Gunpowder on Their Skirts: Military Heroines for the Blue and Gray. By Stephanie H. Ford. Bibliography, index, notes, glossary, photographs, drawings by the author, and recipes. 96 pp., 2018. Pelican Publishing Company, Inc. www.pelicanpub.com. $10.95 paperback juvenile nonfiction.
Reviewed by Lucinda Vinoski
Author Stephanie Ford has brought these unsung heroines to light from the closed pages of history. Drawing from her personal experience and knowledge as a Civil War vivandiere-reenactor
100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Atlanta Campaign presents a riveting collection of George Barnard’s camera work. Most of the photographs are from Barnard’s time in Atlanta, mid-September to mid-November 1864, during the Federal occupation of the city. With this volume, Stephen Davis advances the scholarly literature of
since high school, and combining this with her degrees in teaching and art, Ford has written biographical profiles of selected vivandieres (French for “caregivers”). Research from diaries, journals, and letters from private collections were instrumental in chronicling their stories. Bibliographies include Viva la Vivandieres: A Short History of Women in Pseudo-Military Costume by Bauer, Women of War by Moore and many others. The photos were reprinted from the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and the American Civil War Museum, along with those from private collections.
Although there is more known of those from the South, the vivandieres followed husbands and brothers into the war zone on both sides of the issue. Ford states, “these women were proud to be women and did not let go of their femininity nor allow it to stop them from taking an active role in the war.” Their uniforms consisted of modified skirts with trousers underneath. Cooking, laundry, sewing, and mending were their daily duties; in addition, they provided nursing care to those who became ill in the crowded unsanitary conditions of camp. They were often called “Mother” as these skills brought comfort to those so far from home. The vivandieres helped to keep up soldiers’ morale by writing letters for them and teaching literacy skills when time permitted.
When battle raged, they braved gunfire to retrieve wounded soldiers from the field. Their skirts were often smudged with gunpowder and pierced with bullets. They provided nursing care for the wounded and helped to comfort the dying.
Among those whose deeds and actions are now brought back to memory through the printed word are Kady Brownell, a color bearer, wounded in action; Susie Baker, who was made Daughter of the Regiment; “Cinderella” Boles, a wagoneer who ran the blockades; Nancy Hart and Belle Boyd who served as scouts and spies. Their photos speak of brave, determined women who served well for their cause. Upon close observation, one will see the straight-on and fixed-jaw look of those who have seen the carnage of war; the wounded and dying.
In a time when education was not considered necessary for women, there were those who did obtain a higher degree of education and were trained as nurses, doctors, and surgeons. Captain Sally Tompkins, her rank received from President Davis, set up a military hospital in Richmond and recruited volunteers to work there. Dr. Mary Walker served as a Union surgeon, the first hired by the United States government. She became an officer and earned the Medal of Honor.
These are but a few of the stories of these and other brave women who served well and gained the respect of their comrades in arms, paving the way for women in the military of today.
Lucinda Vinoski is a retired Nurse Educator. She writes book reviews for Mature Living Magazine of Fayette/Westmoreland County, PA, and Book Chatter, a collection of reviews for the Connellsville Carnegie Library. She is last year’s award winner of The Heritage Newsletter Writer’s Contest. She is a student of history, appreciating both fictional and nonfictional accounts.
The 16th Michigan Infantry Regiment in the Civil War: Revised and Updated. By Kim Crawford. Appendix, notes, bibliography and index, 404pp., 2019. Michigan State University Press, msupress.org. $40.95 cloth.
Reviewed by David Marshall
The 16th Michigan Infantry Regiment was originally formed by Col. Thomas Stockton, and was thus called Stockton’s Independent Regiment. The founding officer had been a slave owner, was related by marriage to Confederate general James Longstreet, was a Democrat. The regiment was started by him over the protests of Michigan’s governor, Republican Austin Blair, even though President Lincoln wanted the colonel to lead the regiment in the spring of 1861.
These fighting men were from places like Detroit, Saginaw, Lansing and many other small towns. They fought with the Army of the Potomac in many important battles and campaigns such as Gaines’ Mill, Second Bull Run, Gettysburg and the Overland Campaign. It was at the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House.
