The UCV Library of the Southern Cause

By W. Clifford Roberts · Originally published March 2020 · pp. 34–35

Of the more than 50 national reunions held by the United Confederate Veterans, the 6th Reunion in Richmond, Va., during the summer of 1896, may have been one of the more memorable gatherings of Southern veterans. It was here in the City Auditorium (now the Cary Street Gym of Virginia Commonwealth University) that the Sons of Confederate Veterans was founded, and the torch first passed to the next generation. It was also here in Richmond that the veterans gathered on the third day of their convention to lay the cornerstone of the Jefferson Davis Monument. To many of those present, however, the reception and disposition of the report of the Committee of Southern History on the first day of the reunion drew their intellectual interest. Commanding General John B. Gordon of Atlanta, Ga., called on the Historical Committee to give their report to the thousands present in the Richmond Music Hall. To cries of “Lee!, Lee!, Lee!,” Stephen Dill Lee, chairman of the committee, rose and walked to the podium. For the past 16 years, the former Confederate Lieutenant General had served as President of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Mississippi (modern-day Mississippi State University). Since the death of General Edmund Kirby Smith in 1893, he had also chaired this prominent UCV committee. With a growing concern felt throughout the hall that only a “correct” interpretation of Southern history would instill the ethos of the Lost Cause to future generations, Lee explained that his committee of 12 former Confederate officers, including generals Stephen Lee, Clement Evans, Samuel French, and Ellison Capers, believed that “Southern pens shall vindicate Southern history.” To thunderous applause, Lee’s committee called on each Southern legislature to create a chair of American History in one of their state universities. The committee reported that their review of Northern textbooks had found them, in most cases, “pronouncedly unfair to the South, her institutions, and her part in History.” They, in turn, endorsed 12 textbooks on American History, all written by Southerners. The two most influential turned out to be J. William Jones’ School History of the United States (1896) and Susan Pendleton Lee’s A School History of the United States (1895). The committee foresaw a vigorous new generation of Southern historians, whom they expected to write with eloquence, candor, patriotism, philosophy, and wisdom, as these authors would be entrusted with “the vindication of the South and of the Confederate soldier.” Finally, Lee’s committee submitted a list of Civil War books thought proper for a public or private library. This is the first and perhaps only list of books endorsed by the United Confederate Veterans. Complete facsimiles of each of these books can be found today at Internet Archive (https:// archive.org.), but it is a rare library today that holds all 68 titles called for by Stephen D. Lee in 1896.

An excerpt from Carlton McCarthy’s Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life.

An early biography of Robert E. Lee. Sources: Report of the United Confederate Veterans Historical Committee; Which was Unanimously Adopted at the Sixth Annual Reunion, Held at Richmond, VA, 1896 (Richmond: J.L. Print, Company, 1896) pages 1-23. Charles Reagan Wilson, Baptized in Blood; The Religion of the Lost Cause, 1865–1920 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2009) 139-141.

Cliff Roberts is the co-author of Atlanta’s Fighting 42nd: Joseph Johnston’s “Old Guard”, published in 2020 by Mercer University Press. 1. Southern Historical Society Papers, 14 volumes edited by J. William Jones, D.D., and 9 volumes edited by Robert Alonzo Brock. (Richmond: Southern Historical Society, 1874–1896) In 23 volumes as of 1896. 2. The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Jefferson Davis (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1881) In two volumes. 3. A Short History of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis (New York: Belford Company, 1890). 4. A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States, Alexander H. Stephens (Philadelphia: National Publishing Company, 1868) In two volumes. 5. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, United States War Department (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880–1896) 48 volumes as of 1896. 6. Is Davis a Traitor; or, Was Succession a Constitutional Right Previous to the War of 1861?, Dr. Albert Taylor Bledsoe (Baltimore: Innes & Company, 1866). 7. The Republic of Republics, Bernard Janin Sage (Philadelphia: William W. Harding, 1878). 8. Story of the Confederate States, Joseph Tyrone Derry (Richmond: B.F. Johnson Publishing Company, 1895). 9. The Southern States of the American Union, Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (Richmond: B. F Johnson Publishing Co., 1895). 10. A Defense of Virginia, and Through Her, of the South, Robert Lewis Dabney, D.D. (New York: E.J. Hale & Son, 1867). 11. Military Annals of Tennessee, John Berrien Lindsley (Nashville: J.M. Lindsley & Company, 1886). 12. The Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe, James D. Bulloch (New York: G.P. Putnam & Sons, 1884) In two volumes. 13. Memoirs of Service Afloat, During the War Between the States, Admiral Raphael Semmes (Baltimore:

