April 2021 Newsletter

From the Editor

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I refuse to mow my lawn any earlier than April 1, and this spring, it seemed like my neighbors were holding out, too. We all made it through the last weekend in March without the sound of a lawnmower, so I thought the lawn wars would hold off. But then someone apparently had a Wednesday off, and by 9 a.m., they were zipping back-and-forth across their side yard on their riding mower.

 

Once you start mowing, you have to be all-in until late October, at least around here, so just out of principle, I try to hold off if I can. But spring came early to central Virginia and the grass begin growing in patchy fits and starts. The wild onions in particular popped up aggressively. The whole lawn looked like it needed a haircut.

 

The battlefields around here have been waking up, too. I hike the Chancellorsville history trail every morning, and the daily change, although incremental, has been shockingly swift. Leaves burst from their buds with overnight speed. Frog choruses offer evening serenades. Every little critter seems to be stretching the winter kinks out of their backs.

 

In 1863, the Army of the Potomac was stirring, too. Joe Hooker had already ordered George Stoneman‘s Calvary force to leave on a raid south, although torrential rains and swollen rivers stymied he initial departure. Along the Mississippi, Ulysses S. Grant was moving troops into position for his late-April crossing to the east bank. In central Tennessee, William Rosecrans concentrated on securing his vulnerably thin supply line. The armies everywhere were awakening for their spring campaigns.

 

This spring feels like more than just the seasonal wake up, though. After more than a year of pandemic, with quarantine restrictions lifting and more and more people getting the vaccine (as all sensible people should if they can), it feels like a time for cautiously looking at the wide-awake world again. Caution remains the watchword, but we’re all anxious for a breath of fresh air. What will we find?

 

In my case, it’s been a spring of delicate forget-me-nots, surprising mountain azaleas, sliver-thin red-spotted newts—and a lawn badly in need of a haircut.


— Chris Mackowski, Ph.D.

Editor-in-Chief


News & Notes

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Big News!

David Powell and Eric Wittenberg are pleased to announce that their joint writing project, The Tullahoma Campaign, has won the 2020 Tennessee History Book Award, jointly sponsored by the Tennessee Library Association and the Tennessee Historical commission.

 

Tullahoma was a serendipitous collaboration; Dave had long wanted to write something substantive on the campaign, and had even written a few chapters, but something else always seemed to get in the way. Then Eric suggested a combined effort, incorporating his own work on the mounted actions at Hoover’s Gap and Shelbyville. That was the spark. Suddenly, the subject was front-burner material once again. The result, which came together over the next few months, was The Tullahoma Campaign.

 

"We both feel very satisfied with the book, which flowed together with notable ease," Dave says. "We both feel that the book is ours, rather than 'mine and his,' as those portions which one of us did not write, the other edited freely."

 

Tullahoma has long needed a detailed campaign narrative examining this remarkable military operation, overshadowed as it was by the twin Union triumphs of Vicksburg and Gettysburg; and often given short shrift by earlier historians. We strove to do exactly that. We are humbled and delighted that Tullahoma has been recognized as such by this award.

More Big News!

Mercer University Press is pleased to announce that The Military Order of the Stars and Bars has bestowed its Douglas Southall Freeman Award to Stephen Davis for his Into Tennessee and Failure: General John Bell Hood as "the most scholarly work in the field of Southern history" for 2020. The MOS&B, founded in 1938, is composed of male descendants of Confederate officers. C.S. Congressmen or members of the C.S. Executive Branch. Congratulations, Steve!

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Other Cool Goings-On

Sarah Kay Bierle spent an early spring weekend at Breaks Interstate Park on the Virginia/Kentucky border (see photo, right). She didn't go looking for Civil War history, but of course she came back with notes and things to research. Blog posts ahead!


Doug Crenshaw and Bert Dunkerly toured Sailor's Creek battlefield and will be heading off for a two-day tour of First and Second Manassas. Last week they did talks on their new book for the American Civil War Center and Civil War Talks. Doug will be leading a private tour of the Cold Harbor battlefield area on April 29.


