James Riley Weaver's Civil War

Description

666 days of diary entries documenting the life of a Union officer held in Confederate prisonsCaptured on October 11, 1863, James Riley Weaver, a Union cavalry officer, spent nearly seventeen months in Confederate prisons. Remarkably, Weaver kept a diary that documents 666 consecutive days of his experience, including not only his life in a series of prisons throughout the South, but his precaptivity cavalry duties, and his eventual return to civilian life. It is an unparalleled eyewitness account of a crucial part of our history.Weaver's observations never veer into romanticized descriptions; instead, he describes the "little world" inside each prison and outdoor camp, describing men drawn from "every class of society, high and low, righ and poor, from every country and clime." In addition, Weaver records details about life in the Confederacy that he gleans from visitors, guards, new arrivals, recaptured escapees, Southern newspapers, and even glimpses through windows. As the editors demonstrate, Weaver's diary-keeping provided an outlet for expressing suppressed emotions, ruminating on a seemingly endless confinement that tested his patriotism, religious faith, and will to survive. In the process, he provides not only historically important information but also keen insights into the human condition under adversity.

Sujets

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

Informations

• Publié par: The Kent State University Press
• Date de parution: 14 février 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781631013539
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

James Riley Weaver’s Civil War
CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS AND STRATEGIES Brian S. Wills, Series Editor
Richmond Must Fall: The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, October 1864 HAMPTON NEWSOME
Work for Giants: The Campaign and Battle of Tupelo/Harrisburg, Mississippi, June–July 1864 THOMAS E. PARSON
“ My Greatest Quarrel with Fortune”: Major General Lew Wallace in the West, 1861–1862 CHARLES G. BEEMER
Phantoms of the South Fork: Captain McNeill and His Rangers STEVE FRENCH
At the Forefront of Lee’s Invasion: Retribution, Plunder, and Clashing Cultures on Richard S. Ewell’s Road to Gettysburg ROBERT J. WYNSTRA
Meade: The Price of Command, 1863–1865 , JOHN G. SELBY
James Riley Weaver’s Civil War: The Diary of a Union Cavalry Officer and Prisoner of War, 1863–1865 EDITED BY JOHN T. SCHLOTTERBECK, WESLEY W. WILSON, MIDORI KAWAUE, AND HAROLD A. KLINGENSMITH
James Riley Weaver’s Civil War
The Diary of a Union Cavalry Officer and Prisoner of War, 1863–1865
Edited by John T. Schlotterbeck, Wesley W. Wilson, Midori Kawaue, and Harold A. Klingensmith
The Kent State University Press
Kent, Ohio
© 2019 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Number 2018038358
ISBN 978-1-60635-368-4
Manufactured in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced, in any manner whatsoever, without written permission from the Publisher, except in the case of short quotations in critical reviews or articles.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Weaver, James Riley, 1839-1920, author. | Schlotterbeck, John T., editor. | Wilson, Wesley (Wesley W.), editor. | Kawaue, Midori, editor. | Klingensmith, Harold A. (Tony), editor.
Title: James Riley Weaver’s Civil War : the diary of a Union cavalry officer and prisoner of war, 1863-1865 / edited by John T. Schlotterbeck, Wesley W. Wilson, Midori Kawaue, and Harold A. Klingensmith.
Description: Kent, Ohio : The Kent State University Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018038358 | ISBN 9781606353684 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Weaver, James Riley, 1839-1920--Diaries. | United States. Army. Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment, 18th (1862-1865) | United States. Army. Cavalry--Officers--Diaries. | Soldiers--Pennsylvania--Diaries. | Pennsylvania--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives. | United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives. | Pennsylvania--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Regimental histories. | United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Regimental histories. | Prisoners of war--United States--Diaries. | United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisoners and prisons.
Classification: LCC E527.6 18th W43 2019 | DDC 973.7/81--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018038358
23 22 21 20 19      5 4 3 2 1
John Schlotterbeck: For my students at DePauw University and my family— Barbara, Jesse, Marian, Ava, and Alina
Wesley W. Wilson: For Elena
Midori Kawaue: For Tomiko Hattori
Anthony Klingensmith: For Pam
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
List of Abbreviations
Editorial Method
Prologue: Instilling the “Ideal of Christian Manhood,” 1839–1863
1 “The Arts and Scenes of Active Warfare”: The Making of a Cavalry Officer, June 1–July 17, 1863
2 “Slept to Dream of War but Woke to Find All Quiet”: Campaigning in Northern Virginia, July 18–October 11, 1863
3 “What a Little World in Itself Have We in Libby”: Libby Prison, Richmond, October 12, 1863–January 16, 1864
4 “Our Happiness Is Alloyed by the Fear of Being Disappointed”: Libby Prison, Richmond, January 17–May 6, 1864
5 “Think of Home and Wonder When the Space That Now Separates Us Will Be Traversed”: Macon, Georgia, May 7–July 27, 1864
6 “They Go High Like a Shooting Meteor and Fall Abruptly as a Star”: Charleston, South Carolina, July 28–October 5, 1864
7 “Escape Has Been the Order of the Day”: Camp Sorghum, Columbia, South Carolina, October 6–December 11, 1864
8 “Sitting Outside My Tent Penning These Lines”: Camp Asylum, Columbia, South Carolina, December 12, 1864–February 13, 1865