The 16th was at Little Round Top on July 2, 1863, during the battle of Gettysburg. Lt. Col. Norval Welch and some of his men panicked and broke when Texans and Alabamians flanked them. Col. Patrick O’Rorke and the 140th New York came to the assistance of the Michiganders. O’Rorke was killed, but the Confederates who had just outflanked the 16th now found themselves flanked. When the 16th Michigan’s line broke, their brigade commander, Colonel Strong Vincent, was moving toward them to halt their withdrawal from their line. At that moment he was hit by a bullet that struck him in the groin and fatally wounded him. If Welch had held his position, it is likely that O’Rorke and Vincent might not have lost their lives.
While Colonel Welch would pay with his life during the Petersburg campaign at Poplar Grove Church, or Peeble’s Farm on September 30, 1864. His sacrifice redeemed his personal reputation, yet a kind of code of silence was maintained by the regiment’s survivors concerning what happened at Little Round Top.
In the end Colonel Stockton never received promotion to brigadier general. One of the combatant’s youngest volunteers, George Sidman, was issued the Medal of Honor on April 6, 1892. The author takes readers through the regiment’s entire term of service and on into the postwar years. After the war Stockton and his veterans were successful in politics and business.
This book tells an exciting story from the start of the conflict to the end of the war. The author’s use of letters, journals and memoirs allows readers to walk in the shoes of the soldiers in camp, during marches and in battle.
The 16th Michigan Infantry in the Civil War was originally published in 2002; it has been revised and updated for this edition. It contains 88 photographs and illustrations of many of the brave men who fought with this regiment.
Crawford’s vivid description of the combat at Little Round Top held me spellbound. This is historical writing at its best. I would have preferred to see a list of maps for easy reference. The roster is presented in simple alphabetical order rather than the more standard company-by-company listing. Neither of these criticisms detracts from this fine history. The book is expensive, but well worth the purchase price.
The author has used a huge variety of primary and secondary sources to relate the Civil War story of this Michigan regiment. Students and scholars will greatly appreciate Crawford’s research and scholarship.
David Marshall has been a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade school district for the past thirty-three years. A life-long Civil War enthusiast, David is president of the Miami Civil War Round Table Book Club. In addition to numerous reviews in Civil War News and other publications, he has given presentations to Civil War Round Tables on Joshua Chamberlain, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, the battle of Gettysburg and the common soldier.
“Aunt Polly” and Other Faves
Reviewed by Stephen Davis
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.
– Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
That may be true for roses, but nicknames are distinctive and highly personal—as one sees in Joe DeSantis’ delightful compilation of nicknames for nearly 150 Civil War figures. Each of his subjects—75 Northerners, 69 Southerners—receives a twoto-three-page vignette that explains how each earned his/her sobriquet.
Some of them are well known (Fighting Joe Hooker, Stonewall Jackson) but DeSantis’ lively writing makes even these little chapters a lot of fun to read. Bestowers of pet names often zeroed in on some physical trait, such as “Old Bald Head” for Dick Ewell—the general whom DeSantis terms “follicly impaired.” “Life at sea dictates a captive audience,” he writes of the Alabama’s captain; “Semmes’ sailors could not help but take note of his long, dark mustache, upturned at its ends, rigid, and impeccably polished. They soon began referring to him as Old Beeswax.”
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The author’s research among a wide range of sources is evident throughout. We’ve all heard about “Unconditional Surrender” Grant, but did you know that wife Julia called him “Dudy”? (You have to take Joe at his word, as he doesn’t annotate his sources for this stuff.) On the other hand, you can corroborate Confederate Brigadier Tyree Bell’s byname (“Forrest’s Right Arm”) by checking Nat Hughes’ biography (2004). Similarly, Susannah Ural confirms the nickname that Texans gave their commander, Brig. Gen. Jerome Robertson: “Aunt Polly” (Hood’s Texas Brigade [2017]).
Just as prominent is DeSantis’ sense of humor. On nicknames for Belle Boyd, the spy: “here they are, in no specific order; The Siren of the Shenandoah (my favorite), The Rebel Joan of Arc, Cleopatra of the Secession, Le Belle Rebelle (a French newspaper monicker) and The Amazon of Secessia. You go, girl!” His conversational tone adds to one’s enjoyment of A Rose. One of Ambrose Burnside’s nicknames was Burns—“hey, I never said they would all be interesting.”
This is a family newspaper, so I can’t divulge Maj. Gen. Israel Richardson’s nickname, but only say that before DeSantis offers it, he warns, “be nice.”
