James I. Robertson's “The War in Words”

By Stephen Davis · Originally published November 2022 · pp. 1–5

James Irvin “Bud” Robertson (1930-–2019) was known across the land to Civil War enthusiasts in the same league as Ed Bearss and maybe a few other stars. Born in Danville, Virginia, after college at Randolph-Macon he took his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees at Emory in the late ‘50s. In 1957 Congress created the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission; already people were foreseeing that the hundredyear war anniversary would be a big deal. In December 1961

the commission elected Dr. Robertson as executive director. At the time he was teaching at the University of Iowa and serving as editor of Civil War History, the scholarly journal just getting started. Robertson’s first book, The Stonewall Brigade (1963) stemmed from his doctoral dissertation written at Emory under Prof. Bell Wiley’s direction. With Wiley and Allan Nevins he co-authored Civil War Books: A Critical Bibliography (1967, 1969). I bought my two-volume set from Dr. Wiley himself, for all of $14. More of Robertson’s works followed: a biography of Powell Hill, a study of Civil War soldiers (following in Wiley’s footsteps), and his crowning achievement, Stonewall Jackson (1997). In April 1972, Robertson began writing a regular feature for Civil War Times Illustrated. Editor Jack Davis announced that for it, “Dr. Robertson will review a selected work from the mountain of words on this most written-about of conflicts.” Bud chose for his first “War in Words,” appropriately enough, the Official Records. By my count, 127 “War in Words’ columns followed in CWTI, petering out in December 1987 (Kate Cumming’s A Journal of Hospital Life). His selections were deliciously varied: Heros von Borcke’s Memoirs, John Billings’ Hardtack and Coffee, books that are today expensive or hard-to-find. Still, if you’re building a discriminating Civil War library, keeping an eye on “The War in Words” can be a smart thing to do. Perhaps it’s best just to list the subjects he chose to write about in Civil War Times Illustrated:

20– American Battlefield Trust 38 – Book Reviews 36 – Central Virginia Battlefield Trust

“History is the greatest teacher you will ever have.” – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr.

Nat Hughes’ biography of Hardee. Some of Robertson’s pieces clumped works together, as in biographies of Jefferson Davis (August 1972), the works of Thomas Robson Hay, the writing of Mary Elizabeth Massey. Back when I was at Emory, Dr. Wiley handed out to us in his Civil War class long typed lists of recommended books. I was building my library, so I took Wiley’s lists to the second-hand bookstores I frequented. In truth, Bud Robertson’s “The War in Words” often highlights

April 1972. The Official Records June 1972. Judith McGuire, Diary of a Refugee August 1972. Biographies of Jefferson Davis October 1972. Studies of Civil War prisons November 1972. Southern Historical Society Papers December 1972. John D. Billings, Hardtack and Coffee February 1973. Mary Boykin Chesnut, Diary from Dixie April 1973. Allan Nevins, The War for the Union May 1973. Rosters of state troops June 1973. Records of North Carolina Troops January 1974. Example of a poor memoir: John W. Urban, 30th Pa. February 1974. Heros von Borcke, Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence April 1974. War Papers, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) May 1974. War Papers June 1974. War Papers July 1974. Henry Nelson Blake, Three Years in the Army of the Potomac August 1974. Works of John William Jones November 1974. Isaac W. K. Handy, United States Bonds: Imprisonment at Fort Delaware December 1974. Life of Brig. Gen Judson Kilpatrick, U.S.A. January 1975. William F. Scotts, The Fourth Iowa Cavalry February 1975. Maria L. Daly, Diary of a Union Lady, 1861-1865 June 1975. The works of Thomas Robson Hay July 1975. Joseph Cullen’s work on Chimborazo Hospital

30 – Critic’s Corner 32 – Emerging Civil War 45 – Events

James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., shown in his study, was the founding director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies. (Courtesy Virginia Tech)

