For Virginia

Mark R. Brewer

Description

The about the book information is not available at this time

Sujets

• History
• United States
• Histoire
• Civil War Period

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 30 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669857082
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

FOR VIRGINIA
John Wilkes Booth, Thomas J. Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Edmund Ruffin, James Ewell Brown Stuart And The Civil War
MARK R. BREWER

Copyright © 2022 by Mark R. Brewer.
 
ISBN:
Softcover
978-1-6698-5709-9

eBook
978-1-6698-5708-2
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rev. date: 11/23/2022
 
 
 
 
 
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
848541
CONTENTS
Introduction
Foreword
Acknowledgements
 
Chapter 1 God and One Man
Chapter 2 No Greater Calamity
Chapter 3 Yell like Furies
Chapter 4 All I Ask of Fate
Chapter 5 Daughter of The Stars
Chapter 6 Riding A Raid
Chapter 7 His Name Might Be Audacity
Chapter 8 The Miscreant
Chapter 9 The Bloodiest Day
Chapter 10 We Cannot Be Conquered
Chapter 11 Victory or Death
Chapter 12 Wild Fire
Chapter 13 I Wish He was Ours
Chapter 14 All This has Been My Fault
Chapter 15 Tears of Blood
Chapter 16 If I Shine at All
Chapter 17 The Monarch of The World
Chapter 18 Rock of Ages
Chapter 19 I May Die Soon & Suddenly
Chapter 20 My Voice Goes Back on Me
Chapter 21 We Cannot Fight to Advantage
Chapter 22 Come Weal or Woe
Chapter 23 All These Wishers For Peace
Chapter 24 I Have No Troops to Send
Chapter 25 A Thousand Deaths
Chapter 26 Good Friday Was the Day
Chapter 27 Useless
Chapter 28 Unmitigated Hatred
Chapter 29 Strike the Tent
 
Bibliography

                FOR VIRGINIA: JOHN WILKES BOOTH,
                THOMAS J. JACKSON, ROBERT E. LEE,
                EDMUND RUFFIN, JAMES EWELL BROWN
                STUART AND THE CIVIL WAR
                MARK R. BREWER

