Emerging Civil War
Emerging Civil War — September 2019
Originally published September 2019 · pp. 34–35
As I write this, we’re heading into the home stretch in advance of our Sixth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge (Aug. 2-4, 2019). In a way, this time of year feels a little like December for me because “the big day,” with promises of fun and excitement, creeps closer and closer. While we concentrate on producing a top-notch event for our attendees, the real fun for me comes when my colleagues start rolling into town ahead of the start time. As geographically diverse as ECW has become, the Symposium is still the one time of year when most of us are able to assemble in the same place at the same time. We catch up, have lots of laughs, smoke a few cigars, and share a beer or two. We talk history, swap ideas about the many projects we’re working on, and refight the war. It’s amazing how many of history’s problems would’ve been solved had we been there with our collective wisdom to direct events! The Symposium is also fun because it offers a chance for us to connect and re-connect with so many of our readers. We see a lot of familiar faces, and meet a lot of new folks who come from all over the country to join us. I know some people stay home and try to catch some of our talks on C-SPAN, and we’re grateful to C-SPAN for their generous coverage, but one thing TV can’t ever capture is the great sense of community and camaraderie we have when we all get together. That, more than anything, is the reason to come in person. We already have details on our website about next year’s event: the Seventh Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge, including our theme and our keynote. We hope you’ll join us. We’d love the chance to hang out with you and talk history. — Chris Mackowski, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief, Emerging Civil War
Chris Kolakowski is ECW’s chief historian. By day, he’s also director of the Douglas MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Va. He and ECW’s “other Polish Chris” are often confused with one another. You can read his full bio at https://emergingcivilwar. com/author-biographies/authors/ chris-kolakowski/. You will have the opportunity to explore the connection between your two main interests, the Civil War and World War II, at an upcoming event at the Memorial. Can you give us a quick preview? This will be a great event, and I’m really glad the MacArthur Memorial and ECW can partner to make it happen. On September 28, we’re bringing some great scholars together to explore the Civil War ancestry of Douglas MacArthur. Most people know about his father, Arthur, and Missionary Ridge in 1863, but many are unaware of Douglas’ connections to the Army of Northern Virginia through his mother. In one day, we’re going to highlight stories from both sides of his family.
Chris Kolakowski of ECW’s most presenters.
is one popular
You also explore connections between those wars through your popular “Echoes of the Civil War” blog series. Why do you find those echoes so fascinating? They provide context to the Civil War and link it forward to more modern events. The generation born in the late 19th Century including Ike, MacArthur, Truman, et al, were children and grandchildren of Civil War veterans. The Civil War generation influenced them as they went into the 20th Century through WWI, the Depression, WWII, and the beginning of the Cold War. To cite just two examples: Douglas MacArthur and Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. were both sons of noted Civil War commanders. To understand what drove, inspired, and influenced the two men, you have to start with their fathers and their wartime (and in Buckner Sr.’s case, prewar) experiences. You’re currently at work on a book set in Burma during WWII. How is that coming along? My book covers the 1944 India-Burma campaigns. I’m in the throes of writing and it is coming along quite well, thanks. It is a great story that is quite relevant today, and one I’m looking forward to bringing to readers.
You had the chance to travel overseas to do research for that project. What’s one thing in particular that stood out to you on your travels? I traveled to India last September for two weeks, and it was incredible. As usual, seeing the ground and the places I’m writing about made a huge difference. The biggest thing that stuck out was that people are people, and are quite proud of who they are and what got them there; if you approach everyone with respect you’ll make connections and gain understanding you could never expect otherwise. Also, Imphal in September felt like Virginia in July. If you had a particular Civil War topic you could write about at the moment, what would it be? I’m not sure, as I’m pretty immersed in Burma. I’d probably want to do something with New York State or Wisconsin units, something about the Army of the Cumberland, or maybe one of the senior leaders on either side. Lightning Round (short answers with a one-sentence explanation) Favorite primary source? I Saw the Fall of the Philippines (aka Last Man off Bataan) by Carlos Romulo. Grant’s and Slim’s memoirs a close second. Favorite Civil War-related monument? U.S. Army (Regulars) on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg Favorite unsung hero of the Civil War era? Frank Wheaton, John Parke, or Peter Osterhaus What’s a bucket-list Civil War site you’ve not yet visited? Bennett Place Favorite ECWS book that’s not one of your own? Chancellorsville’s Forgotten Front: The Battles of Second Fredericksburg and Salem Church by Chris Mackowski and Kris White (not really an ECWS book, but an ECW book anyway!)
