Book Review: The War that Made America: Essays Inspired by the Scholarship of Gary W. Gallagher

The War that Made America: Essays Inspired by the Scholarship of Gary W. Gallagher. Edited by Caroline E. Janney, Peter S. Carmichael, and Aaron Sheehan-Dean. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2024. Softcover, 280 pp., $32.95.

Reviewed by Tim Talbott

Few historians can claim the achievements in Civil War scholarship that Gary Gallagher has attained. Whether writing some of the most important books about the conflict published since his first study appeared in 1985, or editing and co-authoring almost twenty other books covering a wide array of topics, Gallagher’s influential thinking, research, and writing casts an extremely long shadow. But Gallagher’s impact goes far beyond just books and articles. He has also made significant contributions and lent his skills to public history initiatives like preserving battlefields, leading history teacher workshops, and spreading the importance of well-researched and thorough, but also accessible, history through multiple media platforms.

Additionally, much like a good football coach produces a “tree” of assistants who go on to head coaching jobs, Gallagher has mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students who have become recognized leaders in the field displaying their own skills and talents. As the subtitle to The War that Made America suggests, Gallagher’s scholarship inspired the nine essays contained within, which come from individuals he has influenced.

The book contains an introduction written by the editors of this study: Peter S. Carmichael, Caroline E. Janney, and Aaron Sheehan-Dean, who are also three of Gallagher’s most recognized former students. The introduction offers readers an opportunity to review Gallagher’s many contributions to and influence on Civil War historiography.

The editors divided the book into three parts, each containing three essays. The first part, “Nations at War,” includes submissions by William Blair, Aaron Sheehan-Dean, and Andre M. Fleche. Blair examines Native American delegates in the Confederate Congress, while Sheehan-Dean looks at opportunities for comparative history within Civil War scholarship, and Fleche explores the opportunities and challenges faced by Southerners attempting to forge a nation-state.

“Intersections of War” serves as the title of the book’s second part. In it, Wayne Wei-Siang Hsieh discusses Robert E. Lee’s talents—many of which were honed through his education at West Point and previous war experience in the United States Army—and what that meant for the conflict and our understanding of him and his place in history. Caroline E. Janney shares the story of John W. McCue as a means of discussing the convergence of military acts, law, and justice at the end of the war. Cynthia Nicoletti uses a Reconstruction legal case involving Robert Smalls to explore the tax title land issue in South Carolina as the middle part’s concluding essay.

The third part, “Constructing the Past” includes essays by Peter S. Carmichael, Kathryn J. Shively, and Peter C. Luebke. Carmichael tackles the official silences that surrounded the atrocities that unfolded with the Petersburg Campaign’s Hicksford Raid. Shively looks at former Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early’s influence on Confederate history and commemoration. Lastly, Luebke examines the histories that white Union soldiers wrote in the years after the war and how those set the stage for much of the early scholarship that came in the following generations.

The three editors also include an epilogue, titled “Taking the Shape of the Civil War.” Here, the editors share thoughts on the diversity of Civil War scholarship, the questions that historians are asking, and the tools they borrow from other fields that help lead to the great variety in studies and thus expand our knowledge and continue to foster interest in the field.

Each essay is around 20 pages long, excluding endnotes. As one might imagine, due to the different contributors, the essays vary in style from academic, to traditional narrative, to almost conversational. Regardless of each essay’s method of approach and delivery, all are thoroughly researched, cited, and well written. The book also contains a list of the contributors with their very brief biographies. A helpful index concludes the volume.

The War that Made America: Essays Inspired by the Scholarship of Gary W. Gallagher is a welcome addition to Civil War history. It serves not only as a reminder of the impact one person can have on a field of study but also shows that there are still topics within that field that remain to be explored and illuminated.