4 comments about Patriots in Disguise: Women Warriors of the Civil War.

1. We might think that women in the military is a modern day phenomenon, related somehow to the Women's Lib movement. But, SURPRISE, Richard Hall paints a colorful historical picture of many patriotic and dedicated women who, in a period in our country's history dominated by hoop skirts and constricting corsets, secretely traded their hoops and corsets for military battle uniforms. Disguised as men -- the only way for these women to serve in our country's Civil War military campaigns -- they served in disguise, discovered as women only when they were injured and required medical care in field hospitals! Author Richard Hall has researched these women's lives extensively, and the many pages of actual Civil War-era photographs and engravings included in the book bring these women's stories to life in vivid detail.



2. Not wildly scholarly, but reasonably useful discussion of women who were on the battlefield in the Civil War. This is structured around descriptions of specific women such as the nurse Anna Etheridge, the soldier Franklin Thompson, the whatever-she-really-was Loreta Janeta Velazquez. There isn't much theoretical discussion here, nor is there much explanation of how women's disguises were able to work--and, despite the title, much time is given to vivandieres, nurses and the like.



3. In Patriots in Disguise by Richard Hall, I learned about all the roles the women played in the Civil War, from nursing, serving as patriotic leaders, and some even would go so far as to dress in male attire to serve their cause. The book mainly focuses around the stories of a few important figures: the nurse Anna Etheridge, and soldiers-in-disguise Sarah Emma Edmonds (aka Frank Thompson) and Loreta Janeta Velazquez (aka Lieutenant Harry T. Buford). In a time when women had limited rights, the only way that these courageous figures could serve was in disguises of military uniform, a big difference from the hoops skirts and corsets that they had previously worn. It was a major step in women's rights and the fight for gender equality.
   I enjoyed the topic of this book, women's roles in the Civil War, but I continued to wonder exactly how the women could pull off male disguises without being known. I did find it amusing at the end of the book to discover that some women were caught when they had babies and even one was discovered after trying to pull her pants on over her head. This book didn't exactly give me more information about the Civil War itself, but I liked that the roles of women was mainly told through the tales of the women who had done them. Before I read this book, I never really had thought about how courageous these women were to risk their lives and take the secret of their identity to their grave, all because they wanted adventure and they believed in their cause or wanted to support their home state, and feel like a true patriot. They could take action in the war, instead of just staying at home and helping the wounded troops, but by helping fill their ranks.
   I didn't exactly enjoy the writing style of the book because it read more like a history book without one specific plot line, but it wasn't too long of a book, so I was able to finish it quickly and get it over with. I don't think that I would recommend this book as either a book for pleasure or even as a book that you should choose when needing to read about the Civil War. On the other hand, I wouldn't say that it is the worst book ever as long as you are at least interested in women roles in the Civil War, but the information given is only satisfactory.



4. I enjoyed this well-researched book even though I'm not a history buff. I found it light on Confederate stories with a pro-North undertone, but was pleased with what seems to be a fair reporting of facts. The stories were interesting and the book was an easy and very interesting read.

No comments about Lincoln's Resolute Unionist: Hamilton Gamble, Dred Scott Dissenter And Missouri's Civil War Governor (Southern Biography Series).

No comments about Inside the White House in War Times: Memoirs and Reports of Lincoln's Secretary.

2 comments about Compelled To Appear In Print: The Vicksburg Manuscript of General John C. Pemberton.

1. This book is built on a newly-discovered, never published manuscript by Confederate General John Pemberton, commander at Vicksburg when it surrendered to Grant. The manuscript itself is substantial...85 pages in this book's format. To position the manuscript, Dave Smith has written an excellent summary of the Vicksburg Campaign. Further, he adds a chapter on the conflicts and issues in the relationships among Pemberton, General Joseph Johnston (Pemberton's superior), and Confederate President Jefferson Davis. After the manuscript, he adds a chapter on his conclusions from his study of the Pemberton manuscript.

   Pemberton wrote the document in the late 1870's before his death in 1881, to respond to Johnston's autobiographical NARRATIVE OF MILITARY OPERATIONS. Even after 120 years, the anger and hurt comes through. Johnston had essentially placed the blame for the loss of Vicksburg on Pemberton, citing his incompetence and disobedience of orders. Pemberton takes each of Johnston's eight charges, and argues his side of the case. Smith has made this more understandable for the reader by inserting (in easily distinguishable font and italics) the specific exerpts from the Johnston book to which Pemberton was referring; many of Pemberton's points would have been lost to me without those insertions.

   Another specific contribution which Smith made to the manuscript itself was his description of a visit by Davis and Johnston to Pemberton and Vicksburg in December, 1862 (before the Vicksburg Campaign would escalate in the spring and culminate on July 4th). Given the fact that Davis, Johnston, and Pemberton seemed only a few weeks later to have no agreement or common thinking on their strategy, one wonders what they talked about during their several days together. Certainly, they MUST have talked about whether Vicksburg must be held at all costs....but in the spring, Johnston seemed to think not while Davis and Pemberton certainly thought it must. Perhaps they never considered what to do in a siege....but, if not, what were they really expecting Grant to do? He certainly had given no indication of giving up easily! This lost opportunity for strategic alignment echoes through the Pemberton manuscript, as I read it.