The Emerging Civil War Podcast July saw the release of three ECW podcasts. In the first, cohost Dan Welch, a seasonal ranger at Gettysburg, talked about some of his favorite sites to visit on the battlefield. In the second, iconic re-enactor Robert Lee Hodge sat down for an intimate and insightful conversation. The third, which we offered for free, spotlighted the upcoming 2019 Civil War Roundtable Congress in St. Louis. Each episode is only $1.99, which helps support the cost of producing the podcast. Subscribe today: https://www.patreon.com/ emergingcivilwar.
Behind the Scenes at ECW You may have noticed that ECW has been executing a fullcourt press on social media lately. Different audiences with different demographics follow different platforms, so we’ve been trying to provide unique content for each. Todd Arrington has been doing a fantastic job with our Facebook. He’s the one who brings you all the daily “This Day in Civil War History” posts, which have become incredibly popular; and, of course, we also try to share links to our blog post there. Paige Gibbons Backus has undertaken a new initiative on Instagram. This platform, which is visually oriented, speaks to a younger demographic than Facebook. We have a great team of contributors sharing photography there. It’s become a really fun place because of all the cool pictures. On YouTube, we’ve been pumping out a lot of content, with a lot more planned as more of our contributors get involved with video. We are intentionally trying to keep our YouTube page lowkey so that it’s as easy as possible to bring you content. Believe it or not, most of what you see there is actually produced on our cell phones. It’s incredible what technology allows us to do these days at our fingertips. If you’re not following us on all these platforms, we invite you to sign up and follow along. You can really help us by liking our posts and sharing them. That makes a huge difference for us, and it’s an easy way to helps us keep spreading the gospel of the Civil War!
Emerging Civil War Bookshelf Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, and Timothy O’Sullivan are famous for having made iconic photographs in the Civil War’s eastern theater. According to ECW’s Steve Davis, George N. Barnard deserves to be ranked in this top tier for his photographic work in the war’s western theater. Barnard was a civilian photographer hired by Gen. William T. Sherman’s chief engineer, Capt. Orlando Poe, to take pictures of fortifications around Atlanta. Barnard took several hundred of them in and around the city in the fall of 1864. His most famous is the site of Union Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson’s death in the Battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864. No comprehensive, definitive listing has been made of the photographer’s work, until now! Steve has collaborated with Jack Melton of Historical Publications LLC of Charleston, S.C., on a new paperback highlighting Barnard’s work: 100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Atlanta Campaign. “Jack has meticulously reproduced Barnard’s photography with clear and sharp images on quality gloss stock,” Steve says. “This is just one more reason that we like to call our work ‘the best little book on Barnard.’” Price for Stephen Davis’ 100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Atlanta Campaign (128 pages, paperback) is $19.95 + $3.50 s & h. You can order your copy online at www.historicalpubs.com or by phone 800-777-1862. For more on the book, read this post at ECW: https://emergingcivilwar.com/2019/07/25/ best-little-book-on-barnard/.
Steve Davis’s new book, published by Historical Publications, LLC.
