NF Biographies on Nathaniel Banks?

[General Casey]

Anyone know of any biographies on Nathaniel Banks?

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I'm curious myself.

While not a biography, Peter Cozzens' Shenandoah 1862 gives Banks a more favorable treatment than most.

 

[General Casey]

There is one written a few years ago that I found on Amazon as well as one that was made into a website.

Other than those two, it's odd that Banks, who was not only Governor, but served in Congress, does not have at least a few biographies. Butler, who had a similar career, had several written in the 19th Century and a few in the 1950s and 1960s. Brian Jordan is working on a new biography on him.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

There is one written a few years ago that I found on Amazon as well as one that was made into a website.

Wikipedia lists these biographies of Banks:

Fighting Politician: Major General N. P. Banks by Fred Harvey Harrington (1948)
Pretense of Glory: The Life of General Nathaniel P. Banks by James Hollandsworth (LSU Press, 1998)

He's also covered in:
Lincoln's Political Generals: The Battlefield Performance of Seven Controversial Appointees by Benton Rain Patterson (2014)
Lincoln's Political Generals by David Work (2012)

A bit odd that those two books came out only a few years apart with identical main titles, albeit with different stylistic approaches to the subject (Work appears to be a narrative of the war focused on political generals while Patterson's is a collection of seven biographies).

Other than those two, it's odd that Banks, who was not only Governor, but served in Congress, does not have at least a few biographies. Butler, who had a similar career, had several written in the 19th Century and a few in the 1950s and 1960s. Brian Jordan is working on a new biography on him.

Given how controversial Butler was I'm surprised we're only now getting a new biography of him. I'm interested to read it when it comes out.

 

[General Casey]

@Joshism I was planning on writing one on Butler. He has always fascinated me and he's very misunderstood. Most of the negative publicity about Butler comes from those who were politically opposed to Butler or Confederate propaganda.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

@Most of the negative publicity about Butler comes from those who were politically opposed to Butler or Confederate propaganda.

In my senior seminar class, one of the female students wrote her paper about Butler in New Orleans because of his treatment of women there. Her research led her to believe Butler got unfairly criticized.

 

[General Casey]

@Joshism do you remember who it was? I would love to get my hands on that if I ever decide to move forward with the biography

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

@Joshism do you remember who it was? I would love to get my hands on that if I ever decide to move forward with the biography

No, and it was only a bachelors-level seminar, not a dissertation, so I doubt it's available anywhere.

 

[General Casey]

Figured that was the case