Civil War Memory

New Issue of Civil War History

The latest issue of the journal Civil War History arrived yesterday and includes the participants of the 2005 Society of Civil War Historians panel at the Southern Historical Association.  The panel, which was made up of Ken Noe, George Rable, and Carol Reardon, explored the process and challenges of writing military history.  I am making my way through it and will no doubt be the subject of future posts.  The only full-length article is by M. Keith Harris, titled "Slavery Emancipation, and Veterans of the Union Cause: Commemorating Freedom in the Era of Reconciliation, 1885-1915."  Keith is a graduate student at the University of Virginia and this article is drawn from his dissertation.

Civil War Memory is Now on Facebook

[Hat-Tip to Chapati Mystery, Cliopatria, and Progressive Historians]

I've been on Facebook now for about 2 months and I am enjoying it immensely.  I've connected with some old college friends and students that I taught in Alabama back in the late 90s; more recently, I watched as my school used Facebook as a way to mourn the passing of one of our students.  This year I am encouraging my students to start groups for my classes. 

Blogging has put me in touch with a wide range of Civil War enthusiasts and I've learned a great deal from their responses to my postings.  Unfortunately, the rate at which I post hinders the continuation of discussions in the comments section.  My policy of limited control over the comments also means that a certain percentage of responses are either incoherent or ill-informed.  This group is designed to address those concerns.  The Discussion Board will make it easier to continue conversations over longer periods of time as well as raise other issues that are deemed to be worthy of discussion.  To guarantee a certain level of sophistication I decided to set this space up as a closed group which means you will have to apply to be admitted.  In my humble opinion most online Discussion Boards are a complete waste of time and a quick perusal of Open Groups related to the Civil War on Facebook have little merit.  Once approved for the group you will be able to post pictures and share ideas on the Wall and Discussion Boards.  What I like most about this is that it puts my readers in control of the discussion.

Anyway, let's give it a shot and see what comes of it.

Today I Discovered That...

my school's library has subscribed to JSTOR.    My life just got easier.

Getting in Touch with Your Own Inner Lincoln

Tomorrow will be my first full day with my Lincoln class.  We are going to begin by focusing on our own beliefs about Lincoln.  My class is a nice mix of new students along with those I taught last year in both regular and AP American history; this will give me a chance to gauge what we know or what we think we know about Lincoln.  I am going to share some images of Lincoln that span both his life down to the present.  [The image to the left is one of my favorites, which appeared in Salon magazine as part of a review of Tripp's study.] This will hopefully give us a sense of how pervasive Lincoln's image is and the ways it has been employed.  Finally, I asked my students to read Lincoln's December 1859 autobiography which he prepared for Illinois newspaperman Jesse Fell.  Ending with Lincoln's own words will give students an idea of how he remembered his own past before we dive into his early life next week with the Gienapp biography, and articles by Doug Wilson and Jean H. Baker. 

The image of Lincoln above also provides an opportunity to comment on another Republican.  Everyone is no doubt aware of the story involving Republican Senator Larry Craig.  There is something disturbing about a public official who campaigns on issues of "family values", votes against gay rights legislation at every opportunity, and turns out to be gay.  I wish Craig had the courage to serve as an openly gay member of the Senate and representative of the Log Cabin Republicans.  Last I checked honesty and integrity were family values.  How many more social conservatives are hiding their homosexuality?  The Democrats have recently turned up the rhetoric in their attempt to attract social conservatives who are frustrated with the numerous scandals within the Republican Party.  My advice is to keep your mouths shut and work on governing the country.  Are our elected officials really the kinds of people we want telling us how to behave?  If Democrats and Republicans wanted to be seen as representing family values they would have acted to address the damage done by Katrina more quickly, and they would be working at this very moment to end this nightmare that we've created in Iraq.  Think of all the families that have been destroyed both here and in Iraq as we debate family values issues.   

Stewie and Brian Go To Gettysburg

Tune In on September 12

On Wednesday September 12 from 10-12 noon I will be appearing on the radio show "Civil War on the Air" which is WSVA, 550 AM out of Harrisonburg, Virginia.  The show is hosted by Ben Fordney and George Hansborough.  The topic for the show will be black Confederates, and unlike Gerry Prokopowiczs's Civil War Talk Radio program this one is a call-in show.  Now that should be alot of fun. 

The Greatest Virginians: Some Suggestions

Yesterday's post inquiring into the greatest Virginians of the last four centuries has resulted in quite an interesting list.  And to think that I was anticipating the typical ahistorical nonsense of Lee, Jackson, and Stuart as somehow embodying all that is good in the universe.  I should never have questioned the sophistication of my readers (LOL).  Here are the suggestions, but feel free to contribute to the discussion.

