As I-26 rolled south from Johnson City through the eastern mountains of Tennessee, I marveled at the green expanses unfolding around me. My last trip along this stretch of highway fell during December, and while I avoided any snow or ice, autumn had stripped the trees of foliage. Even then, the drive had been beautiful if a little bleak. But now, in mid-August, with the trees flush with leaves, the drive promised to be stunning—and sure enough, nature did not disappoint.

I spend a lot of time on the road, traveling to roundtables and attending conferences. I get to see a lot of cool things, visit a lot of interesting places, and meet a lot of neat people. It’s one of the best parts of the gig. I always prefer to drive so I can “control my own destiny,” so to speak, and enjoy trips at my own pace.

I planned this particular trip specifically so I could enjoy these mountains. Each bend in the road, each rise I crested, revealed a stunning new panorama. The rows of hills closest to me would burst with rich greens, and as the ridges receded into the distance, they faded to hazy purples, then to gauzy blues. Blue ridges and purple mountains, indeed! Then I would wind down into the next valley, the green closing in on all sides again, only to give way as I crested the next rise and—boom!—the vista would explode open again n breathtaking fashion.

At the Tennessee/North Carolina border, I stopped at a Tennessee Welcome Center. A Civil War Trails sign called attention to ”more than 250 Civil War sites throughout Tennessee,” highlighting ones in the immediate region. The Trails system has proven to be a wonderful way for me to round out my Civil War knowledge by pointing me in the direction of some lesser-known but fascinating stories (as well as good food and drink!). These are exactly the sorts of things that help make my drives more enjoyable.

Although the summer Civil War season is nearly over, fall offers wonders of its own for Civil War travelers. I hope, as you’re out and about, you take the time to explore off the beaten path and, even more importantly, you allow yourself to be moved by the wonder the world offers.

Chris Mackowski, Ph.D.

Editor-in-Chief



Steve Davis is ECW’s resident Southern Gentleman. Author of two ECW books on the Atlanta Campaign, he’s also book review editor for Civil War News. You can read his full bio here .

What is your Civil War origin? How did you get interested in the war?

I laid out my recollections in the Foreword of  meum opus pingue  ("my fat work"), What the Yankees Did to Us: Sherman's Bombardment and Wrecking of Atlanta. Sometime around 1957, when I was in the fourth grade, I got the bug. Maybe my parents took me to the Cyclorama (then at L.P. G ant park). Maybe to Kennesaw Mountain battlefield? Or was it another showing of  Gone With the Wind at Loews Grand Theatre downtown? I've come to conclude, though, that what turned me into a lifelong Civil Warrior was the thirty-minute TV show aired by CBS during 1957-58: The Grey Ghost —with Tod Andrews as Major Mosby!

 

You’ve had the opportunity in your day to work with and befriend some of the great historians of the Western Theater (ie, Bell Wiley, Wiley Sword, etc.). Do you feel like you’re carrying on a kind of tradition?

 

"Carrying on a kind of tradition"? Hmmmmm...not deliberately. But with my monthly "Critic's Corner" column for Jack Melton's  Civil War News,  I do happen to feel that when I write about old classics of Civil War literature, I'm reminding today's young generation of readers that some really great books were published way back when. For instance, my very first "Critic's" article ( CWN,  April 2016) featured John Esten Cooke's  The Wearing of the Gray  (1867). But you're right: my association with the great Bell Wiley provided me with some of the finest memories I have as a student of the war. For example, I still remember, in his Civil War lecture class I took in 1968, that he informed us that Cooke's middle name was pronounced EE-stin. His source was the great Richard Barksdale Harwell, who learned it from Cooke's descendants. It's funny what sticks with you after all those years.

 

You wear a bow tie and write with a fountain pen. That is pretty classic and classy! Is that part of an old-school “Southern sensibility”?

 

Late in life—I turn seventy this fall—I've become very comfortable in the lifestyle I've not so much chosen as settled into. You're right, though; I'm very mindful of the proper manners to be displayed by a Southern gentleman. In this, of course, my role model is General Lee. One of my favorite stories comes from J. William Jones'  Personal Reminiscences of General Robert E. Lee  (1874), during Lee's years as president of Washington College. To the father of a misbehaving student Lee once wrote a letter of reprimand. It was couched in language so polite, however, that a professor reading it suggested that the lad's father would completely miss the point of the letter. "The old hero looked very perplexed," Jones explains, "but presently replied, 'Well, sir, I cannot help it; if a gentleman can't understand the language of a gentleman, he must remain in ignorance, for a gentleman cannot write in any other way.'"

 

How did you fall in with the “emerging” voices at ECW?

 

Ted Savas and I have been friends for decades. He and David Woodbury printed my article on Hood's Atlanta battles in their  Campaign for Atlanta  essay series back in 1998. Since then, I've watched his work (the Augusta Powder Works,  Brady's Civil War Journal ), just as I suspect he's watched mine. So when the ECW Series began looking for writers who could handle the Western Theater, I guess my name came up.  I'm really glad it did.

 

Some of your friends call you “Dr. Edge.” Where does that moniker come from?

 

A couple of decades ago a friend of mine started calling me "Dr. Edge" for my, well, edgy conversation. In this I take my cue from another idol of mine, Bob Dylan. I remember from D. A. Pennebaker's great film,  Don't Look Back,  about Bob's British tour of 1965, how a reporter asked him, as a hero for the young generation, what words of advice he'd offer. Bob answered, "Keep a cool head and carry a light bulb."

 

Lightning-Round (short answers): Most overrated person of the Civil War? Sherman.

 

Favorite Trans-Mississippi site? (Well,  almost  Trans-Mississippi) New Orleans' Metairie Cemetery (Beauregard! Hood! Sidney Johnston's statue!)

 

Favorite Regiment? Fifth Texas Infantry

 

What one Civil War book do you consider to be essential? Frank Vandiver's  Their Tattered Flags  (1970)

 

What’s one question no one has ever asked you that you wish they would? (Actually, Vaughn Kilpatrick asked me this in 1982:) "Why don't you use contractions?"

ECW Honors Rhea, Mertz, Newton

ECW is pleased to announce the recipients of our annual Emerging Civil War awards. You can read details about each award recipient by clicking on the links.

ECW Book Award for 2017: On to Petersburg by Gordon Rhea

Brig. Gen. Thomas Greeley Stevenson Award (presented to someone who’s made a significant contribution to ECW): Greg Mertz

Emerging Civil War Award for Service in Civil War Public History: D.P. Newton of the White Oak Civil War Museum (pictured)

(At the top of the page: Stevenson Award recipient Greg Mertz (center) is flanked by a number of ECW writers whom he has mentored: Chris Kolakowski, Dan Davis, Phill Greenwalt, Chris Mackowski, Ryan Quint, Caroline Davis, and Edward Alexander)

After the initial release of Emerging Revolutionary War's book series in 2018, Savas Beatie and Emerging Revolutionary War are proud to announce the next two years of title releases.

The Emerging Revolutionary War Series kicked off with Victory or Death: The Battles of Trenton and Princeton by Mark Maloy and A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord by Rob Orrison and Phillip Greenwalt . Due to the success of the first two releases, contracts were issued for four more books in 2019-2020. 

The new books include Valley Forge by Phillip Greenwalt ; the Battle of Monmouth by William Griffith ; the Battle of Camden by Rob Orrison and Mark Wilcox ; and Charleston (SC) by Mark Maloy .

Stay tuned for titles and updates by visiting  Emerging Revolutionary War . Also be sure to follow ERW on Facebook and Twitter.