C. Vann Woodward, Tony Horwitz & Gertrude Stein · 10 Questions with David Dixon
Wild Bill on the ECW Bookshelf · The Rev War in October
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From the Editor
“No period of American history makes greater demands on the historian than that of the Civil War,” historian C. Vann Woodward wrote in his introduction to James McPherson’s The Battle Cry of Freedom.
I recently came across Woodward’s quote while looking at McPherson’s 2000 Jefferson lecture for the National Endowment for the Humanities (a lecture worth reading, here, if you haven’t already).
As I often do with quotes I find interesting, I posted Woodward’s comment as my Facebook status. As if in agreement with Woodward’s sentiment, one friend quoted Tony Horwitz quoting Gertrude Stein: “There never will be anything more interesting in America than that Civil War, never.” (Stein's photo courtesy Library of Congress)
“As a writer on Reconstruction, Woodward must have known that was not entirely true,” replied one friend, himself a writer on Reconstruction. Or, I wondered, perhaps Woodward thought it was true even when compared against the complexities of Reconstruction.
Another friend said future historians will point to 2020 as the period that makes great demands on historians. The Age of COVID, a contentious presidential race, social justice protests and civil unrest, cataclysmic wildfires—all in a post-truth context—will certainly challenge any historians who try to sift through events.
We’re all students of the Civil War, and so we understand its multi-faceted complexities, even if many of us focus on, say, just the military aspects or just a single battle (Gettysburg fans, I’m looking at you!). So, knowing how steeped we are, I ask: Do you agree with Woodward? If not, what period do you think would qualify as the period of American history that places the greatest demands on historians?
— Chris Mackowski, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
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The Seventh Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge |
Early bird tickets for our symposium on "Fallen Leaders" are still on sale through December 31, 2020. Only $155, now through the end of the year.
This year's symposium will be held August 6-8, 2021, at Stevenson Ridge on the edge of the Spotsylvania Court House battlefield in Virginia. Join keynote speaker Gordon Rhea, tour guide Greg Mertz, and eight fantastic ECW speakers.
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The annual book issue of Civil War News (September 2020) featured the top-ten lists of more than thirty historians who discussed their favorite books. Among those who included their lists were ECW’s Sarah Kay Bierle, Meg Groeling, Chris Kolakowski, and Chris Mackowski.
Sarah Kay Bierle wrote a piece for the September 2020 Civil War News about Pelham’s Corner and Latimer’s Knoll, two “Artillery Positions to Visit, Stories to Tell” on the Fredericksburg battlefield.
Zack Fry, a member of ECW’s “Engaging the Civil War” editorial board, received a positive review in the October 2020 issue of Civil War Times for his recent book A Republic in the Ranks: Loyalty and Dissent in the Army of the Potomac. The book, said reviewer Rick Beard, “is a welcome reminder that Union victory during the Civil War was won on more than one battlefield.” The September 2020 issue of Civil War News also reviewed the book. “Zachery Fry is to be commended for this thoughtful and deeply researched book,” wrote reviewer Paul Taylor.
H. R. Gordon’s interview with Tony Horwitz, which appeared in Entertaining History: The Civil War in Literature, Film, and Song, has been excerpted for the current issue of America’s Civil War magazine. Gordon and Horwitz talk about the legacy of Confederates in the Attic. The magazine also includes a brief introduction by the book’s editor, Chris Mackowski.
Meanwhile, Entertaining History received a great review in the October 2020 issue of Civil War Times. Reviewer Ethan Rafuse lauded “the many positive aspects of this study, which offers plenty to not just inform, but also entertain, its readers.”
WWI historian and author Mitchell Yockelson is working with Meg Groeling on the final edit of Meg’s Elmer Ellsworth bio, First Fallen. “He reminded me that Hemingway said there were no great writers, only great re-writers,” she says, “so onward we go!” Meg is also getting ready to begin a regular series at ECW, “Your Weekly Walt Whitman.” Why? “We all need a little Walt Whitman in our lives, especially during the time of Covid-19,” Meg explains. In the September 2020 issue of Civil War News, Meg reviewed Stephen Ash’s Rebel Richmond: Life and Death in the Confederate Capital. And, Meg concludes, “The wildfires in California are almost out, so all's quiet along the Pacific Ocean tonight.”