Meg Groeling reviewed the novel In the Shadow of Gold: A Tale of the Lost Confederate Treasure by Michael Kenneth Smith in the May 2021 issue of Civil War News. “Somehow novels are in bad repute,” Meg writes, “even though most of us became ‘hooked’ on the 1860s by reading a historical novel during our callow youth.” She says Smith “is one writer whose books make a good argument that novels have their place.”


On May 4, Chris Kolakowski be speaking to the National Museum of the Army about the Philippines.

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ECW Bookshelf

We’re pleased to announce the release of the latest book in the Emerging Civil War Series: The Bonds of War: A Story of Immigrants and Esprit de Corps in Company C, 96th Illinois Volunteer Infantry by Diana L. Dretske, available now from Southern Illinois University Press.


In 1862, five immigrants from the British Isles living as neighbors in rural Lake County, Illinois, joined the fight to preserve the Union. The men took a commemorative portrait to mark their personal bonds and service with Company C, 96th Illinois, as they were about to head into the war’s Western Theater. One hundred and fifty years later, the striking portrait, now in the Bess Bower Dunn Museum, caught the attention of curator Diana L. Dretske, who discovered that the soldiers were not fully identified. Compelled into a project of recovery, Dretske offers a unique collective biography of the men, which re-envisions the common U.S. Civil War soldier and the significance of immigrant soldiers’ contributions to the Union’s ultimate victory.

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We’re also pleased to announce the release of the latest book in the Emerging Civil War Series: A Mortal Blow to the Confederacy: The Fall of New Orleans, 1862 by Mark Bielski, available now from Savas Beatie.

 

History has not devoted a great deal of attention to the fall of the New Orleans, a Civil War drama that was an early harbinger of the dark days to come for the Confederacy. In The Fall of New Orleans 1862, Bielski tells of the leaders and men who fought for control of New Orleans, the largest city in the South, the key to the Mississippi, and the commercial gateway for the Confederacy.

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10 Questions . . .

with Nathan Provost

Nathan Provost is the newest member of Emerging Civil War. Nate is a doctoral student at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, studying under Dr. Steven Woodworth. You can read his full ECW bio here.


How did a guy from Kansas City get hooked on the Civil War? 


There is not a direct answer to that question. My grandfather was a professor and had a deep passion for history. He began giving me books on history when I was seven years old. I was first interested in military history before the Civil War. I read books about the Napoleonic Wars and the Hundred Years War before diving into American history. Later in life, I was accepted into graduate school to study the Napoleonic Wars but was told I would make a lousy historian by my advisor. It broke my spirit; therefore, I left not long after. It was when I was working at a liquor store that I became passionate about the Civil War. A friend of mine encouraged me to read Gordon Rhea’s Overland Campaign series during my breaks. Around this time, I decided to go back and pursue my doctorate in history at Liberty University with a special focus on Military History and the Civil War.

 

You’ve been writing a dissertation about casualties after Cold Harbor. Can you tell us a little about your project? 


After reading Gordon Rhea's campaign series, I became a bit obsessive about the discrepancies in Cold Harbor's casualties. At first, I thought there was something wrong with the Federal casualty number of around 13,000. If the Union suffered around 2,200 on June 1, around 300 on June 2, and then 6,000 on June 3, that adds up to 8,500 casualties. Where are the other 4,500 casualties coming from? I thought, surely, they did not lose that many between June 4-12. As it turns out, part of that number came from the fighting at Bethesda Church between May 28-31. The problem is not that the Union figure is wrong, but rather the Confederate number. If we consider the fighting around Bethesda Church, Confederate casualties roughly add up to 8,000 between May 28 to June 12. I will put together the details of these numbers as I continue working on my dissertation.


What is it about Grant that interests you so much? 


It was not Grant that first interested me; it was Robert E. Lee. When I was younger, I heard about “Grant the drunk” and “Grant the butcher.” I never thought twice about him. It was not until my grandfather on my mother’s side took me out to Florida, Missouri. Grant's headquarters was located there at one point (it is even mentioned in his memoirs), and he bought me a book titled Grant Takes Command by Bruce Catton. It was then that I began to view Grant in a different light. After reading Jomini, Clausewitz, and Vauban's work, I have become more impressed by Grant’s generalship.