August 1975. The work of Mary Elizabeth Massey January 1976. Alfred S. Roe’s Union unit histories February 1976. The life of Roe April 1976. Michael Egan, The Flying Gray Haired Yank: Or, the Adventures of a Volunteer May 1976. Surgeons of the Army of Northern Virginia July 1976. Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage August 1976. Newton A. Strait, Roster of U.S. regimental field surgeons November 1976. Randolph Harrison McKim December 1976. The battle of Harris’ Farm, Va., May 19, 1864 January 1977. Benjamin F. Butler, Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences April 1977. Daniel Ellis, Thrilling Adventures (1867) May 1977. Harry Gilmor, Four Years in the Saddle (1866) July 1977 Augustus C. Buell, The Cannoneer: Recollections (1890) August 1977 Theodore Lyman, Meade’s Headquarters (1922) October 1977 James B. Avirett, The Memoirs of General Turner Ashby (1867) January 1978 Col. Allen S. Cutts, Sumter Flying Artillery February 1978 William Watson, Letters of a Civil War Surgeon (1961) April 1978 Alexander P. Bruce of Kentucky June 1978 Ovid L. Futch, History of Andersonville Prison July 1978 William J. Hardee and Nathaniel C. Hughes’ biography August 1978 Civil War atrocities

October 1978 William J. McMurray, History of the 20th Tennessee (1904) November 1978 William D. Pender’s letters, The General to His Lady December 1978 Horace Greeley January 1979 Albion F. Schoepf, commander of Fort Delaware April 1979 the Wharton-Baylor duel April 1865 May 1979 Rev. Louis Boudrye’s 5th New York Cavalry June 1979 Jacob Cox’s Military Reminiscences of the Civil War (1900) July 1979 Charles W. Read, Confederate navy October 1979 Sherman’s execution of James M. Miller November 1979 RIP Clifford Dowdey, Fred Tilberg, Harry Williams December 1979 C.S. Gen. Robert H. Hatton January 1980 Cpl. Daniel Rankin’s (22 MA) claim that he shot Jackson February 1980 Ellsworth Eliot, West Point in the Confederacy April 1980 James Cooper Nisbet, Four Years on the Firing Line May 1980 Albert Taylor Bledsoe June 1980 John V. Hadley, Seven Months a Prisoner August 1980 Robert S. Henry, “First with the Most” Forrest October 1980 Life and Letters of Alexander Hays (1919) November 1980 Sarah Ann Brock, Richmond during the War December 1980 William E. Woodward, Years of Madness (1952) January 1981 Samuel S. Boggs, Eighteen Months a Prisoner February 1981 Randolph H. McKim April 1981 George E. Turner, Victory Rode the Rails May 1981 Father Abram Ryan and his poetry June 1981 Thomas N. Conrad, Confederate spy July 1981 Col. George P. Harrison of Georgia August 1981 Sheridan and his biographies October 1981 [reprint of July column on Harrison] November 1981 Stanley F. Horn December 1981 Samuel C. Jones, Reminiscences of the 22d Iowa Infantry January 1982 William D. Bickham, defender of Rosecrans February 1982 Cornelia McDonald’s reminiscence of life in the Shenandoah March 1982 Frank Wilkeson, Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac April 1982 John B. Jones, A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary May 1982 J. W. Randolph & Co., Richmond printer June 1982 Abner R. Small’s The Road to Richmond September 1982 William W. Goldsborough, The Maryland Line October 1982 William Pittenger, Daring and Suffering November 1982 George M. Neese, Three Years in the Confederate Horse Artillery December 1982 Col. Thomas L. Livermore, 18th New Hampshire January 1983 Richard Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction February 1983 Col. Edward E. Cross, mortally wounded at Gettysburg July 2 March 1983 judging regimental histories April 1983 William C. Walker, History 18th Connecticut May 1983 Rembert W. Patrick, Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet September 1983 Douglas Southall Freeman’s address, May 7, 1953 to the Richmond CWRT October 1983 Louis A. Brown, The Salisbury Prison November 1983 John G. Perry, Letters from a Surgeon of the Civil War December 1983 William B. Hesseltine January 1984 Henry A. DuPont, Campaign of 1864 in the Valley of Virginia

