Civil War Memory

A Housewife's Grant

I came across this image as part of a self-identified housewife's personal tale of how she became enamored at the age of six with Ulysses S. Grant and his relationship with Julia.   The image is simply wonderful as Julia has somehow been transformed into Scarlet O'Hara.  She gives new meaning to the idea of "unconditional surrender."  I think what follows is intended as part of a prologue for a book:

Life went on for me, I fell madly in love (of course!) got married and had two children in two years.  I really didn’t have much time to think about General Grant.  Then, one day, I saw an ad in the T.V. Guide for the Ken Burns documentary about the Civil War.  I had missed it years ago, and told my husband I wanted to make a special effort to watch it this time.

When they started talking about General Grant, I waited breathlessly for them to mention his wife.  Sure enough, they said “He adored her,” in a knowing voice.  They never said such things about anyone else in that brutal war, but General Grant’s special love for his wife was always brought up.

Civil War Memory: No. 1 Military History Blog (if you consider this to be a military history blog)

Brett Holman has put together the latest installment of the state of the military historioblogosphere and although not much has changed there is some movement in the top 5.  The good news is that Civil War Memory is now ranked at No. 1.  Mark Grimsley's Blog Them Out Of The Stone Age is No. 3 and Eric Wittenberg's Rantings of a Civil War Historian is now on the list at No. 4.  As I've said before I never really know what to make of the Technorati rankings which is what Brett uses in his analysis.  Over the past few weeks the number has fluctuated between roughly 100,000 and 60,000.  Still, I'll take advantage of the bragging rights even if it is only for 6 months.  Thanks to Brett for taking the time to pull all of this together.

Southpark Reenacts the Civil War: "Let's Bring Those Confederate Bastards Down"

Understanding the Civil War

Thanks to Brooks Simpson for posting his remarks from the Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians.  [Check out Rick Shenkman's report from the meeting.]  Brooks briefly explores how we conceptualize the scope of Civil War military history and its connection to broader issues of strategy, politics, race along with questions of how wartime reconstruction shaped reunion.  See the three-part series here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. It also represents a nice example of how academic historians can use blogging to reach a broader audience. 

Would You Leave Your Child Alone With This Man?

Should Civil War Historians Blog (academic that is)?

This should not be read as an exercise in self-indulgence, but as some thoughts in preparation for a talk that I must present to a room full of academic historians at the annual meeting of the Society of Civil War Historians this coming October in New Orleans. 

There is an ongoing conversation concerning just about every aspect of the Civil War and it is taking place with little involvement on the part of academic historians.  You can find these discussions on countless message boards, listservs, blogs and privately maintained websites.  Topics range from the ever popular battlefields and commanders to complex questions of secession, emancipation, the law, and the role of women.  The content of these debates and discussions reaches a far larger audience than any published book or journal article and yet academic historians for the most part continue to write for one another even if a few of their titles appear on the bookshelves of the local Barnes and Noble.  I don't mean to impugn all academic historians.  It is worth noting that there are individuals in the field who have made it a point to reach out in various ways, whether it is speaking at a local Civil War Roundtable, leading a battlefield tour or speaking to groups of students.  It is worth pointing out that those who specialize in the Civil War and related subjects are lucky to work in a field where there is such a deep interest on the part of the general public. 

A Charlottesville Scare

I awoke this morning to learn that a 20-mile stretch of highway between Charlottesville and Waynesboro is closed owing to a string of shootings overnight.  Apparently four vehicles were shot at resulting in at least two injuries.  My school is on a 2-hour delay and we are currently in lock down mode.  Let's hope this is not a repeat of the D.C. shootings of five years ago.

Update: As of 9:30 we are closed for the day.  I guess the administration doesn't want to take any chances given that there have not been any arrests.

Congratulations to Chandra Manning

Chandra Manning's What This Cruel War Was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and the Civil War has won the Organization of American Historian's Avery O. Craven Award.  The book is now out in paperback.

Confederate Flag Looms Large

Every so often I browse news items related to memory and the Civil War and although I have commented on issues related to the public display of the Confederate flag I have said little of late.  It's like beating a dead horse given that the discussions are never interesting and tend toward an overly simplistic and dichotomous back and forth.  On one side we learn that the flag must be understood as a symbol of "heritage and not hate" and the other side would have us believe that it is a symbol of hate.  [Consider the recent debate at Fort Hill High School in Cumberland, Maryland.]  Like other Civil War memes such as North v. South, agrarian v. industry, backward v. progressive these discussions convey very little if anything that has historical value.  Here is another example of the whitewashing of history from an Arkansas chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans who recently celebrated Confederate Flag and Heritage Day:

Mark Kalkbrenner, 2nd Lt. Commander, said "The Confederate battle flag was a flag, an American flag the men were fighting for, what they believed in and it was the symbol they rallied around and we continue to use that."

Such a claim completely ignores the ways in which that flag was displayed during the Civil Rights Movement and asks us not to remember history but to ignore it in favor of a narrow perspective that serves the interests of a small group.  I do not mean to pick on one side since those on the other also ignore legitimate interpretations that resonated with individuals that may not have had anything directly to do with race during the immediate postwar years and the war itself.  My point is that if you are one to take part in these debates understand that your stance one way or the other is more about you and not about the overall history of that flag.  Each side chooses to ignore some salient aspect of the past and in doing so you leave the realm of history.

This is a perfect opportunity to plug what I consider to be one of the most important Civil War publications of the last 5 years,  John Coski's The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem (Harvard University Press, 2006).  I have little doubt that the people who make these overly emotional appeals for their preferred interpretation have never read John's book, but their failure to do so probably means that they do not really understand their subject.  The book is now in paperback so do yourself a favor and read it.

Virginia Magazine of History and Biography

Today I was honored to accept an invitation to join the editorial advisory board for the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography which is published by the Virginia Historical Society.  I've been a subscriber and member since 2004; this is by far my favorite publication and one that I actually read more than just the book reviews.  I was lucky enough to have one of my own articles on William Mahone published in 2005 and even won an award for it.  Since then I've written a couple of book reviews and reviewed two manuscripts for the journal. 

If you love Virginia history like I do than consider a membership which includes four issues of the journal.  The VHS is one of this state's finest institutions.