   For me, Pemberton presents his case in a compelling, convincing, and interesting manner. To my (amateur) reading, he does not often imply that he knew in 1863 everything that he would know when writing in the late 1870's. However, on one occasion, he did allow himself to refer to Johnston as "the great master of retreat", taking advantage of the reputation Johnston would get during his portion of the Atlanta Campaign in 1864.

   Johnston does not come out of this book in very good shape. In fact, the picture of Johnston is very reminiscent of that in Jeffrey Lash's DESTROYER OF THE IRON HORSE. In fact, one of Lash's primary examples of Johnston's misuse of the railroads occurred during the Vicksburg Campaign, when he lost of large quantity of Confederate rolling stock and engines by waiting too long to order their movement to safer locations. Smith summarizes Johnston's failure to take any action to relieve Pemberton in Vicksburg by saying that he "either had no intention of acting or was incapable of mustering the courage and energy to face the situation". Personally, it seems to me to have been the latter. The puzzling, frustrating impact of Johnston's inertia comes through clearly in the Pemberton manuscript.

   This is an excellent book, very readable and quite interesting. Smith's background chapter will assist the reader who is not familiar with the Vicksburg Campaign to understand it well enough to follow Pemberton's discussion. That understanding is aided by several simple, clear, excellent maps. One does not need to be a military history scholar to appreciate this book. However, as Ed Bearss' introduction makes clear, even the elite class of military history scholars will likely also find this book worth their while.




2. "Compelled To Appear In Print, The Vicksburg Manuscript of General John C. Pemberton" was a work-in-progress for the past 137 years. David M. Smith brings it to the light of day with the justice it deserves. His views and those of Edwin C. Bearss, Historian Emeritus, National Park Service will secure this work among the finest written on the Confederacy for years to come. Let's hear more from him!

2 comments about The Military Memoirs of General John Pope (Civil War America).

1. Peter Cozzens rightly compares General John Pope's memoires with those of U.S. Grant and W.T. Sherman. This is a highly readable account from one of the participants in some of the least-understood episodes of the Civil War.

   Of course, Pope's writings are not "new." As Cozzens relates, the entries which make up this book appeared in the National Tribune and other Reconstruction-era publications. However, they have spent the last century forgotten by the general public. Cozzens and his colleague, Gerardi, have done a great service both to Civil War scholars and to the casual Civil War buff by bringing Pope's reminiscences and analyses to life.

   What is most surprising is the humor, candor and generosity of a man who has gone down in history as a narrow, bitter mediocrity. For example, devotees of General Lee, whose comments largely consigned Pope to history almost as a barbarian, will be surprised to read Pope's poetic evocation of the beauty of Virginia and the nobility of its citizens.

   In a similar vein, readers will benefit from a "fresh" take on a wide range of issues -- such as the relationships between Lincoln, Stanton, Halleck and McClellan -- from a player very much in the know, but whose views have gone largely unremarked.

   My only cautionary note would be that an appreciation of this volume depends upon a basic understanding of the events of the war, and perhaps also upon an introductory familiarity with the post-war debates on those events.




2. Peter Cozzens and Robert Girardi provided an excellent service to Civil War scholars by assembling the collected newspaper essays that General John Pope wrote in way of reflecting on his Civil War career. Best known for his stunning defeat at Second Bull Run and his bravado, a very different Pope emerges here. Often witty, Pope left excellent sketches of President Lincoln (an old friend of the family), Edwin Stanton, as well as numerous commanders of both the North and the South. Pope is excellent in capturing the chaos and incompetence of John Fremont's command in Missouri in the first days of the war. His scathing attack on Henry Halleck's torturously slow move towards Corinth reveals the extent of this wasted opportunity. But Pope is best known for two battles: Island Number 10 and Second Bull Run. His account of Island Number 10 is a bit rushed though certainly through. While Pope does an excellent job of describing the layout of his forces at the start of the Bull Run campaign, he relies on official records a bit too much and seems willing to let the matter slide. That is understandable, after all Pope was humiliated by Lee at Second Bull Run. The problem is that the Second Bull Run campaign was Pope's moment in the sun and he has little to say on it. With the large exceptions of George McClellan and Fitz John Porter, who Pope believed deliberately undermined his command, there is little bitterness. Even Nathaniel Banks, who picked a fight at Cedar Mountain against Pope's orders and was mauled by Stonewall Jackson, comes off relatively unscathed. It seems as if all of Pope's fire was being saved for McClellan and Porter, as can be seen in the memoirs as well as in a correspondence with the Comte de Paris which is included in an appendix. The memoirs reveal Pope to be much more intelligent and witty than his traditional blowhard persona would indicate though the bile is still there certainly in the cases of Porter and McClellan. One can see from these memoirs why so many men, including Grant and Sherman, seemed to like and respect Pope and while others had no use for the man. All in all, an interesting and revealing memoir to some long neglected parts of the war though be warned the main course, Second Bull Run, remains a bit bland.

