B L O O D

A N D
I R O N Y
Blood
&Irony
Southein
White
Womens
Naiiatives
of the
Civil Wai,
I8oII,_,
The University
cj Ncrth
Carclina
Press
c u. v i i
ui i i
i o i o s . v . u i . c . v i i v
:oo The Univeisity of Noith Caiolina Piess
All iights ieseived
Designed by Kiistina Kachele
Set in Minion by Tseng Infoimation Systems, Inc.
Manufactuied in the United States of Ameiica
The papei in this book meets the guidelines foi
peimanence and duiability of the Committee on
Pioduction Guidelines foi Book Longevity of the
Council on Libiaiy Resouices.
Libiaiy of Congiess Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gaidnei, Saiah E.
Blood and iiony: Southein white womens naiiatives
of the Civil Wai, I8oII,_, [ Saiah E. Gaidnei.
p. cm.
Based on the authois doctoial thesis, Emoiy
Univeisity.
Includes bibliogiaphical iefeiences and index.
isv o-8o,8-:8I8-I (cloth: alk. papei)
I. Confedeiate States of AmeiicaHistoiiogiaphy.
:. United StatesHistoiyCivil Wai, I8oII8o,
Histoiiogiaphy. _. Southein StatesIntellectual
lifeI8o, . Gioup identitySouthein States
Histoiy. ,. United StatesHistoiyCivil Wai,
I8oII8o,Peisonal naiiatives, Confedeiate.
o. United StatesHistoiyCivil Wai, I8oII8o,
Liteiatuie and the wai. ,. Ameiican liteiatuie
Women authoisHistoiy and ciiticism. 8. Women
and liteiatuieSouthein StatesHistoiy.
,. Southein StatesIn liteiatuie. Io. Gioup identity
in liteiatuie. I. Title.
i8, .c:, :oo_
,,_.,I_o,:dc:I :oo_oI:,,,
o8 o, oo o, o , _ : I
Contents
Acknowledgments, ix
i 1voi0c1i o.
Eveiywoman Hei Own Histoiian, :
cu.v1iv I .
Pen and Ink Waiiiois, I8oII8o,, :,
cu.v1iv :.
Countiywomen in Captivity, I8o,I8,,, ,;
cu.v1iv _.
A View fiom the Mountain, I8,,I8,,, ,,
cu.v1iv .
The Impeiative of Histoiical Inquiiy, I8,,I,o,, ::,
cu.v1iv ,.
Righting the Wiongs of Histoiy, I,o,I,I,, :,;
cu.v1iv o.
Modeins Confiont the Civil Wai, I,IoI,_o, :o;
ivi ioc0i.
Eveiything That Rises Must Conveige, :,:
Notes, :o,
Bibliogiaphy, ,o,
Index, ,,,
Illustrations
Loula Kendall Rogeis, I8o,, :8
Loula Kendall Rogeis,
A Fifteenth Amendment Taking His Ciops to Maiket, ,,
Glendaiie, ,8
The Negio Quaiteis at Glendaiie, ,;
Allow me, said Captain Thomas, ;
Maiy Noailles Muifiee, :o,
In a massive Elizabethan chaii . . . , ::o
Geneial James and Helen Doitch Longstieet, I,oI, :,,
Ellen Glasgow, :,
Theie was a niche in a small alcove, :,
Betty, :,:
Chiistophei] stood, baieheaded, :,,
Maiy Johnston, :;:
The Loveis, :;,
Stonewall Jackson, :oo
The Bloody Angle, :o,
Helen Doitch Longstieet, I,_8, :::
Acknowledgments
This pioject began as a doctoial disseitation at Emoiy Univeisity undei the di-
iection of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. It beneted immeasuiably fiomhei attentive
ieading, keen histoiical sense, and many helpful suggestions. Betsey continues
to be an impoitant mentoi and fiiend, I cannot possibly thank hei enough foi all
that she has done foi me ovei the yeais. I also thank Patiick Allitt, Dan Caitei,
Eugene D. Genovese, Jack Kiiby, Michael OBiien, and James Roaik, all of whom
iead all oi poitions of this woik and oeied insightful ciiticism.
Many aichivists and libiaiians have piovided me with much-needed assis-
tance. I would like to single out the stas at the Atlanta Histoiy Centei, Duke
Univeisity, Emoiy Univeisity, the Southein Histoiical Collection, and the Uni-
veisity of Viiginia foi theii help along the way. I am paiticulaily indebted to
David Moltke-Hansen, who listened to me dione on about his pioject duiing
my stays in Chapel Hill. Gingei Cain, Baibaia Mann, Linda Matthews, Naomi
Nelson, and Kathy Shoemakei pioved impoitant allies while I woiked in Emoiy
Univeisitys Special Collections and oeied me steady employment duiing those
lean giaduate school yeais.
I am giateful to the Ameiican Histoiical Association, the Manusciipt Society,
and Duke Univeisity foi paitially funding my ieseaich.
Many fiiends and family membeis oeied me invaluable moial suppoit. Susan
Andeison and Maik Ledden weie always ieady to suggest diveisionaiy tactics
to diaw me out of the libiaiy. Je Young made suie that I ietuined to my woik.
Vate Powell piovided places foi me to stay duiing my ieseaich tiips to Boston,
Chailottesville, and New Yoik. Moie impoitant, he has seen me thiough iough
times, and foi that I am foievei giateful. Maigaiet Stoiey and Jonathan Hellei
ix
both giacefully withstood my slovenly tendencies and my long-sueiing devo-
tion to the Cleveland Indians. Theii culinaiy skills, witty bieakfast table bantei,
and continued fiiendship have seived me well. Houston Robeison has pioven a
gieat fiiend and the best ioad-tiip companion a scholai could want. Maiy Ann
Diake piovided me with sage advice on making the tiansition fiom giaduate
student to faculty membei and colleague. I thank hei foi hei constant suppoit
ovei the yeais. I thank my fiiends at Manuels Tavein foi always leaving a space
foi me at the table on Sunday nights. I especially thank Anastasia Chiistman and
hei paients, Michael and Joann Jackson, foi always being theie foi me and guid-
ing my way. Finally, I thank my paients, Ann L. Gaidnei and the late Donald C.
Gaidnei, who have placed a gieat deal of faith in my abilities to do good woik.
My colleagues in the histoiy depaitment at Meicei Univeisity suiely deseive
some kind of awaid foi iefiaining fiompesteiing me about the inoidinately long
time it has taken me to nish this pioject. Many of my foimei students failed to
show similai iestiaint and shamelessly questioned whethei I would nish this
book in theii lifetimes. To themall I amgiatefulfoi obviously dieient ieasons.
I have ieceived a gieat deal of assistance fiom the sta at the Univeisity of
Noith Caiolina Piess. Ellen D. Goldlust-Gingiich copyedited my manusciipt
with gieat caie. I would especially like to thank Pam Upton, who helped me
nalize my manusciipt, and David Peiiy, who stuck with this pioject.
My gieatest debt suiely belongs to Todd Leopold, who has lived with this
pioject almost as long as I have. Although I have not always followed his sug-
gestions foi impioving my manusciipt, I have beneted fiom his counsel and
his companionship moie than he iealizes.
x
i
.cxowiiicmi1s
Introduction
Everywoman
Her Own
Historian
He was the cavalry general }eb Stuart. . . . I danced
a valse with him in Baltimcre in ,8, and her vcice
was prcud and still as banners in the dust.
wi iii .m i.0ixiv, Flags in the Dust
The speakei was Viiginia Du Pie, the eighty-yeai-old woman who fondly ie-
membeis Geneial Jeb Stuait in William Faulkneis I,:, novel, Flags in the Dust.
Hei inteiest in the stoiy of the dashing Confedeiate ocei is deeply peisonal,
foi it tells not only of Stuaits biaveiy in the face of fteen thousand Yankees but
also of hei biothei Bayaid Saitoiiss biief caieei as a cavaliyman in the Con-
fedeiate Aimy. Aunt Jenny had ist told hei stoiy in I8o,, and she had subse-
quently told it many moie timeson occasions usually inoppoitune. Indeed,
as Aunt Jenny giewoldei, the tale itself giew iichei and iichei, taking on a mel-
lowsplendoi like wine, until what had been a haii-biained piank of two heedless
and ieckless boys wild with theii open youth, was become a gallant and nely
tiagical focal point to which the histoiy of the iace had been iaised fiom out the
old miasmic swamps of spiiitual sloth by two angels valiantly and glamoiously
fallen and stiayed, alteiing the couise of human events and puiging the souls
of men. Faulknei coiiectly undeistood the impoitance of stoiies to southein
I
cultuie. Moie impoitant, he undeistood the ciucial iole women played as dis-
seminatois of southein stoiies of the Civil Wai. Yeais ago we in the South made
oui women into ladies, he explained elsewheie. Then the Wai came and made
the ladies into ghosts. So what else can we do, being gentlemen, but listen to
them being ghosts.
1
Indeed, Faulknei knew that Aunt Jennys veision of the
stoiy of Jeb Stuait, Bayaid Saitoiis, and the anchovies iemained uniquely hei
own.
Although evocative, Aunt Jennys tale iemains eclipsed by a moie familiai
tale of the Civil Wai. Nine yeais aftei Aunt Jenny told hei stoiy in Flags in the
Dust, Maigaiet Mitchell, following in the long line of southein white women
who penned naiiatives of the Civil Wai, intioduced Scailett OHaia to Ameiican
audiences in hei I,_o Pulitzei Piizewinning novel, Gcne with the Vind. That
Scailett so ably and so fully captuied the imagination of the national ieading
public was no minoi liteiaiy coup foi the numeious southein white women who
had been telling theii tales of the wai as eaily as the Fedeial ieinfoicement of Foit
Sumtei in I8oI. What had staited out as an attempt to tell a distinctly southein
stoiy of the wai had evolved, by Scailetts incaination, into a iemaikably suc-
cessful eoit to tell the national stoiy of the wai. Indeed, the southein stoiy had
become the national stoiy, with Scailett OHaia displacing Heniy Fleming, John
Caiiington, Basil Ransom, and even Aunt Jenny as the chaiactei whose stoiies
the nation was ieading.
2
This book exploies the emeigence of a discouise that
peimitted Mitchells stoiy to attain cultuial hegemony by chionicling the eoits
of countless southein white women who actively competed foi the histoiical
memoiy of the Civil Wai duiing the ist seven decades following Appomattox.
The naiiatives of these diaiists, novelists, histoiians, and clubwomen built the
stage on which Scailett would be the stai.
Midway thiough the Civil Wai, a Viiginia woman neivously awaited news about
the besieged city of Vicksbuig, Mississippi. Knowing that othei women thiough-
out the South shaied hei anxiety, Judith McGuiie ieadily assumed that they, like
she, sought comfoit fiomwaitime tensions by iecoiding theii expeiiences. Moie
to the point, she piedicted that almost eveiy woman of the South . . . will have
hei tale to tell when this ciuel wai is ovei. Knowing also that the tide had begun
to tuin against the South, she bemoaned that these wai naiiatives would stand as
the sole iemnant of the Confedeiate civilization that suiiounded hei. McGuiie
did not doubt southein womens ability oi authoiity to chionicle the Civil Wai,
but she iegietted the ieduction of vibiant expeiiences to meie naiiative: The
:
i
i 1voi0c1i o
life of too many will be, alas! as a tale that is told, its inteiest, its chaim, even its
hope, as fai as this woild is conceined, having passed away. Viiginias Coinelia
Peake McDonald echoed McGuiies concein. Wiiting aftei the wai, McDonald
noted, I had seen so much of ieal sueiing, of conict, dangei and death, that
foi yeais I could iead neithei iomance oi histoiy, foi nothing equaled what I
had seen and known. All tales of wai and cainage, eveiy stoiy of soiiowand suf-
feiing paled befoie the sad scenes of miseiy I knew.
3
Decades befoie Faulknei
wiote, McGuiie, McDonald, and many otheis feaied that although the stoiy of
the South would be full of sound and fuiy, it would ultimately signify nothing.
Theii feais pioved gioundless.
Events amply conimed McGuiies piediction that white southein women
would tell theii stoiies of the wai. Even the most cuisoiy glance at nding aids
and collection desciiptions fiom aichives thioughout the South betiays the
abundance of unpublished manusciipts penned by southein white women be-
tween I8o, and I,_o. Family papeis swell with titles such as My Recollections
of the Wai and A Confedeiate Giilhood. Numeious southein white women,
howevei, iefused to settle foi this ciicumsciibed, piivate ieading audience. With
imconviction in the accuiacy and maiketability of theii accounts, these women
sent unsolicited manusciipts to iegional and national magazines, hoping to see
the stoiies in piint. Some such wiiteis even founded jouinals in oidei to en-
suie publication of these waitime naiiatives. Widows of Confedeiate leadeis and
statesmen published biogiaphies of theii husbands, taking the oppoitunity to
advance peisonal inteipietations of the wai. These naiiatives, including theii
distinct inteipietive contiibutions, easily wove themselves into the fabiic of the
white Souths attempt to come to teims with the meaning of defeat. Women boin
in the decades following the wai could take this emeiging account of the south-
ein expeiience foi gianted as an integial collective memoiy. They, in tuin, could
contiibute to its development thiough imaginative stoiies. By the I,_os, ieadeis
cuiious about the Civil Wai faced a mountain of liteiatuie wiitten by southein
white women.
Scholais have examined mens wai naiiatives but have yet to exploie sys-
tematically the mass of wiitings by southein women. To be suie, wiiteis have
piodded a bit, poking aiound in isolated aieas. Histoiians and liteiaiy ciit-
ics alike have mined Maiy Boykin Millei Chesnuts Diary jrcm Dixie, extiact-
ing a wealth of infoimation about one womans life in South Caiolina society.
Maigaiet Mitchells novel, Gcne with the Vind, has enjoyed even moie atten-
tion fiom scholais and the geneial public.
4
The position of Chesnuts diaiy oi
i 1voi0c1i o
j
_
Scailett OHaias stoiy ielative to the body of wai liteiatuie by othei southein
women, howevei, iemains uncleai. Heie, thiough an examination of southein
white womens published and unpublished naiiatives of the Civil Wai fiom I8oI
to I,_o, I hope to iediess this oveisight. Novels, diaiies, biogiaphies, histoiies,
and ieminiscences all ieveal the ways in which southein women conceptualized
the wai. Moieovei, these naiiatives demonstiate the mannei in which southein
women, in caiving out new public ioles foi themselves, fashioned a newcultuial
identity foi the postbellum South.
My ist task is deceptively simple: to illustiate the tiansfoimative impact of
the Civil Wai on southein womens histoiical imaginations. Fiom the outset of
my ieseaich, I was stiuck with the piodigious body of wai liteiatuie wiitten by
southein white women. A meie suivey of these titles, howevei, would not begin
to captuie the authois achievements. The ways in which these wiiteis undei-
stood the oiigins, meanings, and implications of wai and defeat foi themselves
and southein society tiaced a view of the tiagedy that diiectly contested noith-
ein histoiians dominant inteipietations. Indeed, southein white women did not
entiust even theii own menfolk with the telling of wai. Katheiine Anne Poitei in-
sisted, foi example, that Staik Young took stoiies fiom hei familys histoiy and
then got them all wiong oi used them badly in his I,_ Civil Wai novel, Sc Red
the Rcse. Poitei noted that hei cousin, Geitiude Beitel, whose biains Young
had picked foi his novel, detests the book, said she nevei knew a Southeinei
could so miss the point of what the old Southeineis ieally weie.
5
Fiomthe stait,
southein white women demonstiated a im giasp of the wais decisive impoi-
tance to Ameiican and southein histoiy. In addition, these womens paiticu-
lai inteipietations of the wai coloied theii attempt to compiehend postbellum
iealities.
Second, I wish to demonstiate the continuing dialogue between inteipieteis
and inteipietations of the Civil Wai. In some cases, the naiiatois maintained
diiect and peisonal communication with each othei. Viiginia novelists Ellen
Glasgow and Maiy Johnston, foi example, fiequently iead each otheis diafts
and nished novels and commented on them in peisonal coiiespondence. The
voluminous coiiespondence among membeis of the United Daughteis of the
Confedeiacy (0ic) suggests that they iead each otheis pamphlets and listened
to each otheis addiesses with gieat inteiest and acumen. In othei cases, the dia-
logue was less diiect. Some women would comment on othei authois woiks
when wiiting in diaiies oi to editois. Othei authois would boiiow oi paiody
plotlines and scenes fiom pieviously published woiks. In all cases, howevei, it is

i
i 1voi0c1i o
evident that these women wiiteis constantly iefeiied to othei woiks, built on ac-
counts that weie alieady a pait of the public discouise, and theieby continually
alteied the naiiatives of wai and defeat.
Thiid, I hope to elucidate the ways in which these women contiibuted to the
cieation of the southein myth of the Lost Cause. This myth has geneiated a
voluminous histoiiogiaphy, beginning with jouinalist Edwaid J. Pollaids often
iambling and always tuigid and polemical I8o, histoiy of Confedeiate defeat,
The Lcst Cause.
6
Since Pollaids publication, scholais have aigued ovei the spe-
cic functions of the myth. Whethei addiessing its political, ieligious, psycho-
cultuial, oi liteiaiy manifestations, howevei, all these discussions centei on the
question of southein identity.
7
This ielentless puisuit of the meaning of Confed-
eiate defeat, both by scholais and by pioponents of the myth, has had moie to
do with white southeineis need to cieate a viable histoiy than with puie intel-
lectual cuiiosity. Indeed, this cieation lay at the heait of postbellum southein
cultuie and political consciousness. Histoiians, it seems, have been no moie im-
mune to the need to ieconcile the past with the postwai Ameiican cultuie than
have the southeineis being studied.
8
Southein women paiticipated diiectly and inuentially in this conscious eoit
to fashion a distinctly southein stoiy of the wai. They, along with the moie famil-
iai heioes of the Confedeiacy and men of the New South, actively combated
noithein accounts of the wai.
9
Foi the paiticipants in this papei battle ovei the
authoiitative veision of the wai, the spoils of victoiy weie nothing less than the
ultimate tiiumph in the wai itself. To the winneis went the assuiance of populai
acceptance and inuence of a cultuially sanctioned iepiesentation of the past.
Foi many Ameiicans, the Civil Wai has been the ciucible of U.S. histoiy, chal-
lenging each new geneiation to come to teims with its meaning. As Gaiy Gal-
laghei notes, fewepisodes in Ameiican histoiy match the Civil Wai in its powei
to make the people who lived thiough it think seiiously about a suitable public
memoiy.
10
Southein white women weie as susceptible as theii men to the gian-
deui, pathos, sentiment, emotion, cuiiosity, tiagedy, and iomance of the wai.
Beginning with the yeais of Reconstiuction, these women pioduced a steady
ow of celebiatoiy accounts, in both ction and piose, to conseciate a piopei
southein undeistanding of antebellum society and the tiagedy that had felled it.
And each succeeding geneiation of southein white women vigoiously enteied
the wai of woids.
Southein white women did not question the standaid southein inteipietation
of the wais causes. Most of these authois did not considei theii naiiatives to be
i 1voi0c1i o
j
,
the piopei venue to expiess distaste foi the wai, if they haiboied such sentiments
at all. Noi did these women considei theii wiitings the place to exploie cow-
aidice oi tieacheiy. They did not cast themselves oi theii heioines as Cassandias
whose foieknowledge of the fate of the Confedeiacy went unheeded by the iecal-
citiant leadeis of the southein cause.
11
Neveitheless, the myth of the Lost Cause
did not peisist in its oiiginal iendition but emeiged fiom, owed into, and con-
tinually ievised this emeiging collective memoiy of the wai as southeineis ie-
built and ieassuied theii position in the woild. That memoiy, as it took shape,
nevei oeied a single static iepiesentation of the wai but iathei included mul-
tiple and constantly shifting veisions.
12
Cential to the undeistanding of the his-
toiical naiiation of that collective memoiy is an appieciation of what elements
changed and what iemained constant. At the tuin of the twentieth centuiy, foi
example, Helen Doitch Longstieet, the widow of Geneial James Longstieet, of
Gettysbuig fame, staged a valiant eoit to iesuscitate the ieputation of hei hus-
band, who had been vilied immediately following the wai. Southeineis had
so alteied the boundaiies of the Lost Cause myth that Helen Longstieet could,
with hei fellow southeineis appioval, attempt to include hei foimally ieviled
husband in the pantheon of Lost Cause heioes. Peihaps even moie telling, au-
thoi Caioline Goidon, following the canons of the epic, suggested in hei I,_,
novel Ncne Shall Lcck Back that the Confedeiacy fell because of the tiagic aws
of individualsof men such as Geneial Nathan Bedfoid Foiiestwho manipu-
lated the fates of those aiound them. Goidons vision allowed foi the possibility
that the fall of the Confedeiacy had been piedeteimined, but assuiedly not be-
cause of some nostalgic myth of moonlight and magnolias. Rathei, she seems
to have believed that wai might uniquely test a mans mettle and chaiactei and
thus ieveal something impoitant not about a specic histoiical event but about
human natuie.
13
The ielationship between a documented past and a cieated past can illu-
minate the motives, intent, audience, and context that shaped discouises about
the Civil Wai and the ways in which those discouises weie iead. Judith McGuiies
concein that accounts of the wai would seive as the only iemnant of the Con-
fedeiacy suggests the dangeis of ieducing a tiagic event to meie naiiative. The
Civil Wai cannot be ieduced to consciousness. Real battles weie fought, and lives
weie lost. These battles and losses inspiied southein white women to explain the
meaning of these events, but I do not seek to judge accuiacy by compaiing these
accounts with actual oi ieal events. Noi do I intend to expose these wiiteis
o
i
i 1voi0c1i o
constiuctions of the past as iomantic, escapist, oi delusional. I do, howevei, as-
seit that the ieality of the postwai South infoimed naiiatives of the past.
I have aiianged the following chapteis chionologically. While I do not aigue foi
a teleological, oi natuial, piogiession fiom the eailiei woiks to the latei ones, I
do maintain that postbellum politics and cultuie shaped naiiatives of the wai as
much as did the events of the conict itself. The ist chaptei, Pen and Ink Wai-
iiois, I8oII8o,, consideis southein womens wiiting duiing the wai, taking as
emblematic Augusta Jane Evanss Macaria, cr, Altars cj Sacrice (I8o). These
waitime wiiteis exposed many of the themes, such as the causes and inevita-
bility of the wai, that othei novelists and histoiians exploied in latei woiks. Since
many latei wiiteis accepted Confedeiate defeat as a foiegone conclusion, they
infused theii stoiies and histoiies with a sense of loss. To contempoiaiy wiiteis,
howevei, the fate of the Confedeiacy had yet to be deteimined, and theii naiia-
tives exude a sense of optimism, excitement, and unceitainly, theieby conveying
an existential ieality that is unequaled in postbellum woiks. At the same time,
these waitime naiiatives identied the issues to be exploied in postwai woiks
and undeiscoied the highly malleable natuie of the postwai discouise.
In the second chaptei, Countiywomen in Captivity, I8o,I8,,, I tuin to
woiks published duiing Reconstiuction, as exemplied by Alabama novelist
Maiy Ann Ciuses I8o, novel, Camercn Hall. Ciuses chaiacteis face the imme-
diacy and the ieality of Confedeiate defeat and must come to giips with the
ensuing toipoi. Theii seeming paialysis captuies the psychic shock expeiienced
by southein white women. Foi example, Evans, who had so enthusiastically sup-
poited the Confedeiacys eoits with hei wiitings, nowfelt unable to lift hei pen
on the subject of the South. She abandoned a planned histoiy of the Confedei-
acy, and decades passed befoie hei novels again even bioached the subject of the
wai oi the Confedeiacy.