Chris Kolakowski spoke on October 15 as part of the Battle of the Bulge Association Virtual Conference. You can see that talk here. He also spoke on October 16 at the Pritzker Library in Chicago on “Nations and Empires in the Balance: WWII in Southeast Asia.” You can see that talk on the library’s FB page.
Derek Maxfield’s book Hellmira: The Union's Most Infamous Civil War Prison Camp - Elmira, NY, part of the Emerging Civil War Series, received a positive review in the Fall 2020 Journal of America’s Military Past. “The book’s only shortcoming is its inexplicable lack of an index,” said reviewer Steven C. Haack (apparently unaware that none of the ECWS books have indexes!).
Gather American Eatery in Lewiston, NY, hosted Derek on Oct. 13th for a book talk and signing for Hellmira. “Guests also enjoyed great bourbon from Rabbit Hole Distilling during a special tasting event,” Derek adds.
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10 Questions . . .
with David T. Dixon
David T. Dixon is one of Emerging Civil War’s newest members. His new book is Radical Warrior: August Willich’s Journey from German Revolutionary to Union General. He is also the author of The Lost Gettysburg Address. You can read his full ECW bio here.
You have an interest in what you call B-list history. What attracts you to those Civil War figures?
Unfortunately, “great white man military history” still dominates the field of Civil War biography. Leaders like Grant, Lee, Sherman, and other top tier figures are important, but so much emphasis on them distorts our view of the Civil War as an event that subsumed every aspect of American society for four years. Second and third tier characters, including free Blacks, enslaved people, women, children, state politicians, businesspeople, and so many other groups lived and endured this terrible event in ways that we need to understand and appreciate.
You spend a lot of time with a person when you write a biography about him or her. What’s that like?
Well, it is like having a third person in your marriage. Spicy and disruptive at the same time. Successful biographers, like stage actors, know how to immerse themselves in a character, trying to think as they thought, while regularly pulling off the costume to examine their subject from a detached point-of-view. Combining intimacy and distance is very challenging, so it helps to have colleagues and readers who are involved in the process along the way to help rein you in if you begin to lose objectivity. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. That is true in marriage as it is in biography with some important caveats. You must never fall in love with your subject and, unlike a marriage, you should always be forthright and vocal about your subject’s faults and idiosyncrasies. I’ve been married for 36 years and only doing biography for a fraction of that time, but I try to keep our dead houseguests confined to my office as much as possible.
Of all the people you could have chosen for your latest book, why Willich?
I picked Willich for two reasons. First, he meets my criteria of a second-tier character who lacks a book length biography, but has a dramatic life story and a compelling connection to important people and events. Second, the man himself sacrificed so much to advance what he called “a solution to the social question.” He renounced his noble status, alienated himself from his family, abandoned a 17-year military officer career, and was exiled from his homeland in his efforts to advance the global causes of human rights and democratic government. His consistency and his dedication were remarkable.
With the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address coming up, tell us a little bit about your previous book, which ties into that.
I was very fortunate to stumble upon Charles Anderson, the man who gave the third address on what is now known as Dedication Day on November 19, 1863. The speech manuscript was never published and only recently discovered at a ranch in Wyoming. A newsy article morphed into a full- length biography when I investigated Anderson’s unusually dramatic and eventful life. How did a Texas slave owner in 1861 end up following Lincoln in 1863 and becoming governor of Ohio in 1865? It is a crazy but true story that really opened a lot of doors for me into the tight-knit Civil War community of scholars and enthusiasts.
Who needs a biography that hasn’t had one yet or had one recently (or had a good one)? Why?
An obvious candidate is Charles Anderson’s brother Robert, who surrendered Fort Sumter. He is a fascinating figure and his Mexican War service is much overlooked. David Silkenat is considering that project as we speak, he tells me.
Lightning Round (short answers with a one-sentence explanation)
Favorite primary source?
Records of the Southern Claims Commission: one of the few places you can find intimate, first hand testimony from thousands of Unionists, women, and Blacks on the Confederate home front.
Favorite Civil War-related monument?
It is iconoclasm and sacrilege, I know, but I have never liked battlefield monuments as I think they detract from the experience of envisioning the battlefield as it was during the war. I prefer unobtrusive educational signage.