Kelly, Piet & Company, 1869). 14. Two Years on the Alabama, Arthur Sinclair (Boston: Lee and Sheppard Publishers, 1895). 15. The Narrative of a Blockade-Runner, Captain John Wilkinson (New York: Sheldon & Company, 1877). 16. History of the Confederate States Navy from its Organization to the Surrender of its Last Vessel, John Thomas Scharf (Albany, NY: Joseph McDonough, 1886). 17. Personal Reminiscences, Anecdotes and Letters of Gen. Robert E. Lee, Dr. J. William Jones, D.D. (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1875). 18. Four Years with General Lee, Colonel Walter Herron Taylor (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1877). 19. General Lee, General Fitzhugh Lee (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1894). 20. Memoirs of Robert E. Lee; His Military and Personal History, General A. L. Long (London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1886). 21. A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee, John Esten Cooke (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1876). 22. Life and Campaigns of General Robert E. Lee, James D. McCabe (New York: Blelock & Company, 1867). 23. The Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee, For Children, In Easy Words, Mary Lynn Williamson (Richmond: B.F. Johnson, 1895). 24. Popular Life of General Robert Edward Lee, Emily Virginia Mason (Baltimore: John Murphy & Co., 1872). 25. Life and Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, Robert Lewis Dabney, D.D. (New York: Blelock & Company, 1866) In two volumes. 26. Memoirs of Stonewall Jackson, by his widow, Mary Anna Jackson, Mary Ann Jackson (Louisville: Courier-Journal Job Printing Company, 1895). 27. Jefferson Davis, ex-President of the Confederate States of America: A Memoir, Varina Davis (New York: Belford Company, Publishers, 1890) In two volumes.

28. The Davis Memorial Volume; or, Our Dead President, Jefferson Davis, and the World’s Tribute to his Memory, Dr. John William Jones (Richmond: B. F. Johnson & Company, 1890). 29. Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton, D.D., Mrs. Susan Pendleton Lee (Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott, 1893). 30. A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury, U.S.N. and C.S.N., Diana Fontaine Maury Corbin (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington Limited, 1888). 31. The Life and Services of Commodore Josiah Tatnall, Charles C. Jones (Savannah: Morning News Steam Printing House, 1878). 32. The Letters and Times of the Tylers, Lyon Gardiner Tyler (Richmond: Whittet & Shepperson, 1884) In three volumes. 33. Christ in the Camp; or, Religion in Lee’s Army, Rev. J. William Jones (Richmond: B. F. Johnson & Company, 1887). 34. Army of Northern Virginia, John William Jones, D.D. (Richmond: J.W. Randolph & English, 1880). 35. Jackson’s Valley Campaign, William Allan (Richmond: G.W. Gary & Company, 1878). 36. The Confederate Capital and Hood’s Texas Brigade, Angelina Virginia Winkler (Austin: Eugene Von Boeckmann, 1894). 37. The Army of Northern Virginia in 1862, William Allan (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1892). 38. The Battlefields of Virginia: Chancellorsville, Jed Hotchkiss & William Allan (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1867). 39. Stonewall Jackson: A Military Biography, John Esten Cooke (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1866). 40. The Life and Campaigns of Major General J. E. B. Stuart, Henry Brainerd McClellan (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1885). 41. General [Joseph E.] Johnston, Robert Morton Hughes (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1893). 42. Narrative of Military Op-