14
The naiiatives published duiing Reconstiuction have
a distinct tone: if they lack the anxiety about the wais outcome that peivaded
the waitime wiitings, they also lack the familiaiity with the notion of defeat that
chaiacteiizes subsequent chionicles. Foi while the outcome of the wai was as
obvious to these wiiteis as it was to theii ieadeis, the futuie of the South was not.
Foiced to abandon theii ioles as meie suppoiteis of the Confedeiacy, south-
ein white women shouldeied the iesponsibility of cieating the iegions postwai
consciousness. They began that woik in the naiiatives they published duiing
Reconstiuction.
i 1voi0c1i o
j
,
The thiid chaptei, A View fiom the Mountain, I8,,I8,,, examines woiks
published between the southein iedemption and the founding of the 0ic. In
many iespects, woiks fiom this peiiod undeiscoie a tension between the liteia-
tuie of Reconstiuction and that of the tuin of the twentieth centuiy. With the
chaos of the immediate postwai eia settled and the white South iedeemed,
New South boosteiism ouiished, and publications began to appeai fiom a sec-
ond geneiation of women who had been young childien oi had not yet been
boin at the outbieak of the Civil Wai. This geneiations wiitings ieect the pos-
sibilities foi the futuie they saw in the newly industiializing South. While these
authois could not altei the outcome of the wai, they could dispel the sense of
gloom and despondency that peimeates the naiiatives wiitten duiing Recon-
stiuction and could hint at the piomise of a iesuigent white South.
But foi many southein white women, all was not well with the New South.
Foi some, like Maiy Anna Jackson and Vaiina Davis, the gloiy of the South still
iested with the Confedeiacy, not with some elusive dieam of a New South. Foi
otheis, like Maiy Noailles Muifiee, piomises of industiialization had an ugly
undeiside. Muifiees I88 novel, Vhere the Battle Vas Fcught, suggests that while
the Confedeiacy was not the embodiment of southein giandeui, neithei was the
NewSouth. The land wheie the battle was fought was baiien, no longei able to
sustain the family that had once lived on it. In Muifiees mindand indeed, in
the minds of many otheis of this peiiodthe wai neithei symbolized a gloiious
cause noi paved the way foi the Souths salvation.
The fouith chaptei, The Impeiative of Histoiical Inquiiy, I8,,I,o,, sui-
veys the liteiatuie published at the tuin of the twentieth centuiy. With the found-
ing of the 0ic came one of the laigest ocial oiganizations foi the mobiliza-
tion of memoiies of the Civil Wai. The Daughteis undeistood theii mission in
human aaiis to be divinely inspiied: Foi do not fail to iealize, admonished
0ic Piesident-Geneial Coinelia Bianch Stone to a laige audience of Daughteis,
that we aie no accidental thing. God has biought us into existence foi specic
puiposes. Puiposes which no othei people on the face of the eaith can oi will do.
So that if we fail in them, they will go undone. God will hold us accountable,
she wained, foi this woik which he means foi us to do.
15
The foimation of the
0ic decisively inuenced southein womens naiiatives of the Civil Wai, giving
southein white women the stiength of a majoi oiganization to suppoit and di-
iect theii eoits. The 0ics sense of a divine impeiative to wiite the tiue histoiy
of the wai compelled its membeis to pen peisonal accounts, while its conviction
of a piovidential histoiy piovided the tone of a laigei, collective naiiative. Wiit-
8
i
i 1voi0c1i o
ing the antitheses to noithein Whiggish inteipietations of the wai, and at odds
with the histoiicists who explained away all events as meie points on a timeline,
the 0ic and its suppoiteis ensuied that the ieading public had access to alteina-
tive visions of histoiy. The guidelines issued by the 0ics Histoiical Committee
oiganized the membeis papeis into unifoim, familiai accounts. The Textbook
Committee compiled ieading lists, oeiing examples foi the Daughteis to fol-
low. And although the 0ic nevei dictated specic content to be included in
membeis accounts, the oiganization did piesent im stiuctuial iules, theieby
guaianteeing that the women wiote in similai ways and told similai stoiies.
The liteiatuie of Ellen Glasgow, who published hei social histoiies of Vii-
ginia duiing this peiiod, seems to contiast with 0ics ihetoiic. While the 0ic
and like-minded women wiiteis such as Constance Caiy Haiiison, Maiy Sei-
beit, and Louisa Whitney waxed ihapsodic on the viitues of the Old South and
the Confedeiacy, Glasgow piesented a giimmei view. Hei novelsVcice cj the
Pecple (I,oo), The Battle-Grcund (I,o:), and Deliverance (I,o)as well as hei
piivate wiitings suggest that she believed that the Souths futuie iested neithei
with the old waitime geneiation noi with the leadeis of the New South. Instead,
the futuie depended on the common people. Hei chaiactei Pinetop, a nonslave-
holding faimei fiom Tennessee, saciices his life foi a cause in which he osten-
sibly has nothing invested. The Blakes, the foimeily aiistociatic, slaveholding
family in Deliverance, would have died out had it not been foi the infusion of
new, common blood, symbolized by the maiiiage of the planteis son to the
oveiseeis daughtei. And in Vcice cj the Pecple, Glasgow asseited that the Popu-
list movement, the nal hope foi the South, was the last stage of the Civil Wai. As
an angiy mob guns down Viiginias Populist goveinoi, the one man who stands
between the ciowd and the object of its teiioi, the iioteis symbolically oblitei-
ate the palliative to all of the Souths ills. The death of Populism, accoiding to
Glasgow, deliveied a seveie blow to the Souths attempts to extiact itself fiom
the moiass of its postbellum malaise. Yet even Glasgow could nevei escape the
dominant southein naiiative of defeat and vindication. Despite hei intentions,
she could not wiite against the giain and fiequently fell back on stock chaiacteis
and plotlines. This tension between Glasgows intent, hei nished woiks, and the
0ic vision of the Confedeiacy and its histoiy ian thiough tuin-of-the-centuiy
Civil Wai liteiatuie.
The fth chaptei, Righting the Wiongs of Histoiy, I,o,I,I,, assesses the
wai naiiatives of the eaily twentieth centuiy. While the 0ic continued to piaise
the gloiy biought to the Southland by the Confedeiacys noble maitial spiiit,
i 1voi0c1i o
j
,
otheis, most notably Maiy Johnston, held dieient opinions. To be suie, Johns-
ton celebiated the Souths iole in the foimation of Ameiican civilization, cham-
pioned the Souths distinct cultuie, and piofessed its iight to secede. In this ie-
spect, she did not bieak completely with the past. But she did not gloiify the
wai itself. In hei view, the wai biought only destiuction, and a Confedeiate tii-
umph would in noway have mitigated the devastation to the southein landscape.
No mattei how compelling postwai white southeineis found the Confedeiacys
claim to independence, no mattei how seductive the idea of secession, accoid-
ing to Johnston, the wai qua wai had been a disastei foi the South. Wheie some
saw the Civil Wai as the ultimate expiession of the Confedeiacy, Johnston saw
only death.
The sixth chaptei, Modeins Confiont the Civil Wai, I,IoI,_o, examines
the immediate cultuial and liteiaiy backdiop foi Maigaiet Mitchells phenome-
nally successful novel, Gcne with the Vind. The naiiatives of this peiiod suggest
that southein authois oeied a new peispective on the Civil Wai to theii fellow
southeineis as well as to the nation as a whole. The iecent expeiience withWoild
Wai I gave a newimpetus to southeineis pieoccupation with ieconstiucting the
memoiy of the Civil Wai. Membeis of the 0ic, geneiations iemoved fiom the
Civil Wai, found compelling connections between theii waitime woik and that
of Confedeiate women. Douglas Southall Fieeman cautioned his ieadeis that his
disgust with modein waifaie, engendeied by his paiticipation in Woild Wai I,
might cieep into his I,_ Pulitzei Piizewinning biogiaphy of Robeit E. Lee.
Indeed, the piessing need to ielive, in both positive and negative ways, the Civil
Wai led William Faulknei, one of the Souths gieatest telleis of tales, to fashion
himself a heio of the Gieat Wai. The numbei of woiks published on the Civil
Wai eclipsed the pievious maik set in the post-Reconstiuction yeais, aided by
the ielease of novels by Faulknei, Staik Young, and Evelyn Scott. Mitchell capi-
talized on Ameiicas ienewed inteiest in Civil Wai liteiatuie, in so doing, she
nationalized the southein stoiy of the wai.
The epilogue, Eveiything That Rises Must Conveige, examines Caioline
Goidons I,_, novel, Ncne Shall Lcck Back, published less than a yeai aftei the
ielease of Gcne with the Vind. Goidon iealized hei misfoitune, commenting
fiequently on the pooi timing of hei novels appeaiance and complaining of
Mitchells success in coineiing the liteiaiy maiket. Goidon also iecognized the
piofound dieiences between the two novels. Goidon and otheis of hei cohoit,
notably Scott, laid claim to a new liteiaiy style that became incieasingly com-
pelling as southein authois moved away fiom the didactic mode and towaid the
Io
i
i 1voi0c1i o
symbolic. The pievious geneiation of southein women novelists had begun to
expeiiment with technical and stylistic innovation, but not even Johnston, pei-
haps the most successful of the gioup, had fully tiansfoimed the sentimentalized,
iomanticized, and idealized aitifact that the Civil Wai novel had become. To be
suie, a moie skeptical, jaundiced viewof wai had emeiged with Stephen Cianes
Red Badge cj Ccurage, but even it was unable to countei the iomantic account of
wai that iemained populai at the tuin of the twentieth centuiy. Johnstons gieat
contiibution lay in hei depiction of the iepetitive and destiuctive futility of all
wai, even when it was fought foi the noblest of causes. Goidon, in contiast, self-
consciously puisued the foimal and stylistic innovations of modeinism and in
so doing not meiely succeeded wheie otheis had failed but piovided a model
foi latei southein wiiteis.
With iaie exceptions, modein ieadeis will nd that most of these wai naiia-
tives seem like second-iate iomances.
16
We aie, aftei all, familiai with Maigaiet
Mitchells account of Sheimans Maich to the Sea and desciiptions of Scailett
OHaias pluckiness in the face of adveisity. Yet what stiikes us as deiivative, sen-
timental, oi simply false aected late-nineteenth- and eaily-twentieth-centuiy
ieadeis dieiently. They weie ieading something new. Foi even when ielying on
pieviously told naiiatives that had alieady become pait of the common stock
of wai stoiies, southein white women wiiteis weie fashioning new tales in an
eoit to explain and vindicate southein defeat. In doing so, they cieated a new
cultuial identity foi the postbellum South. Foi these women and theii ieadeis,
histoiy and its telling matteied.
i 1voi0c1i o
j
II
1
Pen and Ink
Warriors,
18611865
Oj cld, when Eurystheus threatened Athens, Macaria,
in crder tc save the city and the land jrcm invasicn and
subjugaticn, willingly devcted herselj a sacrice upcn
the altars cj the gcds. Ah! . . . that were an easy task, in
ccmpariscn with the cering I am called upcn tc make.
I cannct, like Macaria, by selj-immclaticn, redeem my
ccuntry, jrcm that great privilege I am debarred, but I
yield up mcre than she ever pcssessed. I give my all cn
earth . . . tc cur belcved suering ccuntry.
.0c0s1. , .i iv.s , Macaiia
Vhc kncws what may be bejcre us, but whatever
ccmes, it is wcmens lct tc wait and pray, ij I were a
manbut I am nct, and my spirit cjten makes me
chaje at the regulaticns which it is right a wcman
shculd submit tc, and I will nct enccurage it by giving
way tc vain wishes and vauntings ij I were a man.
s .v.u i. w.iiiv, Diary
In Febiuaiy I8oI, Emma E. Holmes of Chaileston, South Caiolina, contem-
plated the futuie of hei countiy and became incensed. The Black Republicans,
thiough theii malignity and fanaticism, had fiagmented the United States.
To Holmes, Abiaham Lincolns I8oo election to the piesidency had signaled a
sea change in Ameiican politics, and she iemaiked on the mounting tensions
between the Noith and the South since that fateful Novembei day. Although
Holmes wished mightily that a civil wai might be aveited, she feaied that bloody
battle was inevitable. A ievolution, wondeiful in the iapidity with which it has
swept acioss the countiy, had captuied hei imagination and ied hei spiiit.
Doubly pioud am I of my native State, she boasted, that she should be the
ist to aiise and shake o the hated chain which linked us with Black Republi-
cans and Abolitionists. Holmes admitted only one iegiet as the countiy inched
towaid wai: How I wish I had kept a jouinal duiing the last thiee months
of gieat political change. To compensate foi hei pievious laxity, she would in
I_
futuie chionicle in hei diaiy what she deemed to be the most impoitant events
in national aaiis since the election of Lincoln, a time that had been fiaught
with the happiness, the piospeiity, nay, the veiy existence of oui futuie. She
iecognized at once the impoitance of hei woik. She soon boasted of hei joui-
nals value as a iecoid of events which maik the foimation and giowth of oui
gloiious Southein Confedeiacy.
1
Hundieds of white women thioughout the South followed suit. The ait of
diaiy keeping ceitainly was not new to white southein women. As Elizabeth
Fox-Genovese notes, jouinaling allowed women to ieect on theii lives and to
pondei theii place in antebellumsouthein society. Most jouinals, she iemaiked,
functioned as chionicles of peisonal, intellectual, oi spiiitual piogiess. The
Civil Wai engendeied a tiansition in jouinal keeping, as southein white women
incieasingly tuined to theii jouinals to comment on the suiiounding woild.
Signicantly, as Steven Stowe suggests, the diaiy foim allows the diaiist to intei-
piet events. A diaiy by its natuie, Stowe explains, encouiages an intellectually
active, oiganizing voice, putting the diaiist legitimately at the centei of detei-
mining the meaning of things.
2
The wai, then, piovided Confedeiate women the
oppoitunity to analyze political events to a heietofoie unpiecedented degiee.
Louisiana Buige, a young student at Wesleyan Female College in Macon,
Geoigia, pithily captuied this tiansition in diaiy keeping. Buige began hei joui-
nal in I8oo, pledging to keep a jouinalnot so much as a iecoid of my own
thoughts, feelings, and acts solelybut mostly as they occui in connection with
the events of the time. Rocked by the tumultuous aaiis that thieatened daily
existence, southein white women like Buige shifted the focus of theii jouinals
fiom themselves to national politics and local battles. Jouinal keeping had nevei
been entiiely a piivate aaii, and women expected that at the veiy least, theii
families would iead theii jouinals.
3
Knowing that theii jouinals would be iead,
Confedeiate women, like Holmes, capitalized on the oppoitunity to pieseive foi
futuie geneiations an accuiate iecoid of this ievolution.
Southein white women who wished a widei ieading audience than theii im-
mediate families tuined theii talents to ction, using the Civil Wai as the catalyst
foi theii novels. Like jouinal keeping, novel wiiting was familiai giound foi at
least a small gioup of southein women. Intioduced as a liteiaiy foimin NewEn-
gland in the I8:os, domestic ction became immensely populai with Ameiican
women in the ensuing decades. Accoiding to histoiian Elizabeth Moss, Typi-
cally chionicling the tiials and tiibulations of an intelligent, emotional, and
I
i
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
exceedingly viituous female tempoiaiily foiced to make hei way alone, the do-
mestic novel as foimulated in the Ameiican Noith exploied the pioblems and
possibilities of domesticity, using stilted language and convoluted plots to em-
phasize the impoitance of home and community. Such antebellum southein
authois as Caioline Gilman, Caioline Hentz, and Augusta Jane Evans, among
otheis, put theii own spin on this standaidized, sentimental liteiaiy genie, using
the plantation as the centei of theii ction, poitiaying the Old South as a well-
oideied, haimonious society, and cieating a paiticulai biand of southein lit-
eiatuie.
4
The outbieak of the Civil Wai foiced many of these authois, and otheis who
enteied the liteiaiy maiket foi the ist time, to abandon such oveitly domestic
plots in favoi of a moie explicitly political ction. Evans, an exceedingly populai
antebellum domestic novelist fiom Alabama, began hei I8o wai novel Macaria,
cr, Altars cj Sacrice with a standaid domesticity plot but ended it in a most
unconventional way. Evans, and hei contempoiaiies, including Sallie Rochestei
Foid and Maiia McIntosh, weie no longei wiiting solely foi the moial uplift
of southein women. These wiiteis had become piopagandists, ghting foi theii
civilization. Like the contents of theii novels, the authois motives had shifted
fiom the domestic to the political.
Although southein white women could neithei thiow themselves on the eiy
altai to save theii society, as the heioine of Macaria lamented, noi become men
and entei into the fiay, as Wadley noted, they could wiiteand that is piecisely
what they did. Diaiies, coiiespondence, and ction suggest that southein white
women wiote foi myiiad ieasons. Some women immediately sensed the need to
tell a distinctly southein stoiy of the wai and began by maintaining a eyewitness
iecoid. Otheis sought ielease fiom waitime tensions by noting impiessions and
opinions in jouinals oi in coiiespondence to loved ones. Still otheis wiote, pei-
haps foi the ist time, foi explicitly political ieasons. Some wiote wai novels
and poetiy to bolstei Confedeiate soldieis spiiits and to iemind those on the
home fiont of the sacied cause foi which theii menfolk weie ghting and dying.
Whatevei the motivations, southein white women iecoided theii iesponses to
key battles, voiced opinions on statesmen and geneials, and oeied infoimed
discussions about the wais causes and implications foi the futuie of the South.
It is not my piivilege to entei the ianks, explained a somewhat disingenuous
Evans to Geneial Pieiie Gustave Toutant Beauiegaid, wielding a swoid, in my
countiys cause, but all that my feeble, womanly pen could contiibute to the
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
j
I,
consummation of oui fieedom, I have humbly, but at least, faithfully and un-
tiiingly endeavcred to achieve. Evans and othei southein women had become
pen and ink waiiiois.
5
This Bcck Vill Always Be cj Peculiar Interest tc Me
Southein white women cleaily iecognized the tiansfoimative impoitance of the
Civil Wai and wished fiom the stait to pieseive its iecoid. Coinelia Peake Mc-
Donald of Winchestei, Viiginia, faithfully maintained a diaiy foi hei husband,
who was away ghting foi the Confedeiacy, and foi hei childien, who weie too
young at the wais stait to appieciate fully the magnitude of events. McDonalds
husband encouiaged hei to keep a diaiy, and accoiding to an I8,, pieface to
hei diaiy, she believed that my childien will take inteiest in the iecoid of that
time and wished them to iemembei the tiials and stiuggles we enduied and
made and the cause in which we sueied. Consequently, she took pen to papei
and iecoided the events of the wai, latei ieconstiucting those pages that weie
destioyed in the fiay.
6
The depaituie of Kate Rowlands husband, Chailes, a wealthy plantei fiom
Augusta, Geoigia, piompted his wife to begin hei jouinal. In late Octobei I8o_,
Kate admitted that she had often thought of wiiting but had put it o until hei
husband left to seive undei Geneial Joseph E. Johnston: It has been a long desiie
of mine to keep a jouinal . . . only I have nevei done so. She iegietted not
having commenced at the beginning of this wai, as so many stiiiing events have
been tiansfoiming aiound us, I should like to have noted themdown. Maigaiet
Junkin Pieston, Stonewall Jacksons sistei-in-law by his ist maiiiage, oeied
a similai lament: I iegiet now that I did not, a yeai ago, make biief notes of
what was passing undei my eye, she confessed. Not wiite a jouinal,I have
no time noi inclination foi thatbut just slight jottings as might seive to iecall
the incidents of this most eventful yeai in oui countiys histoiy. It is too late now
to attempt the ieview. Unlike Rowland and Pieston, howevei, many southein
white women began theii waitime jouinals in late I8oo, with Lincolns election
as piesident, oi with the I8oI secession ciisis.
7
Loula Kendall Rogeis, a young woman fiom Bainesville, Geoigia, who began
hei jouinal in I8oI, believed that the ist yeai of the wai would long, long be
iemembeied as the commencement of oui gieat stiuggle foi Fieedom, the foi-
mation of a new Republic, and the night that biings the stais. Rogeis con-
tinued to chionicle the events of the wai because she believed that hei account
Io
i
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
would piovide a stoiehouse of tales foi futuie geneiations: I am pioud to be
living in such an eia in Southein histoiy, she pioclaimed on the last day of I8oI,
foi it will be something woith telling to oui grand children who will listen with
moie inteiest than we do to those good old tales of the Revolution.
8
Rogeis,
who latei became an active membei of the United Daughteis of the Confedeiacy
and poet lauieate foi the state of Geoigia, undoubtedly iefeiied to hei waitime
jouinal foi inspiiation foi the hundieds of essays and poems she wiote about
the South and the Confedeiacy.
Rumois, inaccuiacies, and false iepoits constantly befuddled Rogeis, and in-
deed most diaiists whowished to maintain a tiue account of the wai. Geoige C.
Rable notes that Confedeiate womens isolation fiom public life fosteied a high
degiee of susceptibility to conicting iepoits of gieat victoiies and ciushing
defeats. Wiiting fiom a iefugee home in Wilcox County, Geoigia, in late I8o,
Rogeis lamented the latest iumois that geneial Hood was killed, and Piesident
Davis is dead! If it is tiue, she noted, I shall feel as if we are ieally jcrsaken by
Heaven and given up to be lost. Maiy Loughboiough, who sought iefuge in a
cave neai Vicksbuig duiing the citys siege, commented on the paiticulai di-
culty of obtaining accuiate infoimation while in hiding: Rumois come to us of
the advance of the Fedeial tioops on the Black Rivei, yet so unceitain weie the
tidings, and so slow was the advantage gained, we began to doubt almost eveiy-
thing. An exubeiant Wadley iecoided the iesignation of Geneial Wineld Scott
as commandei of the U.S. Aimy so that he might aid his native Viiginia, only to
note ve days latei that Scott had neithei iesigned noi intended to defect to the
Confedeiacy. Scotts iefusal to join the Confedeiacy needled Wadley, and she ie-
seived special vitupeiation foi him, iecoiding in hei diaiy his ieal and ctional
exploits in all mannei of battles. On Io May I8o, Tennessees Belle Edmond-
son sadly noted that Geneial James Longstieet had sueied a moital wound at
the Battle of the Wildeiness: Heaven foibid the coiiectness of the iepoit, she
added, iecognizing its possible inaccuiacy. Indeed, Edmondson latei iefused to
iecoid the latest news fiom the fiont, doubting its veiacity yet feaiing the woist:
No late news except Yankee lies, she wiote on Io May I8o, which say that we
aie beaten in Va, and I do not believe one woid of itnevei will heai the tiuth
until we get the Southein account. Giace Elmoie, a piominent young woman
fiom Columbia, South Caiolina, summaiized the ciippling eects of iumois on
the psyche of women left on the home fiont: All day we women] aie anxious
and gloomy fiomthe iumois and facts, and then when oui men come they laugh
at oui feais and ieassuie us even against oui judgments.
9
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
j
I,
Loula Kendall Rogeis, I8o,. (Couitesy Special Collections Depaitment, Robeit W.
Woodiu Libiaiy, Emoiy Univeisity)
Moie fiustiating than the myiiad of iumois, howevei, was the absence of ie-
poits. Theie is a lull now, Rogeis iecoided in the summei of I8o:, anxious
to heai fiom hei biotheis and hei anc on the fiont line. No telegiams aie
allowed to be sent fiom the west, so we can heai nothing eithei by mail oi by
telegiaph. It is dieadful, this haiiowing suspense, howlong must I beai it: Simi-
laily, Rowland, feaiing Geneial WilliamT. Sheimans imminent passage thiough
Geoigia, admitted, I feel paiticulaily anxious to-day, not having had any news
since Sunday when it was thought the gieat ght in Geoigia would come o
yesteiday. Despondent ovei the fate of the Confedeiacy duiing the last yeai of
the wai, disgusted at iepoits of lawlessness and deseition among southein sol-
dieis ghting in the westein theatei, and lled with contempt foi the Confed-
eiate leadeiship, Wadley believed that the aimies in the east weie hei countiys
only possible salvation: I hope all fiom theie, but we heai nothing.
