Student needs help with resources

[Robbie1]

Hi! This is my first post on this site so I hope I'm doing it alright. I've been a HUGE Civil War buff since the 3rd Grade, which would be 13 years ago, (I saw Gettysburg, I got hooked). Now, I'm a student in college preparing my first thesis. This will be an undergraduate philosophy paper. My paper will be an analysis of philosophical perspectives on the war from various view points. So far I have decided to look at one general (probably Robert E. Lee or William T. Sherman) one infantry enlisted solider (Most likely Sam Watkins but I might do Elisha Hunt Rhodes.[he spent most of the war as an officer]) one Catholic chaplain, Fr. William Corby (as I am studying to be a Catholic Priest and a chaplain in the armed forces myself) a woman (haven’t got close to picking one yet), and a pacifist, (again no idea who that would be).

My problem is this, I need some suggestions as to books I could read that would provided a detailed look at the lives of the soldiers and civilians vs. the strategies and tactics of the war. Let me detail what I have read this past year in order to prepare myself:

Complete 4 Volumes: R.E. Lee by Freeman and Lee's Lieutenants also by Freeman
Complete: Army of the Potomac Trilogy, Centennial History of the Civil War, and US Grant Trilogy by Catton.
Complete: The Civil War, a narrative by Shelby Foote
Battle Cry of Freedom, Lincoln and the Strategy of Unconditional Surrender, What They Fought For, The Boys in Blue and Gray. By James McPherson
Company Aytch by Sam Watkins
The Diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes
Memories of Chaplain Life: Three Years with the Irish Brigade by Fr. William Corby
A Diary from Dixie by Mary Chesnut
The War Memories of James Longstreet
Military Memoirs of a Confederate: A Critical Narrative by Porter Alexander
Upon the Altar of the Nation: A moral history of the Civil war
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust.
PLUS Many, many, many other books on individual battles and tactics (though admittedly those were mostly for my own enjoyment.)

Basically, I'm wondering if I'm missing anything. I know that reenactors know their stuff better than anybody else, especially with sources. If you think there's a book I should be reading please tell me. Thank you so much.

Robbie.

[jthlmnn]

I would suggest Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E Lee Through his Private Letters, by Elizabeth Brown Pryor, 2007, Penguin Group. ISBN: 5551631583. While Freeman's work is exhaustive, it (and many others that followed) did not have the benefit of materials only recently uncovered and used by Pryor. I also found Pryor's work to be quite balanced, while Freeman and many others are quite biased, either pro or con Lee.

For a different perspective, I submit for your consideration Germans in the Civil War: The Letters They Wrote Home, Kamphoefner & Helbich-eds., Vogel-transl., 2006, Univ. of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-3044-5. This work is an anthology of letters written by Germanic immigrants to the folks back in the "old country". The writers are men and women, civilians and soldiers, residing in the North and South. (The originals are part of an archive of letters- the Nordamerika-Briefsammlung- held in Gotha, Germany.) To quote from the preface: "Filiopietistc adulation is not our goal, nor is vindication. Rather, it is the intercultural refraction created as immigrants experienced and interpreted the war that fascinates us and led to the publication of these texts." The inclusion of immigrant perspective, a significant part of the Northern population and the federal army, might add breadth and depth to your opus.

Good luck and enjoy!

[KarinTimour]

Dear Robbie:

We get a lot of requests from students for help with their papers, and when I first read yours, I was braced for the same type of thing.

Some of the points that made your post stand out -- you told us what you'd already read. It is just amazing to me the number of students who think that a fast sprint through Wikipedia is all that is needed for research.

On the theory that if you are taught to fish, you'll never go hungry, I'd recommend looking through the bibliographies of the books that you've already read. Many times this has brought wonderful resources to my attention.

You've listed several primary and secondary sources that you've already tapped. I'd also urge you to look at periodicals of the period. The sites for the "Making of America" project have wonderful resources on them. Assuming you've got access to an academic library, look also at the databases administered by Accessible Archives and Nineteenth Century Newspapers. The New York Times has searchable archives on their website going back to the 1850s.

Make your paper stand out with gems of research that not every student is going to include. Your professor has probably read a number of student theses on this topicbased on the most commonly read primary and secondary books (most of which appear in your bibliography above). A seldom tapped resource is to highlight some of your major points with quotes from your local newspapers of the day, which you can tap by microfilm (using a microfilm reader is becoming a lost art). Most local newspaper sources won't be loaded on-line any time soon and there some great stuff there.

Also consider the veteran's publications -- "Confederate Veteran" and "The National Tribune."

