To the Soldiers of the Union

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

How quickly do memories fade? Were the citizens of the United States forgetting about the Civil War in the immediate decades following the close of the conflict? Union veterans certainly thought so. In fact, they expressed a palpable anxiety when it came to remembrance...when it came to etching permanently their trials on to the national narrative.

This December 1877 column from the National Tribune, a veterans' publication, illustrates the troubling perception of memories fading - not the memories of those who fought and bled for Union, but those of the citizenry in general:

The events of the war, and the men of the war, are fast fading from the public attention. Its history is growing to be an "Old, Old Story." Public interest is weakening day by day. The memory of march, and camp, and battle-field, of the long and manly endurance, of the superb and uncomplaining courage, of the mass of sacrifice that redeemed the Nation, is fast dying out. Those who rejoice in the liberty and peace secured by the soldier's suffering and privation, accept the benefits, but deny or forget the benefactor.

Reflections such as these were typical; veterans seized the initiative and launched a number of campaigns to ensure that what they saw happening was corrected. Patriotic instruction spearheaded by the GAR, for instance, informed school age children of the causes and consequences of the fight to suppress rebellion. How do we gauge the success of their efforts? In the context of Civil War commemorations coexisting with an exponential increase in population, can we too  sense retrospectively that veterans were losing touch with the national character - especially since many new arrivals to the American shores had no real personal connection to the Civil War? Did Americans forget (or in certain instances, really never know) the benefactor?

I will be working through some of these questions and addressing the old intersecting with the new in upcoming posts. So stay tuned.

Peace,

Keith

Civil War Institute Conference 2012 - A Brief Debriefing

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Well - I braved yesterday's delayed flights in relatively good humor and arrived back home in Hollywood last night marking the official end of the Civil War Institute 2012 conference. From where I sit, fun was had by all - squeaky mattresses and "that" dorm smell notwithstanding.

This year the CWI offered a lineup of first-rate speakers and panelists. Clever folks one and all...the conversations over beers at the end of the day were scintillating to say the least.

The topic this year was the war in 1862. Emancipation naturally figured centrally. But we broached a number of other topics as well. The use of imagery of well known leaders and the dead at Antietam, campaign strategies, military executions, the lives of civilians during wartime, and border state identity crises found a home in the general conference narrative - a narrative that spanned the social, cultural, and political landscape of the Civil War broadly defined.

Approximately 350 attendees - all well informed Civil War enthusiasts, many of whom are (or were)  teachers - converged on Gettysburg with questions at the ready. As I stated at our last panel, I speak often to anyone who will listen about how important it is to be on board with the Web 2.0...how it is clearly the significant tool in terms of personal connections and the dissemination of information. We are currently living through a great educational paradigm shift in which Internet access instantaneously links academics with the public, accelerating the humanities in ways few could have imagined even ten years ago. But we need not lose sight of personal, face to face interaction. It might be the traditional (read: old) way of doing things...but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

I took quite a bit away from a week of engaging with the faculty and attendees at CWI this summer reminding me of just that and I have come to the conclusion that interaction should never be limited to one format. And thus, I suppose there will always be many ways to skin a cat (if any of my cats see this...fear not, you're safe).

Peace,

Keith

 

Ed Bearss at Fredericksburg

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Yesterday I spent the day touring the Fredericksburg battlefield with retired National Park Service chief historian, WWII Marine Corps veteran, and all-around fascinating speaker Ed Bearss. In this video segment, Mr. Bearss discusses some of the battle's opening actions - namely Union engineers constructing pontoon brdges across the Rappahannock River on December 11, 1862.

Mr. Bearss has a distinctive style and seems to possess unlimited enthusiasm and energy. Seriously - I could barely keep up with him...and he is almost 90. I you ever get the opportunity to tour a battlefield with him, jump on the chance - you won't regret it.

Peace,
Keith

When You've Gotta Go....

...you should consider your sectional loyalties carefully.

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

You probably all know by now that I am an avid runner. Yesterday I ran the battlefield at Gettysburg - the College to Cemetery Hill, along the Union line on Cemetery Ridge to Little Round Top, down the hill to the extreme right flank of the Confederate line, the entire Rebel line along Seminary Ridge to the Lutheran Seminary, then I turned around and reversed the route. Suffice it to say, I really got to see the battlefield.

On foot, you begin to notice things you might otherwise miss touring this ground by car. Here is my observation from yesterday. The Union line has three separate restroom areas - two portable and one permanent - and running water with a drinking fountain. The Confederate line has nothing.