10
The news
blackouts continually stymied womens eoits to iecoid the latest infoimation.
Faced with maddening silences fiom the fiont, diaiists anxiously lled many a
page with supposition, innuendo, and sheei fantasy.
In addition to pioviding southein white women with a way to iecoid the
events of the wai, diaiy keeping aoided a means foi peisonal ieection and
foi questioning the piovidential hand that was believed to guide the Souths wai
eoits. Rogeis titled hei :I Febiuaiy I8o: entiy Daikness. Noting the Con-
fedeiacys ieveisal at Foit Donelson, Tennessee, Rogeis begged, has oui nation
which at ist seemed undei the watchful caie of a kind Piovidence been guilty
of some gieat sin: Have we eiied, she continued, have we foigotten the God
who made us and has that God foisaken us: Is the enemy to be peimitted to
take all oui Foits and Cities to spiinkle oui lands with oui own blood, and make
themselves masteis of all we have: She nally asked despondently, Is that to
be the end of this wai: Equally confused, Elmoie queiied, What is life without
a countiy and what is oui countiy without fieedom to enjoy all its beauties and
blessings with which God has suiiounded us the land of oui biith: Indeed, El-
moie was so distiaught at the ieveisals of the Confedeiacy that she confessed in
hei diaiy that she would considei suicide piefeiable to life undei Yankee iule.
11
Diaiy keeping piovided Elmoie and many othei southein women with a means
foi coming to teims with theii ciises of faith, theii daik nights of the soul.
Southein white women also questioned foices much moie eaithly than Piovi-
dence. Nevei one to censuie hei ciiticisms of the evil spiiit that infected the
Confedeiacy, Wadley assessed the state of the Confedeiacy at the end of I8o_.
Oui sky looks so daik, oui foes within, oui inecient and false oceis and
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
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I,
the luke waimness of the people aie what we have to contend with, she bleakly
noted. These aie foes fai moie poweiful than the Yankees, she continued, and
when I think of the coiiuption in oui midst and see no genius poweiful enough
to ciush it, I feai that we shall gain oui libeity only aftei yeais of wai and pei-
haps anaichy. Moie diiectly, Wadley unhesitatingly levied blame on Confedei-
ate soldieis, whom she believed had eained hei scoinful pen. Although piqued
at a iecent iampage of Union foices in Delhi, Louisiana, hei angei at the Yankees
did not match the iie she ieseived foi the Confedeiate geneial who was unable
to stave o the attack. All this damage done by a few contemptible Yankees,
while oui own contemptible Genl Blanchaid was shiveiing with fiight in Mon-
ioe, and theie was a company of oui soldieis in the aiea] but they happened
to be watching the wiong place, if we only had a man heie foi a Genl instead of
the eeminate cieatuie we have, these iaids might be pievented and this impoi-
tant iailioad left open foi the benet of the whole countiy. Hei evaluation of
John C. Pembeitons defense of Vicksbuig was equally damning, as she placed
the blame foi the citys fall squaiely on the geneials shouldeis: May eveiy tiue
patiiot execiate the name of Pembeiton, she pleaded. Wadley hoped, howevei,
that Pembeitons actions would not sully the gloiious southein cause.
12
Not suipiisingly, southein white women fiequently tuined to theii diaiies
to iecoid theii ill will towaid the Yankees. As Rable aigues, condemning the
Yankees as the most hateful of Gods cieatuies masked southeineis] hatied
and allowed them to iationalize, modify, oi abandon long-held ideas about
Chiistian chaiity. Wadley pioclaimed in hei diaiy, iathei will eveiy man,
woman, and child peiish upon the soil that gave them biith, than call down the
cuises of oui Fiee Foiefatheis upon the degeneiate iace that attempted to foice
the South into the Union. Noithein soldieis weie called peidious, tieach-
eious, muideious, vile, contemptible, and tiaitoious. In a paiticulaily
stiong passage, Rogeis spat out hei absolute hatied foi the Union Aimy. An-
ticipating a Union iaid, Rogeis consideied the likelihood of hei diaiy falling
into enemy hands: I want them to know that I hate, lcathe, and abhcr the very
scent, sight, and name cj a Yankee with all my heart, scul, mind, and bcdy and
this asseition I would stick to if they weie to point a thousand bayonets at me
at once.
13
While Rogeis slung epithets at the entiie Yankee iace, most southein women
ieseived the haishest woids foi those Fedeial soldieis who iaided southein civil-
ians homes. Those iaids quite liteially biought the fiont line to the home fiont.
This intiusion into southein womens peisonal space shatteied any notions they
:o
i
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
might have haiboied about a sepaiate domestic spheie oi about Confedeiate
mens ability to piotect theii women. Confedeiate women believed that Union
soldieis deemed nothing sacied, noting that they destioyed livestock, laideis,
and peisonal possessions while maiching acioss the South. McDonald, who
lived with hei nine childien duiing the wai, contemptuously iecalled the Fed-
eial occupation of hei town. McDonalds angei aied when she found a soldiei
iiing thiough hei desk. He . . . tuined out the contents of my wiiting desk,
she wiote, iead some notes aloud in a mocking tone (foi which I could have
shot him.) Similaily, Rowland listed the livestock and piovisions buined by
Yankee iaideis but found theii wanton destiuction of womens peisonal pos-
sessions most egiegious: They buint all gin houses and cotton and in many
instances dwellings, destioyed all hoises, cows and stock of eveiy kind and woist
sic] than all destioying ladies waidiobes and teaiing theii clothes to pieces.
Leaining that the Union iaideis planned to staive out the women and chil-
dien, Elmoie questioned the tactic of biinging the wai to noncombatants: God
in Heaven! Even Satan in his wai with the hosts of heaven was neaiei to God
than these, he biavely met his equals in stiength, but these cieatuies slay the
pooi, dumb, helpless beasts and insult the women and childien and say in this
way they will conquei oui men.
14
The intiusion of wai into the home shocked,
fiightened, and fiustiated women, who tuined to theii diaiies to iecoid these
emotions.
Diaiy keeping piovided southein white women with a sense of calm dui-
ing tioubling times. Wadley noted the tiemendous comfoit she ieceived fiom
iecoiding events in hei jouinal. On the last page of the thiid volume of hei Civil
Wai jouinal, she wistfully iecalled that hei diaiy has been with me, and been my
faithful condent sic] in so many scenes and in so many dieient moods, I dont
knowwhat I should do without my jouinal, it is such a ielief to me to wiite heie.
Because the volume contained Wadleys documentation of hei familys exodus
acioss the wai-iavaged South in seaich of a safe haven, it was especially deai to
hei: This book will always be of peculiai inteiest to me as the one which holds
the iecoid of oui eventful, of oui impoitant jouiney, I shall always like to be able
to iecall it in all the paiticulaiities which I have wiitten down heie, and which
I might giadually foiget without this iecoid. Elmoie echoed Wadleys senti-
ments. Theie is a gieat pleasuie in wiiting the thoughts and actions of youiself
and those aiound you, she acknowledged, a pleasuie that is often puiely self-
ish, foi much that is wiitten giaties only the feeling of the moment, and whethei
the feeling be good oi bad it is naught to you since you have the pleasuie of
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
j
:I
expiessing it. Whatevei othei puiposes diaiy keeping may have seived, at the
veiy least it piovided southein women an enjoyable leisuiely activity.
15
Under These Circumstances, Vriting Is Like
Taking My Brains Out with Pinchers
Piivate coiiespondence oeied southein women anothei avenue foi expiess-
ing theii doubts, conceins, hopes, and ciiticisms of the Confedeiacy to tiusted
iecipients. Assuming that only the intended ieadei would be piivy to the let-
teis contents, coiiesponding pioved especially cathaitic foi socially piominent
women, who might have felt that theii position in Confedeiate society con-
stiained them fiom speaking publicly. Although many of these women vigoi-
ously championed the Confedeiacy until the bittei end, theii coiiespondence
evidences uctuations in suppoit and condence. Wiiting fiom hei home, Biv-
ouac, in Louisiana, Elsie Biagg conded to hei husband, Geneial Biaxton Biagg,
that even the most sanguine women weie beginning to lose faith in the Con-
fedeiacy. Especially conceined with the Confedeiacys I8o: ieveisals in hei home
state, Elsie Biagg noted that she and hei compatiiots felt despondent not because
theii homes weie in the hands of the invadeis but because the Confedeiacy has
never regained a jcct cj grcund lcst. Slowly and suiely, she continued, states
and cities aie taken but nevei retaken.
16
Like diaiy wiiting, coiiesponding was
a cultivated ait foim in the nineteenth-centuiy South, yet the piose is often less
stilted and conventional than in diaiies. Women could dash o theii most im-
mediate and piessing conceins in letteis moie facilely than in diaiies because
the wiiteis weie unconceined with fashioning a coheient document that would
chionicle theii spiiitual and peisonal giowth. In this paiticulai lettei, Elsie Biagg
entiusted hei fiustiations to hei husband, believing that only he would iead hei
lettei and theiefoie iemaining unconceined that hei woids would latei come
back to haunt hei.
Just as distiessing as Elsie Biaggs ciisis of faith was hei disillusionment with
the behavioi of southein soldieis, and again, she conded in hei husband. An-
geied at iepoits that Confedeiate soldieis had abandoned theii posts at Foit
Pillow, Tennessee, Elsie spilled out, I thought southein men weie at least brave.
As an afteithought, she added, I believe we women] beai up bettei than oui
men, and peihaps only half jokingly suggested going to Foit Pillow heiself,
shaming soldieis to stand theii posts by showing what women could biave and
enduie. Similaily, in July I8o:, a thoioughly disgusted Maiy Ann Cobb wiote
::
i
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
to hei husband, Howell, about the iumois iocking Athens, Geoigia, that Gen-
eials John B. Magiudei and Robeit Toombs weie diunk on the battleeld duiing
the Seven Days Battles in Viiginia.
17
Such behavioi haidly matched the public
image of the viituous Confedeiate soldiei nobly ghting foi the honoi of his
countiy. Although Biagg and Cobb might not have wished to tainish the iepu-
tation of the southein soldieis, they could well expiess theii angei in piivate
coiiespondence.
Even Evans, a celebiated piopagandist foi the Confedeiacy who would latei
gloiify the puie and noble southein soldiei in hei I8o novel, Macaria, used
an I8o: lettei to vent hei disgust at the attitude of Confedeiate soldieis. You
have doubtless become to some extent acquainted, she seethed, with the spiiit
of suboidination and disaection which is iife in oui aimies and which has
attained in this section of the Confedeiacy melancholy and alaiming piopoi-
tions. Foi this spieading spiiit of defection, Evans blamed the Exemption Bill,
which allowed wealthy southeineis to pay substitutes to ght. Moieovei, she
continued, one unfoitunate clause (though designed I know to guaid against
seivile insuiiection) has iesulted most unhappily in the cieation of an anti-
slaveiy element among oui soldieis who openly complain that they aie toin
fiom theii homes and families consigned to staivation, solely in oidei that they
may piotect the piopeity of slaveholdeis, who aie allowed by the bill to iemain
in quiet enjoyment of luxuiious ease. Two yeais latei, when Evans diafted
Macaria, she wiote of a wealthy plantei, Mi. Huntingdon, who at the news of
Foit Sumtei unhesitatingly joined the Confedeiate Aimy. Although Evans con-
ceded that a stein sense of duty does not pievent people fiom sueiing at sepa-
iation and thought of dangei, she nonetheless made no iefeience to the Exemp-
tion Bill in hei novel, piefeiiing instead to memoiialize the soldieis who iushed
to defend theii countiy.
18
Vaiina Davis, the wife of Confedeiate Piesident Jeeison Davis, expiessed hei
fiustiation not at the fate of the Confedeiacy but at the tiials of being maiiied
to a leadei of a countiy at wai: How do you spend youi time: she asked Maiy
Boykin Chesnut, the wife of James Chesnut, a South Caiolina politician and aide
to Jeeison Davis. I live in a kind of maze. How I wish my husband weie a diy-
goods cleik, she confessed. Then we could dine in peace on a mutton sciap at
thiee and take an aiiing on Sunday in a little buggy with no back. Davis seem-
ingly felt secuie in shaiing hei fiustiations with a condant, tiusting that such
sentiments would not be made public. This dieadful way of living fiom houi to
houi depiesses me moie than I can say, Davis latei admitted.
19
She undoubtedly
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
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:_
iecognized hei piecaiious position as wife of the piesident of the Confedeiacy:
publicly expiessing hei feais and fiustiations would be tantamount to tieason.
Coiiesponding with Chesnut allowed Davis piivately to unbuiden hei heait,
without feai of iepeicussions.
Of couise, southein white women did not wiite letteis only to vent fiustia-
tions. Like diaiy keeping, coiiesponding allowed southein women to expiess
theii hopes foi the new nation, theii assessments of battles, theii policy iecom-
mendations, theii hatied of Union soldieis, and theii evaluations of Confedeiate
leadeis. Wiiting letteis also fosteied unpiecedented intimacy, new fiankness,
heightened self-awaieness, and self-ievelation, as Diew Gilpin Faust aigues.
And as with diaiies, the exigencies of waifaie often inteifeied with the wiiting
of letteis. As Cobb noted eaily in the wai, undei these ciicumstances, wiiting
is like taking my biains out with pincheis.
20
Cobb and hei compatiiots con-
tinued to wiite, howevei, shaiing theii thoughts with tiusted fiiends and family,
diawing solace and comfoit fiom the eoit.
A Dangercus Experiment
Some women who wiote duiing waitime sought a ieading audience beyond
theii immediate families. A fiiend uiged Loughboiough, who spent the eaily
months of I8o_ hiding in a cave neai Vicksbuig, Mississippi, to dispatch the
papeis as speedily as possible while public inteiest in the siege was still vivid
and published hei account in I8o. The pieface to the second edition of Lough-
boioughs woik, published in I88I, noted that woids cannot expiess the wondei
and admiiation excited in Loughboioughs] mind by the conduct of those biave
Confedeiate] men at Vicksbuig, how they enduied with uninching couiage
the showei of ball and shell, how they confionted the foe with undaunted ieso-
lution . . . howthey enduied with steadfast peiseveiance, the hungei, the wet, the
piivation. But woids of admiiation appaiently did, in fact, fail Loughboiough,
foi the oiiginal account contains scenes of angiy and fiightened women accusing
theii Confedeiate piotectois of deseition. As the men of the town ed a Union
attack on I, May I8o_, the women scoinfully yelled aftei them, we aie disap-
pointed in you. . . . who shall we look to now foi piotection: As if to mock the
eeing men, Loughboiough iecoided hei escape thiough enemy ie fiom hei
cave to the house wheie hei husband was stationed. The Confedeiate soldieis
camped neaiby stood cuiiously watching the eect of the sudden fall of metal
aiound me. I would not foi the woild have shown feai, so biaced by my piide,
:
i
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
I walked with a im and steady pace, notwithstanding the tieacheious sugges-
tions of my heait that beat a loud Run, Run. Indeed, Loughboiough seemed
moie conceined with detailing the haidships and piivations of noncombatants
in a town undei siege than with gloiifying southein soldieis.
21
In I8o_, Confedeiate spy Rose ONeal Gieenhow published an account of hei
exploits and eventual aiiest. Initially skeptical of hei stoiys appeal, a ieluctant
Gieenhow was peisuaded by fiiends to make hei stoiy known. Unlike Lough-
boiough, howevei, Gieenhow ieseived hei most scathing comments foi Union
soldieis and black Abolitionists. She intended hei naiiative to excite moie
than a simple feeling of indignation oi commiseiation, she noted, by exhibit-
ing somewhat of the intoleiant spiiit in which the piesent ciusade against the
libeities of soveieign states was undeitaken, and somewhat of the tiue chaiac-
tei of that iace of people who insist on compelling us by foice to live with them
in bonds of fellowship and union. Gieenhows woik was unabashedly political.
A passage desciibing hei equanimity duiing a seaich of hei piivate coiiespon-
dence could veiy well summaiize hei condence in enteiing the public iealm
of political debate. I had a iight to my own political opinions, she oeied,
and to discuss the questions at issue, and nevei shiank fiom the avowal of my
sentiments. She latei ciedited John C. Calhoun foi helping hei foimulate hei
ist, iudimentaiy ideas on State and Fedeial matteis but noted that these
ideas have been stiengthened and matuied by ieading and obseivation. Fiee-
dom of speech and thought, she declaied, belonged to hei by biithiight and
by the Constitution, signed and sealed by the blood of the Souths fatheis. Al-
though Gieenhow yielded slightly in hei nal chaptei, noting that she was not a
philosophical histoiian, she nonetheless enteied into a discussion of the wais
causes, a subject which does not piopeily come within my text.
22
Accoiding
to Gieenhow, the Noiths usuipation of powei, not the extension of slaveiy into
the teiiitoiies, piovoked disunion. Gieenhows account suggests the facility with
which southein women bandied about familiai, contempoiaiy political ihetoiic
and the degiee to which they weie willing to entei public discouise.
Othei southein white women who published theii stoiies of the wai duiing
the eaily I8oos, howevei, shied away fiom eyewitness accounts and published
ctional veisions, theieby tiansfoiming the genie of the antebellum domestic
novel into an oveitly political foim. Ciitics weie quick to pick up on the tiansfoi-
mation. Reviewing Evanss Macaria, poet J. R. Randall commented that the au-
thoi had ventuied on a dangeious expeiiment. Rathei than wiiting the stoiy of
one womans life, Evans had endeavoied to wiite a stoiy of Ameiican lifeoui
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
j
:,
haid, baie, piosaic, unnovelistic Ameiican lifein an ultia classic and supei-
eiudite style. As piopagandists foi the southein cause, Evans and hei contem-
poiaiies not only ieached laige ieading audiences but also caiiied moial au-
thoiity with theii ieadeis, theieby shoiing up theii position. Along with Evans,
Kentuckys Sallie Rochestei Foid, authoi of the I8o novel Raids and Rcmance
cj Mcrgan and His Men, ieached the gieatest populai and ciitical success of this
new bieed of women wiiteis. In addition to the expected female ieadeiship foi
womens novels, Evans and Foid gaineied a captive male ieading audience, as
Confedeiate camps acioss the South devouied Evanss and Foids woiks.
23
Bieak-
ing with the tiaditional foim of domestic ction, both Evans and Foid bioad-
ened the scope of the novels, not meiely examining the heioines innei lives but
also addiessing laigei sociopolitical issues.
Both Evans and Foid discussed the antebellum Ameiican political climate,
cataloging noithein abuses peipetiated against the South and outlining the ii-
ieconcilable philosophical and cultuial dieiences between the two sections.
Foieshadowing secession, Russell Aubiey, lawyei, politician, and Confedeiate
heio of Evanss Macaria, pioclaimed that noithein demagogueiy, oi the hydia-
headed foe of demociacy, thieatened the existence of the United States. In a
latei scene, Iiene Huntingdon, the novels heioine, echoed Russells sentiments,
waining southeineis to be evei vigilant in the newly founded Confedeiacy lest
demagogueiy cieep along its customaiy sinuous path, with seipent eyes fas-
tened on self-aggiandizement. Similaily, Foid wiote of the daik injustice and
lawless tyianny that piesided ovei the antebellum United States. The heel of
the despot ciushes hei sons to the eaith, she explained, his ciuel hand has toin
fiomthemtheii libeities, and dyed itself in theii blood.
24
Simply put, the Noith
had tiod on the Souths constitutionally guaianteed libeities, theieby ensuiing
a bloody wai.
Faced with such abuses fiom an outiageous foe, asseited Foid, southeineis
natuially clung to a theoiy of states iights, believing that southeineis were
right, their cause just, and . . . they could do and daie, suei and die, iathei than
be ciushed beneath the fiagments of a bioken Constitution, ient by the hand
of a vulgai despot. Evans, too, asseited that the Noith had abiogated the Con-
stitution, foicing the South to stiike out on its own. Although the South had
foimeily ieveied the fedeial goveinment and cheiished the iegions position in
the United States, Union became eveiywheie the synonyme of political du-
plicity, foievei seveiing its link with the South. The Confedeiacy iealized that
:o
i
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
the houi had aiiived when the histoiic sphinx must nd an Oedipus, Evans
explained, oi Demociatic Republican Libeity would be devouied, swept away
with the debris of othei dead systems.
25
Foi both womenand, indeed, foi
futuie southein wiiteisthe Civil Wai had been engineeied by the Noiths an-
nulment of constitutionally guaianteed libeities, not, as noitheineis aigued, by
the Souths adheience to the institution of slaveiy.
Although southeineis believed that they had been compelled to bieak away
fiom the Union, they did not feel unequal to the task of paiticipating in an oiga-
nized goveinment. Indeed, they thought themselves bettei piepaied foi the chal-
lenge aftei having sepaiated fiom the Noith. Fiee fiom the conicting cultuies
and antagonistic laboi systems that had iipped apait the Union, these southein
women authois believed the Confedeiacy to have a viable, independent gov-
einment. We aie now . . . a thoioughly homogeneous people, explains Iiene
in Macaria. Because the South completely identied itself with commeice and
agiicultuie, it need not feel thieatened by outside inteiests. In a nal buist of
patiiotic enthusiasm, Iiene pioclaims, puiied fiom all connection with the
Noith and with no vestige of the mischievous element of New England Puiitan-
ism, which, like othei poisonous Mycelium, spiings up peiniciously wheie even
a shied is peimitted, we can be a piospeious and noble people.
26
In addition to including piotiacted discussions on political theoiy, Evans
and Foid and theii lessei-known contempoiaiies tiansfoimed the antebellum
domestic novel by desciibing battles, a iealm tiaditionally ieseived foi male
wiiteis. Evans paiticulaily conceined heiself with the July I8oI Battle of Manas-
sas, the ist gieat Confedeiate victoiy. She exhibited the same appiehension as
did the diaiists about falsely iepoiting the events of the wai. Deteimined to oei
hei ieadeis an accuiate account of the battle, Evans consulted Geneial Beauie-
gaid, a heio in what pioved to be one of the Souths most impoitant psycho-
logical victoiies. The chaptei to which I allude is the XXXth, she infoimed the
geneial, and befoie I ccpy it, I am extiemely desiious to know that I am entirely
accurate in all my statements ielative to the Battle. To avoid factual eiiois and
misiepiesentations, Evans posed a numbei of questions to Beauiegaid:
I. That you and Geneial Johnston weie not acquainted with the fact that
Geneial Iiwin] McDowell had left Washington with the main Fedeial
aimy to attack you at Manassas Junction until a young Lady of Wash-
ington (I give no name), disguised as a maiket women, and engaged in
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
j
:,
selling milk to the Fedeial soldieis succeeded in making hei way thiough
theii lines to Fairjax Ccurthcuse and telegiaphed you of the contemplated
attack.
:. That you immediately telegiaphed to Geneial Johnston, then at Winches-
tei, and in consequence of this infoimation he hastened to Manassa:
_. At what houi did you leain that youi Oidei foi an advance on Centieville
by youi iight wing had failed to ieach its destination:
. Did ycu not lead in perscn the second gieat chaige which iecoveied the
plateau and took the Batteiies that ciowned it:
Feaiful as Evans may have been at intiuding on the geneial in the middle of
the wai, she neveitheless thought hei chaptei on Manassas suciently impoitant
to solicit Beauiegaids aid with hei manusciipt.
27
Evans infused detailed accounts of tioop movements with hei own anti-Union
ihetoiic and painted a vivid poitiait of the Battle of Manassas. In July, I8oI,
when the Noith, blinded by avaiice and hate, iang with the ciy On to Rich-
mond, oui Confedeiate Aimy of the Potomac was divided between Manassa
and Winchestei, watching at both points the glitteiing coils of the union boa-
constiictoi, which wiithed in its eoits to ciush the last sanctuaiy of fieedom.
While Union Geneial Robeit Patteison thieatened to attack Geneial Johns-
tons Confedeiate tioops in the Shenandoah Valley, McDowell expected to ovei-
whelm Beauiegaid at Manassas. But the Piomethean spaik of patiiotic devo-
tion buined in the heaits of Secession women, Evans boasted, and iesolved to
daie all things in a cause so holy, a young lady of Washington, stiong in heioic
faith, oeied to encountei any peiils, and pledged hei life to give Geneial Beau-
iegaid the necessaiy infoimation. Accoiding to Evans, Beauiegaid telegiaphed
Johnston at Richmond, and thus, thiough womanly devotion, a timely junc-
tion of the two aimies was aected, eie McDowells banneis outed the skies of
Bull Run.
28
Evans appaiently oveicame hei conceins about the accuiacy of hei
depiction of the battle.
Foi Evans, wiiting in I8o_, Manassas set the tone foi what she hoped would
be the eventual tiiumph of the Confedeiacy. Neveitheless, Evans astutely iec-
ognized the debasing and dehumanizing qualities of waifaie. At half past two
oclock the awful contest was at its height, Evans began, the iattle of musketiy,
the ceaseless whistle, the huitling hail of shot, and explosion of shell, dense vol-
umes of smoke shiouding the combatants, and clouds of dust boiling up on all
sides, lent unutteiable hoiioi to a scene which, to cold, dispassionate obseiveis,
:8
i
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
might have seemed sublime. Evans might have ieveled in the outcome of the
battle, but she saw nothing gloiious oi iomantic on the battleeld. Hideous
was the spectacle piesenteddead and dying, fiiend and foe, huddled in indis-
ciiminate iuin, walking in blood, and shiveiing in the agonies of dissolution,
blackened headless tiunks and fiagments of limbs, ghastly sights and sounds of
woe, lling the scene of combat. Evans believed that the piice of waifaie would
be justied, howevei, by the Souths oveithiow of puiitanical hypociisy.
29
Foid chose not to memoiialize the celebiated Battle of Manassas in hei novel
but wiote instead of the boidei skiimishes in Kentucky and Tennessee and Gen-
eial John Moigans attempts to win the state foi the Confedeiacy. Pooi de-
giaded, subjugated Kentucky, Foid lamented, thine is a sad stoiy of vacillation
and feai, of wiong and oppiession. Eaily in Raids and Rcmance, Foid wiote
of a Febiuaiy I8o: battle at Foit Donelson, located on the Cumbeiland Rivei,
in which Fedeial tioops pievailed. Iionically, Foid wiites ist of the pomp and
giandeui of the battle: With banneis pioudly waving, and oceis splendidly
unifoimed cheeiing theii men to victoiy, they dash on-on-on! Just as the Con-
fedeiacy found its position impossible to sustain at the Battle of Foit Donel-
son, howevei, so too did Foid nd it dicult to maintain hei iomantic image
of waifaie. All thiough that long, diead day, she continued, desciibing the
ghting befoie the tide tuined against the Confedeiates, the battle iaged most
feaifully and as night closed in upon sickening cainage, the enemy, iepulsed,
cut to pieces, slain in hundieds, was diiven to seek his position of the moin-
ing, leaving the eld coveied with dead and dying.
30
Although both authois
oeied ieadeis liteiaiy, stylized depictions of battle, Foid and Evans nonethe-
less eschewed gloiifying waifaie, piefeiiing instead a moie biutal poitiayal of
the wai that was iending the United States.
Foid not only desciibed battles but evaluated the eectiveness of Confedei-
ate oceis in paiticulai missions. Since Raids and Rcmance cj Mcrgan and His
Men was a woik of Confedeiate piopaganda, it is not suipiising that Foid al-
most always piaised the woik of the Confedeiacys leadeis. And, given the title
of the novel, ieadeis could coiiectly expect Foid to ciown Moigan with the lau-
iels she believed he so iichly deseived. To deect any ciiticism leveled against
Moigan foi failing to secuie Kentucky foi the Confedeiacy, Foid admitted that
the campaign has been pionounced a failuie, a sad, sad jaux pas and the com-
manding geneial has been solely censuied foi want of ability and oveisight of
points which would have insuied to the Confedeiate aims a gloiious victoiy.
Because Geneial Moigans invasion of the state failed, Geneial Biaggs aimy was
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
j
:,
unable to occupy Kentucky, and the Confedeiacy failed to gain any teiiitoiy in
the West. Foid asked hei ieadeis to considei Moigans ill-fated invasion fiom a
dieient peispective, howevei. If the object was to withdiaw the Fedeial foices
fiomtheii thieatening position to Noith Alabama, ielieve East Tennessee, obtain
a supply of piovisions and clothing foi the men, and give the Southein sentiment
of the state an oppoitunity to enlist undei the Southein ag, she suggested,
Moigans invasion had not failed, even though the expectations of the fiiends of
the South might not have been fully iealized in any of these paiticulais.
31
Con-
dent of hei ability to assess the piogiess of the Confedeiacy and eagei to ially
suppoit foi the southein cause, Foid oeied hei ieadeis alteinative ieadings of
the Souths setbacks, unable to face the possibility of defeat.
Although both Evans and Foid stiayed fai fiom the conventions of the ante-
bellum domestic novel, theii waitime novels piovided a degiee of comfoitable
familiaiity foi the woiks piimaiily female ieading audience. Both authois de-
veloped love inteiests foi theii Confedeiate heioes. Both celebiated the viitues
of tiaditional southein womanhood. Both waxed ihapsodic about southein
womens potential contiibutions to the Confedeiacy, and this point might have
been theii woiks piime attiaction foi female ieadeis. In one of the nal scenes
of Macaria, Iiene, the novels heioine, explains to hei fiiend Electia, You and
I have much to do, duiing these days of gloom and national tiialfoi upon the
puiity, the devotion, and the patiiotism of the women of oui land, not less than
upon the heioism of oui aimies, depends oui national salvation. Iiene then
chionicles the duties of southein women: to jealously guaid oui homes and so-
cial ciicles fiomthe inioads of coiiuption, to keep the ies of patiiotismbuining
upon the altais of the South, to sustain and encouiage those who aie wiestling
the boidei foi oui biithiight of fieedom. Once the Confedeiacy had secuied
the Souths independence, women would be guaianteed long-life usefulness
to the new iepublic. This passage must have been paiticulaily inspiiing to those
women who fietted ovei theii inability to paiticipate diiectly in the Confedei-
ate cause. Aftei ieading the novel, Ellen Geitiude Clanton Thomas of Augusta,
Geoigia, iecoided in hei diaiy that she felt ashamed of hei own complacency
and iesolved to do hei pait foi the wai. The next evening I visited the hcspital!
she boasted. The best commentaiy upon the good Miss Evans book eected,
Thomas added. Evans and Foid stietched the boundaiies of the domestic novel
but weie unwilling to abandon theii tested base of suppoit and included scenes
that weie guaianteed to please female ieadeis.
32
Of couise, all southein white women wiiteis did not captuie the same wide
_o
i
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
ciitical and populai iesponse as did Evans and Foid. Militaiy seivice iemoved
many men fiom theii customaiy ioles as heads of families, foicing women to
iun theii households and thus seveiely limiting the time available foi wiiting.
Fuitheimoie, the exigencies of the wai taxed most publisheis eveiyday opeia-
tions, shaiply cuitailing the quantity and quality of woiks in piint. Noithein
publisheis, which befoie the wai had been at best ieluctant to piint woiks penned
by southein women wiiteis, weie now completely cut o, foicing southein au-
thois to tuin to smallei southein ims. Even the majoi southein liteiaiy houses,
such as West and Johnston of Richmond, Viiginia, and S. H. Goetzel of Mobile,
Alabama, faced supply shoitages, iunaway ination, and disiupted shipments
of theii nished pioducts.
33
Even when minoi southein womens novels weie
publishedfoi example, Floience J. OConnois Hercine cj the Ccnjederacy and
Maiia McIntoshs Twc Picturesit iemains uncleai whethei Confedeiate sol-
dieis iead these woiks with the same voiacity with which they iead Macaria and
Raids and Rcmance. Like Evans and Foid, these lessei-known authois bioad-
ened the denitions of tiaditional domestic ction and developed a new genie
of womens wai naiiatives, oeiing discussions of politics and battles.
McIntosh and OConnoi gaineied only small ieading audiences, but theii
messages weie poweiful. Foid and Evans did not coinei the maiket on womens
waitime piopaganda. OConnoi, foi example, iecognized the impoitance of foi-
eign suppoit foi the Confedeiate cause. In a diiect plea to Euiopeans who backed
the Noith, OConnoi begged neai the end of hei I8o novel, The Hercine cj the
Ccnjederacy, cr, Truth and }ustice, will you not leain wisdom fiom the past:
Will you still madly iush on death and sueiing, when you know the awaid
which awaits youi geneious conduct: Have you not heaid alieady of Know-
nothingismof the many isms which eie the wai spiung up in the Noith, had
foi theii aim the depiiving of foieigneis of any of the iights of citizenship: Aie
you blind to the tieacheiy of foimei conduct: OConnoi had chionicled the
Noiths abuses, established the necessity of southein secession, and desciibed
the ugliness of battle befoie appealing to Euiopeans foi aid. She had intended
hei novel to convince Euiopeans that theii suppoit foi that Noith was tanta-
mount to genocide, adding a bit of authoiial piodding towaid the end to ensuie
that hei message would be undeistood. Inteiestingly, OConnoi had demuiely
appioached hei ieadeis eaily in hei novel, assuiing them that she had not meta-
moiphized into the female politician, the liteiaiy lady who aects the Madame
de Stael. Instead, OConnoi claimed, she had intended hei woik to poitiay
a few (to some peihaps inteiesting) events that will piobably be lost sight of
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
j
_I
by moie woithy giay goose quills than mine, but which aie not the less true
oi valuable.
34
OConnoi well undeistood the piecaiious position of polemical
women wiiteis in nineteenth-centuiy society and wished to ease hei ieadeis
minds while convincing them of the iighteousness of the Confedeiacy.
McIntosh, who had achieved a measuie of ciitical and populai success in the
I8os and I8,os with hei novels Charms and Ccunter-Charms (I88) and The
Lcjty and the Lcwly (I8,I), wished to countei the pievailing opinion of the South,
which had been heavily inuenced by Haiiiet Beechei Stowes Uncle Tcms Cabin.
Although boin in Geoigia, McIntosh was a fiequent tiavelei noith of the Mason-
Dixon line and haiboied waim sentiments towaid the Noith. Indeed, she had
championed sectional haimony in hei pievious novels, especially The Lcjty and
the Lcwly, in which sets of southein and noithein heioes and heioines wed and
pledge to piomote peaceful coexistence. By the mid-I8oos, howevei, McIntosh
had abandoned hei position as sectional healei and set out to explain the fail-
ings of hei pievious liteiaiy eoits to meld the Noith with the South as well as
to challenge Stowes depiction of southein cultuie and the institution of slaveiy.
McIntoshs ninth and nal novel, Twc Pictures, cr, Vhat Ve Think cj Ourselves,
and Vhat the Vcrld Thinks cj Us, published in I8o_, oeied a pointed look at the
neai incompatibility of noithein and southein cultuies. McIntosh ielied once
again on a favoiite liteiaiy stiategy, the maiiiage between a southein belle and
a Yankee, but heie the maiiiage does not symbolize the union of the two cul-
tuies but instead iepiesents the tiiumph of the southein position. Despite Hugh
Moiays initial ieluctance to take ovei the family plantation of his biide, Augusta,
he soon settles into his iole as plantei and mastei. Speaking to his noithein law
paitnei, Hugh justies the institution of slaveiy and explains his plans foi the
impiovement of his slaves. Despite some abuses in the system, in the essential
featuies, the dependence of the slave, the iule and authoiity of the mastei, I be-
lieve it to be divinely appointed foi the noblest ends. . . . I shall be a king on
my own land, Hugh continues, but, with my views, I must be a piiest as well
as a king. Instead of these people living foi me, I must live foi them. Hughs
neighbois soon begin to emulate his style of slave management, much to the sat-
isfaction of the new mastei. Along with Hugh, southein planteis begin to iealize
that not England, not theii noithein neighbois, but God, who iules on eaith
as in heaven, accoiding to the counsel of His own iighteous will, had biought to
theii doois these beings, so ignoiant and degiaded, yet none the less His chil-
dien and theii biethien, that they might lead them to that tiuth which should
foim them anew in the image of God. Slaveholdeis begin to iepent not theii
_:
i
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
positions as masteis, foi that was not a sin, but theii failuie to live up to the ie-
sponsibilities entiusted in them as masteis.
35
To atone foi theii failings, accoid-
ing to McIntosh, southein slave owneis began to ministei to the slaves souls as
well as theii bodies, pioviding spiiitual guidance as well as comfoitable living
quaiteis.
In McIntoshs view, despite these impiovements in slave management, Stowe
slandeied the South with the publication of Uncle Tcms Cabin. In the nal scene
of Twc Pictures, Augusta expiesses hei hoiioi at a favoiable noithein newspapei
ieview of Stowes novel. Uncle Tcms Cabin can only fuithei divide the countiy,
suimises Augusta, suggesting that all of McIntoshs eailiei liteiaiy eoits weie in
vain. Although Augusta hopefully notes that southeineis will discount Stowes
poitiayal of them, McIntoshs chaiactei nonetheless concedes that the novel will
stiengthen antislaveiy sentiment both in the Noith and abioad. Hugh agiees,
adding, the woilds pictuie of us is seldom just, to look at it would eithei inate
us with vanity, oi iiiitate us by a sense of wiong, we will tuin fiom it, and tiy to
see ouiselves as God sees us, this will make us at once humble and hopeful.
36
In
the end, McIntoshs novel wained southeineis against being seduced into self-
doubt and self-loathing by outside accounts of theii cultuie. Remain constant,
she counseled, and tiust that the southein position is divinely sanctioned.
Moie impoitant than these authois eoits to sway outside opinion about the
South and the Confedeiacy, howevei, weie theii attempts to bolstei southein-
eis faith in theii sacied cause. OConnoi caiefully explained that the Noith was
wholly iesponsible foi the bloody conict, inciting the peace-loving South into
wai. The Black Republicans, she infoimed hei ieadeis, bioke in upon the
peace of oui countiy and killed it with bayonets, angiy blood, despeiate boils,
confusion and wiong. She ieseived special vitupeiation foi the Beecheis and
othei noithein pieacheis who used theii pulpits to slandei the South and agitate
the Noith into a fienzy of wai fuiy. Though noitheineis feigned despaii and
giief ovei the destiuction of the Union, she claimed, they had sought to iip
the countiy apait. Neio-like, they now sit upon theii towei, ddling ovei the
conagiation of theii countiy, and singing paeans of tiiumph ovei the success
of theii vile pioject.
37
Heie and thioughout the novel, OConnoi assuied hei
ieadeis of the Noiths position as tiansgiessoi, championing one of the Confed-
eiacys chief iallying ciies.
In addition to designing hei novel as a piece of Confedeiate piopaganda,
OConnoi had fuithei tiansgiessed the boundaiies of domestic ction by in-
cluding camp and battle scenes in hei novel. Like Evans, OConnoi wiote of
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
j
__
the Battle of Manassas, using the Confedeiate victoiy as a iallying point foi hei
ieadeis. Claiming knowledge of both the histoiy of waifaie and the meiits of
Confedeiate leadeis, OConnoi exclaimed, Victoiy is ouis! Let us pioclaim it
fai and wide, until hills and dales ie-echo the sound, and all honoi, fame, and
piaise to the gieat geneial whose wondeiful Napoleonic genius has this, with
despeiate, oveiwhelming odds against him, achieved so gloiious and biilliant a
victoiya victoiy uniivaled in the annals of Ameiica, Noith oi South, not only
foi its magnitude, but its eulgence. Lapsing into the conventions of the epis-
tolaiy novel, OConnoi conveyed the hoiiois of wai by including an imaginaiy
lettei fiom a soldiei at Manassas to his sistei. In melodiamatic teims, OConnoi
depicted the biutal conduct of noithein soldieis: The iavages and devastations
of Atilla sic] the Hun, the fanatical iage of Omai, the Tuiks oppiession, the
Sepoys ievenge, have been humane and chaiitable compaied with the conduct
of these hyenas.
38
OConnoi did not iestiict heiself to the Battle of Manassas
but also gave accounts of Bethel, Rich Mountain, Belmont, and Shiloh, always
gloiifying the southein soldiei and pioclaiming the iighteousness of the south-
ein cause. Although OConnois oveily emotive conceptualization of wai did
not match Evanss in populaiity, OConnoi neveitheless enteied into a discouise
that many had thought unseemlyoi at least uninteiestingfoi women.
Accounts of camp life and battles allowed McIntosh and OConnoi to bieak
fiee fiom the boundaiies of domestic ction, making theii novels moie ac-
cessible to men. Like Evans and Foid, howevei, these women undeistood that
southein women would laigely constitute the ieading audience and taigeted the
novels accoidingly. Both McIntosh and OConnoi eusively piaised the viitues
of southein women, extolling theii beauty, chaim, and devotion: Let otheis
talk of womans iights as they will, a tiain conductoi tells Augusta, you know
that you aie enjoying womans highest piivilege, and exeicising hei noblest duty,
while you aie thus keeping human soul tiue to the best instincts which God
has implanted within it. Rathei than allow othei chaiacteis to comment on the
myiiad of southein womens viitues, OConnoi let hei heioine boast of hei and
hei compatiiots woithiness and usefulness to the Confedeiacy. In a lettei to a
soldiei at the fiont, Natalie, the title chaiactei in The Hercine cj the Ccnjeder-
acy, assuies him of the constancy of the women at home: We aie piepaied foi
all emeigencies, and even oui women, in devotion to theii countiys cause, will
stand unpaialleled in histoiy, she comfoits. Each and eveiy southein womans
ciy is give us but a ciust of biead and a cup of watei fiom the iunning biook,
but, oh, give us libeity. . . . Yes, like the Spaitan Motheis of old. Natalie con-
_
i
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
cludes, Oui women say to theii husbands, sons, fatheis, and loveis, Come with
youi shield, oi on it.
39
Natalie sings the piaises of southein women not only to Confedeiate soldieis
but also to hei female companions. Like Evans, OConnoi imagined women
occupying a position of impoitance within the Confedeiacy. Shoitly aftei ie-
assuiing the soldiei at the fiont, Natalie addiesses a gioup of women, detailing
theii specic tasks foi the good of the southein cause. Now is the time to judge
fiiend fiom foe, she counsels. Now is the time the piuning knife should be
placed at the ioot, to eiadicate the budding impeifections of the gloiious Con-
fedeiate tiee, whose bianches shall oeishadow the eaith, and whose blossoms
shall be deance,whose fiuit victoiy.
40
By positioning women as the Con-
fedeiacys moial aibiteis, the judges of woithiness and devotion, OConnoi af-
foided women a gieat deal of cultuial weight, a tactic that undoubtedly appealed
to hei female ieadeis.
In addition to speechifying on behalf of southein women, Natalie appeais as
the tiue heioine of the Confedeiacy. Duiing the couise of the novel, Natalie as-
sumes the identity of thiee othei chaiacteis, with hei iole as Confedeiate nuise
and spy not ievealed until the tales end. As Miss Clayton, Natalie aids hei
countiy by caiiying dispatches fiom deep within the Confedeiacy acioss enemy
lines. Inviting female ieadeis to place themselves in Miss Claytons position, the
authoi titillates and shocks hei ieadeis, oeiing them some of the excitement of
combat. Desciibing Miss Claytons daiing escape, OConnoi wiote, imagine . . .
gentle ladies . . . youiselves thus, and seated back in the coinei of a dilapidated
vehicle, with youi hand giasping a ievolvei, and youi thumb upon the tiiggei,
not daiing to close youi eyes, and] you can foim some idea of what one of youi
own sex sueied in hei chaiactei of Confedeiate emissaiy. OConnoi asseited
that not even the ienowned exploits of Belle Boyd, the ieal-life spy who kept
Stonewall Jackson infoimed while he was positioned in the Shenandoah Valley
of Viiginia, could suipass the deeds of Miss Clayton.
41
Without any soit of tiansition, ieadeis leave the woman spy in the Shenan-
doah Valley and encountei a nuise, Sistei Secessia, at a Richmond hospital.
Like a new stai, she beamed in the clouded imament of the sick and sueiing,
she was welcome eveiywheie, OConnoi wiote of this biiey seen chaiactei.
Finally, neai the end of the novel, Natalie disguises heiself as Miss Laval, an-
othei spy who iisks hei life to aid hei countiy.
42
Thiough these thiee heioic chai-
acteis, OConnoi oeis hei women ieadeis the oppoitunity to identify them-
selves with the heioine, setting out to save the Confedeiacy. Although womens
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
j
_,
ioles on the home fiont weie ciicumsciibed by convention, thiough the fantasy
of ction, OConnois ieadeis found themselves on the battleeld.
There Is Nc Lcnger a Luxury cj Vce
Although latei wiiteis would exploie many of the themes developed by the wai-
time diaiists, coiiespondents, and authois, these eaily naiiatives diei because
the ending had yet to be wiitten: the outcome of the wai iemained unknown.
The futuie of the Southein countiy is as gloiious as evei weie those of Italy oi
Gieece, wiote OConnoi eaily in Hercine cj the Ccnjederacy, and hei biight-
ness and best days aie but dawning. Hei sun is but beginning to cast its eaily
beams aiound, hei noon will awaken the woild.
43
Unbuidened by defeat, wai-
time wiiteis could imagine a futuie foi the independent southein nation. Al-
though these naiiatives foim the foundation foi the dominant tiope in postwai
southein wiiting, the myth of the Lost Cause, they iemain fiee fiom the myth
they cieated. Because postwai authois knew the ending, they could infuse theii
naiiatives with a peivasive sense of defeat. In contiast, waitime diaiists could
delight in news fiom the fiont, condent that eveiy Confedeiate victoiy ensuied
eventual tiiumph and equally condent that eveiy Confedeiate setback would
be iectied by the hand of Piovidence.
Novelists weie even moie unfetteied by the stoiys ending. Wiiting to bolstei
the spiiits of both ghting men and noncombatants, southein women novelists
ieveled in the possibility of a tiiumphant Confedeiate nation, encouiaging theii
ieadeis to do likewise. That day appioaches, announced Foid neai the end of
Raids and Rcmances, when the South will be fiee fiom the Noiths tyiannical
giip. Let us hope foi this gloiious iealization of oui desiies, she encouiaged
hei ieadeis, piay foi it, and above all, let us put foith eveiy eneigy, stiain eveiy
neive, avail ouiselves of eveiy iesouice, enduie eveiy haidship, suimount eveiy
obstacle, vanquish eveiy diculty, until this blessed eia shall buist upon us, and
we, a fiee and independent people,] shall unite as with one voice in paean and
of tiiumph and thanksgiving.
44
The outlook seemed bleak foi the novels chai-
acteis: Chailey and Heniy, the two heioes, have been iecaptuied by the Union
tioops and sent back to a foul piison camp, and Geneial Moigans fate iemains
even moie endangeied. But because the soldieis and politicians had yet to pio-
vide Foid with the tiue ending foi hei novel, she could still wiite of a victoiious
Confedeiate nation.
The events at Appomattox Couithouse stiipped these women of the luxuiy
_o
i
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
of wiiting theii own endings to the wai. Foi some, news of the Union victoiy
piovided the ending not only to theii stoiies but also to theii desiie to wiite new
stoiies. I used to live to wiite sometimes, and put in woids eithei the thoughts
of my mind oi in the heait in that way of supeiuous emotion, Elmoie sadly
confessed. Noweveiything seems so woithless, even the events and pains of my
life seem unwoithy of being jelt. The Confedeiacy had ceased to unite south-
eineis, she iemaiked, and had been ieplaced by pain and sueiing. Giief has
in these piesent days lost all individuality, it is the common piopeity of my
countiymen,so suiiounded aie we by it, so univeisally is its language spoken,
so daikly does its shadow iush upon us all, so constant and ieal is its piesence,
that theie is no longei a luxuiy of woe. And Elmoies sense of despaii was now
shaied by the South as a whole. What is the use of woids, she asked, when
Ive but to look in the face of my neighbois and see theie the shadow that iests
upon mine:
45
In fact, the end of the wai did not signal the end of Elmoies activities as a
wiitei. Noi did it pievent othei women fiom wiiting. It did, howevei, so captuie
the imagination of southein white women wiiteis that no stoiy of the wai could
be told without the peivading sense of Confedeiate defeat. Fiom I8o, on, the
end of the stoiy loomed laige fiom the opening paiagiaphs.
vi .i i x w.vvi ovs
j
_,
2
Country-
women in
Captivity,
18651877
Here indeed . . . ruin reigned supreme.
m.vv . cv0s i, Cameion Hall
Saiah L. Wadley had just heaid of the Souths defeat in the Civil Wai when she
opened hei diaiy on :o Apiil I8o,. An aident suppoitei of the Confedeiacy,
Wadley now expeiienced a piofound sense of iemoise that seemed almost de-
bilitating. I am depiessed almost to despaii, she confessed. Life seems to have
lost its inteiest, eaith its beauty. Although Wadley assiduously followed the
events of the wai, chionicling in hei diaiy the Confedeiacys victoiies and set-
backs, she piofessed genuine suipiise at the suiiendeis of Geneials Robeit E. Lee
and Joseph E. Johnston. Confused about and fiightened by the Souths uncei-
tain futuie, Wadley expeiienced a shock that might have stemmed moie fiom a
sense of displacement than fiom actual disbelief ovei the wais outcome, which
had seemed appaient foi months. Wadleys stamina had waned. What use is
couiage undei diculties, hope in misfoitune, she asked, when couiage can
no longei avail, hope can no longei cheei: She ended hei Civil Wai diaiy with
the simple plea, Oh God, help me.
1
_,
Like othei southeineis, Wadley had heaid iumois and stoiies about noith-
ein plans foi ieunication, yet she could not envision a futuie foi heiself oi hei
countiy undei noithein iule. The Noiths failuie to hammei out a single, co-
heient plan complicated Wadleys and othei white southeineis conceptions of
life aftei the wai. Indeed, noithein politicians had bandied about pioposals as
eaily as I8o_ without ieaching a compiomise.
2
These piofound disagieements
stemmed fiom contiadictoiy constitutional and legal inteipietations of seces-
sion. Teims of suiiendei, ieunication, and the authoiity foi juiisdiction and
administiation of these teims all hinged on the successful iesolution of these
complicated questions. The ist to aiticulate a foimal plan foi ieunication,
Piesident Abiaham Lincoln aigued that the South had not in fact seceded and,
theiefoie, its constitutional status had nevei been compiomised. Moie impoi-
tant, accoiding to this position, teims of suiiendei fell to the oce of the piesi-
dency. Lincolns I8o_ Pioclamation of Amnesty and Reconstiuction oeied full
paidons to any southeinei, except high-ianking civil and militaiy Confedeiates,
who had pledged futuie loyalty to the Union and agieed to accept the aboli-
tion of slaveiy. Any state could establish a new state goveinment, piovided its
constitution explicitly abolished slaveiy, once Io peicent of its I8oo voteis ac-
cepted these teims of loyalty. Lincolns plan then entitled the state goveinment
to iepiesentation in the national goveinment.
Although nevei iatied, Lincolns Io peicent plan geneiated a gieat deal of
discussion, most of it unfavoiable. Some abolitionists expiessed dissatisfaction
ovei the plans silence on the subjects of black equality, suiage, and paiticipa-
tion in the piocess of Reconstiuction. Lincoln designed his pioposal to shoiten
the wai and maishal white suppoit foi emancipation, not as a bluepiint foi ie-
unication, howevei. Radical Republicans who challenged Lincolns inteipieta-
tion of secession expiessed fai moie fundamental conceins about the Io pei-
cent plan. Massachusetts Senatoi Chailes Sumnei, Pennsylvania Repiesentative
Thaddeus Stevens, and othei Radicals maintained that the southein states had
seceded, theieby abiogating theii constitutional status. Undei this inteipieta-
tion, because the states had been conqueied by the Noith, they had been ieduced
to piovinces with teiiitoiial status. Since teiiitoiies fall undei the juiisdiction of
Congiess iathei than the piesident, the legislative bianch commanded the powei
to devise a plan foi Reconstiuction.
Radical Republicans shaied a ieading of the Constitution but did not shaie
a vision foi the postwai South. Sumnei, Stevens, and Indiana Repiesentative
Geoige W. Julian pushed foi a haid peace. Theii plan demanded the consca-
o
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
tion of southein plantations and the iedistiibution of the land to the fieed slaves
and white southeineis who had iemained loyal to the Union. Most membeis of
Congiess, howevei, feaied that this plan violated constitutional piotections of
piopeity iights and iefused to suppoit the bill. The debates geneiated by the
Sumnei, Stevens, and Julian plan, howevei, did lead to a consensus among Re-
publicans on ceitain elements that they believed any ieunication plan should
incoipoiate. Fiist, the Republicans agieed that high-ianking civil and militaiy
Confedeiates should be baiied fiom ietuining to powei. Second, the Republi-
can Paity should be established as the dominant paity in southein political life.
Finally, fieed slaves should ieceive full civil equality, and the fedeial goveinment
should guaiantee this full equality.
In I8o modeiate and iadical Republicans hammeied out a compiomise be-
tween Lincolns plan and Sumnei, Stevens, and Julians plan. By midsummei,
Congiess had passed the Wade-Davis Bill, which stated that a majoiity (not Io
peicent, as Lincoln had pioposed) of a states white male adult population would
have to sweai an iionclad oath of allegiance to the Union. The state could
then hold a constitutional convention, but those who fought foi oi aided the
Confedeiacy weie piohibited fiom voting in the Convention, theieby ieseiving
the states futuie foi those explicitly opposed to the Confedeiacy. Although the
Wade-Davis Bill was fai moie iadical than Lincolns pioposal, the piesident did
not oppose the measuie. The piesident then engaged selected membeis of Con-
giess in infoimal talks, but the two camps had not ieached an agieement when
the piesident was assassinated on I Apiil I8o,.
It is no wondei, then, that white southeineis such as Saiah Wadley felt a
deep sense of confusion about the Souths futuie. In less than one week in Apiil
I8o,, the Confedeiacy had been defeated, the piesident of the United States
had been assassinated, and Vice Piesident Andiew Johnson had suddenly as-
sumed the oce of the chief executive. Meanwhile, noithein politicians con-
tinued to haggle ovei vastly dieient plans foi the South. Although Wadley
believed that a divine justice was exacting its vengeance when Lincoln was as-
sassinated, hei anxiety iegaiding the Souths futuie was not alleviated. Indeed,
Wadley giew moie conceined. Otheis shaied hei befuddlement. Ella Geitiude
ClantonThomas of Augusta, Geoigia, iemaiked in a paiticulaily vindictive diaiy
entiy that hei hatied of the Noith had only incieased since the end of the wai.
The seemingly endless debates in the Noith ovei the teims of peace fosteied
Thomass ienewed sense of fiustiation. We have been imposed upon, she ie-
coided, led to believe that teims of tieaty had been agieed upon which would
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
I
secuie to us a lasting and honoiable peace. The tieaty enteied into between Shei-
man and Johnston, the Noithein piesident iefuses to iatifyNow that we have
suiiendeiedaie in a gieat degiee poweiless we can count with ceitainty upon
nothing. Oui lands will be conscated and imagination cannot tell what is in
stoie foi us.
3
Claiication did not appeai to be foithcoming.
Like Lincoln, the new piesident maintained that the South had nevei seceded
and theiefoie ietained its constitutional iights. Accoiding to Johnson, Recon-
stiuction fell completely undei the puiview of the oce of the piesident. When
Congiess adjouined foi its summei iecess in I8o,, Johnson acted unilateially and
implemented his own plan foi Reconstiuction, demanding only that southein
states ievoke theii oidinances of secession, nullify wai debts, and iatify the Thii-
teenth Amendment. In ietuin, Johnson oeied complete amnesty and a ietuin
of all piopeity except slaves to most white southeineis in exchange foi an oath
of allegiance. Like most othei plans, Johnsons excluded high-ianking Confed-
eiates and southeineis who owned taxable piopeity amounting to moie than
twenty thousand dollais, although those exempted could diiectly petition John-
son, which they hastily did. By Decembei I8o, all foimei Confedeiate states had
met Johnsons iequiiements to iejoin the Union and had functioning govein-
ments.
While southein white men went about the business of secuiing theii piop-
eity by sweaiing theii allegiance to the Union, southein white women ieviled
the entiie piocess. It makes my whole being eice, seethed Wadley, to think
that we now stand in the condition of ciiminals waiting foi paidon, of eii-
ing biotheis to be foigiven and ieceived. Loula Kendall Rogeis, of Bainesville,
Geoigia, was even moie contemptuous: I sinceiely tiust Southein women may
not be so double faced, she confessed, but iemain tiue to theii ist piinciples
and unshaken in theii steadfast desiie to be distinct and separate people fiom
the Noith.
4
Southein white women soon iealized that the end of the wai had
not signaled an end to theii sueiing, a ielease of hatied, an acceptance of the
teims of suiiendei, oi a willingness to ieintegiate into the Union.
An Ambiticus Venture jcr a Vcman
Foi some women, the news of Confedeiate defeat and iumois about Recon-
stiuction paialyzed wiiting eoits, at least tempoiaiily. Emma Holmes of South
Caiolina iemaiked in a biief jouinal entiy dated I, Apiil I8o, that the iush
:
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
of events and the whiil of excitement had so bewildeied hei that she could
scaicely wiite. It is almost absuid to pietend to wiite up a jouinal in times
as these, she apologized. Five days latei, Holmes bemoaned languages inade-
quacy to convey southeineis emotional pain. To go back to the Union!!! she
scieamed. No woids can desciibe all the hoiiois contained in those fewwoids.
Rogeis also faced this paialysis, confessing on II May I8o,, I have no heait to
wiite in my jouinal nowwe aie a bioken spiiited people almost.
5
Both women soon oveicame theii initial inability to wiite about southein de-
feat, lling theii once-neglected jouinals with invectives against the Noith and
piaise foi the Confedeiacy, just as in waitime wiitings. Rogeis also tiansfeiied
hei need to wiite about the wai to othei genies, eventually becoming the poet
lauieate foi the state of Geoigia, laigely because of hei poetiy about the Confed-
eiacy. She also helped oiganize the Bainesville Chaptei of the United Daughteis
of the Confedeiacy, became an ocei in the Geoigia Division of the United
Daughteis of the Confedeiacy, and penned many essays on the southein cause.
Piofessional wiiteis shaied in this initial ciisis of ability. Augusta Jane Evans,
one of the Confedeiacys most eective piopagandists, ceased to wiite publicly
about the wai foi almost foity yeais. Foi Evans, moie was at stake in the Civil Wai
than meiely the political and cultuial identity of the southein nation. She had
peiceived hei peisonal identity as inextiicably linked with that of the Confedei-
acy. With the Souths loss came a neai deathblow to hei psyche. All my hopes,
aims, aspiiations weie bound up in the success of that holy piecious cause, la-
mented Evans. Its failuie has bowed down and ciushed my heait as I thought
nothing eaithly could do.
6
The futuie oeied nothing to Evans, and she was
despondent.
Evans had initially thought of wiiting a histoiy of the Confedeiacy. Despite
hei ieseivations about a womans ability to wiite ciitically on militaiy matteis,
she explained to foimei Confedeiate Vice Piesident Alexandei H. Stephens
shoitly aftei the wai that my heait vetoes the veidict of my judgment, and
piompts me to oei some giateful testimonial, some tiibute, howevei inade-
quate, to the manes of oui heioes. Thiee months latei, howevei, she declaied
that the pastoui hallowed past is too unalteiably mouinful to be dwelt upon.
By the following yeai she had abandoned altogethei hei piojected histoiy, defei-
iing to Stephens, who planned his own study of the wai. Hei decision might have
stemmed in pait fiom hei capitulation to hei bettei judgment on womens in-
ability to wiite about wai. This choice might also have stemmed fiom hei desiie
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
_
Loula Kendall Rogeis. (Couitesy Special Collections Depaitment, Robeit W. Woodiu
Libiaiy, Emoiy Univeisity)
to shoie up a wounded patiiaichal gendei oidei that demanded that women ie-
aimtiaditional antebellumgendei ioles in the wake of defeat.
7
Moie likely, hei
decision iesulted fiom hei intense feelings about the death of the Confedeiacy.
Evanss ieluctance to publish hei views on the Civil Wai, Confedeiate defeat,
and Reconstiuction by no means signaled hei disengagement fiom the subject
mattei. To Pieiie Gustave Toutant Beauiegaid, with whomshe had coiiesponded
foi hei novel Macaria, Evans expiessed hei indignation at Republican iule. In
an I8o, lettei, she compaied the South with othei conqueied lands, claiming
that the South had sueied the gieatest abuses: Moie pitiable than Poland oi
Hungaiy, she wiote, quite as helpless as weie the Asia Minoi piovinces when
goveined by Peisian Satiaps, we of the pseudo territcries sit like Isiael in the
captivity, biding the day of ietiibution,the Dies Irae that must suiely dawn
in blood upon the nation that oppiesses us. The Souths conqueiois had so in-
censed Evans that she applauded what appeaied to be theii demoialization
and decay. Although Evans counted Geneial Beauiegaid among hei fiiends, she
woiiied about his ieaction to hei sentiments. What will you think of me,if I
tell you candidly of the Noiths impending demise, she asked. Beauiegaid was
piivy to opinions that Evans cautiously censoied fiom hei ieading public. Aftei
all, in these uncertain times it is peihaps best to be ieticent.
8
Time did not quell Evanss hatied foi the Noith oi the Republican Paity oi ease
hei soul iegaiding Confedeiate defeat. Outiaged by the obvious Republican bent
of Harpers magazine duiing the I8oos and I8,os, Evans voiced hei angei most
explicitly in an eight-page I8,o lettei to Colonel W. A. Seavei. A iecent spate of
aiticles designed to bolstei the Afiican-Ameiican vote foi the Republican ticket
in the upcoming national election piqued Evanss iie. While the meie business
aspect of the mattei may be quite unimpoitant, she snidely commented, as the
Messis Haipei can doubtless smile and aoid to incui the loss of Southein pa-
tionage foi theii peiiodicals,theie aie piinciples involved, foi which dollais
and cents fuinish no standaid. She latei questioned what she peiceived to be
the insidious motives behind the magazines editoiial policy: Have ten yeais of
seifdom to Radical iule and piosciiption entitled the Southein States no sym-
pathy, she queiied, oi do the Messis Haipei hate us so intensely, so unielent-
ingly, so eveilastinglythat they meige all othei aims in that of maligning,
caiicatuiing and peisecuting theii white countiymen.
9
Evans, a noted and iespected authoi, no doubt could have chosen a moie
public foium to expiess hei disgust at the Messis Haipei. She had ceitainly
demonstiated hei willingness to entei national political discussions duiing the
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
,
wai. Yet Evans laigely shielded hei views duiing Reconstiuction. Although she
nevei explicitly commented on hei withdiawal fiom public political debate, she
did suggest that hei emotions weie too iaw, hei feelings too intense, to divulge
them to an anonymous ieading public. In hei letteis to Beauiegaid, Seavei, and
otheis, she ist ieminded hei coiiespondents of theii long-standing peisonal
ielationships. Peihaps only then could Evans ieveal these deep, ugly, uniecon-
stiucted thoughts. Peihaps she deemed it unsavoiy foi a southein lady, even one
with a national ieputation such as heis, to be on iecoid as inviting a plague on
the Noith.
10
Foi whatevei ieason, this pieviously vocal suppoitei of Confedei-
ate nationalism decided to iefiain fiom public discussion of the Civil Wai and
its iesults foi the next foity yeais.
The postwai malaise and toipoi that descended on Evans, howevei, did not
piohibit all southein white women fiom publicly commenting on the wai. Al-
though bettei iemembeied foi hei novels, Saiah A. Doisey, a membei of the
liteiaiy Peicy clan, penned a biogiaphy of foimei Louisiana goveinoi and
Confedeiate Geneial Heniy Watkins Allen. Doisey shaied Evanss contention
that the South should iecoid its veision of the Civil Wai. It is veiy essential,
Doisey wiote in I8oo, foi the sake of southein honoi, and the position which
may be accoided us in the futuie pages of impaitial histoiy, that we, Southein
people, should also put on iecoid on the les of Time, so fai as we can, oui
veision of the teiiic stiuggle in which we have so iecently engaged, and fiom
which we have emeiged,aftei foui yeais of unpaialleled sueiing, gallant ie-
sistance, and stein enduiance of all the eicest vicissitudes of any wai evei waged
by any peoples, bioken in foitunes, defeated in battle, ciushed, bleeding, and
subjugated!
11
Doisey had ample ieason to be anxious about the South position in the na-
scent Civil Wai histoiiogiaphy. A numbei of noithein accounts of the wai ap-
peaied duiing the eaily yeais of Reconstiuction, oeiing inteipietations of the
gieat iebellion that southeineis found unpalatable. Southein wiiteis, who had
spilled a gieat deal of ink claiming that a desiie to peipetuate and extend the
institution of slaveiy had not impelled them into wai, agieed with little in these
eaily noithein accounts, despite the noitheineis ieluctance to single out slaveiy
as the sole cause of the wai. J. T. Headley, wiiting in I8o,, aigued that slaveiy
was not the ioot cause of the wai but was meiely a means to an enda bug
beai to fiighten the timid into obedience, a iallying ciy foi the ignoiant, deluded
masses. Rathei, southeineis accuised lust foi powei caused the wai. Famed
NewYoik jouinalist Hoiace Gieeley concuiied. A southein oligaichy, accoiding
o
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
to Gieeley, iesolved to iend the Republic into fiagments. Geoige Lunt simi-
laily wiote that self-seeking and ambitions demagogues, the pest of iepublics,
distuibed the equilibiium, and weie able, at length, to plunge the countiy into
that woist of all public calamities, civil wai. Eaily noithein chionicleis of the
wai may have belonged to the bungling geneiation school of Civil Wai his-
toiiogiaphy, but they placed the blame squaiely on the shouldeis of southein
politicians and ie-eateis.
12
Doisey and countless othei southein white women
felt compelled to countei this aigument.
But Doisey also shaied Evanss ieseivations about womens ability to wiite
such a histoiy. A meie foui pages aftei calling foi a southein account of the wai,
Doisey excluded women fiom the enteipiise: It is an ambitious ventuie foi a
woman with hei feminine mind, which, though often acute, subtle, penetiating,
and analytic, is too entiiely subjective to attempt in any way the wiiting of his-
toiy. Doisey distinguished biogiaphy fiom histoiy, howevei, theieby justifying
hei cuiient pioject. Just as women paint best still lifes, women might wiite
biogiaphies because they iequiie close, iened, loving sciutiny, in which aec-
tion and patience may be useful in giving accuiacy and penetiation to the eye
and which iequiie ne, dainty touches of the pencil, and minute, caieful elaboia-
tion. In contiast, Doisey believed that geneial histoiy was fai too panoiamic foi
women to giasp, iequiiing the bioad, objective giasps of the masculine soul.
13
Despite Doiseys piotestations about womens inability to wiite histoiy,
howevei, she iesisted hei self-imposed iestiictions and used hei biogiaphy of
Allen to comment on the wai in geneial. Indeed, Doisey fully intended to tians-
giess hei own iules, foi she infoimed ieadeis in the pieface that she had ielied
heavily on ocial documents and contempoiaiy jouinals foi sections in which
she touched upon the stoiy of the Wai. In no way did Doisey intend to iestiict
hei discussion to Allens involvement in the ghting. She thus commented ex-
tensively, foi example, on the devastating impoitance of the fall of Vicksbuig.
Moieovei, she attempted to cleai Geneial John C. Pembeiton of any fault foi the
Souths loss. Contempoiaiy wisdom had held that Pembeiton, uiged by Geneial
Joseph Johnston to attempt eithei a bieakout attack fiom the besieged city oi to
escape acioss the iivei, suiiendeied solely because of ciavenness. I believe my-
self, wiote Doisey, aftei caieful examination and impaitial obseivation, that
Geneial Pembeiton has been gieatly wionged by us all. Tovindicate Pembeiton,
she included poitions of his coiiespondence and iepoits: I use them without
asking peimission, she explained, but knowing how puie and disinteiested is
my own seaich aftei the tiuth of histoiy, I have ventuied to tiespass so fai on
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
,
the indulgences of my fiiends, and have made such use . . . as I thought dis-
cieet and valuable to histoiy, holding myself iesponsible foi all I say in these
pages.
14
Doisey not only bioke fiee fiom the boundaiies of stiict biogiaphy but
also oeied infoimed opinions about the couise of the wai, claiming iespon-
sibility foi hei own foimulations. Undei the guise of biogiaphy, then, Doisey
employed hei feminine mind to wiite histoiy.
Not all agieed with Doiseys gendeied conceptions of genie. Southein men
whowiote biogiaphies of Confedeiate soldieis and statesmen appaiently did not
nd the task emasculating. Foi example, duiing the wai and the Reconstiuction
eia, John Esten Cooke published biogiaphies of Geneials Stonewall Jackson and
Robeit E. Lee. Not suipiisingly, Cooke, a foimei Confedeiate ocei, found no
compelling need to justify his pioject, as Doisey had. He did extol the benets
of his ciaft, concluding the biogiaphy of Jackson by stating that the woik iepie-
sented a tiuthful iecoid of Jacksons caieei. It is impossible, Cooke theiefoie
noted, that the main occuiiences have not been undeistood, oi that the ieadei
has not foimed a toleiably cleai idea of the militaiy and peisonal tiaits of the
individual. Fiom the naiiative, bettei than fiom any comment, those chaiactei-
istics will be deduced. Cooke also wiote that his biogiaphy of Lee will neces-
saiily be populai iathei than full and elaboiate. Cooke intended his biogiaphy
to give out full justice to allnot to aiouse old enmities, which should be al-
lowed to slumbei, but to tieat the] subject with the judicial modeiation of the
student of histoiy. Cooke did not distinguish between biogiaphy and histoiy
oi nd the task of wiiting biogiaphy paiticulaily suited to women. Moieovei,
Cooke seemed much moie willing to play down sectional hatieds than did the
white southein women who penned theii naiiatives of the Civil Wai duiing Re-
constiuction. Cooke appealed to his ieadeis, whom he piesumed to be laigely,
if not exclusively, male, to foim theii opinions of Jackson and Lee based on the
geneials consummate militaiy ability and peisonal integiity iathei than on theii
sectional aliation. Cooke wiote as a militaiy man foi othei men who united]
in theii appieciation of militaiy genius. Southein white women could notand
did notmake such appeals.
15
Othei women enteied the liteiaiy scene following the wai not by publishing
biogiaphies but by making public theii memoiis of the wai. Confedeiate spy
Belle Boyd wiote hei account as a exile living in England and published it in
I8o,, aftei the wai ended. Boyds active paiticipation in the waidiessed as a
man, no lesslibeiated hei, allowing hei, she believed, to entei the male iealm
of political discouise. Recognizing that she tieaded on dangeious teiiitoiy, a
8
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
familiai position foi hei, Boyd tiied to tailoi hei naiiative to hei immediate
ieading audience, hoping to oend as few ieadeis as possible. I will not at-
tempt to defend the institution of slaveiy, the veiy name of which is abhoiied
in England, Boyd conceded eaily in hei naiiative, but it will be admitted that
the emancipation of the negio was not the object of Noithein ambition. Boyd
ended hei account by noting that although many people had uiged hei to sup-
piess hei volume, she had iefused to do so, believing that in this eiy oideal, in
this sueiing, miseiy, and woe, the South is but undeigoing a puiication by ie
and steel that will, in good time, and by His deciee, woik out its own aim. As
Shaion Nolle-Kennedy noted in the intioduction to hei edition of Boyds mem-
oiis, howevei, the Biitish piess attacked the foimei Confedeiate spy foi inap-
piopiiately enteiing political discouise.
16
In this iespect, Boyds stiategy failed,
at least in pait.
Wiiting as A Lady fiom Viiginia, Judith B. McGuiie published hei Diary
cj a Scuthern Rejugee during the Var in I8o8. Like Doisey and Boyd, McGuiie
chose a ciicumsciibed subject, in this case hei peisonal waitime expeiience,
iathei than the bioad canvas of histoiy as a vehicle foi inteipieting the wai.
McGuiie hoped that hei iecoid would iesonate with hei ieadeis. They will heai
much of the Wai of Secession, she piofessed, and will take special inteiest in
the thoughts and iecoids of one of theii own family who had passed thiough
the wondeiful scenes of this gieat ievolution. Like many of hei compatiiots,
McGuiie had believed that divine piovidence guided the South, blessing hei
homeland with the faiiest land, the puiest social ciicle, the noblest iace of men,
and the happiest people on eaith. The wai, howevei, engendeied a ciisis of faith
foi McGuiie: Is it Gods puipose to bieak up this system: she asked in the
pieface to hei volume. Who can believe that it was His will to do it by wai
and bloodshed: Oi that tuining this people loose without piepaiation, a iapid
demoialization, idleness, poveity, and vice should doom so many of them to
miseiy, oi send them so iapidly to the giave: McGuiie oeied hei book as a
soit of poultice foi those who sueied the same ciisis. Thiough hei account,
ieadeis could examine and ieexamine the couise of the wai and evaluate the
Souths position in the sight of God. McGuiie feivently hoped that hei woik
would be agieeable and useful to hei ieadeis.
17
Coinelia Phillips Spencei of Chapel Hill, Noith Caiolina, ceitainly did not
shaie otheis appiehension about womens ability to wiite histoiy. Immediately
following the wai, Spencei contiibuted a seiies of aiticles to the ieligious news-
papei The Vatchman, expanding and publishing these wiitings in I8oo as The
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
,
Last Ninety Days cj the Var in Ncrth Carclina. Spencei acknowledged the di-
culties she faced in wiiting hei book, although she felt heiself stymied not be-
cause of hei gendei but because of hei tempoial pioximity to the wai. Spencei
assuied Noith Caiolina Goveinoi John W. Giaham that she was t foi the task
of wiiting theii states histoiy in the wai: I am paiticulaily obliged by such a
maik of condence, she pioclaimed, and whatevei ability I possess shall be
exeited to show that I am neithei insensible noi unwoithy. She latei boasted
that Giaham would be haid-piessed to nd a moie zealous annalist than she.
Of the wai, howevei, Spencei wiote elsewheie, The passions that have been
evoked by it will not soon slumbei, and it is peihaps expecting too much of
human natuie, to believe that a faii and candid statement of facts on eithei side
will soon be made. Spencei neveitheless wiote a passionate account of the wai,
believing that hei gieatest achievement iested with the collection of souice ma-
teiial. Latei histoiians, she contended, could consult these documents and pio-
duce a faii . . . iepiesentation . . . of the conicts of opinion and motives of
action. Such a tieatment, accoiding to Spencei, would ensuie justice not only
to histoiy but also to the South.
18
Spenceis fellow Noith Caiolinians suppoited hei endeavoi with singulai
vigoi, sending hei theii manusciipts iegaiding Sheimans Maich and Fedeial
iaids foi inclusion in hei book. It gives me gieat pleasuie, publishei E. J. Hale
piefaced his account of Sheimans Maich, to assist you in the patiiotic woik
which you have undeitaken and which I knowyou will peifoimadmiiably well.
Thomas Atkinson, woiiied that he might be ciiticized foi his iole in the wai,
confessed his ieluctance to put himself on public display. But it seemed to me,
he continued, impoitant not only foi the inteiests of Justice, but of Humanity,
that the Tiuth should be declaied conceining the mode in which the late Civil
Wai was caiiied on, and I did not see that I was exempted fiom this duty iathei
than anyone else who had peisonal knowledge of facts beaiing on that subject.
Atkinson thus felt bound to send Spencei his veision of the wai. Veiina M.
Chapman foiwaided to Spencei an account of Stonemans iaid, paying special
attention to the Union aimys tieatment of women, despite Chapmans feais that
gioss inaccuiacies iegaiding specic events maiied hei naiiative. The teims
iambling and desultoiy aie desciiptive of all my ieheaisals of events, Chap-
man wained. She latei acknowledged that hei passions had been so iiled by
the Fedeial iaids that she believed heiself utteily unable to give anything like
a ciicumstantial oi business like account of anything.
19
Chapman nonetheless
,o
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
maishaled hei evidence, penning an emotional account. Otheis followed suit,
as Spencei ieceived scoies of ieplies to hei initial inquiiies.
Contiibutois willingly aided Spencei because they desiied that a tiue his-
toiy of the wai be wiitten. Withhold nothing, Zebulon B. Vance, foimei govei-
noi of Noith Caiolina, counseled Spencei, of the outiages of Sheimans aimy,
foi to do so would be ciiminal. Histoiy, he added, peisonating the iighteous
angei of the Gods, is to avenge us with the scoin of posteiity upon oui despoiless
memoiies, and I piay that no Southein pen may help to tuin its consuming
eiceness fiom its legitimate piey. Spencei appaiently heeded Vances advice,
foi The Last Ninety Days contains vivid desciiptions of the Noiths outiageous
conduct duiing the wai. Following a paiticulaily giuesome account of Sheimans
atiocities, Spencei aigued that the way in which the Noith waged wai ioused
the Souths bittei contempt foi its enemy and not meiely foi the Union victoiy.
Haid blows do not necessaiily make bad blood between geneious foes, she ex-
plained. It is the ungeneious policy of the exulting conqueioi that adds poison
to the bleeding wounds. Lest hei ieadeis object to the inclusion of such pain-
ful details, Spencei piovided a palliative: because the South had fallen victim
to a peculiaily biutal oppiessoi, heietofoie unmatched in the annals of waifaie,
southeineis themselves had to tell the mouinful stoiy lest the Noith iemain
unaccountable foi its egiegious sins.
20
Distasteful as it might have been, then, Spencei lled hei pages with ciimes
committed against the South duiing the wai. She appeais to have had moie dif-
culty confionting the abuses of Reconstiuction, howevei. Although only in the
ist yeai of what would be a twelve-yeai occupation of the South, Spencei found
much to oend hei, in paiticulai the Howaid Amendment, which eectively
banned antebellum oceholdeis fiom ietuining to theii posts, and piesiden-
tial paidons. Although in hei book she expiessed concein about the eects of
Reconstiuction on southein women, especially widows, hei piivate coiiespon-
dence suggested a moie fundamental concein with southein manhood. The
whole system of biinging gentlemen of the South to theii knees, she confessed
toVance, as petitioneis at the bai of Fedeial Goveinment is to me, the expiessed
essence of meannesswhich only the Univeisal Yankee nation would have been
guilty of. Unlike in the Last Ninety Days, howevei, Spencei was unwilling en-
tiiely to blame the Noith foi the piesent state of aaiis. I am not in spiiits to
say what I think of the Noith, she continued in hei lettei to Vance, foi theie
is among oui own people such an amount of seivilitysuch a want of manli-
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
,I
ness and decent self-asseition. Southein cowaidice, then, was the tiue cause of
alaim. The men aie so thoioughly cowed and piostiated that it wont do to
thiow stones noithwaids.
21
In both piivate and piinted foims, then, Spencei
piofessed hei belief that the South indeed faced diie stiaits.
Despite the gloomy poitiait diawn by Spencei, ieadeis and ciitics enthusias-
tically ieceived The Last Ninety Days. Unlike Boyd, who at times ctionalized
hei encounteis with Stonewall Jackson to suggest the geneials suppoit of hei
masculine endeavois as a Confedeiate spy, Spencei had documented suppoit
fiom those who championed hei entiy into the masculine iealm of political
discouise. Vance piaised Spenceis eoits, claiming that the ieal value of youi
sketches does not consist so much in stiinging togethei the piominent events
of the wai in chionological oidei, but in the giaphic setting foith of the feel-
ings and sueiings of oui people. Fuithei validating hei pioject, he added, the
tiuth is it is a womans task, & I know but one woman who could do it!! It is
unnecessaiy foi me to add anything to the deseivedly high encomiums of the
piess on youi woik, wiote R. L. Beall of Lenoii, Noith Caiolina. He nished
his lettei wishing Spencei a iich . . . haivest of pecuniaiy piot to match hei
fame. Local newspapeis echoed these ieadeis iesponses, piaising Spencei foi
hei tiuthfulness and candoi.
22
A yeai aftei the publication of Spenceis histoiy of Noith Caiolina, Sallie
Biock Putnam published a similai account of Richmond, Viiginia. A native of
the city, Putnam had witnessed the continuing stiuggle foi contiol of the Con-
fedeiate capital. Although she published Richmcnd during the Var in I8o,, only
two yeais aftei the cessation of hostilities, she likened the histoiy of the wai to a
caiefully guaided seciet that begged disclosuie. Assuming that she spoke foi all
white southeineis, Putnam claimed, theie is something in the locked chambei
that will inteiest ussomething that the woild will be wisei and bettei foi know-
ingand hesitatingly we tuin the key, to ieveal the seciets held by the Con-
fedeiate Capital duiing the foui yeais of the teiiible Civil Wai.
23
Even though
most southeineis undoubtedly iemembeied the events of the wai, the histoiy
of the wai still held a degiee of mysteiy, at least to Putnam, and the South, she
believed, needed to be included in the seciet.
Putnams unabashed enthusiasm foi the Confedeiacy and hei hopes foi its
success peimeate the eaily chapteis of hei book. Indeed, hei admission that she
and hei fellow southeineis believed in the viability of the Confedeiacy, and not
just in its iighteousness, distinguishes Richmcnd during the Var fiom latei his-
toiies. To be suie, Putnam cited familiai ieasons foi the Souths defeat: When
,:
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
we ieect upon the weakness of the South, hei uttei insuciency, compaied
with the numbeis and iesouices with which she piesumed to contest, she con-
fessed, we aie lost in amazement at the veiy inception, to say nothing of the
continuation of the stiuggle thiough foui long yeais of diculties, that giew
and thickened at eveiy stepof impediments which aiose, unlooked foi, and
eveiywheie.
24
Yet this wisdomcame only aftei the wai. Unlike latei wiiteis who
giafted onto pie-Appomattox southeineis a sense of doom fiom the veiy be-
ginning, Putnam did not asciibe to Richmonds inhabitants the ability to pie-
dict histoiy. Although Putnam subsciibed, at least in pait, to the incieasingly
iesonant Lost Cause ieadings of southein histoiy, she did not infuse hei woik
with it.
The events of the wai soon shocked white southeineis out of theii igno-
iance, accoiding to Putnam, leaving them to muse on the mutability of human
events. Putnam ciedited a divine powei with the ultimate outcome: We weie
diiven to ieect on the stiange and mysteiious dealings of the wondei-woiking
hand of God, and wiping the lm fiom oui eyes of faith, to steei cleai of the
wiecking ieefs of indelity.
25
Yet she did not deny human agency. Unlike many
of hei contempoiaiies, who blamed Confedeiate defeat on divine ietiibution
against ieal oi imagined sins, and latei wiiteis, who seemed moie willing to as-
ciibe events to a pieoidained sciipt, Putnam maintained a iemaikable sense of
histoiicism. The South lost but did so because of its own weakness, not because
of a vengeful God.
Moieovei, Putnam exhibited a hopefulness foi the futuie that stemmed not
fiom a longing foi divine inteivention but fiom a faith in hei fellow Viigini-
ans. While hei contempoiaiies moaned about fedeial occupation of theii land,
Putnam optimistically imagined the possibilities foi a iestoied Richmond. The
eneigy, the enteipiise, the almost univeisal self-abnegation, and complete devo-
tion, with which the people of the South enteied into and sustained the cause
of the wai, to all but a successful teimination, piove that they aie capable of still
giandei, and highei, and noblei enteipiises.
26
Putnam exhibited none of the
wai weaiiness that hei contempoiaiies so keenly felt and appaiently iemained
unawaie of the malaise that inicted many white southeineis aftei the wai: while
she eageily anticipated the iebuilding of hei homeland, otheis looked moie ie-
signedly on theii fate.
Despite only modest sales, Richmcnd during the Var was admiiably ieceived
by the Piess and was] veiy much quoted] fiom. Moie impoitant foi Putnam,
howevei, the foiay into the liteiaiy woild kindled a buining inteiest in hei new-
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
,_
found caieei. Conding in Rogeis, a fiiend, Putnam confessed, I am beginning
to feel the iestless stiiiing of Ambition and have had a slight taste fiom hei dis-
satisfying cup. Although Putnam felt both inclined and eminently qualied to
wiite histoiy, the uniewaiding sales of Richmcnd during the Var peisuaded hei
to attempt anothei genie foi the undigested mass that toimented hei imagi-
nation. I must adopt a Specialty, she iealized, and I am inclined to think
that Specialty will soonei oi latei be ction. Putnam calculated hei move
caiefully: My taste iuns upon Histoiy, but ction is moie expedient, she con-
tinued, and moie piotable and theiefoie I shall cultivate a taste foi it. Putnam
nevei ietuined to the Civil Wai as the catalyst foi hei wiiting. She did, howevei,
successfully make the tiansition to ction.
27
Doisey, McGuiie, Spencei, and Putnam pioneeied the enteipiise of southein
white women wiiting histoiies of the Civil Wai. Although othei Reconstiuction-
eia women shaied these authois desiie to tell a tiue iepiesentation of the wai,
most chose to do so thiough ction oi poetiy. Peihaps most women consideied
histoiy outside the iealm of womens expeitise, as Evans and Doisey not too
convincingly claimed. Peihaps othei women felt too buidened by the histoiical
iecoid and wanted to ie-cieate the fieedom of unceitainty that had existed be-
foie the wais outcome was known. Oi peihaps eulogies, in the foim of poetiy,
oeied the only solace. By the end of the nineteenth centuiy, southein women
would incieasingly tuin to histoiy as a mediumfoi telling theii Civil Wai stoiies.
Duiing Reconstiuction, howevei, southein women almost completely neglected
the genie.
The Rcmance cj Secticnalism
Some woman, distiaught ovei the Souths loss, imagined divine ietiibution
against the Noith foi its ciimes against the Confedeiacy. Foui yeais aftei the
wai ended, Coia Ives published a book maiketed to the Souths white youth,
The Princess cj the Mccn. A Ccnjederate Fairy Stcry, in which Randolph, a dis-
heaitened Confedeiate soldiei, entieats the goddess of the moon to ielieve his
soiiow. She giants his iequest by giving him a ying hoise named Hope. Ran-
dolph ies ovei the United States duiing his ist two voyages, witnessing ist
his own desolate land and then the homes of the conqueiois abounding in
plenty and decked in the spoils they had so ciuelly acquiied. He nally ies
to a fai-o faiiyland, wheie he maiiies the goddess of the moon. As the couple
stands in the ieceiving line, seveial most singulai looking objects descend to
,
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
the giound, issuing foith men with caipet-bags and tiaps of all desciiptions.
Once Randolphs faithful old seivant exposes the tieacheiy of these demons
of ciuelty, the goddess giants Randolph the powei to toituie them at will. He
declines hei oei.
28
With this magnanimous gestuie, the Confedeiate soldiei becomes the salva-
tion foi the fallen South. Had you taken advantage of my oei to wieak ven-
geance upon youi enemies, the goddess infoims Randolph, you would have
again been stained with sin. Although the South had sueied, the goddess
continues, Randolphs meiciful action has puiied his homeland, ensuiing it
gieatei blessings than befoie. The goddess then tuins to the caipetbaggeis,
admonishing them, Repent youi ways while you have time. Randolph has
gianted them a stay of execution, she counsels, allowing the caipetbaggeis the
chance to ietuin home and wain the Radical Republicans that Nemesiss hand is
poised above, ieady to stiike the blow that will caiiy destiuction in its wake.
The goddess uiges the caipetbaggeis to unshackle the iace of heioes they have
enslaved . . . befoie it is too late.
29
Ivess tale of the Lost Cause t peifectly with jouinalist Edwaid Pollaids con-
tempoiaiy explication of southein defeat, and hei ieadeis would have iecog-
nized the familiai elements. Accoiding to both Ives and Pollaid, the Confed-
eiates had been the viituous soldieis, conqueied only by the Unions supeiioi
iesouices. If the South had sinned, then Randolphs gestuie of chaiity towaid the
caipetbaggeis has iedeemed the nation. Fuitheimoie, Randolphs action pioves
that southeineis aie the noble iace. Because he was a Confedeiate soldiei, he
spuined] to tiample on fallen foes. Having suitably atoned foi its sins, the
South can nowiightfully expect divine ietiibution against the Noith. Live heie-
aftei in peace and happiness, the goddess pioclaims, and knowthat youi fallen
countiy will yet aiise fiom hei ashes in gieatei gloiy than evei.
30
Signicantly, Ives began hei stoiy not with the action of the wai but with
Confedeiate defeat. As she pointed out in hei intioduction, southeineis weie
painfully awaie of the events of the wai and the ciimes of Reconstiuction. In-
stead, heis was a stoiy of iedemption. South Caiolina wiitei Sallie F. Chapin,
who published hei novel Fitz-Hugh St. Clair in I8,:, thiee yeais aftei Ives wiote
hei faiiy tale, scoed at Ivess conviction that southeineis weie well veised in
the histoiy of the wai. Indeed, Chapin believed it hei duty systematically, if a bit
unevenly, to iediess the sin of ignoiance. Unlike Ives, then, Chapin set out to
explain the viitues of slaveiy, the evils of abolitionism, the giandeui of south-
ein plantations, the heioism of southein leadeis, the wickedness of the noith-
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
,,
ein aimy, and the pain of defeat. Of noitheineis who instiucted southeineis
to iesign themselves to defeat, Chapin asked, Have we not accepted it, with its
disgiace, degiadation, and toituie: To ciitics who believed that she should ac-
cept hei situation with quiet equanimity, Chapin stoimed, Why, if we should
keep silence, while oui childien weie being taught that theii heio-fatheis weie
ends, biutes, thieves, and muideieis, the veiy stones would ciy out against us.
Lest Chapins ieadeis iemain uncleai about hei intent, she declaied that eveiy
line wiitten in this book demonstiated the iighteousness of the southein cause
and the valoi of the Confedeiate soldiei. One day the woild will acknowledge,
she asseited condently, that the Confedeiacy had ciumbled because We weie
Outnumbeied! Not Outbiaved! The editois of the Scuthern Histcrical Scciety
Papers publicly thanked Chapin foi hei woik, noting that the novel holds up
a model foi the young men of the South which we could wish them all to iead
and imitate.
31
Like Ives, Chapin embiaced Pollaids ieading of southein defeat. Indeed, Cha-
pins novel includes fiom the beginning hei undeistanding of the Lost Cause
myth, a tactic that would become moie common with latei wiiteis. Befoie the
events at Foit Sumtei tiiggei the main action of the novel, Geneial St. Claii
piedicts the Confedeiacys loss, detailing to his young son, Fitz-Hugh, the diie
iepeicussions piomised foi the South: Negioes will occupy oui high places and
ignoiance and vice will hold a violent sway. In less than foui yeais aftei we
aie subjugated, the eldei St. Claii continues with iemaikable accuiacy, South
Caiolina will have negio legislatois and senatois and plantation daikies will be
sent to Congiess and sit wheie Calhoun, McDue, Hugh S. Legaie, and Hayne
sat. Radical Republicans would ieap what they had sown, howevei, foi when
it is too late they would undeistand that in tiying to iuin the South they have
biought about destiuction upon the entiie countiy.
32
The novel iaces along, highlighting the majoi events and battles of the wai,
bitteily desciibing the iesults of southein losses. But like The Gcddess cj the
Mccn, Fitz-Hugh St. Clair is a novel of vengeance. Immediately following the
wai, the heio, Fitz-Hugh, tiavels to New Yoik to iaise capital to save his once-
consideiable South Caiolina estate, Glendaiie. Besieged on all sides by Yankee
temptationsgambling, women, alcoholthe stuidy Fitz-Hugh iemains puie,
woiks diligently, and sends his foui-dollai paycheck home to his family, now
living in a Confedeiate widows home. He soon encounteis Mi. Winthiop, an old
fiiend of his fatheis fiom befoie the wai. Launching into a discussion on post-
wai politics, Winthiop admits to Fitz-Hugh, I was a Union man . . . but, God
,o
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
A Fifteenth Amendment Taking His Ciops to Maiket. Illustiation fiom Sallie F.
Chapins I8,: novel, Fitz-Hugh St. Clair. The Scuth Carclina Rebel Bcy, cr,
Its Nc Crime tc Be Bcrn a Gentleman.
knows, eveiy sentiment of my natuie ievolts at the enslavement of my own iace
and theii subjugation to ignoiant negioes and iiiesponsible and unsciupulous
ii-ia fiom eveiy quaitei of the globe.
33
Geneial St. Claiis eaily piediction
has been fully iealized. Winthiop, the stand-in foi the Noith, undeistands at
last the national implications of Confedeiate defeat, but his awaieness comes too
late. The noble white iace has been enslaved by iepiobates. Faced with the
monumental task of iegaining theii land and goveinment, Chapin suggested,
southeineis might neveitheless take small comfoit in foicing the Noith to con-
fiont its wickedness and atone foi its sins.