What sort of Civil War-related sites can you explore in your neck of the woods? 


There are some great Civil War sites around here in Kansas City. The Battle of Lone Jack took place about 30 minutes east of Kansas City. The Battle of Mine Creek is a little farther south, but it is still worth the drive. Both have visitor centers that provide great information on the battles. There is also a self-guided tour of the Battle of Westport in Kansas City. Unfortunately, not much of the battlefield is preserved. Although, there are historical markers that give some information about the fighting. Finally, the 1858 Wornall Home is well maintained, which I highly recommend. It was used as a field hospital during the Battle of Westport. 


While you’re a grad student by night, you’re a teacher by day. A common lament from the traditional Civil War crowd is that young people don’t learn history anymore. Are things as bad as people assume, or is there reason for hope? 


This is a great question. Students today are much more self-aware than my generation (Generation Y). What I mean by this is that they recognize they have a variety of interests. Many of them love music and art, but they also hold a deep respect for engineering and mechanics. Some enjoy reading history more than others, but that is a normal phenomenon. Everyone has different interests, but what is unique about them is that they are interested in so many things. I like to think of them as the “renaissance generation.” I have a student that is considering a trade school, but he loves reading about history. There is also a push for students to learn skills outside the classroom. I encourage them to not only read about history but experience it. If there is a concern, some political entities push for a type of history (like the 1619 Project or the 1776 Project), which are not strongly backed by primary source material. History is uncomfortable, but I trust that this generation will learn and accept hard truths with more access to primary source material and engaging in history outside the classroom. 

 

Lightning Round:

Favorite primary source? 

Grant’s Memoirs: It is not only a great piece of American literature but a book about military practice and theory. 


Favorite Civil War-related monument? 

Grant’s Tomb: It mimics Les Invalides in Paris.

 

Favorite unsung hero of the Civil War era? 

Frederick Steele: Fought in many battles in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theatre and beat Sterling Price at Jenkin’s Ferry.

 

What’s a bucket-list Civil War site you’ve not yet visited? 

Vicksburg: My focus has been out east on the Overland and Petersburg Campaigns

 

Favorite ECWS book? 

Dawn of Victory by Edward Alexander: He goes into excellent detail regarding the soldiers that first broke through the lines at Petersburg.

ECW Multimedia

On the Emerging Civil War YouTube page in April:

 

·     We offered a preview of an upcoming special surprise: an ECW Virtual Symposium

·     We celebrated with Greg Mertz his retirement from the National Park Service after more than three and a half decades of service

·     We talked with Dwight Hughes about the battle of Hampton Roads and his new book about the clash of the ironclads, Unlike Anything that Ever Floated

 

We also make a number of our interviews available as free podcasts on the ECW Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/emergingcivilwar.

 

Be sure to subscribe to the Emerging Civil War YouTube channel to get all the latest. While you’re at it, don’t forget to follow ECW on Facebook and Instagram (@Emergingcwblog). Please share and like our pages!


Emerging Revolutionary War News

By Phill Greenwalt


One year ago this month, an idea sprung up in the midst of this pandemic to create a virtual historian happy hour that would allow us to continue to connect, chat, and share our enthusiasm for history. “Rev War Revelry” grew beyond our expectations, running first for 36 straight weeks and then continuing every other week since. On Sunday, April 18th, we will celebrate our one-year anniversary with a return to the history of Lexington and Concord with historian Alex Cain. Join us, via our Facebook page or on our YouTube channel. As a reminder, “Rev War Revelry” continues every other Sunday. 


The second annual Emerging Revolutionary War symposium, “Hindsight is 2020,” is returning, in a virtual setting, on May 22. For details and to reserve your spot, head to the blog and follow the symposium link. 


In November of this year, don’t forget our first bus tour, showcasing the sites of the Ten Crucial Days of the American Revolution: Trenton, Princeton, and in between. The tour will be November 12-14. Details and sign-up information are available on our blog: www.emergingrevolutionarywar.org.

You Can Help Support Emerging Civil War

Emerging Civil War is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. If you’re interested in supporting “emerging voices” by making a tax-deductible donation, you can do so by clicking here or by visiting our website: www.emergingcivilwar.com.


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