Category Archives: Blog

Southern Unionist Strongholds

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I’ve started my Civil War year by listening to Gary Gallagher’s excellent Teaching Company lectures (more about these later). One of the themes he emphasizes is how the border states were dragged into the Confederacy by their richer, more extremist Deep South cousins.  Every Confederate state would have at least some Unionist supporters, and some had significant pockets of disgruntled residents.

The History Channel deviates from its new mission of pawn shops and storage container auctions to give us this excellent primer to those who were in rebellion to the rebellion. 

It wasn’t unusual for Americans to have conflicting loyalties during the Civil War. Northerners were often sympathetic to the Confederate cause, and many poor, non-slaveholding regions of the South were equally reluctant to join the rebellion against the United States. These “Southern Yankee” hotbeds supplied thousands of troops to the North, and some even went so far as to declare neutrality or secede from the Confederacy altogether. Below, learn the unusual stories behind six Civil War-era Southern territories where Unionist sentiment was most widespread.

via 6 Southern Unionist Strongholds During the Civil War — HISTORY Lists.

‘Point of Honor’

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It seems there’s another new Civil War show in production, but it also seems like this new show is not worth watching.  Given this dismal review and the hilariously awful stills provided, I’m going the Kentucky route of declaring myself neutral with the intent of sitting it out.

There’s a moment about five minutes into Point of Honor that illustrates what precious little thought the producers actually put into this show. An aging plantation owner in 1861 Lynchberg, Virginia tells his fussy daughter Lorelai that she reminds him most of her dead mother. He then brazenly tells a pianist to get up by gruffly barking, “Move boy!” so he can park Lorelai down at the keys. He asks her to play a song that her mother used to play. The song is Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune.”

Now, I get why that might seem innocuous. It’s a famous piano solo that’s so well-known that it appears in Twilight. However, while many antebellum plantation owners were fond of French culture, none of them — as far as I know — were time travelers. Debussy started work on “Clair de Lune” in 1890 and he didn’t publish it until 1902. The song takes its title from a Paul Verlaine poem that was written in 1869. So, you’ll understand why I was so jarred by this musical selection. It’s the same as if Peggy Olsen turned on the radio on Mad Men, and Daft Punk started playing. Sure, not everyone in Point of Honor‘s audience is going to be a history snob, but everyone has google.

via ‘Point of Honor’: Why We’re Fighting Against Amazon’s Civil War Pilot | Decider | Where To Stream TV & Movies on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant, HBO Go.

Weekly Recap: Jan 20

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Weekly Recap: Jan 20

Here’s a recap of last week’s Civil War Podcast blog topics, and suggested readings for further study.

Post: Whipping Man
God’s Almost Chosen Peoples: A Religious History of the American Civil War (Littlefield History of the Civil War Era)
Throughout the Civil War, soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict saw the hand of God in the terrible events of the day, but the standard narratives of the period pay scant attention to religion. Now, in God’s Almost Chosen Peoples, Lincoln Prize-winning historian George C. Rable offers a groundbreaking account of how Americans of all political and religious persuasions used faith to interpret the course of the war.

Post: Southern Jews & the Confederacy
Jews and the Civil War: A Reader
In Jews and the Civil War, Jonathan D. Sarna and Adam Mendelsohn assemble for the first time the foremost scholarship on Jews and the Civil War, little known even to specialists in the field. These accessible and far-ranging essays from top scholars are grouped into seven thematic sections—Jews and Slavery, Jews and Abolition, Rabbis and the March to War, Jewish Soldiers during the Civil War, The Home Front, Jews as a Class, and Aftermath—each with an introduction by the editors. Together they reappraise the impact of the war on Jews in the North and the South, offering a rich and fascinating portrait of the experience of Jewish soldiers and civilians from the home front to the battle front.

Post: Grant’s Anti-Jewish Order
The Jewish Confederates (NS)
Reveals the breadth of Jewish participation in the American Civil War on the Confederate side. Rosen describes the Jewish communities in the South and explains their reasons for supporting the South. He relates the experiences of officers, enlisted men, politicians, rabbis and doctors.

Post: That Obnoxious Order
When General Grant Expelled the Jews
A riveting account of General Ulysses S. Grant’s decision, in the middle of the Civil War, to order the expulsion of all Jews from the territory under his command, and the reverberations of that decision on Grant’s political career, on the nascent American Jewish community, and on the American political process.