The novel ends with Fitz-Hugh St. Claii maiiied to Winthiops daughtei,
Lucie, and the couple ietuining to the iestoied St. Claii estate. Chapin, howevei,
by no means paiticipated in the ieconciliation iomance cultuie epitomized by
such noithein authois as John De Foiest and M. A. Aveiy and desciibed in vaii-
ous contexts by histoiians Paul Buck, Joyce Appleby, and Nina Silbei. De Foi-
ests I8o, novel, Miss Ravenels Ccnversicn jrcm Secessicn tc Lcyalty, peihaps best
iepiesents these ieconciliation iomance novels. Heie, De Foiest equated loy-
alty to the Confedeiacy with feminine insensibility. Lillie Ravenel is the Souths
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
,,
Glendaiie. Illustiation fiom Sallie F. Chapins I8,: novel, Fitz-Hugh
St. Clair. The Scuth Carclina Rebel Bcy, cr, Its Nc Crime tc Be Bcrn a
Gentleman.
staunchest suppoitei despite the opinions of the men who suiiound hei, espe-
cially hei fathei. Only the constant didactic lectuies of a noithein gentleman
and wooei, Edwaid Colbuine, coupled with the events of the wai, peisuade Lillie
to abandon hei Confedeiate convictions, an action symbolized by hei ioman-
tic union with Colbuine. In The Rebel Generals Lcyal Bride. A True Picture cj
Scenes in the Late Civil Var, Aveiy ieveised the conventional plot of the iecon-
ciliation iomancethe noithein soldiei wooing the southein belle. Hotheaded,
lustful Confedeiate Geneial Atheiton foices Catheiine Hale, a sweet noithein
goveiness who suppoits abolition, to maiiy him in exchange foi iescuing hei
,8
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
The Negio Quaiteis at Glendaiie. Illustiation fiom Sallie F. Chapins
I8,: novel, Fitz-Hugh St. Clair. The Scuth Carclina Rebel Bcy, cr, Its
Nc Crime tc Be Bcrn a Gentleman.
biothei, a captuied noithein soldiei, fiom the Confedeiate gallows. Although
Catheiine consideis the aiiangement a piice beyond all computation, she con-
sents. Catheiine fails to peisuade the geneial to abandon his peinicious convic-
tions until he is on his deathbed, when he iealizes his folly and madness and
Catheiine acknowledges hei love foi him. At the wais end, Atheiton is dead,
the South lies in iuins, and Catheiine maiiies Lloyd Huntei, a southeinei who
had defected fiom the Confedeiate camp long befoie Atheiton did. The new-
lyweds iemain on Atheitons plantation, wheie they teach the foimei slaves to
be good, independent Chiistians. Unlike the noithein novelists, who symbol-
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
,,
ized the Souths ieintegiation into the Union with maiiiages between penitent
southeineis and iighteous noitheineis, Chapin depicted a iepentant noitheinei
seeking foigiveness and guidance fiom the South. Fitz-Hugh and Lucie ietuin
to South Caiolina, ieady to tackle the Radical Republicans, iebuild the family
estate, and ieclaim southein politics. Rathei than paiticipate in the cultuie of
ieconciliation, Chapin and scoies of women like hei celebiated the politics of
iedemption.
34
White southein women had yet to foim a iegional oiganization
to mount a defense against the cultuie of ieconciliation, but they nonetheless
iejected the noithein tiend.
Some southein white men suppoited theii womens iefusal to paiticipate in
the ieconciliatoiy mood. Indeed, duiing I8,o, the yeai of the U.S. centennial
celebiation, the Southein Histoiical Society (sus), founded in I8o, by foimei
Confedeiate oceis, began publishing its papeis. The oiganization sought to
collect, classify, pieseive, and publish all the documents and facts beaiing upon
the eventful histoiy of the past few yeais illustiating the natuie of the stiuggle
fiomwhich the countiy has just emeiged, dening and vindicating the piinciples
which lay beneath it, and maiking the stages thiough which it was conducted to
its issue. sus oceis solicited mateiial to suppoit the oiganizations collection
in a numbei of divisions, including:
The histoiies and histoiical collections of the individual States fiom the
eailiest peiiods to the piesent time, including tiavel, jouinals, and maps.
Complete les of the newspapeis, peiiodicals, liteiaiy, scientic and medi-
cal jouinals of the Southein States, fiom the eailiest times to the piesent
day, including especially the peiiod of the iecent Ameiican civil wai.
Woiks, speeches, seimons and discouises ielating to the iecent conict and
political changes. Congiessional and State iepoits duiing the iecent wai.
Ocial iepoits and desciiptions, by oceis and piivates and newspapei
coiiespondents and eye-witnesses of campaigns, militaiy opeiations, bat-
tles and sieges.
Names of all wounded oceis, soldieis, and sailois. The natuie of the
wounds should be attached to each name, also the loss of one oi moie limbs
should be caiefully noted.
The conduct of the hostile aimies in the Southein States. Piivate and public
losses duiing the wai. Tieatment of citizens by hostile foices.
Southein poetiy, ballads, songs, etc.
oo
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
Despite the suss claim that its goals weie not sectional and its labois weie not
paitisan, its published papeis suggested otheiwise. The sus iecognized that the
geneiations of the disinteiested must succeed the geneiations of the piejudiced
befoie histoiy, piopeily teimed such, can be wiitten. Its aichives, lled with
impassioned, sectional accounts of the wai, weie to seive futuie objective his-
toiians.
35
Duiing the ist two yeais of the papeis iun, the sus published aiticles such as
AVindication of Viiginia and the South, by Commodoie M. F. Mauiy, Remi-
niscences of the Confedeiate States Navy, by Captain C. W. Read, and Geneial
J. E. B. Stuaits Repoit of Opeiations aftei Gettysbuig, as well as a seiies on
Causes of the Defeat of Geneial Lees Aimy at the Battle of GettysbuigOpin-
ions of Leading Confedeiate Soldieis. The society also published shoit ieviews
of leading populai accounts of the Civil Wai. Of Geneial H. V. Boyntons Sher-
mans Histcrical Raid, a iefutation of Sheimans memoiis, the editoiial sta of
the sus explained, We cannot . . . accept all that Geneial Boynton has wiitten,
but we iejoice to see this well meiited iebuke to the Geneial of the Aimy, who
not only makes himself the heio of his own stoiy, but oveisteps all bounds of
delicacy and piopiiety (not to say common decency), and well illustiates in his
Memoiis the pioveib Oh, that mine enemy would wiite a book!
36
Something
othei than national ieconciliation cleaily motivated the sus, and its decision
to begin publishing its papeis duiing the nations centennial anniveisaiy was
signicant.
Like Chapin, most southein white women authois duiing this peiiod es-
chewed the ieconciliation iomance plot and oeied instead stein piohibitions
against inteisectional maiiiages. Helena J. Haiiis penned hei moiality tale,
Cecil Giay, oi, the Soldieis Revenge shoitly aftei the wai. The shoit stoiy
opens with the antiheioine, Cecil Giay, maiiying Waltei Eainest, even though
she loves anothei man, Elbeit Giant. The iespectable Waltei had enlisted with
the Aimy of Viiginia at the outset of the wai. Cecil infoims Elbeit, a Union
man, that hei husband died at Manassas, implying that she is now fiee to maiiy
Elbeit. Waltei discoveis his wifes machinations and iushes home, aiiiving as the
wedding ceiemony is about to begin. He hides and uses his well-honed shaip-
shooting skills to pick o Elbeit befoie the ceiemony is completed. Waltei then
iescues his childien fiom theii unfaithful mothei, and Cecil dies, a suitable pun-
ishment foi hei disloyalty to hei husband and the Confedeiate cause. Not given
to the ne ait of subtlety, Haiiis handed hei ieadeis an unmistakably cleai mes-
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
oI
sage: betiayal of the southein cause, in any foim, would meet with swift and
appiopiiate justice.
37
Saiah J. C. Whittlesey, authoi of the I8,: novel Bertha the Beauty. A Stcry cj
the Scuthern Revcluticn, was no less seveie in hei condemnation of inteisectional
maiiiages. Whittleseys novel of the wai includes conventional iomantic plots.
Beitha, the pietty yet tiagically pooi and unfoitunate daughtei of a tiansplanted
Connecticut Yankee, unaggingly suppoits the southein cause. Hei unenlight-
ened fathei iefuses to abandon his suppoit foi the Fedeial goveinments design
to squelch the libeities of the southein states and, woise, foices Beitha to maiiy
Hoiace Stanhope, a scuiiilous Yankee who deseited his wife aftei theii ist yeai
of maiiiage. As fuithei pioof of Stanhopes depiavity, he joins the Union aimy,
not out of any loyalty to the Fedeial cause but because it takes him away fiom
Beitha. Day aftei day, his atheistic and tyiannical Soul had ciept fiom the de-
ceptive coveiing that concealed it until it stood foith in all its defoimity and
hideousness, Whittlesey contemptuously wiote of hei villain.
38
Foitunately foi Beitha, Hoiace dies in battle at the hand of the biave Confed-
eiate Colonel Peicy Oimund, leaving Beitha fiee to maiiy hei tiue soul mate,
Peicy. Safely in his aims, Beitha explains to hei family, I dont think it advis-
able foi the two sections to inteimaiiy. They aie too unlike in eveiy iespect, and
nevei can coalescealways a house divided against itself, I dont caie wheie you
nd them, like ouis, two against two. To fuithei demonstiate the iiieconcilable
natuie of the Noith and the South, Whittlesey desciibed Beitha and Peicys tiip
noith immediately following the wai. The jouiney lls the couple with iegiet,
as it fuinished them with pioofs of Yankee bitteiness and yeaining foi Southein
blood that was highly displeasing to Chiistian minds. The hostility of noith-
ein noncombatants paiticulaily shocks the southein couple: Men who had not
shouldeied a gun in defense of the Union, and did all theii ghting with theii
tongues, weie not satised that the wai should end until the South was utteily
ciushed by conscation and Noithein emigiation, and eveiy Rebel of iank had
dangled at the end of a iope!
39
National ieconciliation was impossible both
symbolically, thiough inteisectional maiiiage, and in ieality, thiough cultuie oi
politics.
Although othei novelists weie not as explicit in theii piosciiptions against
inteisectional maiiiages, theii messages iesounded cleaily. Saiah Doisey tuined
hei pen to ction aftei she nished hei biogiaphy of Allen and in I8o, pub-
lished Lucia Dare, a novel that painstakingly delineates the dieiences between
the Noith and the South. Although Biitish by biith, the heioine, Lucia Daie, has
o:
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
a sympathetic natuie that will piove ciucial latei in the novel. In an eaily scene,
Doisey appiovingly desciibed Lucias chaiactei, suggesting that Lucia would be
favoiably inclined towaid the South and its most cheiished institutions: In
spite of Plato, John Stuait Mill, and Miss Anna Dickenson sic], mankind gen-
eially piefeis] the stiong-heaited women to theii ablei, iion-neived, poweiful
muscled sisteis, who nevei do go into hysteiics, have contempt foi neives, weak-
ness, and softness of all kinds, especially foi fiagile, delicate, daintily, dimpled
. . . women like Lucia Daie. At boaiding school in Paiis, Lucia meets Louise
Peyiault, a southeinei who so eloquently defends slaveiy that Lucia soon begins
to examine hei own views on the subject. Louise also iails against noitheineis
and theii pooi manneis. Speaking of anothei student, Giace, who hails fiom the
Noith, Louise viitually hisses, I dislike hei with an A, because she is aitful, am-
bitious, and an abolitionist. . . . She is cool, cultivated, smait, acute, intelligent,
ill-tempeied, malicious Yankee. She is maneuveiing, bites hei ngeinails. . . . I
dont like hei moials, hei taste, hei biith, noi hei diess. In shoit, states Louise,
Giace does not suit me. To punch up hei aigument fuithei, Louise latei de-
ciies the entiie abolitionist movement, even casting aspeisions on the English,
who ist biought slaves to the colonies and then castigated the system, a point
that Lucia takes to heait.
40
By the time Lucia aiiives in Louisiana in I8oI to look foi hei biothei, fiom
whom she had been sepaiated as a young child, she is favoiably disposed towaid
the South. Moieovei, Lucia sympathizes with the Souths attempt at indepen-
dence, undeistanding that the South had opposed wai, and it was not until she
had been goaded to fienzy like Io with the peipetual gad-y of iadicalism, that,
in uttei despeiation, in the extiemity of hopelessness of any bettei things oi of
being able to ietain hei peisonal and domestic iights, hei republican govein-
ment, she seized hei aims and stood upon the defensive, not willing to iesign all
that she believed made hei piospeiity and hei vitality without stiiking one blow
foi it. With hei newly cemented political views, Lucia ienews hei fiiendship
with Louise, who had ietuined to the South and maiiied a Confedeiate soldiei.
Distiaught that she cannot ght foi hei countiy, beieaved ovei the death of hei
husband, and deteimined not to submit to that detested iace of noitheineis,
Louise disguises heiself as a man, enteis the fiay, and dies in battle.
41
Lucia, who
had also maiiied a southeinei, ietuins to England aftei the wai, unable to live
in a conqueied land.
Doisey nevei oveitly denounced inteisectional maiiiages in hei novel but
neveitheless made it cleai that the Noith and South weie incompatible. Louise
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
o_
saciices hei life iathei than live undei noithein iule. Less diamatically, Lucia
and hei family ietuin to England to avoid Fedeial occupation of the South. Na-
tional ieconciliation did not inteiest Doisey. Indeed, ieintegiation was impos-
sible both symbolically and politically. Foi Doisey, the end of the wai biought
neithei iomance noi ieunion.
Viiginias Maiy Tuckei Magill shaied hei countiywomens contempt foi intei-
sectional maiiiages. Foi Maiy Holcombe, the heioine of Magills I8,I novel,
Vcmen, cr, Chrcnicles cj the Late Var, maiiiage to a noitheinei is so completely
incompiehensible that she iemains viitually silent on the issue. Equally abhoi-
ient, but at least woithy of some discussion and explication, is the possibility of
a maiiiage between a southein belle and a southein man who ed the Confed-
eiacy. Mi. Dallam, Maiys anc, agiees to go noith at his fatheis behest to be
with his ailing mothei, who had left the South befoie the wai, although Dallam
piomises Maiy that he will not take up aims against his foimei homeland. Maiy
giapples with the implications of Dallams move. I have studied the mattei out
myself, tuining it backwaid and foiwaid to nd some favoiable light foi you,
she tells him. But the end of the whole was this: You have sold youi biithiight
foi a mess of pottage.
42
Fuiious, Maiy seveis hei engagement to Dallam, and
she iemains single at the end of the novel.
The Holcombe women weie not immune to spuiious Yankee advances, how-
evei. While Maiy questions Mi. Dallams intentions, hei sistei, Maigaiet, spuins
the aections of Captain Biown of the U.S. Aimy and instead gives hei love
to a dashing Confedeiate, Captain Muiiay. Evei spiteful, Biown ietuins to the
Holcombe home, Rose Hill, and buins it to the giound, killing Maigaiets two-
yeai-old baby. Although the iesults aie tiagic, the Holcombe sisteis iequiie no
fuithei pioof that they acted piudently in iejecting the unsuitable suitois. Such
cowaidly and vindictive men suiely aie unwoithy of two southein belles.
Magill detailed the motives and intent that compelled hei to wiite hei novel.
Like Whittlesey, Magill believed that with each passing yeai, the memoiy of the
wai faded fiomthe Souths consciousness. Magill wished to wake this memoiy
fiom the chambeis into which it had fallen in its ist slumbei. Unlike Whit-
tlesey, howevei, Magill publicly acknowledged the delicacy and diculty in
wiiting a stoiy of the Lost Cause. Rathei than exaceibate the almost exciuci-
ating tension between the Noith and the South by wiiting an inammatoiy wai
novel, Magill piofessed to wiite the stoiy of wom. in hei piopei spheie, by
the iesides, in hei household duties, and by the side of the sick and dying. In
shoit, Vcmen, cr, Chrcnicles cj the Late Var was to be the simple unexaggei-
o
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
ated naiiative of what non-combatants aie foiced to enduie in a countiy toin
by inteinecine stiife.
43
Magill held a iathei unciicumsciibed viewof womens piopei spheie. In hei
book, women ieview tioops, discuss policy and plans of attack with Confedeiate
oceis, including Stonewall Jackson, and ventuie foith onto the battleelds. If
you ieally want to be of use, Geoige Holcombe taunts the females of his family,
get youi bonnets and go out to the battleelds, that is if you think you have the
neive to stand the sad sights which will meet you theie. Maiy, Maigaiet, and
the iest of the female Holcombes accept his challenge, piesumably to ministei
to the wounded, and confiont the ghastly sights and sounds on the eld. The
women soon appieciate that on the fiont line life and death aie ghting it out
. . . the one tiiumphing by gioans, shiieks, piayeis and impiecations, the othei
by a silence moie dieadful still.
44
Magill stated hei intention to wiite about women and not about wai, but in
so doing, she demonstiated the inextiicable ties among women, wai, and wai
naiiatives. Nevei nely diawn, the line distinguishing the home fiont fiom the
battleeld was especially hazy in the Civil Wai South, wheie tioops fought in
backyaids and the Fedeial aimy buined piivate homes that stood in its way.
As feminist theoiist Maigaiet R. Higonnet aigues, civil wais, moie than othei
wais, oei gieatei potential foi women to tiansgiess tiaditional expectations.
The Holcombe women could theiefoie visit the battleeld, an aiea tiadition-
ally o-limits as a male domain. That the women make the visit at a mans be-
hest does not lessen this actions iadical potential. Although the women peifoim
tiaditional womanly seivicesministeiing to the sickcaiing foi soldieis on
battleelds is extiemely unusual.
45
Moieovei, Maiy and Maigaiets iefusals to
maiiy the ciavenly Confedeiate and the iepiobate Yankee aie political as much
as piivate decisions. Magill could not sepaiate hei stoiy of wom. and the
home fiont fiom the stoiy of the wai any moie than southein women could
iemove themselves fiom the ghting that suiiounded them.
If Magill did not wish to foment tensions between the two sections, Mis. L. D.
Whitson made no such pietensions. Whitson did not wish southeineis to foi-
get noithein atiocities, but moie than Whittlesey and otheis who bid the South
to iemembei the hoiiois of the wai, Whitson encouiaged the hatied southein-
eis boie towaid theii eistwhile foe. We cannotwe have no wish tofoiget,
she pioclaimed in hei I8, novel, Gilbert St. Maurice, and if theie be any sin
in hating, let it lie at oui own dooi. Lest any of hei ieadeis feel pangs of guilt
foi shaiing in this deep, abiding hatied, Whitson explained that this loathing,
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
o,
which began as wiath against the Noith, had developed into a holy, iigh-
teous ievulsion.
46
This seemingly pathological emotion was thus justied and
even divinely sanctioned.
Like othei southein women authois of the Reconstiuction peiiod, Whitson
painstakingly delineated the dieiences between the Noith and the South, ex-
plaining not only why the wai was inevitable but also why ieconciliation was
impossible. It will take two moie geneiations to eiadicate the bittei feeling and
piejudices geneiated in oui minds by the iesult of the wai, Whitson piedicted.
Indeed, howcould the South clasp hands in fiateinal gieeting with the Noith,
pondeied Whitson, when iiveis of blood sepaiated the two: The mutilated
foims of slain Confedeiate soldieis will iise befoie any southeinei attempting to
biidge the gap, aigued Whitson, iendeiing useless the entiie piocess of iecon-
ciliation.
47
Readeis could be suie that when the heio, Gilbeit St. Mauiice, died
on the battleeld, his ance, Maiion, did not betiay his memoiy oi iepudiate
the Confedeiacy by maiiying a Yankee soldiei. Symbolic ieconciliation was as
abhoiient and absuid to Whitson as was the notion of its political ieality.
The Veary Burden cj a Vcunded Heart
In I8o,, Maiy Ann Ciuse of Huntsville, Alabama, published Camercn Hall, one
of the most successful Reconstiuction-eia southein novels of the wai (iivaled
peihaps by only John Esten Cookes I8oo Surry cj Eagles Nest). Camercn Hall
unmistakably had stiong ioots in the antebellum sentimental, melodiamatic
school of womens ction, with iomantic subplots, lost ielatives, mistaken iden-
tities, and a peifect little giil named Agnes. Ciuse neveitheless contended that
hei woik belongs] iathei to tiuth than to ction.
48
Despite Ciuses classica-
tion of the novel, Camercn Hall exemplies the wai stoiies penned by southein
white women duiing Reconstiuction, pointing in the diiection that latei novel-
ists would follow.
Moie than any othei southein white female novelist of this peiiod, Ciuse
oeied a sustained and cleaily aiticulated explication of the inheient diei-
ences between the Noith and the South and the ways in which those diei-
ences piecipitated the inevitable wai. This wai can all be tiaced, explained
Mi. Cameion, to that bigotiy and fanaticism Puiitanism] which would bind
the galley chains of its own notions and piejudices upon the heaits and con-
science of the whole woild. The chaiacteis who populate Ciuses Cameion Hall
and enviions agiee. Uncle John, a staunch Confedeiate fiomthe beginning of the
oo
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
wai, denes the issue moie specically, aiguing that the Noiths wholesale attack
on the Constitution, because it does not squaie with that highei law abolition-
ism], which the Noith] piofesses to have found, necessitated a violent seveiing
of South fiom Noith. Moie foicefully than othei novelists, Ciuse emphatically
denied that slaveiy caused the wai. To aigue such a position, accoiding to Ciuse,
was tantamount to claiming that the tea oating in Boston Haiboi staited the
Revolutionaiy Wai.
49
Like Spencei, who infused hei histoiy of Noith Caiolina with contempt foi
the Noiths conduct duiing the wai, Ciuse deiided the villainous Yankee iaids,
which suipiise none of Ciuses chaiacteis because they see the attacks as meie
symptoms of the Noiths fanatical natuie. Uncle John wains his family at the out-
set of the wai that the South should expect such beastly behavioi. The same blind
intensity with which the Puiitans peisecuted witches in colonial New England
would guide the Noith to inict pain and miseiy on the South, he implies. As
Mi. Cameion explains to his daughtei, Julia, the Noith engaged in such conduct
simply to destioy as much of what sustains life.
50
Ciuse depicted numeious
Fedeial iaids to piove Mi. Cameions point.
The piospect of lost life and piopeity daunts Julia Cameion. But she believes,
howevei, that the oath of allegiance that the Yankees foice theii victims to sweai
is fai moie heinous. Attempting to peisuade hei fathei to abandon Cameion
Hall befoie a iaiding paity aiiives, Julia wains him neithei of the wanton de-
stiuction of piopeity noi of the possibility of death: Think of the oath of alle-
giance, that feaiful oath, she scieams, you cannot subsciibe to that. Despite
Julias piotestations, Mi. Cameion iemains with the house, although he iefuses
to take the oath both aftei the iaid and at the end of the wai. Weie I a soldiei,
Mi. Cameion self-iighteously pioclaims, saciicing health and peihaps even
life itself, no defeat in battle, no piivations in camp, no sueiing that I might
enduie, would so eectually paialyze my aim, and weaken my eneigies, and dis-
couiage my heait, as to know that the men foi whom I was ghting so little
valued the piecious boon which I was puichasing at so tiemendous a piice, that
like Esau, they weie willing to baitei the costly biithiight foi a mess of pottage.
51
The Yankees banish Mi. Cameion foi his deance.
Although Ciuse claimed to have nished Camercn Hall befoie the wai ended,
she included in hei novel an inteipietation of the Lost Cause myth that was
completely absent fiom Civil Wai novels wiitten duiing the conict. Uncle John
aiticulates the myth in Camercn Hall, aiguing that although defeat was inevi-
table, at least the South had not quietly succumbed to objectivity, seivility, and
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
o,
submissiveness. Like Geneial St. Claii in Chapins Fitz-Hugh St. Clair, Uncle
John piedicts with uncanny piescience Viiginias desolated homes, hei soil, not
spiinkled, but liteially dienched with the blood not only of hei sons, but with
that of the noblest and best of the land, of hei iavaged elds, hei iuined faims,
hei homeless, wandeiing childien, hei exiled fatheis, hei unpiotected wives and
daughteis. Echoing Pollaids histoiy of southein defeat, Mi. Deiby, a fellow
plantation ownei and fiiend of the Cameions, attiibutes the Souths impending
loss to the Noiths oveiwhelming manpowei, supeiioi wai matiiel, and foi-
eign assistance.
52
Latei wiiteis would infuse theii novels with ieadings of the
Lost Cause myth, but wiiteis duiing Reconstiuction iaiely employed this tactic.
Although the Lost Cause assuiedly iesonated with southeineis duiing Recon-
stiuction, it had yet to dominate the postbellum southein consciousness as it
would by the tuin of the twentieth centuiy.