erations, General Joseph E. Johnston (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1874). 43. History of Morgan’s Cavalry, Basil W. Duke (Cincinnati: Miami Printing and Publishing, 1867). 44. The Campaigns of Lieut.Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest’s Cavalry, General Thomas Jordan & J.P. Pryor (New Orleans: Blelock & Company, 1868). 45. Leonidas Polk, Bishop & General, Dr. William M. Polk (New York: Longmass Green & Co., 1893) In two volumes. 46. The Military Operations of General Beauregard in the War Between the States 1861 to 1865, Judge Alfred Roman (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1884) In two volumes. 47. Advance and Retreat, General John Bell Hood (New Orleans: Hood Orphan Memorial Fund, 1880). 48. From Manassas to Appomattox; Memoirs of the Civil War in America, Lieutenant-General James Longstreet (Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott Company, 1896). 49. A Memoir of the Life and Public Service of Joseph E. Johnston, Bradley T. Johnson (Baltimore: R. H. Woodward & Company, 1891). 50. The Defense of Charleston Harbor, Including Fort Sumter and the Adjacent Islands, John Johnson (Charleston: Walker, Evans, and Cogswell Company, 1890). 51. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, William Preston Johnston (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1878). 52. Confederate View of the Treatment of Prisoners, Rev. John William Jones (Richmond: Southern Historical Society, 1876). 53. The Southern Side; or, Andersonville Prison, R. Randolph Stevenson, MD (Baltimore: Turnbull Brothers, 1876). 54. United States Bonds; or Duress by Federal Authority: A Journal of Current Events During an Imprisonment of Fifteen Months, at Fort Delaware, Rev. Isaac W. K. Handy (Baltimore: Turnbull Brothers, 1874). 55. A Memoir of the Last Year of the War for Independence in the Confederate States of America, Lieutenant-General Jubal A. Early (Toronto: Lovell & Gibson, 1866). 56. Recollections of a Virginian in the Mexican, Indian, and Civil Wars, General Dabney Herndon Maury (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1894). 57. Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia 1861– 1865, Carlton McCarthy (Richmond: B.F. Johnson Publishing Company, 1882). 58. Women; or, Chronicles of the Late War, Mary Tucker MaGill (Baltimore: Turnbull Brothers, 1871). 59. The University Memorial: Biographical Sketches of Alumni of the University of Virginia Who Fell in the Confederate War, Rev. John Lipscomb Johnson (Baltimore: Turnbull Brothers, 1871). 60. Memorial, Virginia Military Institute: Biographical Sketches of the Graduates and Eleves Who Fell During the War Between the States, Charles D. Walker (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Company, 1875). 61. Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, by a Lady of Virginia, Judith White McGuire (New York: E.J. Hale & Sons, 1867). 62. Richmond During the War; Four Years of Personal Observation by a Richmond Lady, Sallie A. Brock (New York: G.W. Carleton, 1867). 63. Wearing of the Gray, John Esten Cooke (New York: E.B. Treat, 1867). 64. Hammer and Rapier, John Esten Cooke (New York: Carleton Publisher, 1870). 65. Hilt to Hilt, John Esten Cooke (New York: G.W. Dillingham Co., 1869). 66. Surry of Eagle’s-Nest; or, The Memoirs of a Staff-Officer Serving in Virginia, John Esten Cooke (New York: Bunce & Huntington, 1866). 67. Mohun; or, The Last Days of Lee and His Paladins, John Esten Cooke (New York: F.J. Huntington and Co., 1869). 68. Memorials of a Southern Planter, Susan Dabney Smedes (Baltimore: Cushings & Bailey, 1887).