When I write on historical topics, I start with a couple of questions I'm interested in, and in the process of doing the research, often find fascinating byways in the articles that I'm reading. My area of interest is primarily civilian life during the war, and I noticed that you included civilian life in your query. It would help to narrow down a little what you're interested in learning. Are you primarily looking at everyday life for a yeoman farmer in the South Carolina Piedmont? nurse of a Civil War hospital in occupied TN? escaped slave now living in a contraband camp? Upper class New York City family? contract doctor working on the hospital ships up and down the Mississippi? survivor of the Sioux uprising in MN? Army contractor bidding on contracts to supply the US army in Boston? Indiana Copperheads trying to figure out how to end the war immediately? free black shopkeeper in Richmond, VA? large plantation owner in occupied Mississippi? All of these are civilians in this time period, but their everyday lives, perspectives and values will be radically different.

Sincere best wishes on your efforts,
Karin Timour
Period Knitting -- Socks, Sleeping Hats, Balaclavas
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[Elaine Kessinger]

For every "woman" there is in the U.S. in the 1860s, there will be a different perspective. It is the same for men. You can no more use one woman's perspective as representative of the whole, than you could one man's. Each woman found ways of meeting her needs, contributing to the war effort, and making her opinions known... and each in a way that suited her. There were more women in the ACW than just nurses (and matrons, laundry matrons, culinary matrons, ward matrons). There were factory workers, farm owners, shop keepers, clerks, needleworkers, relief workers, nuns, and mothers (and anyone who thinks mothers don't work, hasn't been around growing children). There were women among the immigrants. There were women forced out of their homes. There were women scared to treat their own wounded relatives for fear of being arrested. There were women who could no longer speak to their families and best freinds because of a man's views on the war... or society's perceptions of a man's views on the war. Each of these women will feel very differently about the war and hold a different philosophical view.
For a Northern perspective, you might try "Busy Hands: Images of the Family in the Northern Civil War Effort" by Patricia L. Richard.
For a Southern perspective, you might try "Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War" by Drew Gilpin Faust
For a civilian perspective to Sharpsburg, try "Too Afraid to Cry", and for Gettysburg, try "Days of Darkness: the Gettysburg Civilians".
For medical workers, try "Women at the Front: Hospital Workers in Civil War America" by Jane E. Shultz and "When the Smoke Cleared at Gettysburg" by George Sheldon.
*Make GoogleBooks your new best friend. Many of the titles I've mentioned are on limited preview there. Good luck.

[Robbie1]

Thank you all so much! I can't express how grateful I am for all your help!

[trainwreck]

Hello.

Might I suggest reading Hard Tack and Coffee: The Unwritten Story of Army Life by John D. Billings. This book is one of the most usefull books I've read. It gives you a look at Union army camp life, food, and what goings happen when soldiers ever got freetime, and on marches.

[tompritchett]

So far I have decided to look at one general (probably Robert E. Lee or William T. Sherman)

It might be interesting to also contrast the philosophies of a few generals. One interesting contrast would be Thomas versus Lee in regards of allegiance or Thomas versus Sherman in regards to military tactics and overall strategy.

[Robbie1]

Not a bad suggestion. What would really be fun would be to compare Sherman and Lee in regards to total war and how they struggled or didn't struggle with having to harm civilians in order to bring about military objectives. The only problem that this study would pose is that Lee only invaded the North twice so there would be a little less to work with. (At least in terms of first hand sources) On the other hand there are mountains of books on Gettysburg. There are so many things that I'd like to write on, I wish I could write a thousand papers! Oh well, there's still the graduate level work.

[thunderbunny]

I'm glad to see your interest and enthusiasm. One book that may help you out, if you haven't read it already, would be "W.T Sherman's Memoirs" or even "Advance and Retreat" by John Bell Hood.

As for deciding on more specific topics, have you thought about women that served as either soldiers or spies? Another suggestion, although it may be difficult to find info on her...Mary Walker, the 1st female Union surgeon.

No idea when your paper is due or where you live but you may want to attend some events to get a feel for it.

Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

Rita

[celtfiddler]

Originally Posted by thunderbunny

As for deciding on more specific topics, have you thought about women that served as either soldiers or spies? Another suggestion, although it may be difficult to find info on her...Mary Walker, the 1st female Union surgeon.

Check out "A Woman of Honor: Dr Walker and the Civil War by Mercedes Graf
Also there's an excellent essay by Elizabeth Leonard in the book "Battle Scars" that covers Mary Walker and Mary Surratt.

I would also recommend checking out some of the resource guides and finding aids here
http://www.ahco.army.mil/site/index.jsp

Sorry, I'm a bit exhausted tonight and in dire need of sleep.