Conspicuous Gallantry

Eric Faust

Description

A unique and fascinating collection of letters from a soldier, planter, and journalist The Union states of what is now the Midwest have received far less attention from historians than those of the East, and much of Michigan's Civil War story remains untold. The eloquent letters of James W. King shed light on a Civil War regiment that played important roles in the battles of Stones River, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. King enlisted in the 11th Michigan in 1861 as a private and rose to the rank of quartermaster sergeant. His correspondence continues into the era of Reconstruction, when he tried his hand at raising cotton in Tennessee and Alabama and found himself caught up in the social and political upheavals of the postwar South.King went off to war as an obscure nineteen-year-old farm boy, but he was anything but average. His letters to Sarah Jane Babcock, his future wife, vividly illustrate the plight and perspective of the rank-and-file Union infantryman while revealing the innermost thoughts of an articulate, romantic, and educated young man.King's wartime correspondence explores a myriad of issues faced by the common Federal soldier: the angst, uncertainty, and hope associated with long-distance courtship; the scourge of widespread and often fatal diseases; the rapid evolution of views on race and slavery; the doldrums of camp life punctuated with the horrors of combat and its aftermath; the gnawing anxiety while waiting for mail from home; the incessant gambling, drunkenness, and profanity of his comrades; and the omnipresent risk of death or crippling disability as the cost of performing his duty: to preserve the Union.Through meticulous research and careful editing, Eric R. Faust presents a story that does not cease with King's muster out, or even with Lee's surrender at Appomattox. King's postwar correspondence illuminates the struggles of a soldier disabled by wounds, trying to find his place in a civilian world forever changed by war. Like thousands of other Northern soldiers, King traveled south to raise cotton. The letters he penned on the plantation defy the timeworn stereotype of carpetbaggers as ruthless opportunists who deprived the South of its capital and dignity after the war.A kind twist of fate boosted King to prominence in his home state as editor of Michigan's foremost Republican newspaper and set him on a path to national notoriety. Through King's remarkable rise to the national stage, the reader gains insight into the heated political climate of the Reconstruction era and the Gilded Age, and more generally into the deeply complex legacy of the American Civil War.

Sujets

• Histoire
• USA
• United States of America
• History of the Americas
• American Civil War
• États-Unis
• Guerre de Sécession

Informations

• Publié par: The Kent State University Press
• Date de parution: 08 octobre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781631011382
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

C ONSPICUOUS G ALLANTRY
C IVIL W AR IN THE N ORTH
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Conspicuous Gallantry: The Civil War and Reconstruction Letters of James W. King, 11th Michigan Volunteer Infantry
Edited by Eric R. Faust
Conspicuous Gallantry

T HE C IVIL W AR AND R ECONSTRUCTION L ETTERS OF J AMES W. K ING, 11TH M ICHIGAN V OLUNTEER I NFANTRY

Edited by Eric R. Faust
The Kent State University Press
Kent, Ohio
Material from the James W. King Collection appears courtesy of Western Michigan University Archives and Regional History Collections. Material from the Benjamin F. Bornder papers, the James Martin letters, the Wells Family papers, and the Anson De Puy Van Buren papers appear courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
© 2015 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2014049078
ISBN 978-1-60635-243-4
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
King, James W., 1842–1903.
Conspicuous gallantry : the Civil War and Reconstruction letters of James W. King, 11th Michigan Volunteer Infantry / edited by Eric R. Faust.
pages cm. — (Civil War in the North)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60635-243-4 (hardcover : alkaline paper) ∞
1. King, James W., 1842–1903—Correspondence.
2. United States. Army. Michigan Infantry Regiment, 11th (1861–1864)
3. Soldiers—Michigan—Correspondence.
4. Michigan—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Personal narratives.
5. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Personal narratives.
6. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Regimental histories.
7. Cotton farmers—Southern States—Correspondence.
8. Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865–1877)—Tennessee—Sources.
9. Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865–1877)—Alabama—Sources.
10. Newspaper editors—Michigan—Correspondence.
I. Faust, Eric R., 1971– II. Title.
E 514.511 TH . K 56 2015
973.7'474—dc23
2014049078
19  18  17  16  15          5  4  3  2  1
For Sandra, who always believes in me just a little more than I do in myself.
And now you have before you one of the most startling episodes of the war; I cannot render it in words; dictionaries are beggarly things. But I may tell you they did not storm that mountain as you would think. They dash out a little way, and then slacken; they creep up, hand over hand, loading and firing, and wavering and halting, from the first line of works to the second; they burst into a charge with a cheer, and go over it. Sheets of flame baptize them; plunging shot tear away comrades on left and right; it is no longer shoulder to shoulder; it is God for us all! Under tree trunks, among rocks, stumbling over the dead, struggling with the living; facing the steady fire of eight thousand infantry poured down upon their heads as if it were the old historic curse from heaven, they wrestle with the Ridge. Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes go by like a reluctant century. The batteries roll like a drum; between the second and last lines of rebel works is the torrid zone of the battle; the hill sways up like a wall before them at an angle of forty-five degrees, but our brave mountaineers are clambering steadily on—up—upward still! You may think it strange, but I would not have recalled those men if I could. They would have lifted you, as they did me, in full view of the heroic grandeur; they seemed to be spurning the dull earth under their feet, and going up to do Homeric battle with the greater gods.
—Journalist Benjamin Franklin Taylor, eyewitness to the Battle of Missionary Ridge
Contents