George C. Marshall, Nat Turner, Douglas Southall Freeman, Glenn McMullen (invented jump shot), the Carter Family, Thomas Jefferson, John Smith, John Rolfe, Nathaniel Bacon, Emanuel Driggus, Woodrow Wilson

I love Rebecca Goetz's suggestions, which include Netoaka, Wahunsonacock, Opechancanough, and Sir William Berkeley.  Rebecca has posted some thoughts over at Cliopatria where additional thoughts from readers are no doubt forthcoming.  My survey class in American history is beginning the year with the book Love and Hate in Jamestown by David A. Price.  One of the reasons I like the book is that it gives full agency to Virginia's Native Americans.  In fact, it is is impossible to understand the actions taken by John Smith and the rest of the gang without understanding the motivations and initiative taken by Powhatan and others during those early years. 

One of my readers asked if I was planning to nominate William Mahone.   Is there anyone more important to postwar Virginia?  Mahone's disappearance from Virginia's political and racial history is evidence enough of his importance. 

The Greatest Virginians

Today I was asked to take part in a survey by the Library of Virginia and Richmond Times-Dispatch of the most famous Virginians of the last 400 years.  Here are the guidelines:

For each century - the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th - we would like you to name and write a short explanatory paragraph (about 200 words) for (1) a most influential Virginian and (2) a greatest Virginian. Please do not name the same person twice, and do not feel that the most influential Virginian necessarily left a 100-percent positive legacy. Fill in names only for the centuries your knowledge and comfort-level support. If you choose to focus on only one or two centuries, please feel free to do so - we expect it.

And if you would like to include a name and paragraph for a most important Virginian the public doesn't know about, or a Virginian with the most destructive legacy, please feel free to do that as well. Be creative. The Times-Dispatch likely will publish a number of these, and we look forward to reading what our jury has to say.

The survey defines a Virginian as "someone who is identified with the commonwealth because of birth, residency, or circumstance."  I have a few ideas for the 19th century, but haven't thought much beyond that. 

So, what do you think?

100,000 Visits

At some point today one of you will be visitor number 100,000 to Civil War Memory.  The number tracks visitors since my switch to Typepad from Blogger at the end of April 2006.  My Technorati Profile shows just under 100 blogs as linking here.  That's a number that I am very pleased with as it suggests that others find what I do here to be worthwhile.  I don't know if any of these numbers are worth bragging about, but it at least provides an opportunity to thank those of you who make this site part of your daily routine.

Chicken Soup for the Civil War Soul

Have you ever noticed that the further you move away from mainstream/scholarly publishers the more emotional the titles become.  Consider Thomas Forehand's Robert E. Lee's Softer Side:

A collection of anecdotes and quotes displaying Lee's tender side. Though at times he was known to have a "fierce and violent temper," Lee nonetheless had a heart that editor Thomas Forehand contests was "as soft as velvet."

Through letters, diary excerpts, and touching stories, Forehand demonstrates that in his personal life Lee was indeed a peacemaker, full of a surprisingly sensitive and gentle nature that his family and others recorded. One cadet's mother wrote in her diary that Lee was "very human, kind, and calm," and Lee's letters home to his wife and children illuminate the man behind the legend.

The book is published by Pelican Press which seems to have a knack for the colorful titles.  If you look closely it almost seems as if someone altered the image of Lee to give him an even "softer"  look.  On the flip side we have Walter Brian Cisco's War Crimes Against Southern Civilians with its bold letters and bright red and black cover.  Here is a brief excerpt from the jacket:

Women and children, black and white, were robbed, brutalized, and left homeless in Sherman's infamous raid through Georgia. Torture and rape were not uncommon. In South Carolina, homes, farms, churches, and whole towns disappeared in flames. Civilians received no mercy at the hands of the Union invaders. Earrings were ripped from bleeding ears, graves were robbed, and towns were pillaged. Wherever Federal troops encountered Southern Blacks, whether free or slave, they were robbed, brutalized, belittled, kidnapped, threatened, tortured, and sometimes raped or killed by their blue-clad "liberators."

Perhaps you won't be surprised to find that Amazon offers a package deal that includes Cicsco's book along with Thomas J. DiLorenzo's Lincoln Unmasked: What Your Not Supposed to Know About Honest Abe (Crown Publishers). 

Don't get me wrong as I have no problem with using the title to attract the attention of the customer, but there is something disingenuous when the language used is overly inflammatory.  Neither the author nor the publisher is being honest with the customer.  The readers who purchase such a book is not really interested in scholarship, rather they are interested in having certain assumptions reinforced.  The goal is to maintain or achieve a certain emotion rather than understanding.  I've said it before that the Civil War has a very strong anti-intellectual streak in it.  Publishers such as Cumberland, Pelican, Crown, and others would not be possible but for that fact.