Emerging Civil War
Emerging Civil War — November 2019
Originally published November 2019 · pp. 28–29
Chris Mackowski
From the Editor I’ve been doing some extra reading lately about Ambrose Burnside. Like the man who proceeded him and the man who succeeded him as commander of the Army of the Potomac, Burnside has become just one in a parade of readily mocked and easily dismissed characters. McClellan was a pompous, overcautious asshat. Hooker was an overconfident, hard-partying blowhard. Burnside was an idiot. I’ve known Burnside for two decades now, and my view of him has evolved as I’ve gained a more nuanced understanding of his career and circumstances. I know him best from Fredericksburg and the Overland Campaign, and I’ll get to walk in his footsteps in Knoxville in October. While I don’t think he’s any underappreciated genius, there is more to the guy than meets the eye. I recently wrapped up work on a new edition of Grant’s Last Battle: The Story Behind the Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. Jared Harris, the wonderful actor who played Grant in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, wrote a foreword for the new edition. “It is an axiom of acting that one should never ‘judge’ the character you are playing, as it prevents you from making an empathetic connection,” he wrote of his experience learning about Grant. This holds true for everyone we study in the Civil War. If we can avoid judging and instead look with empathy, then we can begin to come to a greater understanding of those people we’re learning about. I was reminded of this over the summer as I read Ralph Peters’ new novel, Darkness at Chancellorsville. Peters told the story from multiple perspectives presenting each of his main characters in a way that made them relatable. I don’t know if I sympathized with Joe Hooker, but I could certainly empathize with him. Yes, Peters has an artistic license available to him as a novelist that a historian doesn’t have, but that doesn’t make the value of empathy any less important when it comes to history. Consider what you know, or think you know, about Burnside or Hooker or McClellan, or Braxton Bragg or any of the other readily lampoonable people from the war. How might you benefit from knowing them a little better than you think you do? — Chris Mackowski Editor-in-Chief
We’re currently working on the line-up for our 2020 Symposium, which will be held August 7-9 at Stevenson Ridge on the Spotsylvania Battlefield. Our theme is “Fallen Leaders.” Our keynote speaker is Gordon Rhea, who’ll speak about Jeb Stuart’s loss at Yellow Tavern. Our tour: Greg Mertz will trace Longstreet’s wounding in the Wilderness. Early-bird tickets now through December 31 at $155. Regular price tickets will be $175. Find out more, and order your tickets, on our website: https://emergingcivilwar.com/2020-symposium/.
10 Questions … with Meg Groeling Meg Groeling is ECW’s resident Elmer Ellsworth groupie and the inaugural member of our West Coast Bureau. She’s also the author of the ECWS book The Aftermath of Battle: The Burial of the Civil War Dead. We first profiled her in the September 2016 newsletter (https://conta. cc/2cWYRnP). You can read her full bio here: https://emergingcivilwar.com/author-biographies/ authors/meg-groeling/.
Meg Groeling How’s your buddy, Elmer Ellsworth, these days? (He’s still dead, but how’s your bio on him coming along?) My buddy Colonel Ellsworth is doing just fine these days. We both fought the good fight and changed publishers, so Savas Beatie has the biography in hand. I agree that it should go to a general readership, and SB is a nice boss, as it were. I look forward to the book tour in—maybe—2020-2021. The bio has led me to many other areas of interest, including Civil War baseball and the WideAwake movement. ECW has always been kind enough to let me write as much about baseball as possible, so this is great for me. Along with baseball, other areas of Victorian New York have caught my interest: Tammany Hall, Irish immigration, perhaps working with Irish archeologist and military historian Damien Shiels on finding out more about the men of the 11th New York. So there is plenty of stuff to pique my interest lately.
