November was a great month for Civil War social media. Civil War Talk Radio, in particular, had one of its best months since I began writing this feature. Here is what I liked the most over the last month. Don’t miss the videos from Gettysburg at the bottom.
Blogs
It is nice to see that retired National Park Service historian John Hennessey is back blogging at Fredericksburg Remembered. Over the several years posts were pretty infrequent, but now there have been a veritable avalanche of missives. Hennessey was the keynote speaker at the November dedication of a monument and historical signage marking the approximate location where three United States Colored Troops were murdered by Confederate cavalrymen. On his blog, Hennessey muses on the role of public history in holding a mirror up to the United States. He writes: “It’s easy to think of this simply as the dedication of a new collection of markers and memorials. It is that, of course, and proudly so. But today, I ask you to think about this effort in a different way. It is part of an inexorable, inevitable, and indispensable process of change. It’s a change in how we see and understand our past by seeing not less of it—as has been our societal inclination—but more of it.” I urge you to read the whole post.
Pulitzer Prize finalist Brian Matthew Jordan has a very useful piece on books he recommends for those researching Civil War Prisoner of War Camps over at the Civil War Monitor.
The illusion of Black Confederates filling the ranks of Robert E. Lee’s army reach its highpoint a half decade ago, but seems to have been receding ever since, thanks in part to the work of historian Kevin Levin. His blog has a new post on one more sad attempt to revive the myth.
Al Mackey continues his weekly updates on the State of Confederate Heritage over at Student of the American Civil War.
The blog of the Journal of the Civil War Era had a particularly busy month. Paul Barba a professor of history at Bucknell University wrote about Black border crossers, enslaved people who escaped into Mexico, the Land of the Free. Maria DiStefano writes about Virginia’s longtime obsession with the return of a Confederate Battle Flag captured by the 1st Minnesota at Gettysburg. Paula Tarnapol Whitacre writes about the army’s lack of care for the burial of of United States Colored Troops who died in the hospitals in the area around Alexandria. Tim Galsworthy writes of the embrace of Confederate Memory by the modern GOP. Niels Eichorn has a piece on Mexico’s Lost Cause.
Respected Irish historian of that nation’s diaspora Damian Shiels’s 2009 essay on Irish in the American Civil War has been made available for free on the History Ireland website. Damian was at Andersonville in November and he has posted a video of his discussion of the Irish-born prisoners held there.
The blog of the Library of Virginia has a pair of posts on a story that is rarely told; What happened to a person who helped a slave escape. The 1856 escape of Tazewell led to charges against his uncle Richard of aiding in the escape. Lydia Neuroth writes that Richard was sentenced to be tortured but his nephew reached Canada. Part 1 Part 2
Podcasts
A lot of good interviews at Civil War Talk Radio over the last month. In this episode, Gerry interviews David Mowery, author of “Cincinnati in the Civil War: The Unions Queen City.” A good look at how Blacks, Irish and German immigrants, and squirrel hunters rallied to the Union cause when this border city was threatened.
Next Gerry talked to Michael K. Brantley about his story of an ancestor’s tumultuous Civil War career, “Galvanized: The Odyssey of a Reluctant Carolina Confederate.”
Brad Asher discusses “The Most Hated Man in Kentucky: The Lost Cause and the Legacy of Union General Stephen Burbridge” about a Kentucky slave-owning Unionist who became a target of hatred in the decades after the war.
Finally this interview on a new book chronicling Robert E. Lee’s life day-by-day during the war will be a welcome reference book for many readers.
Codie Eash is a public historian who maintains a Facebook Blog discussing his research and writing on the Civil War called Codie Eash-Writer and Historian.
Book Reviews
Nick Sacco reviews Rebel Correspondent by Steve Procko. He writes that he “did enjoy reading Rebel Correspondent and hope it receives a wide readership from Civil War enthusiasts of all types. Procko is an expert on his subject and this book is very well-researched.” The book looks at the post-war recollections of Confederate veteran Arba F. Shaw. As a tennaged cavalryman, he fought in the 4th Georgia Cavalry. The same book gets another favorable review at the Civil War Monitor. Sarah Kay Bierle says “by bringing Arba Shaw’s experiences to publication, Procko has made accessible one Confederate veteran’s writings from the early twentieth century.”
Cornerstone of the Confederacy: Alexander Stephens and the Speech that Defined the Lost Cause by Keith S. Hébert receives a very favorable review from Caleb Southern at the Monitor. Confederate President Alexander Stephens famously said that the cornerstone of the Confederacy “rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man. That slavery—subordination to the superior race—is his natural and moral condition.” From the review:
Alexander H. Stephens was a pragmatist and seemed to support multiple, conflicting political positions. In reality, he consistently supported a white supremacist construction of his nation: “His belief in America was contingent upon the nation’s endorsement of white supremacy” (9). By the time of the Civil War, there was a “confluence of racist ideas that…had merged to form a new ideology, white supremacy” (10). White supremacy asserted that “enslaved labor was the natural and divine condition of black people due to the latter’s inferiority and inability to be fully reformed into prospective citizens” (3). Stephens consistently believed that slavery was “a glue that bound together the South’s white men under a common banner of white supremacy and Christian virtue” (37). When he supported the Confederacy, Stephens believed that he was helping to preserve this “way of life” that provided “equality” for all white men.
The Monitor also reviewed three books from the Emerging Civil. These books are concise and are written by scholars for a popular audience. Passing Through the Fire: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in the Civil War by Brian F. Swartz is reviewed by Codie Eash who writes; “In Passing Through the Fire, Brian Swartz succinctly yet thoroughly reaches beyond the Chamberlain mythology to reveal how the Civil War impacted one man so deeply.”
The Monitor offers reviews of the two new “Summer of ’63” books from Emerging Civil War. Summer Perritt reviews The Summer of ‘63: Gettysburg, Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the Historians at Emerging Civil War edited by Chris Mackowski and Dan Welch. She writes: “The Summer of ‘63 is an engaging and diverse set of works exploring the Battle of Gettysburg. Regarded by many as the turning point of the Civil War, Gettysburg still manages to fascinate contemporary audiences over 150 years later. Through essays, photographs, poems, and more, this collection looks at the various meanings of the battle and its enduring legacy.”
Robert Glaze reviews The Summer of ’63: Vicksburg & Tullahoma: Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the Historians at Emerging Civil War edited by Chris Mackowski and Dan Welch. Glaze writes:
In their quest to “provide readers with a diversity of perspectives,” the editors have amassed a staggering array of content (xiv). Encyclopedic narratives exist alongside testimonials, travelogues, interview transcripts, tactical histories, and comparative studies. While some installments are unorthodox inclusions, others have traditional, argumentative edges. Dwight S. Hughes’s excellent short study of the relationship between Ulysses S. Grant and David Dixon Porter explores the “unprecedented nature of riverine warfare,” demonstrating that cooperation between the army and navy were key ingredients in the Union’s conquest of Vicksburg. Angela M. Riotto packs a staggering amount of research into a short analysis of Grierson’s Raid, arguing that the operation “was a fundamental step in the Union’s development of hard war strategy as well as toward Vicksburg’s eventual surrender.”
Video
November 18 was the Anniversary of the 1863 Gettysburg Address. The National Park Service has a nice video from the home where Lincoln stayed the night before he delivered America’s most famous speech.
The ceremony marking the Anniversary held at the National Cemetery is viewable here and includes a speech by Harold Holzer. There is a moving Naturalization ceremony during the program.
