Symposium Spotlight: Books, Books, Books Part 1
This week our Symposium Spotlight will get you excited about a summer reading list. In part one of this series, our presenters have suggested works that will get you prepared for this year’s theme “Fallen Leaders of the Civil War.” Let us know in the comments if you have read any of these, recommend any, or ones that you are looking forward to picking up!
Dan Welch, who will be speaking on John Pope, has sent in the following reading suggestions:
Cozzens, Peter. General John Pope: A Life for the Nation. University of Illinois Press, 2000.
Hennessy, John. Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas. Simon & Schuster, 1992.
Pope, General John. The Military Memoirs of General John Pope. Peter Cozzens and John Y. Simon, editors. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
Kevin Pawlak has given us several titles to consider when reading about the Civil War career of Fitz John Porter:
Anders, Curt. Injustice on Trial: Second Bull Run, General Fitz John Porter’s Court Martial, and the Schofield Board Investigation That Restored His Good Name. Curt Anders Books LLC, 2009.
Eisenschiml, Otto. The Celebrated Case of Fitz John Porter. Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1950.
Jermann, Donald R. Fitz-John Porter, Scapegoat of Second Manassas: The Rise, Fall and Rise of the General Accused of Disobedience. McFarland, 2009.
Sears, Stephen W. “The Court-Martial of Fitz John Porter,” in Controversies & Commanders: Dispatches from the Army of the Potomac. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Digging through Petersburg and A. P. Hill historiography, Ed Alexander recommends picking up the following titles to learn more about Hill’s death on April 2, 1865:
Alexander, Edward S. Dawn of Victory: Breakthrough at Petersburg, March 25 – April 2, 1865. Savas Beatie, 2015.
Greene, A. Wilson. “April 2, 1865: Day of Decision at Petersburg.” Blue & Gray Magazine, Volume 18, Issue 3, February 2001.
Greene, A. Wilson. The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign: Breaking the Backbone of the Rebellion. The University of Tennessee Press, 2008.
Robertson, James I., Jr. General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior. Random House, 1987.
Our last book suggestions this week comes to us from Sean Michael Chick. Sean will be speaking on General P. G. T. Beauregard:
Basso, Hamilton. Beauregard: The Great Creole. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1933.
Chick, Sean Michael. The Battle of Petersburg, June 15-18, 1864. Potomac Books, 2015.
Daniel, Larry J. Shiloh: The Battle that Changed the Civil War. Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Davis, William C. Battle at Bull Run: A History of the First Major Campaign of the Civil War. Louisiana State University Press, 1977.
Detzer, David. Allegiance: Fort Sumter, Charleston, and the Beginning of the Civil War. Harcourt, 2001.
Gandolfo, Henri A. Metairie Cemetery: An Historic Memoir. Stewart Enterprises, 1981.
Hattaway, Herman and Archer Jones. How the North Won: A Military History of the Civil War. University of Illinois Press, 1983.
Hennessy, John J. First Battle of Manassas: An End of Innocence, July 18-21, 1861. Stackpole Books, 2015 (1989).
Hess, Earl J. Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War: The Eastern Campaigns, 1861-1864. University of North Carolina Press, 2005.
Hirsch, Arnold R. Creole New Orleans: Race and Americanization. Louisiana State University Press, 1992.
Horn, John. The Siege of Petersburg: The Battles for the Weldon Railroad 1864. Savas Beatie, 2015.
Howe, Thomas J. The Petersburg Campaign: Wasted Valor, June 15-18, 1864. H. E. Howard, 1988.
Rafuse, Ethan Sepp. A Single Grand Victory: The First Campaign and Battle of Manassas. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002.
Robertson, William Glenn. Back Door to Richmond: The Bermuda Hundred Campaign, April- June, 1864. University of Delaware Press, 1987.
Schiller, Herbert M. The Bermuda Hundred Campaign. Morningside House, Inc., 1988.
Smith, Timothy B. Shiloh: Conquer or Perish. University Press of Kansas, 2014.
Williams, T. Harry. “The Louisiana Unification Movement of 1873.” The Journal of Southern History 11, No. 3 (August 1945): 349-369.
Williams, T. Harry. P. G. T. Beauregard: Napoleon in Gray. Louisiana State University Press, 1955.
Wise, Stephen R. Gate of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863. University of South Carolina Press, 1994.
Woodworth, Steve E. Davis & Lee at War. University of Kansas Press, 1995.
Don’t forget to register for the 2020 Emerging Civil War Symposium today!
Kevin’s list regarding the Porter controversy is pretty comprehensive. Unfortunately Eisenschiml and, to a lesser extent Andrus, fall in the realm of near-hagiography. Eisenschiml, in particular, used no source notes and relied as well on a Porter descendant. Andrus, at least, has good information on the “retrial” but also has some bizarre classical salute to Porter at the end. In addition to Jermann and Sears, I would add the recent Spruill Second Manassas “Decisions” book. It has a good analysis as to where Porter fell short at the battle, the merits/lack of same in Pope’s charges notwithstanding. John Hennessy summed it up well in his campaign study – Porter’s performance was mediocre.