A Rose lacks a table of contents or index for the nicknamed individuals; either might have enhanced its value as a reference guide. But what the hey— it’s a fun read, bestowing lots of pleasure from even a cursory look-through, such as the story of how Union Maj. Gen. George Sorell got his nickname: “He had a strong desire to make sure that his troops were always back in camp by dusk, so they could cook their rations and settle in properly for the night.” So what did they call him?
Blindly Devoted to the Confederate Cause
An Everlasting Circle: Letters of the Haskell Family of Abbeville, South Carolina 1861–1865. Edited by Karen Stokes. Afterward by James Everett Kibler. Photos, notes, index, bibliography, 431 pp., 2019. Mercer University Press, www.mupress.org. $35.00.
Reviewed by Tracy J. Revels
Civil War letters are vital primary sources, a font of information about the lives of both soldiers and civilians. What is said in letters is important; what is left unsaid can be equally instructive. This is very much the case for An Everlasting Circle, a collection of missives between seven Confederate soldiers and their parents, sisters, and friends.
The Haskells of Abbeville, S.C., were a large, wealthy, and well-connected plantation family who sent seven sons to fight for the Confederacy. The Haskell men were all classically educated, as befitted their position, and the literary quality of their letters demonstrate how well they learned their lessons. During the war, two brothers died (one being killed at Gettysburg) and two more were severely wounded. The family experienced some economic hardship and a great deal of anxiety. A sister continued her education at girls’ schools until almost the end of the war, and both parents survived the conflict. Afterward, the Haskell men would all find various forms of personal success, from law and politics to entrepreneurial pursuits.
The letters in the collection are gathered from several repositories. By uniting the documents, the editor allows the reader to follow the correspondence much as it might have been received by the mother at home or passed around from relative to relative. The majority of the material is mundane, from descriptions of camp life to the recounting of marches. The spilled ink deals primarily with the movements of the brothers and their various needs, ailments, or concerns about military politics. There is the occasional flash of humor and a few truly heart-wrenching scenes. Most touching is the relationship between Aleck Haskell and his wife, who knew less than a year’s happiness before she died after giving birth to their daughter. Aleck’s April 2, 1863, letter to his mother, reflecting on death, God and faith, is beautiful. Almost all the messages mention faith to some degree. There is much in this hefty correspondence for a student of nineteenth-century Southern religion to mine.
But there is also a strange absence in the letters. None of the Haskells spent much time considering the bondsmen and women who made their education possible, and who they were fighting to keep enslaved. The brothers frequently complain about the difficulties they experience with their “camp servants,” and an occasional mention of an ailing or recently deceased enslaved person is made by their mother, but ultimately horses occupy more space on the pages, and perhaps in the minds, of these men. It is significant that they rarely inquire about even a favored house slave or cook or nurse. This omission—stunning in such a vast collection—is more telling about the Southern elite mindset than the frequent and self-serving proclamations of piety and love of country.
The letters, for what they say and for their silence, are powerful. Readers owe the editor a debt of gratitude for assembling them. However, the introduction, as well as many of the notes, are out-of-date with current scholarship. The introduction is painfully hagiographic; the Haskells are portrayed as paragons of antique virtue, rather than as flesh and blood men. An afterword likewise appears lifted from a Lost Cause playbook, making the Confederacy seem like a strange classical debating club, with soldiers motivated solely by lofty ideals of antiquity rather than the advantages of profiting from unfree black labor. The historical profession has moved far beyond such untenable interpretations.
Ultimately, the Haskell letters serve as fascinating documents revealing a family’s deep love for each other, their great devotion to a conservative faith, and their painful blindness to the humanity of the enslaved people around them.
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Few people are better versed in the study of Civil War period saddles and horse equipment than Ken Knopp. His two previous books Confederate Saddles & Horse Equipment (2001) and Made In The C.S.A., Saddle Makers of the Confederacy (2003) are considered the finest works in print on the subject. For his newest book, American Riding & Work Saddles (And Horse Culture) 1790–1920, Ken expands from a purely Civil War focus to look at the saddle in America from the birth of the nation through the post-WWI era.
