John Brown

I would feel remiss if I didnt mention that today is the beginning of the 150th cycle with John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry in his failed attempt to put a swift and violent end to Slavery. That event was termed the fire bell ringing in the night and lit the fuse, although some can argue it had already been lit in Kansas. To keep it relavent though, I will share a couple of Army of Tennessee links to Old Brown.

Captain John Brown had come onto the national stage during Bleeding Kansas as a leader of a band of abolitionist forces and with great infamy for the Pottawatomie Massacre (May 24-25, 1856). The first family to be visited that night was that of James P. Doyle an immigrant from Hamilton Co, TN, Doyle and his eldest sons, William and Drury, were hacked and shot to death. Brown would spare 16 year old John Doyle. The Doyle survivors would soon return back to Hamilton County, and after Brown was captured at Harper's Ferry, young John would be offered to opportunity of pulling the lever to hang Brown. In 1861 John Doyle would enlist in the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry (Ashby's) and serve as bugler, fighting in Wheeler's Cavalry for most of the war.

A wave of fear swept through the South in the months following Harper's Ferry, headlines read "The Riot", "Invasion", and most terrifying of all to Southerners, "Insurrection". Brown proved to them that all the rumors were true in their minds, that the North wanted another Haiti for them. Throughout the south milita companies were formed, membership in pre existing militas grew and states began to allocate large sums of money for the purchase of weapons, etc. Among the groups that were formed were many companies that would soon become part of the Army of Tennessee, specifically Company A and Company B of the 10th South Carolina Infantry.

The Maps of Chickamauga

We are alive but busy with many things, including the upcoming West Coast Civil War Roundtable Conference, but I thought I would take the time to point out an incredibly important book is about to come out on the Battle of Chickamauga. This work, the Maps of the Battle of Chickamauga, by Dave Powell and published by Savas Beatie, LLC, http://www.savasbeatie.com/books/Chickamauga_book.htm, is the definative one volume work on the battle at this time and the maps are superb, reflecting the quality of all titles from Savas Beatie.
If you have been intimidated with Chickamauga before I highly recommend this book.

Welcome to Dave Powell

Dave Powell is one of the top historians on the Battle of Chickamauga and his map study of the battle will become a standard on the history of the battle when it comes out this fall. Dave has launched his own blog on the Battle of Chickamauga, you can check it out at http://bullrunnings.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/chickamauga-blog/ So, welcome Dave, glad to have you in the blogging world.

Lee

A Good Read

Wanted to post a quick note to my memory post. The most recent Tennessee Historical Quarterly includes an excellent essay by James B. Williams title "The Tennessee Civil War Commission: Looking to the Past as Tennessee Plans for the Future."

Overlooked Western Battles

The following article addresses the lack of attention given to the battles of the Trans-Mississippi, thought it would be appropriate today since everyone's attention seems to be focused on that small Pennsylvania college town. Also note that a number of the units that made up the Army of Tennessee had their first combat experiences at either Wilson's Creek or Pea Ridge.

http://www.rockwallheraldbanner.com/cnhins/local_story_181170648.html?keyword=topstory

Remembering the Civil War

I've just read David Blight's thoughts on the Civil War Sesquicentennial published in The Chronicle of Higher Education http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i38/38blight.htm and it has gotten me thinking about how the 150th anniversary will be marked here in Chattanooga. As Dr. Blight points out "the centennial commemoration of the Civil War was a political and historical debacle." Racism, anti-communism, and Lost Causism all worked to obscure the causes and consequences of the conflict. Most of the centennial celebrated "a master narrative of mutual heroism in a war in which everyone had fought for their sense of the 'right'."

As Blight points out the 150th anniversary allows us the opportunity to stare the past directly in the face and to struggle with the complex and troubling history of the war and its aftermath (especially the issue of emancipation and the many responses to the end of slavery that impact American social and cultural life today). But how willing will our audiences in Chattanooga be to confronting these issues? Dr. Blight paints a hopeful picture based on his experience at the University of Richmond symposium "America on the Eve of the Civil War". In it scholars investigated the rising tensions surrounding John Brown's Harper's Ferry raid and the increasing anxiety over the election of 1860. Politicians and the public alike responded enthusiastically and Blight concludes "If the self-selected audience can be any kind of model, and if the Richmond event can be evenly modestly duplicated elsewhere, the sesquicentennial will be very different from the fiasco of the centennial of the Civil War in 1961-1965."

My recent experience suggests that to modestly duplicate the success of the Richmond symposium (or at least to engage in the kind of analysis and examination the panelists prompted) in our region will take much work. I have been struck by the continuing hold of the Lost Cause interpretation in our region (a version of the Civil War that minimizes to the point of invisibility the central role of slavery in the conflict). It also seems true that a decided majority of those interested in the Civil War in our neighborhood prefer to emphasize the glory of military history over the social, cultural, and political issues that created the context for secession and war. This point became particularly clear during the recent 145th commemorations of the battle of Chickamauga. Two commemorative events were held to mark the event -- one a large scale reenactment of the battle held on private land in McLemore's Cove the other a small living history event at the Chickamauga National Military Park.

The Chattanooga Times estimated nearly 40,000 people attended the 3 day festival at McLemore's Cove. There they were treated to period sutlers, food vendors, and large scale re-creations of the battle. The Times ran daily articles about the festival including streaming video on their website. Interpretation included the dubious (presentations that made claims that African American slaves supported the Confederacy) to the mundane (one streaming video on the Times site showed a group of school students listening to a recital of facts about the commanders of the Union army). At the same time, at the Chickamuaga National Military Park about 3,500 people gathered over the weekend to take tours, watch tactical demonstrations, and engage with the question of slavery and the Confederacy in an innovative living history demonstration. Little attention was paid by the local press.

The two events were dramatically different -- one was largely empty of the kind of content Dr. Blight (and many others) hope will be at the forefront of the150th commemorations. The other contained elements of both military history and social and cultural history that engaged multiple approaches to undertanding the war. The former approach gained the lion's share of publicity and attention. The latter gained an appreciative yet small audience and paltry media attention. To me the events and response to them suggest that much serious work needs to be done in our community before the kind of engagement so many hope for can be achieved.

Great Things Are Expected Of Us Finally Shipping

Just a brief post to say we are still alive and that Great Things Are Expected Of Us is finally shipping out from the publishers. So for those of you who have preordered you should be getting it soon, and thank you. For others if you order now you should receive a copy in a timely fashion soon.