Lincoln's Generals' Wives

Shy Hooper Candice

Description

The story of the American Civil War is not complete without examining the extraordinary and influential lives of Jessie Fremont, Nelly McClellan, Ellen Sherman, and Julia Grant, the wives of Abraham Lincoln's top generals. They were their husbands' closest confidantes and had a profound impact on the generals' ambitions and actions. Most important, the women's own attitudes toward and relation- ships with Lincoln had major historical significance.Candice Shy Hooper's lively account covers the early lives of her subjects, as well as their families, their education, their political attitudes, and their personal beliefs. Once shots were fired on Fort Sumter, the women were launched out of their private spheres into a wholly different universe, where their relationships with their husbands and their personal opinions of the president of the United States had national and historical consequences.The approaches and styles of Fremont and McClellan contrast with those of Sherman and Grant, and there is equal symmetry in their wives' stories. Jessie Fremont and Nelly McClellan both encouraged their husbands to persist in their arrogance and delusion and to reject the advice and friendship of their commander in chief. In the end, Jessie and Nelly contributed most to the Union war effort by accelerating their husbands' removal from active command. Conversely, while Ellen Sherman's and Julia Grant's belief in their husbands' character and potential was ardent, it was not unbounded. Ellen and Julia did not hesitate to take issue with their spouses when they believed their actions were wrong or their judgments ill-advised. They intelligently supported their husbands' best instincts-including trust in and admiration for Lincoln-and re-buffed their worst. They were the source of strength that Sherman and Grant used to win the Civil War.Relying on a close reading of letters, memoirs, and other primary sources-and, for the first time, mapping the women's wartime travels-Hooper explores the very different ways in which these remarkable women responded to the unique challenges of being Lincoln's generals' wives.

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: 31 mai 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781631011986
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

More praise for Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives
“Candice Hooper’s vivid new look at the lives of these Union generals’ wives reveals a hidden chapter of Civil War history. Brimming with rich detail, Hooper’s brisk and beguiling narrative weaves together the military and the personal to introduce a fascinating cast of characters: John Charles Frémont and Jessie Benton, George McClellan and his wife Nelly, Ellen and William T. Sherman, and Ulysses Grant and Julia Dent. These Union women emerge from the shadows and take their rightful place in the forefront of Civil War women’s history.”
—Catherine Clinton , author of Mrs. Lincoln: A Life
“Cliches ought to be avoided like, well, cliches, yet occasionally one has substance, and none more than the old adage about there being a good woman behind every successful man. It is almost always true, and demonstrated nowhere better than in Candice Hooper’s fine new work Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives . No women gave their husbands greater entree into high political and military circles than Jessie Benton Frémont, ‘Nelly’ Marcy McClellan, and Ellen Ewing Sherman. None acted as a greater stabilizing force and safe haven from the pressure of command than Julia Dent Grant. Among them they reveal the full gamut of a spouse’s potential influence on her husband’s career, from the harm to be done by Jessie’s too strong an advocacy to the damage done by Nelly’s ego boosting, to Ellen’s unflinching faith and loyalty that sustained her ‘Cump,’ and perhaps most of all in Julia, whom Hooper aptly summarizes in three perfect words: ‘center of gravity.’ This is a fine book, imaginatively conceived, deeply researched, and ably written. Our hats should be off to all five of the women involved.”— William C. Davis Jr. , author of Crucible of Command: Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee—The War They Fought, the Peace They Forged
“Candice Shy Hooper’s Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives offers unprecedented opportunities to appreciate heretofore unheard voices in the strategic debates that shaped wartime polices in the Civil War North. The four generals whose spouses are profiled in this work all benefited from both the overt and subtle input of their closest confidante who might serve as a moral compass, calm doubts, or rein in overconfidence, or quietly and simply provide a secure sounding board for important decisions. As the author clearly shows, the wives of Generals Frémont, McClellan, Sherman, and Grant each tried to meet these challenges, and Hooper’s evaluation of their methods and priorities—as well as their successes and failures—merits our attention.”— Carol Reardon , George Winfree Professor of American History, Penn State University
“For those who think they know everything about the Civil War, here are fresh, revealing, well-crafted portraits of women who not only helped propel their husbands to major military careers but established themselves, for better or worse, as formidable battlers in their own right. Yet this is even more than behind-the-scenes history. For in turning the spotlight on the generals’ wives, the author invariably shines humanity on chieftains we have heretofore imagined only in tents, not homes; in the company of fellow officers, not families. Candy Hooper’s research and analysis helps us better understand what inspired—or inhibited—these generals and how their spouses helped shape them into heroes—or failures.”— Harold Holzer , author of Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion (winner of the Lincoln Prize)
“Hooper’s book is unique in the annals of Civil War history. Here I found Julia Grant, wife of Ulysses S. Grant, and my great-great-grandmother, as I’d never known her before. Thoroughly researched and readable, the book is remarkably moving.”— Ulysses Grant Dietz , board member and Vice President, the Ulysses S. Grant Association and Presidential Library
“In this insightful study, Candice Shy Hooper reminds us of the important role played by the wives of several key players in the Union high command. Even as they served as sounding boards and personal advisers for their husbands, these women took it upon themselves to protect their men’s interests and advocate on their behalf; at times they became subjects of controversy. Essential reading for those who want to understand these men, the war they waged, and the women who stood beside them.”— Brooks D. Simpson , Arizona State University
“With Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives , Candice Shy Hooper has opened a new door in Civil War scholarship. Her invaluable book sheds light not only on the lives of these four remarkable women and their marriages but on the broader theme of Civil War era politics, of both the national and gender varieties.”— Clay Risen , coeditor of Disunion , the New York Times ’s series on the Civil War
“If ever there has been a need for a particular book, it is certainly for this one. Candy Hooper has studied the wives of four Civil War generals and demonstrated the essential roles they played in their husbands’ lives and the life of the nation. She presents important insights into military history, the Civil War, and gender history. Scholars and the general public will find this book well-written and intriguing. It is a must read.”— John F. Marszalek , executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association’s Ulysses S. Presidential Library, Mississippi State University, and the author of important books on Grant, Sherman, and the Civil War
“Hooper’s book gives us a fresh look at some of the most famous military men in American history—through the prism of their marriages. Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives proves the old adage that the toughest job in the military is that of a military spouse.”— General Paul Kern , U.S. Army (retired)
Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives

 

Clockwise from upper left : Jessie Frémont, Ellen Sherman, Julia Grant, and Nelly McClellan—circa 1865.
LINCOLN’S GENERALS’ WIVES
Four Women Who Influenced the Civil War—for Better and for Worse

Candice Shy Hooper
The Kent State University Press • Kent, Ohio
© 2016 by Candice Shy Hooper
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Excerpts from The Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan: Selected Correspondence, 1860–1865 , edited Stephen W. Sears. Copyright © 1989 by Stephen W. Sears. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Excerpts from The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant (Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant) by John Y. Simon. Copyright © 1975 by the Ulysses S. Grant Association. Reproduced by permission of the publisher and Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library. Excerpts from The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant appear courtesy of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library. Excerpts from the William T. Sherman Family Papers are reproduced courtesy of the University of Notre Dame Archives.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2015036101
ISBN 978-1-60635-278-6
Manufactured in the United States of America
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Hooper, Candice Shy, author.
  Lincoln’s generals’ wives : four women who influenced the Civil War—for better and for worse / Candice Shy Hooper.
      pages cm. —(Civil War in the North)
  Includes bibliographical references and index.
   ISBN 978-1-60635-278-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) ∞
      1. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Women. 2. Frémont, Jessie Benton, 1824-1902. 3. McClellan, Mary Ellen Marcy, 1835–1915. 4. Sherman, Ellen Ewing, 1824–1888. 5. Grant, Julia Dent, 1826–1902. 6. Generals’ spouses—United States—Biography. 7. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Biography. I. Title.
  E628.H66 2016
  973.7082—dc23
2015036101
20  19  18  17  16          5  4  3  2  1
for Lindsay
Contents
Notes to Readers
Introduction
Part One: Friendly Fire: Jessie Benton Frémont
1 “the place a son would have had”
2 “Be sure you’re right and then go ahead”
3 “Frémont and Our Jessie”
4 “quite a female politician”
5 “It is your Lerida”
6 “There is a time to do and a time to stand aside”
Part Two: Self-Inflicted Wounds: Mary Ellen Marcy McClellan
7 “you are fond of attention and gaiety”
8 “Flora McFlimsey”
9 “don’t send any politicians out here”
10 “you have quite enough else to attend to”
11 “I almost wish … they would displace you”
12 “how the mighty are fallen”
Part Three: True Faith and Allegiance: Eleanor Ewing Sherman
13 “It is high or low tide with us ever”
14 “You will never be happy in this world unless you go into the Army again”
15 “releive my husband from the suspicions now resting on him”
16 “I have never dared to murmer at God’s decree”
17 “for the privilege of whipping negro wenches”
18 “the Government requires sacrifices from wives”
19 “my opinion of you is unaltered”
20 “No greater glory than to fill a patriot’s grave”
Part Four: Center of Gravity: Julia Dent Grant
21 “sunshine”
22 “this, to me, most delicate subject”
23 “how forsaken I feel here!”
24 “Is this my destiny?”
25 “secesh wives with their own little slaves”
26 “Do stop digging at this old canal”
27 Lieutenant General’s Wife
28 “I did not want to go to the theater”
29 “the sunlight of his loyal love”
Conclusion: “The woman who is known only through a man is known wrong”
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Notes to Readers
The original spelling and grammar have been preserved in quoting from the letters, journals, and memoirs of the women and men who fill these pages.
Many of the illustrations are reproductions of photographic cards popular in the nineteenth century, called “cartes de visite.”
Introduction
This is the story of four remarkable women whose marriages placed them in positions to influence the course of history and whose personalities ensured they would. Jessie Frémont, Nelly McClellan, Ellen Sherman, and Julia Grant were all strong, smart, resilient women. They had to be. If not, they would not have attracted the men who wooed and married them, nor could t