2 comments about The Death and Resurrection of Jefferson Davis (American Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield)).

1. I have read many books on the War Between the States and very rarely come across a topic which is new. This book covers a subject that is little known by even culture concious Southerners. A very good read about an event that was pivotal in post war Southern History. If you are a Southerner this is a must. If you have any interest in the post war treatment of the personalities on that conflict, you will enjoy.
   
   Winston Churchill wrote - "Poor is a nation that has no heroes. Poorer still is one that has them and forgets them."
   
   This author has presented us with a way of remembering one of our Southern heroes. I think many readers will be surprised by this work.
   
   Highly recomended to Southerners and anyone who has an interest in the human experience.



2. Jeff Davis, beloved by many in the South and known as the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War died from heartbreak and mistreatment and looked old in his coffin on Dec. 5, 1889. His funeral train was as popular as Lincoln's removal to his home state of Illinois and much later FDR's train trip back from Georgia to Washington, D. C.
   
   When his body was laid in state in New Orleans, the prominence of the U. S. flags illustrated his burial as an officer in the American Army prior to his notoriety during the Civil War. He was first buried in a tomb of the Army of Northern Virginia in Metairie Cemetery.
   
   In May 28-31, 1893, after it has been displayed in the rotunda of the state capital in Raleigh, North Carolina, it was sent on to Richmond, Virginia. The route of the Jefferson Davis funeral train left New Orleans, stopped in Beavoir, Mobile, Montgomery, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, Charlotte, Greensboro, also stopped in Danville, Virginia. The funeral carriage was a remodeled artillery caisson with the U. S. flag prominently displayed. His remains were transferred to Hollywood Cemetery, The Third National Flag of the Confederacy decorated the head of his final resting place, with the Battle Flag at the foot. There is a bronze statute on his grave in the Davis Circle family plot at the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.
   
   Much maligned after the South lost the war, he was imprisoned in shackles and chains at Fort Monroe. His life and reputation has sunk to a seemingly unredeemable low. During the first three years after his death, his public image was ressurrected to a state of near adulation, and his fellow Southerners recognized him as one of their most important sons. He remains so today.
   
   The reburial three and a half years after his death demonstrated that Southerners increasingly were growing more overtly proud of the Confederacy. On June 3, 1907, a remarkable monument designed by Valentine and Noland was unveiled on what would have been his 99th birthday. It still stands in the park named in his honor in Memphis. It included the Confederate flags and symbols. Let by a group of University of Tennessee professors from the North, they are trying to have his memorial park renamed and the statue removed.
   
   It was a great American and did what he thought was best for the South, his beloved countryside. It's too bad that his life following the Civil War was so harmful to his health and what he had stood for. The flag has been removed from South Carolina's state flag, and Maryville College here in Tennessee can't keep their Rebel flag. What on earth is going on? Do those Northerners want another Civil War? It is best to leave dead dogs buried and the prejudices along with them. We natives of the South will always love Jeff Davis and what he stood for; the flag will never die. Resurrection is at hand.
   
   This historian has also written WAR CRIME OR INJUSTICE? GENERAL GEORGE PICKETT AND THE MASS EXECUTION OF DESERTERS IN CIVIL WAR KINSTON, NORTH CAROLINA and AN UNQUIET TIME: ALABAMA AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, 1950-68, among many other Southern history.

No comments about Planting The Union Flag In Texas: The Campaigns of Major General Nathaniel P. Banks in the West (Red River Valley Books).

2 comments about Confederate General of the West: Henry Hopkins Sibley.

1. General Sibley was in charge of the Confederate Army that invaded New Mexico in 1862. He drank a bit! This bit of Civil War history never makes it into the books. This book is very informative and is very good reading. In "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" this is the Civil War campaign that the film is based around.



2. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Civil War in the Southwest. Understanding Sibley is the key to understanding the successes and failures of the invasion of New Mexico. This book provides a great deal of detail on the invasion, the centerpiece of Sibley's career and the high point of a mediocre military career.
   
   There are a number of typos and poorly worded passages that lead me to believe this book was never thoroughly edited, but they are minor and the reader can overlook them. The narrative flows easily and the book is organized mostly in chronological fashion.
   
   I found myself wanting to know more when I was finished. The author was very thorough in most respects but some small questions were left unanswered - why it took 70 years for his grave to get a headstone - what was the resolution of his lawsuit against the government for residuals on the sale of the Sibley tent and whether his family ever got any money from such a settlement - why Sherman was so involved in helping Sibley later in life (it was never made clear if they were close before the Civil War or if they served together for any significant period).
   
   But these unanswered questions do not detract from the excellent job the author did in portraying Sibley. I feel a greater sense of sympathy for him now because I understand more about him - the author brought him to life.

No comments about The Commanders of Chancellorsville: The Gentleman vs. The Rogue.

No comments about Narrative of Sojourner Truth (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics).