Suppliers To The Confederacy Volume Four: From Brass Pins, Pistols and Swords to Warships. By David C. Burt. Illustrated, bibliography, appen dices, BookLocker Publishers, 2020, 375pp., hardcover.
This is the fourth and final ume of a series tracing the vita impact British goods had on sustaining the Confederacy by supplying its military and civilian needs. The supply effort was all done within a politically di vided nation where slavery, economics, and moral values made Confederate support a difficult proposition. This volume includes all the title’s items, as as newly discovered artifacts, that did not make it into the fi three volumes. This text expands Burt’s research into the vital p of Liverpool and Birkenhead, the spy networks of both North and South, and contains over 250 new photographs and illustrations showing soldiers and their Briti made equipment. Individual chapters deal wit building and selling warships to the Confederacy, the history of imported swords and knives, bullet molds, pistols, and gunpowder. Newly discovered accoutrements, artifacts, and household items are included in additional chapters. Appendices add a complete listing of ships that were victims of the Shenandoah, a manifest of the sailors aboard
Jr. and r readers with timely Notes, Bibli ant Civil War research and Mercer
this last Confederate Navy raider, registered blockade runners, and the proceedings of the Alabama claims dispute. David Burt has done a commendable job of weaving the history of the firms, e.g. S. Isaa Campbell Co., Robert Mole & Son, Wilkerson Sword Co., Tranter Co., E.&A. Ludlow, Ross and Co., G. Wostenholm etc., into how their goods were manufactured, exported, principally through Caleb Huse, Confederate Quartermaster and Ordnance Agent, and performed in the field. Many never published before photographs supplement every company’s wares, with material from museums and private collections. Notes at the end of each chapter lead the historian to original sources of additional material. The author also relates where artifacts were purchased, usually Civil War shows, or which relic hunter was fortunate enough to find a prized British relic. These tidbits add a human touch to the story which hopefully encourages greater Civil War show attendance and increased documented relic hunting to enhance the history of the Civil War. While the author claims this volume is the last in the four vol ume series, hopefully he will provide a fifth and sixth when new finds, photographs, and documents are located detailing the enormous role Britain played in supporting the Confederacy’s war effort. It is extremely well written, accurate, and voluminously illustrated, an indispensable tool for historians today. It, alo with the first three volumes, is highly recommended to anyone who collects Civil War artifacts or wishes to understand how the Confederacy survived four long years
Wayne L. Wolf is Professor Emeritu at South Suburban College, past president of the Lincoln-Davis Civ War Roundtable and the author of numerous articles and books including the Last Civil War Scout a Two Years Before the Paddlewheel.
Immortalized in the Atlanta Cyclorama Painting Fighting 42nd, Johnston’s . Clifford Roberts “Old k E. Clark. Illustrated, hy, Index, rsity Press, 2020,
Atlanta’s Fighting 42nd chron icles the service of the 42nd Georgia Volunteer Infantry, a regiment raised in March 1862 during a statewide militia call. Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown called on volunteers to defend their country or “be subject to the draft which will the and there be made.” Brown also appealed to the racial fears of Georgians, particularly non-slaveholding whites, by conjuring apocalyptic images simila to those he had used to argue fo secession. The Lincoln administration, he warned, would “arm the negroes, and incite them to destroy our wives and children.” After organizing and training Camp McDonald in Big Shanty, Georgia, the 42nd headed to east ern Tennessee, seeing battle for the first time at Cumberland Gap in May 1862. The regiment then marched several hundred miles in that fall’s Kentucky Campaign before ending the year in Mississippi. A portion of the 42 participated in the Confederate victory at Chickasaw Bluffs on Dec. 29, 1862, before spending the remainder of the winter as part of the Vicksburg garrison. The authors of Atlanta’s Fighting 42nd contend that the regiment’s worst performance of the Civil War came at the battle of Champion’s Hill on May 16, 1863. Much of the blame for the Confederate disaster in the batt
focused on the Georgia brigades commanded by Generals Alfred Cumming and Seth Barton; the 42nd served in the latter organization. The stigma of this defeat the authors point out, tarnished
the reputation of the Georgians for quite some time. Following Champion’s Hill, the 42nd served as part of the be
sieged garrison of Vicksburg, sur rendering there on July 4, 1863, with General John C. Pemberton’s Army of Mississippi. When the 42nd reorganized in the fall of 1863, the authors write that not all Vicksburg parolees returned to the regiment, claiming that some were too physically debilitated to do so, while others were unwilling to fight. The reviewer wishes the authors had offered statistics of how many members of the regiment never returned, a a survey he did of six companies of Vicksburg parolees from North Georgia revealed that between 32% and 46% did not rejoin the Confederate Army after being exchanged. How did the 42nd compare to these of other Georgia regiments? How many men who never returned to the 42nd went on to serve later in home guard organizations? The bloodiest day of the war for the reconstituted 42nd was at the battle of Resaca, Ga., the first major engagement of the 1864 Atlanta Campaign. In subsequent engagements during the campaign, particularly at New Hope Church and Atlanta, the regiment performed well. The regiment’s July 22, 1864, charge in the battle of Atlanta is immor talized in the Atlanta Cyclorama. While the 42nd missed the battle of Franklin, Tenn., at the end of November 1864, it acted admirably on the second day of the battle of Nashville and in subsequen rearguard actions during Hood’s retreat out of Tennessee. Like most of Hood’s ill-fated Army of Tennessee, the veterans of the 42nd Georgia ended their service in North Carolina, seeing battle for the last time a Bentonville. The 42nd was one of the largest regiments in its b gade at this point in time, but t authors don’t really explore why this was the case. Did the 42nd have better officers than other regiments in the same brigade? Were conditions on the home front not as bad in the counties where the 42nd had been raised compared to the home counties of other regiments?
While the chapters of Atlanta’ Fighting 42nd covering the 42nd Georgia’s wartime service are solid, the final two chapters on the postbellum era offer a somewhat disjointed and largely celebratory account of veterans’ survivors’ organizations, parades,
and reunions. The focus is almost exclusively on the regiment’s sur viving field officers, several of whom had successful political and business careers. It would have been interesting to know more about the postwar lives of enlisted men, many of whom faced poverty and debility in the old age as revealed in state pension applications. The postbellum chapters would also have benefited from being informed by modern scholarship on the Reconstruction and Gilded Age eras rather than relying primarily on accounts written by ex-Confederates and their sympathizers. Describing postbellum Atlanta politics as a “free-for-a is overly simplistic and saying that the Klan only intimidated potential African American voters while Union League militias threatened violence against freed people if they didn’t vote for th Republican ticket misrepresents the central role that the latter organization had in mobilizing freed people to support a party that clearly championed their interests. The authors of Atlanta’s Fighting 42nd deserve praise for mining a wide array of primary sources, including letter collections, diaries, memoirs, and newspapers. The regimental roster is also impressive, exhibitin information culled from compiled service records, pensions, the census, and cemetery records. Overall, the first nine chapters Atlanta’s Fighting 42nd comprise one of the best regimental histories of an Army of Tennessee unit to appear in recent years.
Keith Bohannon is a professor of history at the University of West Georgia and author of numerous essays and articles dealing with various aspects of the Civil War. One of his most recent essays, entitled “The Fatal Halt: Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Cedar Creek in John B. Gordon’s Reminiscences,” appeared in Gary Gallagher and Stephen Cushman, editors, Civil War Writing New Perspectives on Iconic Texts published by Louisiana State University Press, 2019. April 2021
Orlando M. Poe may not be a famous Civil War name, but he
as colonel of the 2nd Michigan Infantry, he led his regiment a later brigade from the Peninsul
ficer. He was chief engineer of the Knoxville, Tenn., defenses, followed by service as General William T. Sherman’s Chief Engineer during the Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea, and Carolinas Campaign. He was present for the Confederate sur render at Durham Station, North Carolina. Poe and his wife Eleanor
(Nelly) kept up a lively correspondence during the war years, stopping only when she visited him in camp. They wrote each other frequently, sometimes dai ly, and Poe often sent her documents for archiving. After
is to Have a Face with the Name ivil War Nurses. into what life . Coddington. Johns dies came fr correspondence and papers to the Library of Congress in the early 20th Century. Paul Taylor encoun tered them while researching his biography of Poe titled Orlando M. Poe: Civil War General and Great Lakes Engineer. As a follow-on to his book, Taylor selected nearly 200 of the couple’s letters and compile them into this volume. Almost without exception, the book contains transcriptions of handwrit ten letters from Poe to Nelly, footnoted with key details to he understanding. Given the various positions he held, Poe was in a position to observe many different parts of the war; as a resul his voluminous correspondence covers many topics. Readers will find accounts of his activities and campaigns interspersed with commentary on the people and
places he encounters. Poe’s pith remarks are often quite illumina ing and bring fresh perspectives That said, the book does have some limitations. The author admits that it is a “companion” to his Poe biography, and readers
not familiar with that work may not have important information
of letters add little to the tex Lastly, the book needs maps to help readers follow Poe’s travel
Nonetheless, this is an impor ant and vivid new primary source from a senior Federal leader. It offers a vivid look into the Uni Army and some of its key leaders and events. Poe’s letters should be incorporated into any future study of the campaigns he participated in or the places he wa stationed.
The reviewer works as a historian in Madison, Wisconsin. He is the author of four books on the American Civil War and World War II, and is a contributor to Emerging Civil War blog. The views contained herein are his
The la- pages long, making lks of life: read and each kins University Press. jhooks.press.jhu.edu, 2020. dbound. 424 pp. Black and
Ron Coddington, publisher o itary Images magazine, edr of The Chronicle of Highe cation and The Chronicle Philanthropy, is no strange
time images of that person. The purpose of this work, l dington’s preceding four
MK Shows presents the 3 Sale at the Williamson Co
artifacts and memorabilia and encompassing all eras through World War II. Appraisers are always o collectibles at no cost.
easy mage stands some served as trained nurses and others were aid workers or vivandieres. Photography was about twenty years old at the outbreak of the Civil War. Images were prepared in four different processing for mats: cartes de visites; ambrotypes; tintypes; and daguerreotypes. Cartes de visites were po ular during this time as they we about the size of visiting cards Proper social etiquette required individuals leave contact cards with the host as a social grace. Additionally, the cartes de visite were small and inexpensive. This made them popular with soldiers who could easily mail them to loved ones. Ron compares the cartes de visite used as a visit card as the1860s version of soci media. Thirty-eight of the seventy-s
en images used in this volume were from the Foard Collection at the Library of Congress. Ron, a collector of military memorabilia, met fellow collector Chri Foard in 2014. Mr. Foard, a nurs collected many nursing related
images via the cartes de visite format. These images, along with
Heritage and Education Center, made these ladies’ stories come to life.
ual Middle Tennessee Civil War S Expo Park, 4215 Long Lane in Fr
op dealers and collectors around itary history from the Revolutio
to help you identify and value y re 9-5 on Sat., 9-3 on Sun., par children under 12 are free. o make your table reservations e
alone. This work provides valuable insight regarding the contributions to medical care made by these women. It is thoroughl researched and provides insight into women’s studies, photography and medical care during the Civil War. I give it a strong r ommendation to anyone looking for works in any of these areas
Richard has served as a Book Reviewer for over eighteen year He has published three articles conducting research for an arti on logistical operations in the War.
Vol. 46, No. 1 Remembrance Day, 2019, Ge The world will
– Abraham Linc by Joe Bordonaro President Lincoln was wro about the first part, but v correct about the second pa this famous phrase from his
nificent “Gettysburg Addres On Nov. 23, 2019, reenactor members of the general publ gathered in Gettysburg, Pen to remember the actions of soldiers and the President
Remembrance Day 2019. Stafford County Science Teacher Don Mullen, portray President Lincoln. (Garry Adelman, American Battlefield Trust)
years ago. The Sons of Union Veterans held their 62nd annua parade, featuring numerous Civ War reenactors. Members of reenacting groups commemorated the actions of various individ and units by conducting march-
es and visiting monuments. A “Remembrance Illumination” of Gettysburg National Cemetery graves occurs each year, as we Although the numbers of reenac tors are down from its 2000 pe when Wikipedia estimated there
were about 50,000 Civil War re enactors; a still impressive n ber showed up this year and ke the traditions alive. The acco
panying photos highlight some activities that took place.
Joe Bordonaro is a USAF veteran (1973–1977), Glassboro Stat
I Thought I Knew, But Apparently Imagining Wild Bill: James Butler Hickok in War, Media,
and Memory. By Paul Ashdown and Edward Caudill. Southern Illinois University Press. http: siupress.siu.edu. Paperback, 272
Growing up in Oklahoma, one’s world view certainly includes the Wild West. I participated in schoolyard reenactments of the Oklahoma Land Run, watched Bonanza and Maverick, and dreamed of the day when our family would finally move to California. Little did I know the hold between truth and imagination was so tenuous. Paul Ashdown and Edward Caudill, joint authors of Imagining Wild Bill: James Butler Hickok in War Media, and Memory, have clarified much, and maybe muddied some. As historians, it is easy to we need facts and sources before we believe, but the reality is not so clear. Most of us have even if it is hidden, a romantic sepia-colored view of history. W want our heroes to be heroes; we want their deeds to be essential and real. Then comes “The Wild West,” and things get murky. Imaging Wild Bill explains the impact pulp fiction has had on the phenomenon of creating western heroes. I had heard of Ned Buntline (Edward Judson) and others, although I had no idea that Lincoln’s third secretary, William Stoddard, became a pulp writer.
Much like today’s television “events,” dime novels were consumed by many and taken for truth. Of course Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane hooked up; Hickok killed many other gunfighters and only fired after he was fired upon; Hickok was killed because he broke the “Code of the West” and sat with his back not against the wall. H definitely held the “Dead Man’s
een in Britain Hand” of eights and aces, everyone knows that, or did he? Or do
they? Excavating the truth is wha this book is about. This excellen volume should come with a pin for balloon-popping. As it turns out, the truth is sometimes a little dull. It does not create the excitement of imagination that written fiction, radio, television, and movies do. That is why we cling to the legends. We want America to have a glorious, heroic history. That history may not have happened that way lands with a thud in our hearts. Readers of any age will find something to relate to in th thorough work of Paul Ashdown and Edward Caudill. I particularly remember all the television shows mentioned, and many of the songs. That is the magic word remember. What people claim to remember is specious at best. Memory and history are undoubtedly intertwined topics in curren research; and, of course, don’t forget the outright storyteller. One of the most compelling, and easiest to research, accounts is Hickok’s participation in the Civil War. Most of us have done at least a rudimentary examination of existing military records or perused a unit history. When i comes to “Wild Bill,” these trust ed sources come up short. Some writers claim, with great authority, that Hickok was a Union sharpshooter who had over one hundred kills to his credit, or t his nickname “Wild Bill” came when he stopped a mob from killing a saloon owner while on his way to recapture a military wagon train stolen by Rebels near Independence, Mo. About all that can be pieced together as truthful is that Hickok’s military duties included scouting, spying, sharpshooting, and driving wagons. The rest is a combination of conjecture and lies told by many, including Hickok himself. If everything known about gunslinger Bill Hickok is wrong, why does he figure so largely in American history? Never underestimate the power of myth. Myth drives much of our past, and it i one of the most dynamic subjects
being re-examined. The Lost Cause, the Wild West, the New World, Manifest Destiny, all have had their day at the top of the myth mountain. More and more historians are wrestling with this topic, and if it is one in which i terest sparks, Imaging Wild Bill i a great place to start one’s reading. This book is well-written and filled with new information. It is broad in scope, considering Wild Bill in the press, the East and th West, in literature, movies, radio, and TV. The assessments are fair and balanced, and the conclusion of the book, taking place in Deadwood, where all good Hickok groupies wind up at one time or another, puts the subject in his historical place. There is more, much more. This reviewer’s only issue with Ashdown and Caudill is that the subject is by no means finished. There are rabbit holes everywhere, and the reader will want to explore them all. Suppose one is interested in examining public memory. In that case, Southern Illinois University Press and Emerging Civil War should be your go-to source for intelligent, probative writing on a subject that concerns most of us. There is an old saying, “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.” Imagining Wild Bill: James Butler Hickok in War, Media, and Memory turns that saying on its head. Readers will question just how much real history is actually known!
Meg Groeling received he Master’s Degree in Military Histor with a Civil War emphasis, in 2016 from American Public University. Savas Beatie published her first book, The Aftermath of Battle: The Burial of the Civil War Dead, in the fall of 2015. Her biography First Fallen: The Life of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, the North’s First Civil War Hero, will be published by Savas Beatie. She is a book and a regular contributor to the blog Emerging Civil War. She lives in Hollister, California, in a 192 bungalow with her husband, her cats, and a lot of books and roses
Stonewall Jackson, Beresford Hope, and The Meaning of the American Civil War in Britain. By Michael J. Turner. Notes, index, Louisiana State University Press, 2020, 334 pp., hardcover.
James Beresford Hope, leader of the pro-Southern lobby in England, Member of Parliament, owner of the Saturday Review, and staunch admirer of Stonewall Jackson, served as the window through which the British people viewed the American Civil War. A thorough analysis of Beresford Hope’s articles and speeches are used to answer the question, “Why so any people in Britain sympathized with the South?” Beresford Hope constructed a thorough basis for why socially, culturally, politically and reli giously the South’s independence was justified and would benefit Britain in the long run. While Northern support was evident in England during the Civil War, Hope financially and politically supported the Southern cause and idolized Stonewall Jackson for his religious fervor, milita talents, and moral habits. He ga Britain Stonewall Jackson as exemplifying British values of ordered liberty, self-determinatio and constitutional government. Stonewall Jackson was the living
embodiment of the struggle for independence and religious commitment. His love of country, fea of God, courage, dash, and military ingenuity reflected British ideals of the hero and ideal citizen. In contrast, the North was see as riddled with machine politics, scandals, tariffs, patronag bribery and anti-British tabloid sentiment. The South exemplified conservative moderation and was orally and socially superior to the North. Slavery was seen in the South as on the road to gradual emancipation with assistance to the freed slaves to make freedom meaningful and whole. Slavery was not seen as the cause of the war. Rather self-determination, states rights free trade, and the absence of re strictive tariffs forced the Sout to separate to preserve their nat ural virtues, economic growth, and political power. With the end of the Civil War, Beresford Hope continued until his death in 1887 to defend secession, help fund the Stonewall Jackson statue unveiled in Richmond in 1875, and be regarded as a good man who supported a questionable cause. This book is very well written thoroughly researched, replete with primary source documentation, and objective in presenting divergent British viewpoints. For a treatise on British sympathies during the American Civil War, the reasons for these views, and the impact on British-American relations, this volume is a most welcome addition. Every historian should add this highly recommended book to his must read list.
Dr. Wayne L. Wolf is Professor Emeritus at South Suburban College in Illinois, past preside of the Lincoln-Davis Civil War Roundtable, and the author of numerous books and articles on the Civil War including Two Years Before the Paddlewheel and The Last Civil War Scout.