9 “Altho All These Things Seemed as of Former Days, Yet I Could Not Realize That I Was Free”: Homeward Bound, February 14–April 1, 1865
Epilogue: Students Are “Co-Laborers with the Instructor in the Investigation of Specific Subjects”: Weaver’s Postwar Career, 1865–1920
Appendix: James Riley Weaver, “A Phi Psi’s Christmas in Libby,” The Shield of Phi Kappa Psi (1899)
Chronology
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
Fig. 1. James Riley Weaver, age 23, after his promotion to second lieutenant in June 1862
Fig. 2. Bentley Hall, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA, ca. 1870
Fig. 3. Recruiting advertisement, 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Fall 1862
Fig. 4. Movements of the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry, January–October 1863
Fig. 5. A. G. Richmond, Farnsworth’s Charge and Death , 1893
Fig. 6. Monument to the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Gettysburg, PA, 1889
Fig. 7. The regimental standard of the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry
Fig. 8. Edwin Forbes, “Brandy Station, on the Orange and Alexandria R.R., Light Artillery Going to the Front,” September 15, 1863
Fig. 9. Confederate prisons, 1863–65
Fig. 10. Libby Prison, Richmond, VA
Fig. 11. Playbill, the Libby Prison Minstrels, December 24, 1863
Fig. 12. Interior of Libby Prison
Fig. 13. Officer’s Prison No. 3, Danville, VA
Fig. 14. Camp Oglethorpe, Macon, GA
Fig. 15. Charleston Jail yard
Fig. 16. Union battery on Morris Island, SC
Fig. 17. Robert Mills, Old Marine Hospital (1833), Charleston, SC, ca. 1933
Fig. 18. Camp Sorghum, Columbia, SC
Fig. 19. Camp Asylum, South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, Columbia
Fig. 20. S. M. H. Byers and J. O. Rockwell, “Sherman’s March to the Sea,” 1864
Fig. 21. Walnut Street Theater (1811), Philadelphia, 1865
Fig. 22. James Riley Weaver, age 25, after his parole in March 1865
Fig. 23. West Virginia University Corps of Cadets, ca. 1868
Fig. 24. James Riley Weaver, ca. 1885, soon after arriving at DePauw University
Fig. 25. Anna Simpson Weaver, ca. 1895
Fig. 26. Emma Matern Weaver, 1896
Fig. 27. James Riley Weaver near retirement, ca. 1910
Acknowledgments
Editing James Riley Weaver’s diary has been a collaborative enterprise, and I especially thank my coeditors’ shared enthusiasm and individual talents for making this project possible. In January 2015, Tony Klingensmith, an independent scholar, sent Wes Wilson, the DePauw University archivist, a transcription of the text from the digitized diary pages Wes had posted on Flickr. The draft’s surprise arrival encouraged us to dream of publishing the seven-hundred-page diary. That summer, Wes, Midori Kawaue, an undergraduate history major, and I received a student-faculty summer research grant from DePauw University to continue the editorial work. Midori corrected Tony’s draft against the original and added our suggestions. Together we developed editorial guidelines. Midori continued revising the text in fall 2015, and she and I read scholarship on Civil War prisons and writings by prisoners. Her annotated bibliographies provided insights on each reading’s themes, reliability, and usefulness that were invaluable in writing the introductory material. Midori’s meticulous work and her great cheer and spirit are an inspiration.
Wes’s immense knowledge about the history of DePauw University and the United Methodist Church and his personal connections, through Elena S. Wilson, to the Weaver family have been vital in understanding Weaver’s life. He collected additional Weaver material from individuals and archivists and selected and secured permissions for the illustrations. Tony’s research on the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry was indispensable in understanding military events and in identifying individuals Weaver mentioned in the diary. The two outside readers made many suggestions for revisions that significantly improved the final manuscript. The enthusiasm and professionalism of the staff at Kent State University Press made bringing Weaver’s diary to publication a pleasure. Colleagues at DePauw have been uniformly supportive of the project and several have contributed in special ways. My wife, Barbara Steinson, provided steadfast encouragement and careful comments on the introduction, prologue, epilogue, and chapter introductions that improved the prose and clarified themes. John Dittmer read the entire manuscript and offered a valuable perspective from someone whose expertise is outside the Civil War era. Yung-chen Chiang helped explain Weaver’s contributions as a teacher. Beth Wilkerson prepared the maps and patiently responded to our numerous revisions. Finally, we are grateful to the Faculty Development Committee and to Anne Harris, vice president of academic affairs, DePauw University, for their material support.
J OHN T. S CHLOTTERBECK
Many thanks to David H. Howard and Joanne Howard Kouris for their donation of the diary and supporting family material to the Archives and to John Schlotterbeck for taking an archival transcription project and bringing it to publication. Thanks also to Mary Graff Dove for her donations of Weaver family items and information about James Riley Weaver’s daughters and son-in-law. Fellow archivists provided invaluable research assistance, including Suzanne Williams at the Merrick Archives at Allegheny College and Frances Lyons at the General Commission on Archives and History, United Methodist Church. The staff at the Sandusky (Ohio) Public Library provided further assistance in locating Matern family information. Help in locating photographs was provided by Michael Kraus, curator of collections and historian, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum; Marlea D. Leljedal, operations clerk, US Army Heritage and Education Center; and Jessica Eichlin, photographs manager, West Virginia, and Regional History Center, W