At the present time, everything bearing upon the history of the American
civil war has special interest. Nearly a quarter of a century has passed
since the struggle began, and during the interval asperities have died
away and peace and harmony hover over a united people.
During the war and in the years immediately following its cessation, a
number of soldiers and civilians wrote histories, on the Union side,
some of these being careful and exhaustive studies of limited fields of
action, and others of the entire field of operations. It necessarily
happened, however, that, owing to misconceptions arising from their
opposite points of view, their lack of personal knowledge, and the
absence of authentic documentary evidence, these writers were not always
able to penetrate the plans and purposes of the Confederate leaders, or
even to describe with entire accuracy the part borne by the Confederate
troops in particular engagements.
As time goes on, the deficiency is being met, and the memoirs of those
Confederate soldiers and civilians who bore a prominent part in the
struggle, either in the field or the council chamber, and who had a full
knowledge of the facts, are fast coming to light, and are perused with
more than common interest by military actors and students. The true and
exhaustive history of the civil war cannot be written until all the
facts shall have been made known. Even then, the reader must always bear
in mind who states the facts, and also that the truth is oftener found
in the memoir of some gallant and straightforward soldier than in that
of a politician.
Of the myriad of bound volumes and pamphlets called forth by the war, a
very large number have long since been consigned to oblivion. Many of
these were written to bolster up personal ambitions, interests,
rivalries and jealousies, while as many more were composed, without
regard to facts, to gain dollars and cents. Of none of these productions
need anything further be said.
Comparatively speaking, there were but few books relating to the war and
published during the war that deserve to be recalled. After the war,
quite a number were issued, and, within the last ten years, a large
number have appeared, all destined to rank as "authorities" for the
future historian. The purpose of the present series of articles is, to
give such information in regard to these publications, as shall guide
students in mapping out a course of reading, and shall assist persons
entrusted with the selection of _standard books_ on war history for
use in city and town libraries.
The suggestions and information herein offered are, at their best, only
random notes. No special plan, or classification, will be followed by
the writer; his sole aim being to include only what is absolutely worthy
and "authoritative."
THE AMERICAN CONFLICT:--A History of the Great Rebellion in the United
States of America, 1860-64: Its Causes, Incidents, and Results. Intended
to exhibit especially its Moral and Political Phases, with the Drift and
Progress of American opinion respecting Human Slavery, from 1776 to the
close of the War for the Union. By Horace Greeley. Illustrated, 2
volumes. pp. 648, 679. Hartford: O.D. Case and Company.
This work was composed, with the aid of an amanuensis, in the early
hours of the morning, before the beginning of the editorial tasks of
each day. Mr. Greeley's long connection with the _Tribune_, as its
editor-in-chief, tended to make him more familiar with American politics
from 1830 to 1860 than almost any other of his contemporaries, and when
he proposed to himself to write the history of the American civil war,
he could justly claim to have full knowledge of the _causes_ which
had led to it. In the preface to his first volume (1864) he stated
frankly that "the History of the civil war will not and cannot now be
written." All that he hoped to accomplish, then, was to write a
_political_ rather than a military history of the great struggle.
He succeeded, and his work deserves to rank as one of the most valuable,
and, so far as it goes, accurate and impartial narratives of the
contest.
The first volume treats chiefly of the causes and events which
culminated in secession, while the second volume (1866) depicts, without
embellishment, the military and political victories which ended in the
restoration of peace. The author cherished the belief that the war was
"the unavoidable result of antagonisms imbedded in the very nature of
our heterogeneous institutions: that ours was indeed an 'irrepressible
conflict,' which might have been prevented."
In its _military_ portions the work is decidedly weak, and much of
interest and value is omitted. For facts, the author relied chiefly on
Moore's _Rebellion Record_, Victor's _History of the Southern
Rebellion_, (embracing important data not found in the _Record_)
and Pollard's _Southern History of the War_. After a later survey
of the war-literature, Mr. Greeley felt justified in the candid claim
that his work "is one of the clearest statements yet made of the long
chain of causes which led irresistibly to the war for the Union, showing
why that war was the righteous and natural consequence of the American
people's general and guilty compliance in the crime of upholding and
diffusing Human Slavery."
This work won such popular favor that it soon reached a sale of one
hundred thousand copies. But when, in 1867, its distinguished author
signed the bail-bond of Jefferson Davis, its sale was suddenly checked.
The act was an unselfish one; its propriety, however, was questioned by
many persons. Whether, on account of it, Mr. Greeley be blamed or
applauded, his work merits commendation as a valuable authority on the
political history of the American civil war, and ought always, as such,
to be consulted.
THE HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA:--Comprising a full and
impartial account of the Origin and Progress of the Rebellion, of the
various Naval and Military Engagements, of the Heroic Deeds performed by
Armies and Individuals, and of Touching scenes in the Field, the Camp,
the Hospital, and the Cabin. By John S.C. Abbott. Illustrated. 2 vols.
pp. 507, 629. Norwich. Conn: The Henry Bill Publishing Company.
