Mind Changing Books

[contestedground]

Which book (and try to limit yourself to one) changed your mind most about the American Civil War era?

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

Bruce Catton - The Coming Fury. I was 14 years old when I read it (1964) and had never realized that non-combat, political and social history could be fascinating. He wrote this entire book - and 1st Manassas only happens at the end (IIRC)! It was a revelation.

 

[leftyhunter]

Which book (and try to limit yourself to one) changed your mind most about the American Civil War era?

"Bitterly divided the Souths inner Civil War " David Williams thenewpress.com
Very well documented book that proves the South was far from united in it's support of the Confederacy.
Leftyhunter

 

[bdtex]

Which book (and try to limit yourself to one) changed your mind most about the American Civil War era?

So far that would be John Bell Hood: The Rise,Fall, and Resurrection of a Confederate General by Stephen Hood.

 

[Tin cup]

A real revelation to me was :
Editors Make War: Southern Newspapers in the Secession Crisis
by Professor Emeritus Donald E Reynolds Ph.D. M.A. B.A.

Kevin Dally

 

[Pat Young]

Race and Reunion by David Blight

 

[Youngblood]

Lee's Lieutenants
by
Douglas Southhall Freeman

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

Lee's Lieutenants by Douglas Southhall Freeman

Interesting. Would you be kind enough to explain how that book changed your mind - from what, to what? I ask in no hostile manner - just curious.

 

[Bruce Vail]

Race and Reunion by David Blight

Blight's book is brilliant. The best I've read in many years.

 

[Youngblood]

MajGenlMeade
Maybe not so much changed my mind as opened it. All the petty infighting, the officers who were timid, the mistakes made etc.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

hm...

In the sense of a major course-changing moment, I'm not sure there have been any like that-- it's been more of an accumulation and evolution. Some books have influenced me more than others, naturally.

 

[CSA Today]

"Bitterly divided the Souths inner Civil War " David Williams thenewpress.com
Very well documented book that proves the South was far from united in it's support of the Confederacy.
Leftyhunter

Wasn't David Williams the fellow that had the Lumbee Indians (the Lowrie gang) attacking the railroad and Confederate installations in my area of North Carolina during the war? It would be nice to see the "well documented" sources for that hitherto unknown facts hereabouts.

 

[leftyhunter]

Wasn't David Williams the fellow that had the Lumbee Indians (the Lowrie gang) attacking the railroad and Confederate installations in my area of North Carolina during the war? It would be nice to see the "well documented" sources for that hitherto unknown facts hereabouts.

The listed sources for the Lumbee Indians guerrilla campaign in Eastern North Carolina are Finger, "Eastern Band of the Cherokes, p.83 Hauptman, " Between two fires" p.76 and p. 87. Yes Williams does say the Lumbees tore up railroad tracks in Eastern North Carolina.
Leftyhunter

 

[CSA Today]

The listed sources for the Lumbee Indians guerrilla campaign in Eastern North Carolina are Finger, "Eastern Band of the Cherokes, p.83 Hauptman, " Between two fires" p.76 and p. 87. Yes Williams does say the Lumbees tore up railroad tracks in Eastern North Carolina.
Leftyhunter

That puts Williams' whole reliability as a researcher into question. The Lumbee insurgents never numbered more than about 38 men including a number of white union escapees from the Florence, SC POW camp in late 1864 and early 1865. All the escaped POWs save possibly one rejoined Sherman's army when it came through in early march 1865. The gang typically numbered 15 -20 men during most of it existence (late 1864-1872). The gang hid in Raft Swamp during the day and attacked individual loyal citizens and homesteads at night. They never ventured more than a few miles from their hideout to avoid the Home Guard – the only Confederate forces in the county. The Lumbees primary residence, (then and now) is Robeson County. Robeson County is the largest county in North Carolina – approximately the size of the country of Luxembourg. Robeson County is in southeastern North Carolina butThe Lowrie led insurgents never covered the whole of the county much less areas in the rest of eastern North Carolina.

As for railroads, the Confederates transferred rolling stock from Wilmington 100 east to Laurinburg after the fall of Fort Fisher 15 January 1865 without interference from the Lumbees. The tracks ran right through their territory without any damage. The rolling stock was destroyed by Sherman's army when it came through Laurinburg March 8-9, 1865.

