Civil War have paid little attention to governors. William B. Hesseltine\u27s Lincoln and the War Governors, published in 1948, remains the standard work. Joseph H. Parks, massive Joseph E. Brown of Georgia was published i...

Bludgeon Diplomacy: The \u27Godfather Of Secession\u27 Defends Himself And His Cause

Even the title of Robert Barnwell Rhett\u27s incomplete memoir breathes a kind of ideological fanaticism: The Last Decade, seen in the extinction of Free Government in the United States, and the Downfall of the Southern Confederacy, in connexion with political Life and Services of the Honorable Robert...

Dear Delia: The Civil War Letters of Captain Henry F. Young, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry

Collections of letters written by company- grade officers often prove more interesting than those from enlisted men or higher-ranking officers. Dear Delia: The Civil War Letters of Captain Henry F. Young, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry certainly confirms that generalization and more. It is one of the best collections of Civil War soldier letters that has been published during the past decade. Henry F. Young was a mill owner who enlisted in the 7th Wisconsin Infantry and rose to the rank of captain. He was a conscientious volunteer who nevertheless revealed to both his wife Delia and his father the gritty realities of soldier life

From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America

At least since 1867 when James Longstreet wrote a letter urging southerners to accept the reality of military reconstruction, he became one of the most controversial figures of the Civil War era. Political revulsion quickly led to extensive criticism of Longstreet’s military career focusing on his performance at Gettysburg. In letters and articles, Longstreet responded in kind, sometimes inconsistently, often defensively, and the battle has been joined ever since. Defenders of Robert E. Lee and the Lost Cause have often portrayed Longstreet, if not exactly as a villain, at least as a deeply flawed general who had let the Army of Northern Virginia down during those fateful July days in Pennsylvania. In our own time, Robert K. Krick, especially in his wonderfully titled essay, “’If Longstreet . . . Says So, It Is Most Likely Not True’: James Longstreet and the Second Day at Gettysburg,” has followed suit. Taking up the cudgels for Longstreet have been historians William Garrett Piston and Jeffrey D. Wert, but it was novelist Michael Shaara who turned the general into a tragic hero in his classic novel The Killer Angels. To this day, any mention of Longstreet’s name can start an argument among Civil War buffs and some historians..

Cwbr Author Interview: God\u27s Almost Chosen Peoples: A Religious History Of The American Civil War

Interview with George C. Rable, Professor and holder of the Summersell Chair in Southern History at the University of Alabama Interviewed by Nathan A. Buman Civil War Book Review (CWBR): I\u27m here today with George Rable, author of God\u27s Almost Chosen Peoples: A Religious History of the American Civil War. Professor Rable, thank you so much for joining me. George Rable (GR): My pleasure

'To live and die [for] Dixie': Irish civilians and the Confederate States of America

Around 20,000 Irishmen served in the Confederate army in the Civil War. As a result, they left behind, in various Southern towns and cities, large numbers of friends, family, and community leaders. As with native-born Confederates, Irish civilian support was crucial to Irish participation in the Confederate military effort. Also, Irish civilians served in various supporting roles: in factories and hospitals, on railroads and diplomatic missions, and as boosters for the cause. They also, however, suffered in bombardments, sieges, and the blockade. Usually poorer than their native neighbours, they could not afford to become 'refugees' and move away from the centres of conflict. This essay, based on research from manuscript collections, contemporary newspapers, British Consular records, and Federal military records, will examine the role of Irish civilians in the Confederacy, and assess the role this activity had on their integration into Southern communities. It will also look at Irish civilians in the defeat of the Confederacy, particularly when they came under Union occupation. Initial research shows that Irish civilians were not as upset as other whites in the South about Union victory. They welcomed a return to normalcy, and often 'collaborated' with Union authorities. Also, Irish desertion rates in the Confederate army were particularly high, and I will attempt to gauge whether Irish civilians played a role in this. All of the research in this paper will thus be put in the context of the Drew Gilpin Faust/Gary Gallagher debate on the influence of the Confederate homefront on military performance. By studying the Irish civilian experience one can assess how strong the Confederate national experiment was. Was it a nation without a nationalism