Favorite unsung hero of the Civil War era?
I’m going to go with Civil War nurse Mary “Mother” Bickerdyke in particular and women in the field and on the home front in general. The role of women in supporting combat soldiers has been under-appreciated throughout world history.
What’s a bucket-list Civil War site you’ve not yet visited?
I have not yet been to the Clara Barton National Historic Site, so I am anxious to visit that museum.
Favorite ECWS book that’s not one of your own?
I really enjoyed Meg Groeling’s The Aftermath of Battle. Would love to see more books in the ECW series that focus on aspects of the Civil War other than battles.
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The latest book in our Engaging the Civil War Series is now out: Imagining Wild Bill: James Butler Hickok in War, Media, and Memory by Paul Ashdown and Edward Caudill, published by Southern Illinois University Press.
“American culture often embraces myths that later become accepted as popular history,” the authors explain. By investigating the allure and power of Hickok’s myth, Ashdown and Caudill explain how American journalism and popular culture have shaped the way Civil War–era figures are remembered and reveal how Americans have embraced violence as entertainment.
Copies are available from SIU Press here.
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Have you been following the ECW YouTube page? You can check it out here. Or, go to YouTube and search “Emerging Civil War.”
This past month:
· Phill Greenwalt recounted his explorations of battlefields in the Western Theater, including individual videos from Shiloh, Natural Bridge, and Richard Taylor’s surrender site.
· Chris Mackowski visited the grave of Confederate memoirist Sam Watkins.
· David Dixon talked about his Augustus Willich bio, Radical Warrior.
· Jonathan Noyalas, Jay Richardson, and Nikki Roland of Shenandoah University discussed their research into Union veterans in the Shenandoah Valley.
· Ben Kemp shared news about Grant Cottage on track to become a National Historic Landmark.
Plus, we have all sorts of other cool stuff going on there. Be sure to subscribe to the Emerging Civil War YouTube channel to get all the latest.
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Emerging Revolutionary War News |
By Phill Greenwalt
October saw three pivotal actions. The one that gets all the attention was the final action at Saratoga, New York, in 1777, which solidified French involvement for the American cause in the American Revolutionary War.
Yet, a significant action on the outskirts of Philadelphia on October 4, 1777, also weighed heavily into French considerations. That battle, Germantown, was the focus of a "Rev War Revelry" Zoom chat and a recent publication by our friends at Savas Beatie, LLC, authored by Michael C. Harris. To check that video, head over to Emerging Revolutionary War's Facebook page.
The second action happened in 1780 in northwest South Carolina, at Kings Mountain, where American militia, the "Overmountain Men," destroyed a Loyalist contingent led by Major Patrick Ferguson. This action was also covered in a "Rev War Revelry."
In early November, ERW historians will be heading to Virginia for some research and site exploration. We’ll bring these sites, virtually, to you. Continue to check the blog (www.emergingrevolutionarywar.org) and our Facebook page. Look forward to interacting with all you, for the time being, through this digital world.
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Emerging Civil War is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization
If you’d like to help us out with a tax-deductible donation to support our educational mission, you can do so through PayPal by clicking here.
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November
2nd: Dwight Hughes, “Unlike Anything That Ever Floated: The USS Monitor and the Battle of Hampton Roads,” Civil War Roundtable of Central New Jersey
5th: Chris Mackowski, "Strike Them a Blow: Battle Along the North Anna," Pamplin Park Civil War Round Table, Petersburg, VA
10th: Chris Mackowski, Second-Guessing Richard Ewell at Gettysburg, Brunswick (NC) Civil War Roundtable
12th: Dave Powell, “Union command failure in the Shenandoah,” Madison (WI) Civil War Round Table
12th: David Dixon, “The Lost Gettysburg Address,” Bull Run Civil War Round Table
14th: Chris Mackowski and Bert Dunkerly, North Anna Facebook Live, Richmond National Battlefield Park
18th: David Dixon, “The Lost Gettysburg Address,” Fredericksburg Civil War Round Table
December
14th: Jon-Erik Gilot, “The Western Virginia Campaign of 1861,” Mahoning Valley Civil War Roundtable, Canfield, OH
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