Emerging Civil War
Emerging Civil War — May 2019
Originally published May 2019 · pp. 34–35
Twenty-one years ago, when she was four years old, my daughter Stephanie fell in love with Stonewall Jackson after a chance meeting on the plains of Manassas. Seeing the towering Jackson statue there led her to a fascination with the Civil War that, in turn, led to my own fascination with the Civil War. People usually assume I got her hooked on Civil War history but, in truth, she’s the one who got me hooked. I also credit my daughter with my interest in Women’s History Month, celebrated each year in March. When she was little, I wanted Steph to have strong role models. Stonewall Jackson had said, “You may be whatever you resolve to be.” Strong role models, I thought, would let her see the truth behind that statement and help inspire her. That interest in Women’s History Month has carried over to my work at Emerging Civil War for pretty much that same reason. Military history has traditionally been a male-dominated field, so holding up female role models is a way to highlight, for young women as my daughter once was that they too may be whatever they want to be. There are many other good reasons to attend to women’s history, paying attention to the contributions of women enriches us all, but that’s always been my own main motive. Today, Steph still has her passion for history. By day, she works in law enforcement. Of particular pride to me is that her department holds her up as the very same sort of strong female role model that she used to look up to when she was a kid. Now she can inspire others as she was once inspired and as she has inspired me. I can’t think of a better way to commemorate Women’s History Month this year than to say “thank you” to her for all she’s done to contribute to my own development as a historian and as a dad. By the time you read this, Steph will have embarked on a new chapter of her own personal history. On March 30, my little girl got married, and I had the privilege of walking her down the aisle. Please join me in wishing her the best of luck as she writes the chapter ahead. — Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief
Mackowski and Dan Welch kicked off March by interviewing Sarah Kay Bierle for Women’s History Month. Sarah talked about some notable diaries left by women during the war. For March’s second podcast, Chris and Kris White continued the conversation they started in February about the “forgotten fall” of 1863. The first part of the conversation covered Bristoe and Rappahannock Stations. The March podcast focused on the Mine Run campaign.
ECW Behind the Scenes Little-known fact: book editors love cookies. If you don’t believe me, take a look at our friends at Southern Illinois University Press. Back in January, during a trip to speak to the St. Louis Civil War Roundtable, ECW Editor-inChief Chris Mackowski made a detour through Carbondale, Ill., to visit family and pay a visit to our partners at SIUP. Since it’s rude to just drop in unannounced, Chris brought a big box of freshly made cookies from a local bakery. We won’t lie: it’s in ECW’s best interest to keep these fine folks happy. Right now, there are two Engaging the Civil War books in production, with several others in development. SIUP did a great job with our first two books in that series and we look forward to many more. To help ensure that, we greased the wheels with some cookies. Beyond “Engaging the Civil War,” SIUP has a great catalogue of Civil War books, including an excellent Lincoln series. Thanks to everyone at Southern
Illinois University Press for all your hard work on ECW’s behalf!
ECW News & Notes Edward Alexander has done a few freelance map jobs recently, including for a new tour guide brochure from the American Revolution Round Table of Richmond: http://arrt-richmond. blogspot.com/2019/01/revolutionary-richmond-brochure-now. html. Sarah Kay Bierle is preparing to host her fourth annual Civil War History Conference in Southern California. “1864: Fighting To Survive” will focus on military campaigns and social changes in that year of the conflict. Early Bird Tickets are on sale now and more details are available here: https://gazette665.com/2019-civil-war-history-conference/ Doug Crenshaw will be leading a two-day tour of the Richmond battlefields the first weekend of May. Steward Henderson says the 23rd U.S.C.T., with which he reenacts, is having a 155th Anniversary living history event at the Chancellorsville Battlefield, Stop 10 (Fairview), on May 18th, 2019, from 9-5. Dwight Hughes will be speaking at the North American Society for Oceanic History’s Annual Conference, May 16-18, in New Bedford, Mass. He’ll present a paper, “War in the Arctic: Twilight of New Bedford’s Golden Age of Whaling.” Chris Kolakowski passes along the following note from the Douglas MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Va. “We’re hard at work on this,” he adds.
in June, TWO NEW ACTS will be offered. The full three-act play features conversations between Grant and Sherman at Vicksburg (Act I), Cincinnati (Act II), and City Point (Act III). Organizations interested in booking one or all three acts may contact Derek Maxfield at [email protected] or by calling (585) 293-7189. Julie Mujic was the featured speaker for the 35th Joseph and Edith Vogel Lecture and Reception at Ohio Wesleyan University on April 8. Her talk, “A Vast Change Had Come Over the Streets: The Postwar Lives of WWI Veterans in Columbus, Ohio,” discussed how vets and residents adjusted to victory and how the men adjusted to lives as veterans in a community “quite changed by the international conflict.” She also explored what’s been done to honor and memorialize their sacrifice in the past century. Congratulations to Kevin Pawlak, who started a new position with Prince William County’s Historic Preservation Division in Virginia. Kevin is managing Ben Lomond, a Civil War-era field hospital site, and the Bristoe Station Battlefield. Dan Welch recently co-authored a manuscript on Civil War books. The critical bibliography, published through Savas Beatie, should be out later this year. From Eric Wittenberg: “I am finishing up a manuscript titled Seceding from Secession: Creating West Virginia, that I’m doing with my friend Judge Edmund A. Sargus and his senior staff attorney, Penny Barrick. The former Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court and immediate past chairman of the Lincoln Forum, Frank J. Williams, will be doing the foreword. The book will feature maps by Edward Alexander.” Speaking of congratulations, two new Emerging Civil War Series books have been released. Huzzah to ECWers Dave Powell on his release “All Hell Can’t Stop Them” and Lee White on “Let Us Die Like Men.” You can find those releases here: https:// www.savasbeatie.com.