Post: Lincoln’s Coffin
Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis

Two weeks later, President Lincoln was assassinated, and the nation was convinced that Davis was involved in the conspiracy that led to the crime. Lincoln’s murder, autopsy,and White House funeral transfixed the nation. His final journey began when soldiers placed his corpse aboard a special train that would carry him home to Springfield,Illinois. Along the way, more than a millionAmericans looked upon their martyr’s face,and several million watched the funeral train roll by. It was the most magnificent funeral pageant in American history.

Post: Point of Honor
This show and To Appomattox sound suspect. Why not watch Ken Burns’ The Civil War or Band of Brothers instead?

Replica of Lincoln’s Coffin on Tour

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I’m posting this too late for it to be of use to Indiana buffs, but there are enough interesting facts to merit mentioning it anyway.  If you ever wanted to know the difference between a coffin and a casket, for instance – I’d never given it much thought before.  I’d also not given much thought to the size of a coffin needed to bury a 6’4″ President.  It says here that Lincoln’s coffin was only 2″ taller that the big man himself, which is a surprise.  Was he buried shoeless and after a haircut?

April 14, 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Abraham Lincoln. In remembrance of this historic date, a replica of the well-loved president’s coffin will be on display for public viewing at Farley Funeral Homes and Crematory in January. 

This replica, known as the Lincoln Replica, was made by the Batesville Casket Company in Batesville, Indiana. According to a Batesville representative, it is one of four replicas touring the country. A fifth coffin is on permanent display in Springfield, Missouri, Lincoln’s birthplace. The coffin, authentic down to the smallest details, measures 6 feet 6 inches long and is constructed of solid walnut. It is completely covered in black broadcloth and has a white satin interior.

via Replica of Lincoln’s coffin to visit the Suncoast – Sarasota News | Mysuncoast.com and ABC 7: Featured.

That Obnoxious Order

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The first link on this page leads to Jonathan Sarna’s lecture “That Obnoxious Order”, a 30 minute lecture on Grant’s anti-Jewish order. Sarna’s speaking style is entertaining, and his research is intriguing: He suggests Jesse Grant, the general’s annoying father, might have been a driving impetus to Ulysses’ actions.

Center for Jewish Studies – Download free content from University of Wisconsin-Madison on iTunes.

America’s Worst Anti-Jewish Action

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The same author from yesterday’s article wrote earlier about Grant’s infamous anti-Jewish order from 1862.  Sad to see the words of some of the greatest heroes laid bare with anti-semitism.

A few months earlier, on August 11, General William Tecumseh Sherman had warned in a letter to the adjutant general of the Union Army that “the country will swarm with dishonest Jews” if continued trade in cotton were encouraged. And Grant also issued orders in November 1862 banning travel in general, by “the Israelites especially,” because they were “such an intolerable nuisance,” and railroad conductors were told that “no Jews are to be permitted to travel on the railroad.”

As a result of Grant’s expulsion order, Jewish families were forced out of their homes in Paducah, Kentucky, and Holly Springs and Oxford, Mississippi – and a few were sent to prison. When some Jewish victims protested to President Lincoln, Attorney General Edward Bates advised the president that he was indifferent to such objections.

Lincoln rescinded Grant’s odious order, but not before Jewish families in the area had been humiliated, terrified, and jailed, and some stripped of their possessions.

via The Jewish Press » » Shame of the Yankees – America’s Worst Anti-Jewish Action.

Southern Jews and the Confederacy

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In his exhaustive Civil War Narrative, Shelby Foote made an offhand mention about Lee’s lines around Richmond being stretched so thin he couldn’t even give his Jewish soldiers a day off for Passover. I always figured this was a weird little throwaway line, but by this telling of it, Lee’s army had quite a sizeable Jewish population.  While this is a very slanted article, it’s an interesting one for detailing Jewish involvement in (and according to the author, acceptance by) the Confederacy.

Yet many of us in the South, including those descended from old Jewish families of the Confederacy, still struggle to expose the truth about why Southern soldiers fought, the courage they showed against overwhelming odds, and the sacrifices they made.

The history of the Confederacy is full of long-forgotten tales of Jewish heroes, warriors, and leaders. This is a story little known today, absent from history books and an embarrassment to liberal Jewish historians ashamed of the prominent role played by Jews in supporting, defending and fighting for the Confederacy. It is a government about which they know little except for its association with slavery.

via The Jewish Press » » Southern Jews and the Confederacy.