The subject of saddles and horse equipment is near and dear to Ken’s heart, as he has spent nearly all of his adult life working in and around the saddle. With a background that includes everything from being a real-world working cowboy, a competitive rodeo rider, and a long and successful career in rodeo promotion, Ken has the kind of in-depth, first-hand knowledge of his subject matter that many material culture writers lack. Ken’s work experience and love
The Civil War Water
of history put him in a position to on the be involved with numerous TV and movie productions during his career, including the ABC Mini- Series North & South and the Academy Award winning movie
Featuring nationally-recognized Civil War scholars John M. Coski, Anna Gibson
Holloway, Jonathan A. Noyalas, Karen Needles and Jonathan W. White
As noted, this new book expands Ken’s previously narrow focus on Confederate military saddles to a rather broad examination of the civilian saddle in America, during a period of more than 100 years; a time when the horse was the primary means of transportation for many Americans. Ken specifically avoids a detailed examination of Civil War military saddles, but in Chapter 3 does provide 17 pages of discussion regarding the saddle types use by both sides in the war. This, however, is only a small part of the much larger picture provided by the book.
In ten chapters, Ken takes us through the history, development and use of the saddle in America. Chapter 1 looks the development and influences of European saddles from 1400 to 1800, including those patterns from Spain, France, and England that would all leave their various marks on the saddles produced in the United States. In particular, Ken looks at how the “New World” influenced the development of the what we consider the “Spanish” saddle, and also looks at the development of the English saddle over time, and in particular how the English hunt saddle would influence the various American patterns that would develop.
Chapter 2 looks at the development of the various patterns of American saddles and makes the analogy in the opening paragraph that “the history of the American saddle is the history of America itself during its formative years of the 19th century.” This becomes the guiding theme for the chapter as Ken spins the intertwined tail of America’s early western expansion and American saddle development. The chapter also looks at the evolution of the American “riding” culture. Chapter 3 looks briefly at the Civil War period and helps move the story of America to Chapters 4 and 5, which cover the classic period of the old west and the American cowboy. Chapter 4 takes an in-depth look at the saddle and harness industry in America from 1870–1900 and Chapter 5 looks at what Ken refers to as the Golden Age of the Horse, covering the same three-decade period.
Chapter 7 covers the patterns and identification of the major American saddle types of the period and is one of those sections of any serious material culture book that is will certainly end up dog eared and well used from constant referencing and use. The chapter covers some fifteen major saddle patterns and also provides a chronology of their development.
Chapters 8 and 9 cover ladies saddles and children’s saddles, respectively, while Chapter 10 takes a look at some of the other commercial patterns of the period. This last chapter covers a wide range of popular saddles, many of which were variations of the major patterns discussed in Chapter 7, as well as regional saddle patterns and sporting saddles like those for racing and polo.
Throughout the entire book Ken’s smooth conversational style allows the reader to be carried back to the glory days of the American horse, where they can develop an understanding not only of the kinds of saddles and equipment used, but also why these patterns worked; or in some cases did not work. The book is profusely illustrated with wonderful examples of the saddles discussed, with detailed color photos of items that are often from advanced private collections that are not regularly available for people to study or view. Many of the photos come from the amazing collection of our mutual friend, the late John Ashworth, to whom the book is also dedicated. Additionally, Ken provides clear and concise line drawings help to illustrate features and terminology that might not otherwise be easily understood by a tender foot such as myself, whose only real knowledge of horses was a bad summer camp experience with a less than friendly pony who did not want me on his back!
This book provides something for everyone who has an interest in the history and use of saddles in America and has been written in such a way as to provide something for both the novice and experienced historical equestrian. Whether your interest in historic saddles and horse equipment is for reenacting and living history, collecting, or simply to better understand the 19th century people that nearly every reader of Civil War News has an interest in, this would be an excellent addition to your library, and I am sure you will be very pleased with the acquisition.
Tim Prince is a regular columnist in Civil War News, as well as a contributing author to The English Connection: Arms, Material and Support Furnished to the Confederate States of America by Great Britain and Confederate & Southern Agent Marked Shotguns.
Opdycke’s Tigers in the Civil War: A History of the 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. By Thomas Crowl. Roster, maps, photos, notes, bibliography, index, 292 pp., 2019. McFarland, www.mcfarlandpub.com. $45 softcover.
Reviewed by Robert L. Durham
Opdycke’s Tigers won their nickname in Dyer’s cornfield at Chickamauga, where they charged and blunted a Confederate breakthrough. Although suffering heavy casualties, they bought time for the left flank of the Union Army to rally on Snodgrass Hill. The 125th Ohio, in their first battle, thus helped hold General George H. Thomas’ left flank. Thomas told Colonel Emerson Opdycke he must hold his position at all hazards. Opdycke replied, “We will hold this ground or go to Heaven from it.” General Thomas Wood memorialized the 125th as the Tigers; there is a tiger standing atop their monument at Chickamauga.