You’ve been writing a lot of book reviews for different places lately. That must mean your nose is in a book much of the time, doesn’t it? I certainly have. I started reviewing books for ECW once in a while, and from there was asked to review for the newspaper Civil War News. I love reading that paper; it is a great addition to what I call Civil War Buffdom. As reenactors age out and the hobby changes, it is very gratifying to have a publication of that kind that is so well put together. It elevates us all, and I am proud to be a small part of that effort. Additionally, I review for Louisiana State University’s online publication. I do two kinds of reviews; one is for current books and one is for older publications. My first review for what is called “Civil War Obscura” was Albion Tourgee’s A Fool’s Errand. I also did a big review of the several editions of Mary Chestnut’s Civil War or A Diary from Dixie. I compared the editions in publication, from the earliest to Pulitzer prize-winning C. Vann Woodward’s version. If it is out there, I reviewed it. It is fun to look at older books. They are mentioned often in what we read now and often do not seem dated at all. As a reviewer, what trends are you seeing in Civil War publishing these days? I am so glad you asked this question. I am a big Walt Whitman fan. He famously wrote that the “real story” of the war would never get into the books. I beg to differ, Mr. Whitman! Historians are looking deeply into the soldier’s soul. Peter Carmichael just published The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies. Carmichael joins authors like George Rable, James Mendez, Jarret Ruminski, Ben Wynne, Joanne Freeman, Diane Somerville—the list goes on and on—who use primary sources from all arenas to examine just what made 19th century Americans tick. Nothing is off the table: fear, desertion, drink, drugs, night terrors, anxiety, and depression, even having to face losing the war is being examined. As author Gertrude Stein said, “There never will be anything more interesting than that American Civil War.” Reviewing is intellectually exciting, in my opinion. You became a grandmother since we last profiled you. How has having a grandchild influenced your view of history? Or maybe vice versa? Oh my goodness! Babies! No matter how awful and discouraging it is to deal with 2019, just the thought that there are little ones who need a wonderful world in which to live makes me even more determined to do my best. We support the educational wing of the American Battlefield Trust and Colonial Williamsburg. I try to include something for younger listeners when I speak and in my giveaways. Holiday gifts come from gift shops at national parks, and we started a Little Free Library here at home. We can hardly wait to walk battlefields with our Cajun grandson and take our sweet baby granddaughter to a vintage Base Ball game—and vice-versa! Robert and I sit on the porch of our 1928 bungalow, hold hands, and hope for the future. We promise to do all we can to give those babies the past. What’s next on tap for you? I have been working with Mike Maxwell, an ECW reader and a great researcher, on a series of posts for the blog on Abraham, the slave who was “blown to freedom” at Vicksburg. I have been working with Damien Shiels on the 11th New York soldiers, and Chris Mackowski and I are knocking around ideas for a book or some sort of project concerning Walt Whitman. After doing an intense biography (Ellsworth!), I have become obsessed with finding out more about the men and women who make up the historical “B” list. I was proud of the photo essay of the nurse Susie that ECW ran. Putting that together introduced me to several terrific historians who collect photographs, manuscripts, etc. So I want to do more of that kind of work—making these folks come alive, sort of. Oh—and I will have a book tour coming up when First Fallen is published. That is going to be a nice way to thank all the folks who have helped me in so many ways. Lightning Round (short answers): Favorite primary source? – Right now it is the pension records of the men of the 11th New York. Those and the strange short articles Walt Whitman wrote for New York newspapers from 1855-ish to 1860, when he left to go to Washington. Did anyone realize he was a sports reporter?? Favorite Civil War-related monument? – I have two: one is the chair in Sherman’s office in Monterey, Calif. Just sitting there is bliss. The other is Elmer
Ellsworth’s grave at the Hudson View cemetery in the Malta/ Mechanicville area of New York. It is a beautiful obelisk. It centers the rest of the private plot that contains, among others, his brother Charley, and his parents. An iron fence surrounds the area, and it is quiet. You can hear the river flowing past, and the cicadas buzz in the heat. In the spring and early summer there are lightening bugs/fire flies. It is beautiful, calm, and elegant in an unpretentious way. I always cry and smile at the same time. Favorite unsung hero of the Civil War era? – Well, I sing Ellsworth and the armies of those I love (sorry, Walt). He will always be the image of promise unfulfilled, the quintessential “Boy of ’61.” Would he have been successful? Would the Zouave drill, which differs in several ways from the regulation infantry drill, have become the seed of special forces, along with Berdan’s men? I don’t know, but I think about it all quite a bit. What’s a bucket-list Civil War site you’ve not yet visited? – I want to see the Hunley! If I get to do a book tour in that area, it is definitely on my list. The forensics just fascinate me. Favorite ECWS book that’s not one of your own? – I love them all and have read many of them more than once. I ordered Sarah Bierle’s book on New Market and look forward to reading it. I look forward to the day years from now when the entire ECW series is as famous as the Time-Life silver books. I know it will happen!
ECW News and Notes Our congratulations to ECW Chief Historian Chris Kolakowski, who got married September 21! Please join us in sending warm wishes and to Chris and his bride. Edward Alexander is working
Kevin Pawlak’s article in Civil War Times.
