Veterans and the Writing of Civil War History in a New Book from UNC Press - The War That Made America

HUZZAH! Summer has arrived!! Now, you might assume that I am embracing that cliché end-of-the-school-year celebratory post depicting an unbridled joy teachers share when they get a three-month or so respite from teaching. Nonsense. I love being in the classroom.

And while a little time off is nice, I prefer to use the summer months as a period of intensified study. This welcome time allows me to dig into new scholarship and develop curriculum that will enhance my students’ educational experience when classes recommence in late August.

Image: Instagram

So, my summer book review series will focus primarily on the scholarly contributions of new material (and a sprinkling of a few classics…) and how I will be introducing it in the classroom. Up first is a new collection of essays from UNC Press: The War That Made America, edited by Caroline E. Janney, the late Peter S. Carmichael, and Aaron Sheehan-Dean. This is a festschrift inspired by the scholarship of Civil War historian Gary W. Gallagher. The contributors, editors, and I share a common experience: we were all Gallagher students, and our work bears his imprint in some way or another. I like to tell my students that he is their intellectual grandfather. They should be happy about that. Gary pushed me harder than anyone ever. He did not stand for sloppy thinking and was once so severely critical of my work that he made me cry (true story). But in the end, he taught me how to be a good historian and teacher, and for that I am grateful.

There are two essays in this volume that stand out to me because they deal with Civil war participants and the writing of history, something that I frequently discuss with my students. Kathryn Shively’s essay, “Jubal A. Early, Lee Commemoration, and the Consolidation of Confederate History, 1870-1890,” looks closely at the former Confederate’s contributions to the creation of some of the most enduring Lost Cause themes, especially as they appear in the pages of the Southern Historical Society Papers. What’s important here is that Shively taps into exactly why Early’s work is so compelling (both then and now) and why we should take this cantankerous old unreconstructed Rebel seriously when it comes to the crafting of the Confederate post-war narrative. It seems that Early’s methodology was sound – or at least sound enough to offer convincing conclusions about the epic battles, the virtues of leaders such as Robert E. Lee, and the reasons behind the Confederacy’s demise. Early’s use of documentary evidence established him as the de facto historian of the Confederate cause early in the creation of Confederate history. Without question, he had an exceedingly clear agenda – and modern observers should be aware of his manipulative intent. Still, he argued his history with precision and crafted conclusions supported by verifiable evidence. My Civil War students read and discuss Early’s 1872 address at Washington and Lee University, commemorating Robert E. Lee’s birthday. Next year, I’m coupling the speech with Shively’s essay to underscore Early’s significance in the development of Lost Cause history.

Peter Luebke’s essay, “From the Field of Battle to the Field of History,” takes on how the focus on the professional origins of academic history tends to overlook the contributions of white Union veterans in the writing of Civil War history. I was pleased with this essay because it bolsters my thinking on veteran contributions to the historical landscape – something I have spent the last twenty years investigating. In fact, my current work involves Union veterans’ contributions to the enduring legacy of American exceptionalism. Luebke underscores how first-hand accounts, particularly disseminated through the medium of regimental histories, provide insights that, as the essay notes, “laid the groundwork for the academic discipline.” (207) After all, who could better tell the story of the Union war effort than those who took part in it, with their letters home, diaries, and other personal recollections available for supportive evidence? Of course, Union veterans were also motivated by an agenda, and many explicitly positioned themselves as the guardians of the “true” history of the war. Naturally, they would want to cast themselves in the brightest of lights. Still, with this in mind, Luebke demonstrates with clarity how the men who fought the war capitalized on widespread literacy, the creation of historical archives, and a robust postal system they used for distribution of historical materials. In the end their work placed soldiers’ stories in the center of the narrative, creating a foundation for future military scholars and soldier studies. I have a lesson about Civil War soldiers called “How We Know What We Know,” which is a class favorite. This essay will definitely be on the reading list going forward.     

So, stay tuned! I’ll be taking on other essays in the markedly valuable book in the weeks to come. Grab a copy and read along…it’ll be worth the effort.

With compliments,

Keith