Chickamauga was the Ohioans’ baptism of fire, their introduction to battle. After Chickamauga, bottled up in Chattanooga, they attacked the Rebel line on Missionary Ridge. They were then ordered, many of them barefoot, to reinforce General Ambrose Burnside at Knoxville. After that, they took part in General W.T. Sherman’s campaign to Atlanta. They saw action at Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, New Hope Church, and Kennesaw Mountain. In the battles around Atlanta, they fought at Peach Tree Creek.
Well-seasoned veterans by now, after the capture of Atlanta, under General John M. Schofield, they stayed just ahead of Confederate General John Bell Hood, finally turning to face him when they reached Franklin, on the banks of the Harpeth River. The 125th’s brigade was now commanded by Opdycke. In the battle of Nov. 30, General Jacob Cox ordered Opdycke to form his brigade in rear of the Union line as a reserve. When the Rebel columns broke through the main line, Opdycke hurled his brigade forward to plug the leak. They fought the Confederates at pointblank range, even fighting handto-hand at times. Franklin and Chickamauga were their hardest-fought battles.
After Franklin, the 125th was engaged in both days’ battles at Nashville, Dec. 15-16. The war ended soon afterward, and the Tigers expected to be mustered out along with most other soldiers. Companies A and B, the two oldest companies, were mustered out, but the rest were sent to Texas to guard the Mexican border against possible incursions by the French under Emperor Maximilian.
Incorporating enough information about the big picture to allow readers to follow what is happening beyond the purview of the Tigers, Thomas Crowl has produced a well-written and informative book about a brave western Union regiment.
Robert L. Durham, of Centerville, Ohio, has been a history buff for some sixty-five years. He is retired and is currently back in school to get his history degree. His main interest is in the Civil War and Old West history, but lately he has been broadening his horizons somewhat into WW I and the Korean War. Lately, he has written articles for Military Heritage magazine.
Major General Joseph King Fenno Mansfield: A Soldier From Beginning to End. By Laurence H. Freiheit. Maps, photos, illustrations, notes, index, 800 pp., 2019. Camp Pope Publishing, www.camppope.com. $45 hardcover.
Reviewed by John Michael Priest
Six generals, three Confederate and three Federal, died on the field of Antietam or from wounds received during the fighting on Sept. 17, 1862. Joseph Mansfield was one of them, at age 58, the third-oldest general in the Army of the Potomac.
Mansfield entered West Point from Connecticut when he was 13 years old. He graduated at age 18 in 1822 as an engineer. His career, which spanned four decades, did not necessarily lead to greatness or renown. With a stint in combat during the Mexican War (in which he was severely wounded and breveted for bravery), he spent ten years of his career building Fort Pulaski and the majority of the rest of it traveling from U.S. outpost to U.S. outpost beyond the Mississippi River inspecting the conditions, arms and the often questionable marksmanship of the men stationed at them.
In 1861, he commanded the defenses of Washington, D.C., and on Sept. 15, 1862, he received promotion to major general, commanding the XII Corps, Army of the Potomac. He held that post until his death on the morning of Sept, 18, from his chest wound received the day before.
Lawrence Freiheit catalogues Mansfield’s life from birth to demise in a very unique, albeit massive biography the likes of which I have seldom encountered before. Thoroughly illustrated, it reads much like the script from the old British documentary called Connections, in which the narrator started with a simple idea, like the origin of ink, and wove it into a tapestry of how that simple invention affected the entire world around it. What begins as a genealogical study of an established New England family digresses into the intricate world through which Mansfield passed.
The book discusses in detail how engineers constructed casemates in forts, how Mansfield earned his brevets during the Mexican War, and how scattered and ill-prepared the U.S. regulars were for a major war. The book also reads as a Who’s Who of the generals of the opposing armies during the Civil War, because Mansfield met most of them during his long service in the army. Robert E. Lee served under him in the construction of Fort Pulaski.
Freiheit’s biography is also more of an encyclopedia of the day-to-day life in the antebellum U.S. Army than a narrative and easy-reading biography. Thoroughly researched, filled with a copious amount of block quotes from primary sources, and heavily illustrated with good maps, portraits, and illustrations, it reflects the author’s hard work and dedication to preserve the memory of the general and his contemporaries.
Mike Priest is author of Antietam: The Soldiers’ Battle (1989) and Before Antietam: The Battle of South Mountain (1992).