Emerging Civil War
Emerging Civil War — January 2024
Originally published January 2024 · pp. 32–33
From the Editor For their second assignment this semester, I asked my freshman writing students to tell me a story about a piece of writing that made an impact on them. The paper dovetails from a lesson in which we talked about the importance of reading for anyone who wants to be a writer. “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write,” Stephen King said in his wonderful book On Writing. Fantasy writer Ursula K. LeGuin was even harsher in her assessment: “A writer who doesn’t read is inexcusable.” I agree. Many of my students admitted they didn’t read as much as they should, but generally, they all came back with some pretty good examples of books and stories that impacted them. But one student’s reply saddened me: “There has been no piece of writing that has
The Time-Life Civil War Series, chock full of pictures and readerfriendly text, provided an excellent gateway into history.
moved me or had an impact on my life.” In order to complete the assignment, she went on to write about the impact her dad has had on her life. Her answer went beyond the usual “You need to read more” (which, of course, she does). When I think of all the books and stories I’ve read over the course of my life that have enriched and enlivened and entertained me, I’m saddened to think that this young woman has never had that kind of experience. Her life is poorer for it, and she doesn’t even realize it. I thought of this, in particular, in the context of a common lament I hear when I go to roundtables: “We need to get more young people interested in history.” A good first step, I think, is to get young people interested in reading. Books make a wonderful gateway. Consider those books that got you hooked on the Civil War when you were young. I hear over and over about the old American Heritage set. I hear about Bruce Catton. I hear about the silver-bound Time-Life series. Books offer a way in. Maybe that way in leads to history, maybe it leads to something else. That’s okay, too; for instance, I love to read about science and nature. Young readers have to find their own way, through the bookshelves as well as through life. The best we can do is offer suggestions: “Try this. I loved this book when I was your age.” With the holidays now upon us, consider giving the gift of reading. As David McCullough said, “There should be no hesitation ever about giving anyone a book to enjoy, at any age.” That’s how we can do our part to keep history alive and, I hope, match up young people with the books that might just make a mark on them. How rich their lives might become if they fall in love with reading. — Chris Mackowski, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief
Tenth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge Time is running out to take advantage of the $225 Early Bird ticket price for next summer’s
Tenth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge. It’ll be our tenth-annual symposium, so we plan to do it up big! The event will be held August 2–4, 2024, at Stevenson Ridge on the Spotsylvania Battlefield in Virginia. Our theme: 1864: The War in the Balance. Speakers will include Jonathan Noyalas and Brian Steel Wills, and Sunday’s battlefield tour of the Bloody Angle will be conducted by Chris Mackowski. You can find out more details or order tickets at https://emergingcivilwar.com/ ecw_event/2024-symposium/.
ECW News & Notes In late October, Neil Chatelain spoke at the 2023 Texas Council for the Social Studies annual conference about the use of digitized archives in middle school, high school, and college activities. Dwight Hughes performed back-to-back presentations on “The Naval Civil War in Theaters Near and Far,” an overview of naval strategy and tactics. The first was before a big crowd at the Brunswick Civil War Round Table in Southport, NC. Then after a long day in flight back to Virginia, the second was in front of the computer speaking to the Civil War Talk online forum. When not basking in the glow of another Cleveland Browns victory, Jon-Erik Gilot has been burning up the roundtable circuit over the past month, speaking at the Hagerstown CWRT, Stonewall Jackson CWRT, and Western Pennsylvania CWRT in support of his recent book on John Brown’s Raid. Gilot is also thrilled to announce the return of the annual one-day Civil War symposium at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie, Penn. On April 13, 2024, historians Matt Atkinson, Eric Wittenberg, Abbi Smithmyer, Phill Greenwalt, and Rob Orrison will examine the paradigms and personalities of
Civil War raids. Tickets are $65 and include lunch, raffles, book sales, author signings, and tours of the Captain Thomas Espy Grand Army of the Republic Post. For more information and to purchase tickets please visit our website at ACFL&MH 2024 Civil War Symposium. Chris Kolakowski co-chaired the second annual conference of the Consortium of Indo-Pacific Researchers from November 1 to 4. “There were some great perspectives shared from all over the region on many timely topics,” Chris says. Video is at indopacificresearchers.org, and click on the panels in the scroll at the top. On November 18, Chris Mackowski and Kris White did a pair of Facebook LIVE broadcasts for the American Battlefield Trust from Gettysburg as part of Remembrance Day festivities. They first traced Lincoln’s route from the train station through town, and then they provided live play-by-play coverage of the annual Remembrance Day Parade. Both videos are available on the Trust’s YouTube page. And most exciting for Chris: He became a grandpa for the second time back in October. His daughter, Stephanie, gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Grace Elizabeth Brand. Chris is already wrapped around the little finger of Grace’s older sister, three-yearold Sophie Marie, so he’s already worried about being pretzel-tied between the two of them!
ECW Multimedia We have had a bountiful collection of guests join host Chris Mackowski on the Emerging Civil War Podcast over the last month: Historian Timothy Smith talked about his newest book, The Bayou Battles for Vicksburg, January–April 1863, part of his ongoing study of the Vicksburg Campaign. Kevin Levin of Civil War Memory and Todd Groce of the Georgia Historical Society recounted the story of James Longstreet as a victim of Confederate “Cancel Culture.” ECW’s two newest “Emerging Voices,” Tanya McQuade and Evan Portman, shared their Civil War “origins” and talked about their areas of historical expertise and interest. Joe Ricci, historian at the Battle of Franklin Trust, and Sean Michael Chick, author of the ECW Series book They Came Only to Die: The Battle of Nashville, talked about Union General John Schofield—hero or rascal? You can listen for free on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or at https://emergingcivilwar.com/ the-emerging-civil-war-podcast/.
On Emerging Civil War’s YouTube Channel… We had video versions of these podcasts on our ECW YouTube page, plus: Chris Mackowski visited Outer Banks of North Carolina to talk about the 1862 Battle of Roanoke Island. Sal Cilella, who writes a column called “The Graphic War” for Civil War News, talked about Civil War-era artwork. This was also available as a bonus ECW Podcast for our Patreon subscribers. Frank Jastrzembski talks with Sarah Kay Bierle about his project Shrouded Veterans, dedicated to getting headstones for Civil War veterans. This was also available as a bonus ECW Podcast for our Patreon subscribers.
Shrouded Veterans Here’s the latest project from Frank Jastrzembski’s Shrouded Veterans project: A veteran headstone was placed at Colonel Robert B. Brown’s unmarked grave. A native of Scotland, Brown was commissioned a captain in the 30th Massachusetts Infantry on January 1, 1862. In July, he was on detached service to supervise building a railroad in Louisiana. Brown served as provost marshal at Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, for two years. Major General Nathaniel P. Banks said it was a field “in which he has become very useful.” On September 28, 1863, Banks authorized Brown to organize the 2nd New Orleans Infantry and to take command of it with the rank of colonel. However, the regiment failed to complete its organization, and it was consolidated with the 1st New Orleans Infantry. In September 1864, Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Sherman requested Brown’s service on his staff. He served in this capacity until he was mustered out in January 1865. After the war, Brown worked as a clothing merchant. He died of pneumonia while a patient at the Boston Lunatic Hospital on March 9, 1881, and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan, Massachusetts.