CivilWarNews.com February 1984 War Letters of William T. Lusk, Union Surgeon March 1984 Battle-fields of the South…By an English Combatant April 1984 author of the above: Thomas E. Caffey May 1984 Homer Sprague, History 13th Connecticut June 1984 Autobiography of Eppa Hunton September 1984 A.P. Hill’s health October 1984 Michigan’s Civil War Centennial activities November 1984 Letters of Sgt. Peter Wilson in Iowa Journal of History December 1984 Margaret Leech, Reveille in Washington January 1985 S. Millett Thompson, 13th New Hampshire February 1985 Charles S. Wainwright, A Diary of Battle March 1985 Fannie Beers, Memories April 1985 1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment May 1985 Col. Charles Marshall of Lee’s staff June 1985 Alanson H. Haines, History of the 15th New Jersey (1883) September 1985 Truxall, ed., Letters of Two Pennsylvania Boys October 1985 works on New Mexico in the war November 1985 William A. Fletcher, Rebel Private Front and Rear December 1985 Ella Lonn, Salt as a Factor in the Confederacy January 1986 Col. William J. Pegram February 1986 U. S. Maj. Gen. Charles F. Smith (1807–1862) March 1986 Pickett’s Charge April 1986 Johnny Green of the Orphan Brigade May 1986 Tully McCrea, Dear Belle (1965) October 1986 Stephen Z. Starr (RIP 1986) November 1986 FitzGerald Ross, Cities and Camps of the Confederate States December 1986 Angus Johnston, Virginia Railroads in the Civil War (1961) January 1987 Alexander G. Downing’s diary (11th Iowa) February 1987 Lincoln Day By Day: A Chronology, 1809–1865 March 1987 Bartlett Malone, Whipt ‘Em Everytime (1960) May 1987 Civil War chaplains September 1987 Kip Dalton, Under the Black Flag October1 987 William H. Morgan, Personal Reminiscences November 1987 L. Van Loan Naisawald, Grape and Canister December 1987 Kate Cumming, A Journal of Hospital Life

Stephen Davis of Cumming, Georgia, has been a Civil War buff since the 4th grade. He grew up in Atlanta, attending Margaret Mitchell Elementary and Northside High. At Emory University he studied under the renowned Civil War historian Bell Wiley. After a Master’s degree in American history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he taught high school for a few years, then earned his Ph.D. at Emory, where he concentrated on the theme of the Civil War in Southern literature. He’s also taught at Oglethorpe University. Now retired, Steve resides in Cumming, with his sweet wife Billie and two cats. Steve is the author of seven books on the Atlanta Campaign: Atlanta Will Fall: Sherman, Joe Johnston and the Yankee Heavy Battalions (Scholarly Resources, 2001); • What the Yankees Did to Us: Sherman’s Bombardment and Wrecking of Atlanta (Mercer University Press, 2012); • A Long and Bloody Task: The Atlanta Campaign from Dalton through Kennesaw to the Chattahoochee, May 5-July 18, 1864 (Savas Beatie, 2016); • All the Fighting They Want: The Atlanta Campaign from Peachtree Creek to the City’s Surrender, July 18-September 2, 1864 (Savas Beatie, 2017);

George N. Barnard: Photographer of the Atlanta Campaign (Historical Publications, 2019); From Texas Brigadier to the Fall of Atlanta: John Bell Hood (Mercer University Press, 2019); and

Into Tennessee and Failure: John Bell Hood (Mercer University Press, 2020).

His most recent work is The Atlanta Daily Intelligencer Covers the Civil War (University of Tennessee Press, 2022).

Dr. Davis served as Book Review Editor for Blue & Gray Magazine from 1984 to 2005, and is the author of more than a hundred articles in such popular and scholarly publications as Civil War Times Illustrated and the Georgia Historical Quarterly.