‘Whipping Man’

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I caught a mention of the play, The Whipping Man, which opens in Costa Mesa, California January 25th.  By this review, it’s a must-see, and it is centered upon a facet of the war I had never considered before: Jewish Southerners who raised their slaves as Jews.  I’m researching more on the topic for subsequent posts. Stay tuned, unless you’re in Costa Mesa, in which you should tune out and go see the play!

Matthew Lopez’s “The Whipping Man” gives us something even more intriguing – and more gut-wrenching. Imagine Southern Jews of the Civil War era. Now imagine them alongside slaves whom they’ve raised within the precepts of Judaism.

That’s “The Whipping Man,” and its Martin Benson-directed staging at South Coast Repertory is a powerhouse.

via ‘Whipping Man’ casts shadow over Old South – The Orange County Register.

To Appomattox – Our Cast

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There’s a Civil War mini series coming in 2015.  Given how amateurish the website is, my expectations are pretty low, but the cast list makes me think it’ll be fantastically acted, at the very least!  There are a lot of Band of Brothers vets here, including the swoonworthy ginger Damian Lewis playing swoonworthy ginger Tecumseh Sherman.  And Neal McDonough’s the perfect choice for casting Joe Hooker’s ice blue eyes.

Band of Brothers, for those who haven’t seen it, tells the tale of the 101st Airborne in WWII.  It is the best historical TV I’ve ever seen, and the cast (then all unknowns, now huge names) was absolutely stellar.  If you feel like straying from the Civil War path for entertainment, this warrants repeated viewings.

To Appomattox – Our Cast.

Weekly Recap: Jan 13

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Weekly Recap: Jan 13

Here’s a recap of last week’s Civil War Podcast blog topics, and suggested readings for further study.

Post: Wisconsin in the Civil War
This Wicked Rebellion: Wisconsin Civil War Soldiers Write Home
From impressions of army life and the South to the hardships of disease and battle, these letters tell the story of the war through the eyes and pens of those who fought in it. This Wicked Rebellion brings to life the heroism and heartache, mayhem and misery of the Civil War, and the powerful role Wisconsin played in it.

Post: Sherman and the burning of Columbia
Sherman and the Burning of Columbia
Marion B. Lucas tackles one of the most debated questions about the Civil War: Who burned South Carolina’s capital city on February 17, 1865? Before the fires had finished smoldering, Confederates and Federals accused each other of starting the blaze, igniting a controversy that has raged for more than a century. To determine the actual origin of the fire, Lucas sifts through myriad official records, newspapers, and eyewitness accounts. The evidence he amasses allows him to debunk many of the myths surrounding the tragedy.

Post: Blacks at the White House levees
Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker
Mrs Keckley described the levees in her behind the scenes role as dressmaker to Mary Lincoln.
Chiaverini’s latest is based on the true story of Elizabeth Keckley, who bought freedom from slavery for herself and her son and went on to become a well-known modiste in Washington. Keckley had a front-row seat to history: she dressed Washington’s A-list, including Jefferson Davis’ wife before they left D.C., and, most intimately, Mary Todd Lincoln.

Post: Long Reach of Civil War Wounds
Learning from the Wounded: The Civil War and the Rise of American Medical Science (Civil War America)
Devine does a remarkable job of showing how wartime experience catalyzed and reconfigured the evolution of American medicine along scientific lines, stimulating vastly increased attention to pathological investigation, experimentation, specialization, and probing of the nature of disease.

Post: Lincoln’s War With the Press
Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion
Holzer shows us an activist Lincoln through journalists who covered him from his start through to the night of his assassination—when one reporter ran to the box where Lincoln was shot and emerged to write the story covered with blood. In a wholly original way, Holzer shows us politicized newspaper editors battling for power, and a masterly president using the press to speak directly to the people and shape the nation.

Post: Unfriendly Fires
Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862-1867
Known collectively as the United States Colored Troops and organized in segregated regiments led by white officers, some of these soldiers guarded army posts along major rivers; others fought Confederate raiders to protect Union supply trains, and still others took part in major operations like the Siege of Petersburg and the Battle of Nashville. After the war, many of the black regiments took up posts in the former Confederacy to enforce federal Reconstruction policy. Freedom by the Sword tells the story of these soldiers’ recruitment, organization, and service.

Post: King Cotton
Empire of Cotton: A Global History
The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and factory owners. Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the world of modern capitalism, including the vast wealth and disturbing inequalities that are with us today. The result is a book as unsettling as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist.