This anniversary makes me want to know more about this most important time in our nation's history. I know some basics: the dates, the major players, the appalling statistics of death and destruction. But now seems a good time to add some depth.
Unfortunately, this can be a daunting assignment. The ever-popular Civil War section at my library stretches on and on, there are massive tomes covering each and every battle, and the "introductory" materials come in multi-volume sets.
Louis P. Masur came to my rescue just in the nick of time with his new book "The Civil War: A Concise History." Masur covers the war in six chapters, one for the origins and one for each year, 1861-1865. Notes, reading list and index bring it to 118 pages; can't get much more concise than that!
Though the experts may cringe at such reduction, I found it a wonderful and informative introduction. Reviewers agreed, calling it deft, balanced and even miraculous! Requiring less of a time commitment than a Ken Burns movie, it provides a fine first step.
I found another "easy in" to the war with "Battlefields of the Civil War" by Peter Cozzens. This book, which will not be appearing on your e-reader, covers 26 battles, from the First Manassas, July 1861, through to the end with the Appomattox Campaign. Along with commentary on each battle there are contemporary illustrations, military portraits and quotations from primary sources. Maps are provided for each, including 10 special in-depth pull-out maps for the major campaigns.
Cozzens has written extensively on the Civil War battles. One of his most celebrated titles, "This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga," offers 675 pages of detail. Distilling that level of knowledge into the two and four-page spreads of "Battlefields" was truly a labor of love.
This is a beautifully produced book that invites browsing. The layout allows for quite a bit of wandering but the chronological arrangement maintains narrative thrust. It's as close as you can come to a battlefield museum in your lap.
I have confessed before that I am primarily a reader of fiction. Facts just don't have the same appeal as stories. On the other hand, I'm trying here to bolster my fund of concrete knowledge about the war. My perfect compromise was found in "My Brother's Face: Portraits of the Civil War in Photographs, Diaries, and Letters" by Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod.
The Civil War was the first war to have extensive photographic documentation. "My Brother's Face" includes primarily portraits of soldiers, accompanied by descriptive information and quotations from primary sources. Arranged chronologically, it opens with a picture of Edmund Ruffin, "an ancient and ardent secessionist" who claimed to have fired the first shot at Fort Sumter.
The focus of this book is on the common soldiers of both sides. It also includes some of the important women of the war, primarily spies and nurses. Especially evocative is an excerpt from Clara Barton, who served as a volunteer Union nurse. Having followed the army to Antietam in a self-equipped hospital wagon, Barton camped alone on the eve of battle, praying, as perhaps many others did, for God to either "stay the morrow's strife, or send us victory (as) heavy and sad I waited its approach."
Antietam remains the single bloodiest day in American military history.
The book concludes with portraits of generals Grant and Lee and an excerpt from Grant's "Personal Memoirs" where he describes the surrender:
"When I went into the house I found General Lee. We greeted each other, and after shaking hands took our seats. ... What General Lee's feelings were I do not know ... but my own feelings ... were sad and depressed. I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly and had suffered so much. ... We soon fell into a conversation about old army times ... Our conversation grew so pleasant that I almost forgot the object of our meeting."
Photo from Library of Congress
Later, Grant told his men, "The war is over. The rebels are our countrymen again."
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