 

[leftyhunter]

That puts Williams' whole reliability as a researcher into question. The Lumbee insurgents never numbered more than about 38 men including a number of white union escapees from the Florence, SC POW camp in late 1864 and early 1865. All the escaped POWs save possibly one rejoined Sherman's army when it came through in early march 1865. The gang typically numbered 15 -20 men during most of it existence (late 1864-1872). The gang hid in Raft Swamp during the day and attacked individual loyal citizens and homesteads at night. They never ventured more than a few miles from their hideout to avoid the Home Guard – the only Confederate forces in the county. The Lumbees primary residence, (then and now) is Robeson County. Robeson County is the largest county in North Carolina – approximately the size of the country of Luxembourg. Robeson County is in southeastern North Carolina butThe Lowrie led insurgents never covered the whole of the county much less areas in the rest of eastern North Carolina.

As for railroads, the Confederates transferred rolling stock from Wilmington 100 east to Laurinburg after the fall of Fort Fisher 15 January 1865 without interference from the Lumbees. The tracks ran right through their territory without any damage. The rolling stock was destroyed by Sherman's army when it came through Laurinburg March 8-9, 1865.

If you want to have a debate about the integrity of Williams book by all means do so .However that is not the purpose of this thread. It would be better to create a seperate thread so this one does not get derailed.
Leftyhunter

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

David Potter's Impending Crisis. Before I read that I thought slavery was probably the biggest factor in the Civil War occurring. After I finished it I understood slavery was THE cause of the war. It killed all other notions dead to me. (Reading the secession declarations on these forums buried the corpse.)

 

[Carpetbagger]

A real revelation to me was :
Editors Make War: Southern Newspapers in the Secession Crisis
by Professor Emeritus Donald E Reynolds Ph.D. M.A. B.A.

Kevin Dally

That looks like a very good book. Just ordered a copy. Thanks!

 

[Blessmag]

I would suggest this strongly changed my mind about why Union generals did not pursue after a battle. Think I was always under the impression that they were chicken or lacked the drive to follow up. This book strongly suggested logistics and supply were often the real reason. Lincoln may have wanted the army to move, but you can't move hungry animals and men and then add the necessary items for battle such as rounds to fire.

As you can tell, I enjoyed this read!

 

[Carpetbagger]

hm...

In the sense of a major course-changing moment, I'm not sure there have been any like that-- it's been more of an accumulation and evolution. Some books have influenced me more than others, naturally.

I'm like that except for the book that got me interested in the Civil War in the first place, Daniel Sutherland's Seasons of War. Ten years ago I had been an part-time undergrad European history student for 2 years and the university's Civil War professor recommended I read Sutherland's book. Its not a political history or military history, its a social history of the experiences of the residents of Culpeper County, Va, through the 4 years of war. It blew me away. 6 months later I was in grad school focusing on the war. Seasons changed my impression of the Civil War from "not being very interesting" to "oh yes, it is." Since then, "accumulation and evolution" fits me, too.

 

[RebelHeart]

In truth, I would be remiss if I didn't mention three books here...

First, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Albeit a work of fiction, it was based in factual treatments of slaves and it opened my eyes to harsh realities that I was previously naive to (I read this when I was thirteen at the recommendation of a teacher).

Second, 12 Years A Slave by Solomon Northup, which I read shortly after completing Uncle Tom's Cabin, again on the recommendation of the same teacher. It affirmed what Stowe had suggested in her timeless novel.

Third was Irish Lace by Andrew M. Greeley. While the book was a part of fiction series, Greeley drew from actual history as backdrops for his stories, and this centered around the atrocities of Camp Douglass in Chicago. Admittedly I had never really known about the place until I read the book, and it spurned me to learn more about the place sometimes referred to as "80 Acres of Hell." While I had been aware of the history of Andersonville, I had been oblivious to the similar places that existed in the North.

It is also worthy of note that the existence of the internet and Amazon.com were unheard-of at the times I read these books, so most of my research came from the patient assistance of local librarians and historians.