News and Notes
Emerging Civil War was well represented at the American Battlefield Trust’s annual Teacher Institute, held July 11-14 in Raleigh, NC. ECW co-founder Kris White, the Trust’s education manager, organized and ran the event. ECW contributors Dan Davis, Bert Dunkerly, Chris Mackowski, and Derek Maxfield all presented. Bert and ECW’s Phill Greenwalt gave tours of the Rev War battlefield at Guilford Court House. Dan, co-author (with Phill) of Calamity in Carolina: The Battles of Bentonville and Averasboro, co-led a tour at Bentonville. Chris co-led a tour at Bennett Place, with additional commentary on the Civil Rights history of Durham, NC. Sarah Kay Bierle is looking forward to coming back to Virginia to speak at two conferences (including the ECW Symposium). In addition to presenting and researching, she is excited to take her mom to some new museums and historic sites. Sean Chick is traveling to Nashville to get pictures for an ECW volume about the battle of Nashville. In the July 2019 Civil War News, Steve Davis’s article “Hollywood History” touched on a few movies that are based on famous raids during the war, including The Great Locomotive Chase, The Horse Soldiers, and Alvarez Kelly, with an extended look at The Raid, based on events in St. Albans, Vt. He also had an extended piece on a member of the 24th Wisconsin killed in a skirmish in Adairsville, Ga. Finally, his “Critics Corner” provided an excellent synopsis of recent scholarship into Confederate nationalism. Bert Dunkerly has a busy line-up over the next couple of months: • During the last week of July, he will be assisting Colonial National Historical Park with the 1619 400th Anniversary event. He previously worked at the park as a seasonal ranger. • On August 13, Bert will be speaking to the Richmond, Va., Civil War Round Table about the Brown’s Island explosion of 1863. He has done new research on the identities and burial sites of the victims, uncovering previously unknown information about them. • On Saturday, August 24, Bert will be giving a bus tour focusing on connections between 1619 and the Civil War. The tour is part of a series being offered by Richmond National Battlefield Park. Registration information is here: Bus Tour: “1619 To The Civil War.” • On September 4, he will be speaking to the Dr. George Mosse SAR chapter in South Carolina about the Battle of Eutaw Springs. Meg Groeling reviewed James Broomall’s Private Confederacies: The Emotion Worlds of Southern Men as Citizens and Soldiers for the July 2019 Civil War News. Terry Rensel, a member of the blog’s editorial board, accepted a new position as the executive director of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. He started on July 1.
August had its ups and downs for the cause of American Independence. 1776 saw the British victorious in the engagement of Long Island, but two years later saw the preliminary victories that would lead to the culminating battle of the Saratoga Campaign. However, before bullets could be fired and cannons discharged on the battlefield, the patriotic movement had to splinter the colonies from Great Britain. How did that come about? That answer is the focal point of the first Emerging Revolutionary War Symposium! The Symposium will be held in conjunction with Gadsby’s Tavern and the Lyceum of Alexandria, Va., on September 28, 2019. A slate of speakers will talk about various aspects related to the theme “Before They Were Americans.” For information on the symposium and how to purchase your tickets: check this out: https://emergingrevolutionarywar.org/symposium/ As always, stay current on your American Revolutionary Era history by checking out the Emerging Revolutionary War blog: www.emergingrevolutionarywar.org. In addition, look forward on the blog to the next volume of the popular Emerging Revolutionary War Series due out this fall.
Douglas MacArthur and the Civil War: “The Reunion of Blue & Gray Personified” The American Civil War was an immediate and formative experience for Douglas MacArthur’s parents and their families, and their experiences helped inspire and shape MacArthur. MacArthur’s wife also had a significant Civil War pedigree. Between them, General and Mrs. MacArthur had ties to virtually every major land campaign east of the Mississippi River. The MacArthur Memorial and Emerging Civil War are co-sponsoring a symposium with four scholars exploring the Civil War activities of Douglas and Jean MacArthur’s ancestors. Speakers include Chris Mackowski, Charlie McKnight, Dan Welch, and Brian Steel Wills. Chris Kolakowski will moderate. Join us on September 28, 2019, from 9:15 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the MacArthur Memorial, 198 Bank Street, Norfolk, VA, 23510. The event is FREE, but registration is required. Call 757.441.2965 to reserve a seat or register online: https://goo.gl/ndrPLL.