out the logistics for multi-day Petersburg tours for a couple different groups next year. He has also teamed up with Kevin Pawlak and Rob Orrison, fellow ECWers, to finish up twelve maps to go on new wayside exhibits at Bristoe Station. James Brooks has a piece in the September 2019 issue of the journal Civil War History. “The Last and Most Precious Memento:” Photographic Portraiture and the Union Citizen-Soldier is “is the first extended examination of photographic portraiture’s relationship with the Union citizen-soldier of the American Civil War.” You can see more here: http://www.kentstateuniversitypress.com/2019/ sep-2019-volume-65-no-3/. In the wake publishing his book 100 Significant Civil War Photographs: The Atlanta Campaign, Stephen Davis published an article in Civil War News that compared George Barnard’s photographic sketch book of “the Sherman Campaign” with Alexander Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War. Kevin Pawlak has an article in the current issue of Civil War Times. “General Discord: Were Union Commanders Mad at Each Other During the 1862 Maryland Campaign” examines the conspiracy theory that a vengeful Fitz John Porter and George B. McClellan purposefully undermined Ambrose Burnside’s performance at the Battle of Antietam. Following the retirement of long-time coordinator Ted Alexander, Chambersburg Civil War Seminars announced that Eric Wittenberg will be taking over in that capacity. “It’s the fulfillment of a life-long dream,” Eric admitted. Civil War Monitor recently reviewed a bunch of books by ECW contributors: • Jonathan Noyalas reviewed Sarah Kay Bierle’s ECWS book Call Out the Cadets: The Battle of New Market. Noyalas said, “Bierle’s book, like all those in the Emerging Civil War Series, is concise, profusely illustrated, cogently written, and engaging. Anyone interested in the Civil War era in the Shenandoah Valley will find this volume quite valuable.” • Alexandre F. Caillot reviewed Dan Davis’s ECWS book The Most Desperate Acts of Gallantry: George C. Custer in the Civil War. Caillot said the book “presents Custer’s Civil War accomplishments in clear and engaging prose, while its ample images and battle maps place unfamiliar readers in the action.” John Daley reviewed Greg Mertz’s ECWS book Attack at Daylight and Whip Them: The Battle of Shiloh. Daley’s glowing review concluded by saying “Mertz and the Emerging Civil War Series have given us excellent history in guidebook format.” Jonathan M. Berkey reviewed Dave Powell’s Union Command Failure in the Shenandoah: Major General Franz Sigel and the War in the Valley of Virginia, May 1864. Berkey said the book provides a fresh perspective on the May 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaign. By shifting attention away from the VMI cadets to the Union military’s strategic goals and command structure, Powell adds nuance and depth to a well-studied campaign.
Sarah Kay Bierle
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The Emerging Civil War Podcast Our first Emerging Civil War podcast of September looked at Braxton Bragg amidst the “rock star egos” of the Confederate Army of Tennessee in the spring of 1862. In our second podcast, Chief Historian Chris Kolakowski offered his thoughts about the Forgotten Battles featured at the Sixth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge. Listen along for only $1.99 each by subscribing at ECW’s Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/emergingcivilwar. Proceeds go to support podcast production.
The Seventh Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge www.emergingcivilwar.com
Revolutionary War News
September is marked in American history by many momentous and terrible events and tragedies. September 11th will always be marked as “the day the world stopped turning,” borrowing a phrase from country singer Alan Jackson. Prior to the events of September 11, 2001, the day was marked in American Revolutionary War history as the biggest—in terms of troops engaged and length of battle time— of any fight during that war, when the Americans and British met at Brandywine in southeastern Pennsylvania. Before the troops fired muskets at each other, the colonies had to complete the rupture from Great Britain. How did that movement come about? Come learn about that in a day-long symposium held jointly by Emerging
Revolutionary War and the city of Alexandria on September 28. Information and how to purchase tickets are available at: https:// emergingrevolutionarywar.org/ symposium/. The schedule and times of speakers have been updated now as well. Also, keep an eye (and ear out) for ERW historian Eric Sterner, who will be on Dispatches, the Podcast for the Journal of the American Revolution, sometime in October. We’ll be talking about the war on the Pennsylvania frontier. The Podcast link is here: http://www.jardispatches.podbean.com.
Speakers Bureau Spotlight Sarah Kay Bierle serves as ECW’s managing editor, loves to research and write, and finds innovative ways to share or explore history. Presentations: The New Market Campaign From Virginia to California: VMI, the Battle of New Market, and the Post-War Lives of 8 Cadets • Awakened Hearts: The Power & Patriotism of Civilians (1861) • Then Christmas Came: The Justification & Condemnation of War (1862) • A City at War: Richmond, Virginia (1863) • Fighting To Survive: Medical Care in the Shenandoah Valley (1864) • Gettysburg Civilians: A New • •
Perspective on One of the Civil War’s Most Famous Battles To Save Lives: Civil War Medicine Dr. Hunter McGuire: Medical Director, Surgeon, Confidant Searching For The McGuires From California to Gettysburg: The Hancock Family
Descriptions about her talks and a full bio are available as part of the 2019-2020 ECW Speakers Bureau Brochure, available