The author of the _Life of Napoleon Bonaparte_ was never too
particular in regard to his facts, but those which he made use of he
could array with such skill as to completely captivate the judgment of
the unwary. In his History of the Civil War, all the enthusiasm of the
writer, his easy flow of rhetoric, his vast fund of anecdote, and his
characteristic inability to discriminate between truth and falsity,
assert themselves. The chief importance of the work consists in its
treatment of events, as army-correspondents saw them, and, hence, it
comprises many minor features, usually omitted by more sober historians.
As a political history, it is almost worthless; as a military history,
it is even worse. Still, it possesses a marked value, for the reason
already stated, and is attractive by reason of its numerous
illustrations, all engraved on steel from original designs,--comprising
portraits, battle-scenes, diagrams and maps. The first volume was
printed in 1863; the second in 1865.
A HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA:--By The Comte de Paris.
Translated with the approval of the author. Edited by Henry Coppee,
LL.D. 3 volumes. 8vo, pp. 640, 820, 954. Philadelphia: Porter and
Coates.
The first volume of this work was published in 1875, the second in 1876,
and the third in 1883. A fourth volume is now in course of preparation,
and will conclude the series.
The prime qualifications of a historian, dispassionateness and
thoroughness, are everywhere manifest in the splendid work of the Count
of Paris. His is the first attempt to produce a full and complete
history of the civil war, based upon official records both of the North
and of the South. The whole narrative exhibits unsparing and successful
research, calm judgment, temperance alike in praise and censure, and an
earnest endeavor to deal justly and fairly with both sides of the great
conflict and the actors in each. There are chapters in the work which
will always provoke discussion, and some of the author's conclusions in
special instances may be controverted; still, the great merits of the
work, as a whole, cannot but be generally and cordially recognized.
The work is distinctly a _military_ history, without, however,
ignoring purely civil transactions when an account of them is needed to
throw light on the military movements. The author's theory, relative to
the origin of the war may be stated thus:--The South saw that, as the
North increased in prosperity, it was decreasing, and was losing the
balance of power which it had always held since the adoption of the
Constitution. It determined, therefore, to force slavery into the new
States and Territories; and, failing in this, it foresaw but two
alternatives,--either to give up the cause as lost, or to initiate a
conflict and a satisfactory peace from its opponents. It chose the
latter, and was thwarted.
The first volume treats of the American army, past and present, of
Secession, and the events of the war to the Spring of 1862; the second
volume continues the narrative of events from Gen. McClellan's Peninsula
Campaign to the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The author,
in considering the relations of the commanding general to the
administration, praises the former and blames the latter; and, in
commending the campaign, shows himself a poor master of the art of war,
and in some respects an indifferent critic of practical military
operations. The Count of Paris wrote these chapters in 1874.--twelve
years after the events, and with ample testimony at his command. It is
strange that he could not reach the conclusion, then and now commonly
held, that McClellan's treatment of President Lincoln throughout his
entire career seems to have been highly insubordinate and apparently
based upon the idea that he regarded himself as the nation's only hope,
forgetting that to a free people no man has ever become indispensable,
however powerful his intellect or exalted his virtues. Barring certain
conclusions which are open to easy controversion, the narrative is
exceedingly careful, graphic, and in the main truthful.
The third volume (1883) is translated and edited by Col. John S.
Nicholson of Philadelphia, and covers the eventful year 1863,--the
operations and movements on the Rapidan and the disaster to the union
arms at Chancellorsville,--the movements upon Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and
the retreat of Lee's array to Virginia. Closer attention is paid, in
this volume, to the legislation, administration, finances, resources,
temper, and condition generally of the North and the South, and valuable
accounts are given of the organization at the North of the signal corps,
the medical and hospital service, the military telegraph, the system of
railroad transportation for military purposes, the soldiers' homes, and
the sanitary and other commissions.
As a whole, and so far as published, the work purports to give an
accurate account of what took place in all quarters of the theatre of
war, and is generally successful. It never errs on the side of
partisanship, but occasionally through ignorance or misapplication of
facts. From first to last, it is an honest and straightforward
narrative, at times eloquent and at times vivacious. The reader is bored
by no flights of rhetoric; but students will always lament a lack of
philosophical tone and _critical_ appreciation of men and events.
The maps and plans, which are numerous and are furnished from official
sources, are all that could be desired.
REMINISCENCES OF FORTS SUMTER AND MOULTRIE IN 1860-61. By Abner
Doubleday, Brevet Major General, U.S.A. 1 vol. 12mo pp. 184. New York,
Harper & Brothers.
The author bore an honorable and responsible part in the actual outbreak
of hostilities between the national government and the revolted states,
and in this book he gives a simple and faithful recital of some of the
more important facts. Though so misrepresented by certain critics, the
book is _not_ an attack on Major Anderson's character; on the
contrary, it clearly shows, and attempts to show, that that commander
firmly subdued all considerations and devices which seemed inconsistent
with his duty as a soldier of the United States, and held himself ready
to be sacrificed to the trust given him. General (then Captain, 1st
artillery U.S.A.) Doubleday was at Fort Sumter during the bombardment,
and, as might be expected, his volume gives many incidents of the life
of the little besieged band, and of the siege itself, which appear here
for the first time, and which throw fresh light upon the conduct and
principles of both parties to the conflict. As a personal narrative, it
is one of the most charming and instructive relating to the war. The
book was published in 1876.
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