This could mean a number of things. In a practical sense one could dismiss any sectional implications simply because the facilities are located in high-traffic areas - on either slope of LRT and smack in the middle of Cemetery Ridge by the Pennsylvania Memorial. Also, for those partaking in the guided tour by car, all three restrooms appear closer to the end of the tour...when people might need them most. But I am not convinced that practicality is at work here. Plenty of people stop and spend a good deal of time at the Virginia Memorial and other spots on the Confederate side...and there are picnic areas and other gathering places as well. And still - no facilities.

From a Confederate perspective - maybe northerners are of a weaker constitution and would need access to fancy-schmancy restrooms and running water that a southerner could do just fine without. On the other hand, if you are of the Federal persuasion, perhaps such luxuries are a way to entice misguided Lost Causers over to the universe of righteous triumph...where they could see the error in their ways while enjoying indoor plumbing. But I wonder if this is just a proverbial middle finger gestured in the southerly direction at a national (read: United States) park. Still rallying behind treason? On board with a slaveholders' war? You can use the woods, Johnnie Reb. Watch out for ticks and have a nice day.

Peace,

Ketih

Blogging the Civil War

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

In a few hours yours truly, along with fellow bloggers Brooks Simpson and Kevin Levin, will be part of a Civil War Institute panel on Civil War blogging. I am quite certain the questions will be first rate...and we are on our best games - there may even be a few moments worth noting. I plan on discussing the utility of blogging as a means to bridge the gulf between academics and an informed public, and how I have used blogging and social media of all kinds to further my research.

If you have any questions about blogging the Civil War - now is your last chance to ask. I will be sure to include them in the panel. And make sure to check out all the latest updates from the conference by following Twitter hashtag #cwi1862
And speaking of an informed public - the photo is a view of the 2012 CWI attendees - patiently waiting for a panel on Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation.

A Thought (or two) on Turning Points

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Gettysburg, my place of residence for the next few days, is a wonderful place to contemplate turning points. Not because I believe the battlefield represents one (or the, as it were), but precisely because the field persists as the culmination of the Confederate war effort in public memory - as the turning point of the Civil War.

I find this troubling primarily because nobody thought this in July 1863. The "high water mark" is a post war construction - written into history by those looking retrospectively for the exact moment when the Rebel cause came at last crashing down...never to rise again. I suppose if you tilt your head to the side, squint, and ignore 1864 entirely, you might arrive at a similar conclusion. But even then the logic is more than slightly flawed.

It might be instructive at this juncture to provide my definition of Civil War turning points - so as not to ruffle too many "high water mark" feathers. A turning point represents a contemporary sea change in opinion, attitude, strategy, or tactics. The battle of Gettysburg does not suggest this to me - nor did it suggest it to the soldiers who fought there (for the most part).

As part of the Civil War Institute Conference, I will be speaking on - and leading a discussion about - turning points in 1862. My talk, titled - strangely enough, 1862: A Year of Turning Points, will cover topics from Ironclads to Emancipation...but not the Battle of Gettysburg  There is also an analytical component to the talk that might surprise the audience. I do not want to give away too much before the fact, so I will save the slam dunk for the debriefing next week.

Until then - be sure to follow the Civil War Institute Twitter feed at #cwi1862 and as always - Peace,

Keith

Artillery Duel at Gettysburg

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

After a grueling day of travel (yesterday) I am now happily in Gettysburg.  The Civil War Institute conference is about to get under way....as a short precursor, I spent the morning with historians Peter Carmichael and Keith Bohannon going over some of the action on July 2nd. Here they are studiously engaging Confederate artillerist Edward Porter Alexander's account of Rebel gun emplacements facing the Peach Orchard.

Standing in the spot Alexander describes (as we did - near the modern day Mississippi monument) it becomes all too striking how close the Confederate and Union positions were. I'll let Alexander do the talking:

Hood, on McLaw's right, first moved out to cross the Emmitsburg Pike and attack Sickle's left flank in the rough ground in front of Round Top. Henry's battalion moved out with him, & they were both heavily opened on by the enemy's artillery, from the Peach Orchard & beyond. To help them out I immediately put in Cabell's whole 18 guns, as one battery, from teh edge of the woods about 700 yards from the Peach Orchard, & then, selecting 18 of my own 26, I put them in action at the nearest point, Warfield's House, where McLaws's line was within 500 yards of the Peach Orchard.

Rarely does one find an artillery duel of such close proximity - it is little wonder that each side sustained the casualties that they did. There will be more battlefield action and news from the conference coming up - be sure to follow Twiiter hashtag #cwi1862 to stay up to date.

Peace,
Keith