Top Ten Posts of 2019: #1-5
/Counting down the top ten posts of 2019!
“John Reeves titled his introduction to this work “Reevaluating Robert E. Lee” but The Lost Indictment of Robert E. Lee is a reevaluation of many things. Reeves reevaluates Robert E. Lee after 1865, the attempted legal case against him and other former Confederates, and Lee’s views on slavery, the war, and Reconstruction. He also reevaluates Andrew Johnson’s role in punishing former Confederates, the attempt and failure to secure punishment against Confederate leaders, and the creation of the Lost Cause in the aftermath of the war. Overall, The Lost Indictment is a fascinating and enjoyable read that untangles many questions about the transition from war to peace after the destructive Civil War.”
#4 “Where were they not on that gory field?”: The Chesapeake Artillery and the Battle of Sharpsburg
“Many accounts by Civil War veterans, both postwar and contemporary, contain errors, omissions, and outright fabrications driven by dynamics that range from simple memory lapses to protecting or enlarging reputations. One such case involves the participation of the Chesapeake Artillery (4th Maryland Light Artillery, CSA) in the battle of Sharpsburg, called Antietam by the Federals. Numerous postwar and even contemporary accounts, including the battery’s most oft-cited contemporary unit history as well as that of at least one modern historian, place the Chesapeake on the field during the battle of September 17, 1862. However, a careful examination of the contemporary historical record clearly indicates that the company was miles away from the fighting that day.”
#3 Editorial: Nathan Bedford Forrest Day: A Failure of Morality, History, and Politics
“For those who don’t know, Nathan Bedford Forrest (whose middle name must always be included for some reason) was a Confederate cavalry general in the Western Theater during the Civil War. He proved an aggressive, capable commander, hailed by some as a something of a self-taught military genius. In his own apocryphal words, his strategy was simple: “Git thar fustest with the most mostest.” Like many Southern commanders, he enjoys a prominent place in Civil War memory. And however regrettable, the celebration and veneration of Confederate commanders isn’t particularly unusual even today, circa 2019. After all, Tennessee also recognizes Robert E. Lee Day and Jefferson Davis Day.”
#2 The Civil War’s Bloodiest Battles West of the Mississippi River
“Some years ago, I picked up a copy of Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage by Grady McWhiney and Perry Jamieson. The book makes two major arguments. First, Confederates assumed the tactical offensive far more than their Federal counterparts, which resulted in massive casualties the Confederacy could ill afford. Second, Confederates took the offensive as a result of Southern and Celtic culture. “The Confederates favored offensive warfare because the Celtic charge was an integral part of their heritage.” It was a controversial and problematic book, rightly ravaged by scholars who tore apart the supposed Confederate-Celtic tactical link. Grady McWhiney’s Neo-Confederate politics probably didn’t help. Yet I found the first part of the book—which thoroughly detailed the Confederate’s propensity for the tactical offensive in the Eastern and Western Theaters—fascinating. Confederate offensives produced staggering casualty rates; as McWhiney and Jamieson argued, “The Confederates had murdered themselves.”Their work inspired me to look at battlefield data from my own area of research, the Trans-Mississippi Theater. With the exception of Pea Ridge, the Trans-Miss hardly registers a blip in McWhiney and Jamieson’s work, a slight somewhat indicative of the field at large. Seldom do scholarly eyes gaze west of the Mississippi. Yet mine have, and I set out to uncover some basic data and answer some basic questions about the Civil War west of the river.”
#1 Visualizing the Civil Rights Movement: Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham, AL
“In 1963, student protesters took to the streets of Birmingham, AL in protests captured in iconic photographs that shocked the nation. Fire hoses and dogs were used by police against children and many were arrested in the efforts to desegregate the city. Located just across the street from the 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park served as a central location for the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham. Today the park is part of the city’s efforts to remember the Civil Rights Movement of Birmingham. The 16th Street Baptist Church, site of the infamous 1963 bombing, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute are located right across the street and there are interpretive signs through the city following the routes of several marches that happened in the 1960s.”