Acknowledgments
Historical Cast
Introduction
1 Drum and Fife: September–December 1861
2 Rations and Coffins: January–April 1862
3 The Celebrated John Morgan: May–December 1862
4 The Worst Scourge: December 1862–June 1863
5 This Cannot Be a Defeat: June 1863–April 1864
6 The Cannons’ Deep Roar: April 1864–December 1865
7 King Cotton: December 1865–January 1868
8 The Battle of Life: January 1868–October 1903
Appendix A
Appendix B
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments

The process of writing this book has ranked among the most rewarding undertakings of my life. This was a journey I could never have completed alone, and numerous people have earned my heartfelt gratitude for helping me along the way.
First, thanks to Sharon Carlson and the entire staff at Western Michigan University Archives and Regional History Collections for allowing me the opportunity and honor of publishing the James W. King Collection.
Next, I would like to recognize everyone at Kent State University Press for making the entire publishing process a pleasure. I am particularly indebted to Joyce Harrison, who recognized the merit in these letters at a time when the manuscript was at best a diamond in the rough. Without her support and encouragement, this project might never have seen the light of day.
Brian Craig Miller and Timothy J. Orr pored over the text and offered meticulous feedback and invaluable suggestions for improvement. Both of these gentlemen perceived value and significance in this letter collection from angles I had not even considered. Thank you both for enabling me to do justice to the topic. Copyeditor Margery Tippie was a pleasure to work with as well and saved me from numerous potential embarrassments. Any remaining errors and omissions are solely my responsibility.
Many archivists and librarians deserve mention here as well. Karen Jania and the staff of the Bentley Historical Library are to be commended for their efficiency and professional courtesy in ensuring convenient access to Bentley’s expansive and indispensable materials. Kevin Driedger at the Library of Michigan was instrumental in providing access to resources vital to understanding James King’s career as a journalist. The staff of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library cheerfully processed a mountain of interlibrary loan requests. John Allison at the Morgan County (Alabama) Archives shared his wealth of knowledge about Decatur in the immediate aftermath of the war and pointed me to sources that eased the detective work required to make some sense out of the Kings’ harrowing, and poorly documented, experiences down South in 1867.
A big thank-you to noted Civil War cartographer Hal Jespersen, whose stunning maps grace this book. It is my fervent hope, Hal, to send more business your way soon. Thanks for not laughing when you saw my own abortive attempts at map making.
Researcher Vonnie Zullo was extremely helpful in obtaining materials from the National Archives. Thanks to her knowledge and experience, her archive visits proved just as fruitful as if I had been there myself.
I was not, by a far cry, the only King descendant who was aware of, and fascinated by, these letters. But for a twist of fate, this volume would likely have been written by my cousin, John Dudd. My thanks to his wife, Joan, for generously sharing his notes and transcriptions with me. Three other cousins—Rebecca Shank and Michael and Howard King—joined me for an immensely rewarding genealogy rap session one day at the Three Rivers Public Library, and helped to ensure that I had my facts straight regarding the Kings of the nineteenth century.
In such a massive undertaking, the degree of support received from one’s family and friends can make or break the entire endeavor. Our children, Adrian and Nina, cheerfully put up with their father disappearing now and then to visit some archive or battlefield in a faraway land. An occasional pat on the back, or its verbal equivalent, sustained my efforts long before I was fortunate enough to obtain the feedback and encouragement of the publisher and peer reviewers. My mother, Priscilla Camarillo, my brother, Trent, and my wonderful wife, Aleksandra—with her unbounded, unconditional supportiveness—all perused early drafts of the manuscript and shared in the joys of the countless discoveries that illuminated my path.
Historical Cast

Individuals mentioned more than once in James W. King’s letters are listed here to ease the reader’s burden in keeping names straight. In most cases