The Sixth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge The ECW Symposium cochairs have been planning the Sunday morning battlefield tour for this year’s symposium. Our own Bert Dunkerly will be leading the North Anna battlefield tour. He promises some rarely visited ground and seldom-heard stories. He has also threatened to bring along Chris Mackowski, author of Strike Them a Blow: Battle Along the North Anna. You will not want to miss this year’s symposium, August 2-4, 2019. Get your tickets here: https://emergingcivilwar. com/2019-symposium.
10 Questions with … Kristen Pawlak Kristen Pawlak is Emerging Civil War’s preservation editor and one half of ECW’s “Pawlak Power Couple.” She’s been heavily involved with the St. Louis Civil War Museum. “Hopefully we can keep sharing the Missouri and Trans-Miss love!” she says. You can read her full bio here.
ECW Preservation Editor Kristen Pawlak.
News
When people think of the Civil War, they might think first of Virginia or Tennessee, but Missouri has a crazy Civil War history. How would you describe it? I would most certainly agree with that statement, and Missouri tends to be overlooked in most Civil War narratives. However, when we take a look at what happened in Missouri, it really shouldn’t be. Missouri had more than 1,200 engagements fought within its borders during the war, only behind Virginia and Tennessee. Not only was it host to conventional armies, it had several types of pro-Union militia, and bands of irregular forces operating throughout the state. All this fighting is mainly due to the two sides combating each other for control of Missouri. This western state is important strategically to both sides for several reasons: far-western flank of both sides, access to the largest river network in North America, entry to many major westward trails, home to the largest arsenal in any slaveholding state, a budding rail system, and mineral resources. Why do you think Missouri’s Civil War history gets under-appreciated? Well, this is due to multiple reasons. For one, historians tend to view Missouri’s Civil War history in three phases: 1861 Missouri Campaign, guerrilla warfare, and Price’s 1864 Campaign. Though Missouri had well over 1,200 battles, they were small and were easily eclipsed by the major battles of the East and West with enormous casualty rates, such as Antietam, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, etc. Additionally, we do not see nearly the same amount of post-war coverage on Missouri, excepting Wilson’s Creek and Lost-Cause guerrilla warfare, as we do in the Eastern Theater. For example, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield became Missouri’s first and only National Park Service operated battlefield, established one hundred years after the battle in 1961! All these factors combined have minimized the coverage of Missouri. You have done a lot of work with the Missouri Civil War Museum at the historic Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis. Can you tell us a little about the museum? Of course! Housed in Jefferson Barracks’ 1905 Post Exchange Building, the Missouri Civil War Museum is currently the state’s largest Civil War museum, aiming to tell the story of Missouri in the Civil War through artifacts, stories, and historic structures. The museum itself opened in June 2013 by my amazing father, Mark Trout, who not only built the organization and museum collection from scratch, but he, along with some dedicated volunteers, restored the building after it had been abandoned for well over sixty years. It was a labor of love! What do you like about museum work in particular? There are several things I love about working in a museum. For one, you get to preserve the material culture actually used during the Civil War and share it with thousands of people each year. Each artifact tells a unique story about the war and through the exhibits, we get to tell visitors why it matters. There is truly nothing better than seeing folks walk out of the museum with smiles on their faces knowing a bit more about the history in their own backyard. You also serve as ECW’s preservation editor. Why are you passionate about preservation? My father was certainly the one who got me hooked on saving history. He has personally saved multiple historic structures, from a small early twentieth century schoolhouse in my hometown to the Post Exchange Building. So, naturally, that passion for preserving history was passed down to me. For me personally, I see The moment they are demolished, developed, or bulldozed over, is the moment we lose a bit of the past. We lose those stories forever. Lightning Round (short answers): Most overrated person of the Civil War? I hate to say it, but Lincoln. Favorite Trans-Mississippi site? Wilson’s Creek. Favorite Regiment? Eighth Missouri Infantry—“The American Zouaves!” What one Civil War book do you consider to be essential? For Cause and Comrades by James McPherson What’s one Civil Warrelated question no one has ever asked you that you wished they would? “Why is the TransMississippi West, particularly Missouri, important?”
Emerging Revolutionary War March is the month of Daylight Savings Time, and the crew at
Emerging Revolutionary War has used the extra hour to advantage. The blog has a few posts dedicated to women who played such vital roles in the war, including a post promoting a new site on the role of women in the American wars by the American Battlefield Trust. There are also a few volumes in the Emerging Revolutionary War Series coming down the pipeline and in various stages of development and layout. A few of the ERW historians are also out and about this month. Join Mark Maloy, author of Victory or Death: The Battles of Trenton and Princeton, will speak at the Prince William County History Symposium on March 30. Mark is speaking at 9:30 a.m. For more information, follow the link: https://www.visitpwc.com/ event/5th-annual-prince-william-county-manassas-history-symposium/852. As always, to stay current on what is going on and read the latest blog posts, follow www. emergingrevolutionarywar.org.