“The
Most Written-About War in History”: Civil War Themes
in Fact and Fiction
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pba00004
Battles for the Union
(Dustin, Gilman, 1878)
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Although it amounts to only a fraction of
American history in terms of years, the Civil War is largely
responsible for defining the nation as we know it–and
for creating a plethora of literature in numerous genres.
In fact, some have called it the most written-about war
in history.
The reasons that the Civil War has resulted in such a
large and varied body of work are numerous. One is that
it was such a momentous occasion–composed of so many
different important figures, places, and events–that
historians have penned academic works on nearly every conceivable
facet. Another is that many who lived during the war era
have produced personal narratives of their experiences.
However, historian Jim Cullen points out that most of
the American public has been exposed to the Civil War not
through academic work but through popular culture. Americans
continue to be moved by the romanticism of the era, absorbing
the Civil War via motion pictures and television mini-series.
During the publishers’ bindings era, the war served
as the basis for hundred of novels, poems, songs, humorous
writings, and children’s stories.
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pba01025
The Navy in the Civil War
(Charles Scribner's Sons, 1883)
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Arguably, factors leading up to the Civil War were in
place by the turn of the 19th century, and the chasm between
North and South grew between 1800 and 1860. Conflict came
to a head when the 1860 Presidential election of anti-slavery
Republican Abraham
Lincoln spurred several southern states
to secede. The Confederate
States of America organized
under its own Constitution and elected its own officials,
including President
Jefferson Davis. War between the Union
and Confederacy officially began at Fort
Sumter on 12 April
1861.
Between Fort Sumter and the capture of Davis in Georgia
on 10 May 1865, soldiers from nearly 7,000 Union and Confederate
regiments fought more than 300 battles. Therefore, it is
not surprising that military histories make up a majority
of the Civil War literature published between 1860 and
1930.
Even these works encompass a variety of topics. Many histories
of entire military branches and specific regiments exist.
Major battles and campaigns are chronicled, as well as
experiences in military prisons and hospitals. A great
many biographies and personal narratives detail the stories
of individual soldiers, both Union and Confederate.
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pba02079
The Lives and Campaigns of Grant and Lee
(Star Publishing, 1895)
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Two of the best covered figures in Civil
War history are Generals Robert
E. Lee and Ulysses
S. Grant. The son of
a Revolutionary War hero, Lee was a career army officer
who commanded all Confederate armies as general-in-chief.
Grant, who later became the 18th President of the United
States, served as general-in-chief of the Union army. When
Lee surrendered at Appomattox
Court House on 9 April 1865,
Grant penned the terms of surrender so as to prevent trials
for treason.
The politics behind the Civil War have received treatment
as well. The two sides’ respective presidents, Abraham
Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, and their roles in the war
have been the subjects of many books. Many historians also
have covered topics such as abolition
and slavery.
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pba00505
A Captured Santa Claus
(Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905)
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Fictionalized accounts of wartime began
to appear soon after the first shots were fired on Fort
Sumter. Contemporaries
swept up in the romanticism of war produced numerous novels
that integrated Civil War themes such as battles,
espionage,
and love affairs between soldiers and various women. Later
authors dug into historical facts to support their dramatizations
of battles and the hardships faced by soldiers’ families
or other civilians living under conditions of war.
Although the names, places, and events are largely fabricated,
Civil War fiction enables readers to get a sense for the
time. Therefore, many stories have been written to teach
children about the war, including one called “A Captured
Santa Claus”
Because soldiers and their families are responsible for
much of the fictional work that appeared during and shortly
after the war, readers also can get a sense for the individuals
who endured the crisis. Literary scholars have suggested
that the poetry, songs, and short stories of the time reflect
the thoughts and emotions of the men who faced each other
on the battle field, as well as those who waited for them
at home.
Despite the solemn subject, Civil War themes found their
way into humorous works as well. This was particularly
true in the South, which lost the most over the course
of the conflict. Some scholars posit that this work follows
a time-honored tradition of converting true experiences
via exaggeration, boastfulness, and whimsy. Others point
out that satire was a popular genre for the treatment of
all subjects, particularly politics, during the 19th century.
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pba00697
The Blue and the Gray and Other Poems and Songs
(McQuiddy, 1903) |
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pba02067
The Pictorial Book of Anecdotes and Incidents
of the War of the Rebellion
(National Publishing, 1866) |
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pba02034
At Gettysburg; or, What a Girl Saw and Heard
of the Battle
(W.L. Borland, 1889) |
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pba00104
The Claybornes: A Romance of the Civil War
(Houghton Mifflin , 1902) |
Search
the PBO database for books about the Civil War
More on the Civil
War on the PBO site
Confederate Imprints
Abraham Lincoln
Heroes of the "Lost Cause"
Civil War Teaching
Resources based on Publishers' Bindings Online
Civil War literature, 4-12
lesson plan: Word
document or PDF file
Guideline for Book Reports:
Word document or PDF file
Civil War Book List for Young
Adults: Excel Spreadsheet
Related Online Resources
The Civil War (PBS):
http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/war/
Civil War Treasures from
the New York Historical Society (Library of Congress):
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/nhihtml/cwnyhshome.html
Harper's
Weekly:
A Sampler of Civil War Literature:
http://www.civilwarliterature.com/
The History Place: U.S. Civil
War:
http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/
Library of Southern Literature:
Civil War in Literature (University of North Carolina):
http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/civilwar.html
National
Geographic: Civil War Edition:
http://seabed.nationalgeographic.com/maps/civilwar/index.html?
Poetry and Music of the
War Between the States:
http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/
Stories of the Civil War
(National Park Service Civil War Institute):
http://www.civilwar.nps.gov/cwss/manassas/index.htm
"We'll Sing to Abe
Our Song!": Sheet Music about Lincoln, Emancipation,
and the Civil War:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/scsmhtml/scsmhome.html
Selected Readings
Aaron, Daniel. The Unwritten
War: American Writers and the Civil War. Tuscaloosa:
University of Alabama Press, 2003.
Cullen, Jim. The Civil
War in Popular Culture: A Reusable Past. Washington:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995.
Fahs, Alice. The Imagined
Civil War: Popular Literature of the North & South,
1861-1865. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,
2001.
Hall, Wade. Reflections
of the Civil War in Southern Humor. Gainesville: University
of Florida Press, 1962. Madden, David, and Peggy
Bach. Classics of Civil War Fiction. Jackson:
University Press of Mississipi, 1991.
Menendez, Albert J. Civil
War Novels: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland,
1986. Sweet, Timothy. Traces
of War: Poetry, Photography, and the Crisis of the Union.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.
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