For my brother Michael, who I love and have long tried to emulate.
INTRODUCTION
Few eras afford more drama than the American Civil War. So much is compressed into but four years, and so many fascinating individuals appear upon the stage that any aspect of it, whether military or civilian, makes for a compelling tale.
For thirty-one years, I was a teller of tales. I taught history at the public school, county college and university levels. In the book that follows, I utilized some of the very same tales and even some of the exact same words that I used in the classroom.
My father took our family to Gettysburg when I was a boy of eight during the 100 th anniversary of the battle. Since that time, I have had a love of Civil War history and history in general. During that visit long ago, I also developed an affinity for Robert E. Lee. His nobility, faith, humility and underdog status drew my young heart to him. Yes, he fought for the wrong side, but I believe he still has much to teach us about character and duty.
My fascination with Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart, Edmund Ruffin and John Wilkes Booth came much later, as I studied more about the war and those caught up in the maelstrom it created. It was in the 1980s that the story that follows began to germinate with me. I have been thinking about it and writing about it for a long time.
My sincere hope is that those who read this book will find that it enlightens and entertains.
All quotes maintain the original spelling and punctuation.
Mark R. Brewer
Pitman, New Jersey
September, 2018
FOREWORD
“Any understanding of this nation has to be based, and I mean really based, on an understanding of the Civil War. I believe that firmly. It defined us.” That statement, made by Shelby Foote in the well-regarded documentary series The Civil War , is as true today as it was when it was first enunciated in 1990. Recent contemporary incidents, including debates over the Confederate flag, arguments over statues, and disputes over how to memorialize our past, hearken back to the American Civil War. In For Virginia , Mark Brewer brings us back to those crucial years when Americans slaughtered one another. Using engaging vignettes, he takes us into the minds of figures such as Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, and John Wilkes Booth. These are not mere portrayals of iconic historical figures, but examinations of very human characters full of flaws and nobility, struggling with momentous events. There is the decision of Robert E. Lee, following his surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, to put the war behind him and forge a new identity as the President of a college, rather than drape himself in the banner of the “Lost Cause” and continue a war which had been decisively concluded. John Wilkes Booth cannot envision an America without slavery, nor can Edmund Ruffin. Their paths are more extremist and radical. It is easy for us to live in the here and now, and to think that our current partisan woes are unprecedented. They are not. Our nation has seen much worse, and our republic came close to ceasing to exist. Mark Brewer transports us back to a decisive period in our country’s history, and he reminds us that, in the words of Robert E. Lee, “It is history that gives us hope.”
George J. Heidemark
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am, first and foremost, grateful to my brother, Michael A. Brewer, and my friend, George J. Heidemark, who each read my book as it was being written and offered corrections, comments, suggestions and encouragement. I am also thankful to my wife Laurie, who has always been a source of inspiration to me. Her thoughts and ideas have made this a better book. My son Nick and daughter Madeline also provided encouragement and love. This book and my life have been enriched by each of them.
I am also highly grateful to those marvelous historians who provided much of the material used to write For Virginia . I have, as it were, stood on the shoulders of such giants as Terry Alford, Douglas Southall Freeman, Shelby Foote, Arthur F. Loux, David Reynolds, James I. Robertson, Stephen W. Sears, William Kauffman Scarborough and Emory Thomas, among others. I am also thankful for the many wonderful first-hand accounts that were penned by those who lived through the war and knew the five individuals who make up this tale. They include Asia Booth Clarke, Thomas A. Jones, Henry Kyd Douglas, John B. Gordon, Heros von Borcke and many others.
In this modern age, much information is available at one’s fingertips. Thank goodness we have historians who create and maintain so many fine web sites.
ONE
God and One Man
1.
Sunday, 16 October 1859.
The Kennedy Farm, Maryland.
8:00 P.M.
The night was damp and cool with a soft drizzle falling. Twenty-three people crowded into the small, two-room farmhouse. All were men but one, and five of the men were black.
The Old Man was clearly in charge. He carefully went over each man’s task so they knew what they were to do. He reminded them that every human life was precious. “Do not therefore,” he instructed, “take the life of anyone if you can possibly avoid it; but if it is necessary to take life in order to save your own, then make sure work of it.”
He was calm and confident, giving his commands through half-closed, steel blue eyes. His gray hair and beard gave him the look of one who knew what he was about.
“Men, get on your arms,” he ordered; “we will proceed to the Ferry.”
They went outside, and the Old Man took a seat in a wagon that was loaded with supplies. He took the reins in hand and snapped them, setting the mule in motion. “Come, boys!” the Old Man cried. The men fell in behind the wagon and followed in a column of twos. There were nineteen men in all—the Old Man and eighteen others. The lone woman and three men had stayed behind.
They called the Old Man “Smith” and “Captain.” But these were aliases. His name was John Brown, and he was leading these eighteen men to the Ferry to begin a war against slavery in the United States.
2.
Sunday, 16 October 1859.
Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.
10:30 P.M.
Bill Williams was a watchman on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road bridge that crossed from Maryland into Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. His primary job was to watch for fires that were sometimes sparked by passing locomotives. It was also his task to make sure the switches on the track were set correctly. Williams carried a lantern on this rainy night, but he was unarmed. There was never any need for a weapon.
The bridge was more than 1,000 feet long and wide enough for the train tracks and a roadway that allowed wagons to cross. It was enclosed by siding and covered with a tin roof, giving it the feel of a long tunnel.
Two figures approached Williams on the bridge from the Maryland side, and as they drew close, Williams realized they were armed. Suddenly a crowd of armed men appeared out of the dark behind them. Williams recognized one of the men. He was Isaac Smith, a bearded farmer from New York who had crossed the bridge a few times in recent weeks. Smith told Williams he was a prisoner; Williams thought he was joking.
The men forced Williams off the bridge and hustled him into the town at gunpoint. They took him past the railroad depot and up to the gate of the nearby armory. Just inside the gate was a guardhouse. As the group approached the gate, Daniel Whelan, the night