Unlike Pollaid, howevei, Ciuse iefiained fiom ciediting the Noith entiiely
foi its victoiy. Like Ives, who asciibed a gieat deal of powei to a divine foice
in The Gcddess cj the Mccn, Ciuse maintained that the same vengeful God who
smote the Isiaelites punished the South foi its eiiant ways. Unlike Ives, howevei,
Ciuse named the Souths sins. Mi. Deiby expiesses what he believes to be the
most egiegious sin committed by southeineis. When I heai the self-condent
boasting that talks of an invincible people, a nation that cannot be conqueied,
a pioud, high-spiiited, chivalious iace my be exteiminated but nevei subdued,
I tiemble, he condes to Mi. Cameion, not foi the nal iesult, but foi feai
that, like iebellious Isiael, it may be decieed that none of this geneiation shall
entei into the piomised iest of fieedomand independence. The Noith, howevei,
was guilty of ciimes fai woise than hubiis. In addition to fanaticism, explains
Mi. Deiby, the Noith has nowadded the inauguiation and peisecution of a wai,
which foi ciuelty, oppiession, and vindictiveness, and malignity, has scaicely
its counteipaits in modein times. Although unpaidonable ciimes tainted the
Noiths iecoid, God had chosen to punish the South. Oui ietiibution foi oui
poition of iniquity has come ist, and foi some mysteiious puipose of His own,
God has allowed us to be chastened by those who weie once oui biethien. The
South need only wait, howevei, foi the Noiths day of judgment would come.
Accoiding to Mi. Deiby, that day would be so awful, so tiemendous, that the
most ievengeful of those ovei whom they have tyiannized will be moved to pity
and ciy Foibeai!
53
Unlike in Ivess faiiy tale, howevei, the South had yet to
witness its deliveiance.
o8
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
Foui yeais of haid waifaie had iendeied white southeineis bediaggled. Not
even the most seveie battle fatigue, howevei, could piepaie them foi the toipoi
and malaise that ensued. Ciuse feaied the woist foi Confedeiate men. Woman,
boin to enduie, can long diag the weaiy buiden of a wounded heait, she ex-
plained, but when once the stiong, self-ieliant man is bioken in spiiit, he sinks
at once beneath the load. Even Cooke suggested that women would beai up
undei the piessuies of defeat bettei than theii menfolk: As the soiiowful sui-
vivois of the gieat aimy came back, as they ieached theii old homes, diagging
theii weaiy feet aftei them, oi uiging on theii jaded hoises, suddenly the sun-
shine buist foith foi them, and lit up theii iags with a soit of gloiy, wiote
Cooke. Those angels of the home loved the pooi piisoneis bettei in theii daik
days than in theii biight. The found eyes melted to teais, the white aims held
themclose, and the old soldieis, who had only laughed at the ioai of the enemys
guns, diopped teais on the faces of theii wives and little childien!
54
Cooke
imagined that the indefatigable spiiit of southein white women would sustain
theii defeated soldieis. Ciuse iemained skeptical. Unlike Spencei, Ciuse boie no
contempt foi the defeated southein men and did not even pity them. Rathei,
Ciuse iesigned heiself to the fate of the conqueied. Moie than any othei south-
ein white woman novelist of this peiiod, Ciuse iealized that Reconstiuction, not
meiely defeat, was the Souths cioss to beai.
Camercn Hall espoused similai ihetoiic to othei novels wiitten duiing Re-
constiuction but also pointed in new diiections. Latei wiiteis would cast entiie
woiks in Lost Cause molds, with the Confedeiacy always doomed befoie it had
even been foimed. Ciuses eaily supposition that the wai followed a divine plan
that iested outside the iealm of human action would become a familiai pait of
the Lost Cause foimula. The Lost Cause myth and conception of a divine ietii-
bution ceitainly did not oiiginate with Camercn Hall. Indeed, eailiei wiiteis
used these tiopes, at least to a degiee. Ciuse, howevei, eshed out these tiopes
moie fully, a tactic that latei wiiteis would almost univeisally employ.
Never Mcre Be Shermanized
In addition to biogiaphies, histoiies, and novels, southein women duiing Re-
constiuction composed poetiy to gloiify the achievements of the Old South and
to mouin the loss of the Confedeiacy. Regional magazines such as The Land Ve
Lcve and Our Living and Our Dead swelled with the iegulai contiibutions of
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
o,
Maigaiet J. Pieston, Maiy B. Claik, I. M. Poitei, and otheis. Local newspapeis,
too, published these woiks occasioned by the Confedeiacys demise. Antholo-
gies, although iaiei, iepiinted poems that appeaied elsewheie, ensuiing the wide
ciiculation and ieadeiship of selected poems.
55
This poetiy of southein defeat exposed themes similai to those found in his-
toiies, biogiaphies, and novels, but the genie aoided its authois a way to en-
capsulate theii meaning and intent in a foimthat was much moie accessible than
othei, longei woiks. With the exception of anthologies, which iequiied special
puichase, these poems appeaied alongside news and business aiticles in news-
papeis and magazines to which southeineis alieady subsciibed. In a shoit poem
published in the ist issue of The Land Ve Lcve, Pieston undeiscoied the Souths
feai and distiust of noithein plans foi ieunication. Although southeineis wel-
comed a iespite fiom the bloody wai, Pieston aigued, they did not embiace the
teims of peace:
We do not accept thee, Heavenly Peace!
Albeit thou comest in a guise
Unlooked foi, undesiied, oui eyes
Welcome, thiough teais, the sweet ielease
Fiom Wai, and woe, and wantsuicease
Foi which we bless thee, holy Peace!
56
In six lines, Pieston iejected the Noiths peace in a mannei that was unmistak-
able to hei ieadeis.
Othei poems also possessed familiai and comfoiting elements. Fanny Down-
ings They Aie Not Dead and Lou Belle Custisss Hallowd Giound must
have held special meaning foi those southein women conceined with me-
moiializing fallen soldieis. Each giave an altai shall iemain, wiote Downing,
coniming the impoitance of the woik undeitaken by the numeious Ladies
Memoiial Associations. Catheiine M. Waields poem, Manassas, ieminded
southeineis that they had once held the position of victois, encouiaging them
to ievel in the knowledge that
Long shall Noithmen iue the day,
When they met oui stein aiiay,
And shiunk fiom battles wild aiay
At Manassas!
,o
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
L. Viiginia Fienchs poem, Sheimanized, incited southeineis to thiow o the
shackles of noithein occupation:
May hei daughteis aid that eoit to iebuild and iestoie,
Woiking on foi Scuthern jreedcm as they nevei woiked befoie!
May Geoigia as a laggaid nevei once be stigmatized
And hei viovii, vviss, oi v0ivi1, nevei moie be Sheimanized!
57
These poems and hundieds of otheis oeied ieadeis the most expedient and
most diiect inteipietation of a southein undeistanding of the wai.
This poetiy of defeat ceitainly iesonated with southein women, foi they
ciammed theii diaiies with cheiished lines fiom favoiite poems and with theii
own compositions. Loula Kendall Rogeis maintained a copying book foi this
puipose, lling it with poetiy and passages fiom novels. Giace Elmoie paitly
vented hei fiustiations about defeat by wiiting poetiy alongside hei iecoidings
of daily events.
58
Poetiy lent itself to tiansciiption and easy memoiization and
pioved to be a convenient medium foi ieection and meditation. This genie ie-
mained one of the most utilized foims foi impaiting an appieciation of southein
histoiy and an undeistanding of Confedeiate defeat.
Southein white women had vocifeiously championed the Confedeiacy. Defeat
and the iealities of Reconstiuction foiced them to push beyond theii ioles as
piopagandists to become the buildeis of a new southein consciousness. Ciucial
to this new postwai consciousness was a ieconciliation not between the Noith
and the South but between defeat and southeineis conception of themselves
as divinely chosen. Theii wiitings challenge Gaines M. Fosteis asseition that
by the end of Reconstiuction white southeineis had begun to come to teims
with defeat. Fosteis analysis of the electoial ciisis of I8,oI8,, compelled
him to conclude that white southeineis saw theii political futuie within the
Union. Although a few iemained iiieconcilable, theii inuence in southein
society declined iapidly by the mid-I88os. Fosteis woild of the Reconstiuc-
tion South, howevei, was oveiwhelmingly male. His conclusion that southeineis
abandoned] the past as a guide failed to account foi the wiitings of white
southein women.
59
Southein white womens ist postwai liteiaiy eoits encoui-
aged southeineis to undeistand theii histoiy without iepudiating it. Moieovei,
theii wiitings held gieatei cultuial signicance than Fosteis foimulation would
allow.
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
,I
Foi some women, this iesponsibility of constiucting a new southein con-
sciousness pioved too gieat, at least initially. Although Augusta Jane Evans iec-
ognized the piessing need foi a histoiy of the Confedeiacy, she abandoned the
pioject, on at least one occasion citing postwai malaise as the ieason. Some
wiiteis only tentatively picked up the gauntlet. Saiah Doisey hesitatingly wiote
a quasi-histoiy of the wai but disguised it as biogiaphy. She latei honed hei
aiguments in hei novel, Lucia Dare. Othei authois, howevei, enthusiastically
accepted the challengefoi example, Coinelia Phillips Spencei, who immedi-
ately wiote an unequivocal, unapologetic histoiy of Noith Caiolinas iole in
the wai.
The business of cieating a postwai southein consciousness iemained newdui-
ing Reconstiuction. Wiiteis had yet to solidify elements of the Lost Cause myth
that would latei dominate the Souths undeistanding of the wai. Ceitain plot-
lines and liteiaiy conventions weie becoming familiai but had yet to become
standaidized. The myth of the Lost Cause was most malleable duiing Recon-
stiuction, as wiiteis attempted to establish the myths boundaiies. Moieovei,
southein white women weie wiiting in isolation. The netwoik among women
authois and ieadeis and especially among membeis of the United Daughteis
of the Confedeiacy, which was ciitical to the foimation of a uniquely southein
undeistanding of the wai, did not develop until the end of the nineteenth cen-
tuiy and the beginning of the twentieth. Neveitheless, southein women made
theii initial attempts at cieating a new southein consciousness duiing Recon-
stiuction.
Sallie A. Biock may well have captuied the conceins of all southein women
who wiote about the wai. Neai the end of hei I8o, poem, The Fall of Rich-
mond, she asked,
And am I done: and is my stoiy told:
Told quite, in all its vaiied, saddened phiases
Of hopes that iose as Titans iose of old
To wai with Fate and poweis in highest places:
60
Even though Biock had told hei stoiy, both in poetiy and in histoiy, she
doubted that she had completed hei naiiative. Theie must be moie to tell, she
ieasoned. Otheis would have agieed. The evei-incieasing amount of liteiatuie
geneiated by southeineis fascinated with the Civil Wai nevei daunted aspiiing
,:
i
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
novelists, poets, histoiians, biogiapheis, and autobiogiapheis. Indeed, the late-
nineteenth-centuiy suige in the publication of Civil Wai naiiatives encouiaged
southein women to believe that the liteiaiy maiket would accommodate yet an-
othei stoiy. As moie and moie women wiote, they soon came to appieciate the
expansiveness of the liteiaiy maiket and the southein ieading public.
co01vvwomi i c.v1i vi 1v
j
,_
3
A View
from the
Mountain,
18771895
Little mcre than a mcnth since the war ended and the
ccuntry had sprung intc new lije, everywhere was busy
activity, jences being made, sawmills cutting the air
with the prclcnged whiz-z-z and a sight seldcm seen in
that state. Pater-jamilias guiding the plcw, while scns
and delicate daughters planted cr hced.
imm. ivo vvv., I8ooI8o,: A Romance of
the Valley of Viiginia
By wintry daylight the battleeld is still mcre ghastly.
Gray with the pallid crab-grass, which sc eagerly
usurps the place cj last summers crcps, it stretches cut
cn every side tc meet the bending sky. The armies that
successively encamped upcn it did nct leave a tree jcr
miles, but here and there thickets have sprung up since
the war and bare and black they intensijy the glccm cj
the landscape. The turj in these segregated spcts is
never turned. Beneath the branches are rcws cj empty,
yawning graves where the bcdies cj scldiers were
tempcrarily buried. Here, mcst cjten, their spirits
walk, and nc hire can induce the hardiest plcughman
tc break the grcund. Thus the cwner cj the land is
jain tc ccncede these acres tc his ghcstly tenants,
whc pay nc rent.
m.vv o.i iiis m0vivii, Wheie the
Battle Was Fought
The Gieat Compiomise of I8,, biought an end to Reconstiuction in the South.
Foi most white southeineis, the ielated tasks of iebuilding theii land and ie-
claiming theii past took piecedence in the post-Reconstiuction eia. Reunica-
tion in any ieal sense did not follow Rutheifoid B. Hayess I8,o election to the
piesidency. White southeineis meiely expeiienced what they peiceived as a lull
in the woist hoiiois of Reconstiuction. Coupled with the devastating eects of
the wai, Reconstiuction left white southeineis with iemaikably little to claim
in the piesent. Many could, howevei, see hope foi the futuie, and they could at
least take comfoit in a iesplendent antebellum past that white southeineis weie
constantly cieating and ievising. Southein white womens post-Reconstiuction
liteiatuie ieects theii desiie to cast theii glances back into a familiai, com-
foitable past and foiwaid towaid the futuie, which ceitainly had to be bettei
than the piesent. These novels, biogiaphies, and ieminiscences suggest that the
,,
conditions of the post-Reconstiuction peiiod aoided authois a gieat deal of
inteipietive latitude in penning theii naiiatives about the South.
A singulai devotion to the task of wiiting epic tales links togethei these seem-
ingly dispaiate naiiatives. Theie is little oi no discussion in any of these woiks
about the ieal ieasons foi Fedeial victoiythe expansion of the nation-state,
noithein industiialization, the iole of manufactuiing, and the iesupplying of
goods, mateiials, and soldieis, all of which gave the Noith the ciucial advan-
tage. Instead, southein white women cast theii naiiatives in heioic teims. Theii
tales desciibed gods ghting on mountaintops, not the conditions that conspiied
against the Confedeiacy.
1
Despite these womens vaiying inteipietations of the
Civil Wai, all imagined the Confedeiates as the piotagonists, tiansfoimed hu-
miliating defeat into justied waifaie, and fought to contiol the establishment
of histoiical tiuth.
Reecting on the piofound changes that shaped the southein landscape dui-
ing and aftei Reconstiuction, Alabama authoi and New South boostei Kate
Cumming cataloged southeineis tiemendous postwai achievements. Despite
militaiy defeat and twelve yeais of occupation, the South had miiaculously ie-
bounded and foiged ahead to a leading position in industiy, uiban and sub-
uiban beautication, touiism, education, and agiicultuie. Testifying to its in-
domitable will and the iighteousness of its cause, the South cast o the iemnants
of defeat and stiove to make its people happy and piospeious. Fiom Cum-
mings position in I8,:, God was] indeed showeiing his blessings and eneigy
upon this sunny land.
2
Otheis weie not quite as sanguine. Geoigia lectuiei and columnist Rebecca
Latimei Felton appaiently did not see divine benediction on the sunny South,
foi aftei the wai she could peei only down into the valley of the shadow of
death. Whatevei biilliant feats southein industiy might have achieved in the
post-Reconstiuction yeais did not iemedy the poveity, iacial tension, ineectual
leadeiship, and woefully inadequate educational system. Noi did the achieve-
ments of the postwai eia iedeem the saciice of young white menthe ciies
of childien foi dead fatheis, and the wail of widowhood, fiom which the South
could nevei iecovei. While Cumming believed that she and hei fellow south-
eineis weie maiching down the path to gieat piospeiity, Felton maintained that
the South was heading down a dieient ioad. Beset by both sectional hatied
and wai piejudices and lacking the statesmanship to maneuvei its way cleai,
the South faced at best continued social and economic haidships and at woist
a bloody iace wai.
3
,o
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
Both womens visions of the Souths futuie contained a measuie of tiuth. And
most students of post-I8,, southein society have iecognized these conicting
patteins of development, innovation, and iedenition. Metaphois of the Souths
standing at a ciossioads oi junction dominate much of the histoiiogiaphy of
this peiiod, and with good ieason. Populism biiey thieatened the politics of
iedemption, foi example. Tom Watson, in aiguing foi the establishment of a
thiid political paity, wiote in I8,: that the futuie happiness of the two iaces
will nevei be assuied until the political motives which diive them asundei, into
two distinct and hostile factions, can be iemoved. Theie must be a new policy
inauguiated, he continued, whose puipose is to ally the passions and pieju-
dices of iace conict, and which makes its appeal to the sobei sense and honest
judgment of the citizen iegaidless of coloi. The Wilmington iace iiot of I8,8
suggested to most people, howevei, that Populism had failed to delivei on its
piomise.
4
Othei piomises pioved equally hollow. Cummings depiction of southein ui-
ban giowth, foi example, failed to mateiialize in any laige measuie. The popu-
lation of towns and villages unquestionably incieased diamatically in the post-
Reconstiuction eia, but the iate of uibanization still lagged behind that of the
Noith. Fuitheimoie, the giowth of southein cities was, as noted scholai Ed-
waid L. Ayeis points out, not a sign of uiban oppoitunities but of iuial sick-
ness.
5
With a giowing shaie of the countiysides economy undiveisied and
tied to cotton, cottons distinctive pioblems of tenancy, ciop liens, debt peon-
age, and absentee owneiship incieasingly plagued the iuial South. The southein
city oeied no panacea foi those eeing the poveity of the countiyside, how-
evei. Southeineis faced a dieient set of pioblems in the city, not the least of
which was social dislocation and class confusion. Although Afiican-Ameiicans
might have encounteied gieatei oppoitunities in the cities than in iuial aieas,
unfullled piomises fiom noitheineis and foimei owneis continued to thwait
blacks full integiation into southein society.
Cities and towns did not develop in isolation fiom iuial backwateis. Banks
and iailioads cieated complex and inteidependent netwoiks of tiade and com-
meice, facilitating the ow of capital, commodities, and inuence thioughout
the South. Yet this contact magnied the pioblems endemic to both uiban and
iuial aieas. The countiysides demand foi goods highlighted its piovinciality
and encouiaged consumeis to go into debt. The movement of people to towns
and cities exaceibated the bieakdown of the household stiuctuie and social hiei-
aichy.
6
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
,,
The seemingly equivocal, fiactuied naiiatives of the post-Reconstiuction
South aie not solely the cieation of postmodeinist histoiians. These conicting
images of the Souththat of a phoenix iising fiomthe ashes oi conveisely of the
land iiiepaiably damaged by the waishaped the liteiatuie wiitten by south-
ein women between I8,, and I8,,. While the wai still cleaily dominated theii
histoiical and liteiaiy imaginations, the exigencies of the post-Reconstiuction
South inuenced the ways in which these women iepiesented its couise and con-
sequences. Thus in I8,, Cumming ieissued hei tale of the wai as Gleanings jrcm
the Scuthland by combining a summaiy of the waitime jouinal she had oiigi-
nally published in I8oo with an intioduction on the maivelous achievements
of Biimingham, Alabama, the epitome of the New South. Similaily, Fannie
Beeis, who published Memcries. A Reccrd cj Perscnal Experience and Adventure
during Fcur Years cj Var in I888, included a section at the end of hei ieminis-
cences on the twenty yeais since the wai had ended. Novelists weie not immune
to the piesents peivasive inuences on stoiies of the past. The destiuction of
the southein landscape and civilization plagued Maiy Noailles Muifiees litei-
aiy imagination as much as it did the chaiacteis in hei I88: novel, Vhere the
Battle Vas Fcught. Constance Caiy Haiiisons Flcwer de Hundred was as much a
iesponse to the ieconciliation liteiatuie of noitheineis as a defense of southein
antebellum society and the Confedeiacy. Just as these women could not undei-
stand the wai without lteiing it thiough the iealities of the post-Reconstiuction
South, they could not compiehend theii piesent condition without consideiing
the past.
Although these diaiists and novelists appioached theii naiiatives of the wai
fiom vaiying positions, all of these wiiteis weie pait of the giowing gioup of
white southein women who enteied the public discouise about the meanings of
the Civil Wai. Women who had not been boin duiing the wai oi who weie veiy
young childien at the time began to pen theii naiiatives, culling bits and pieces
fiom naiiatives alieady a pait of the public discouise. Oldei women continued
to wiite and publish theii tales oi enteied the liteiaiy maiket foi the ist time
aftei a peiiod of silence. The ties of foimal and oiganized netwoiks would come
latei, with the founding of the United Daughteis of the Confedeiacy (0ic),
but an examination of this post-Reconstiuction liteiatuie points to the authois
continuing inteiest in competing and complementaiy naiiatives. Although they
lacked the stiuctuie the 0ic piovided its membeis, who with gieat fiequency
and intensity commented on, ievised, iecommended, and ieviled liteiatuie on
,8
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
the wai, these eailiei women kept apace of the cuiient liteiatuie and had it in
mind when fashioning theii tales.
The Human Side cj Aairs
The same nancial and commeicial netwoiks that linked newly industiializing
southein towns and cities with the countiyside also eased the Souths ieintegia-
tion into the iest of the nation. With the end of Reconstiuction came political
ieunication. But an Ameiican nationalism, devoid of sectional iancoi, did not
necessaiily ensue. Histoiian Paul Buck heialded a union of sentiment that the
iegions had achieved within one geneiation aftei the close of the wai, claim-
ing that the defeated southeineis, weaiied and iesigned to theii fate, had made
the ist oveituies at ieconciliation. Joyce Appleby and Nina Silbei concui that a
conciliatoiy cultuie did indeed dominate the late-nineteenth-centuiy Ameii-
can scene, but they aigue that the Noith intioduced the ieconciliation theme
and that the South, susceptible to the sentimental appeal of ieunion cultuie,
followed the Noiths lead. Of couise, not all noitheineis embiaced this theoiy
of ieconciliation. Foimei Union soldiei and caipetbaggei Albion Touige, foi
example, suggested in his I8,, novel of Reconstiuction, A Fccls Errand, that the
Noith and the South iemained incompatible despite the outcome of the wai. As
Edmund Wilson notes, AFccls Errand depicted the Noith and the South as vii-
tually two dieient countiies, almost as unsympathetic towaid one anothei and
incapable of undeistanding one anothei as those othei two quaiielsome neigh-
bois Fiance and Geimany, and . . . the outcome of the Civil Wai had settled theii
dieiences as little as the subjugation of Iieland by England oi of Poland by Rus-
sia.
7
Accoiding to Appleby and Silbei, howevei, Touiges notions iemained on
the cultuial fiinges of a nation swept up in the feivoi of ieconciliation.
Histoiiogiapheis of the Civil Wai have pointed out that by the late nine-
teenth centuiy, a pionoithein inteipietation of the wai gained iathei geneial
acceptance, thus seemingly coniming Jeeison Daviss feais that this might be-
come the Souths gieatest wai loss. As plantation iomancei and sentimentalist
Thomas Nelson Page noted in I8,_, Theie is no tiue histoiy of the South. . . .
By the woild at laige we aie held to have been an ignoiant, illiteiate, ciuel, semi-
baibaious section of the Ameiican people, sunk in biutality and vice, who have
contiibuted nothing to the advancement of mankind: a iace of slave-diiveis,
who, to peipetuate human slaveiy, conspiied to destioy the Union, and plunged
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
,,
the countiy into wai. And although much noithein liteiatuie piomoted this
devil theoiy of the coming of the Civil Wai, these wiitings also aiticulated
the theme of ieconciliation. Thus, Heibeit Geoige, who published The Pcpu-
lar Histcry cj the Civil Var in I88, claimed that the causes of the Civil Wai
. . . had theii oiigin in but one Hydia-headed element, commonly known as
States Rights but also pushed ieconciliation. Even the hoaise echoes of the
cannons thundei and the clash of steel have sunk to sleep, wiote Geoige, the
fietful muimuis of semi-satiated passion and piejudice which succeeded the sav-
age fienzy of muideious hate have even been hushed, and the timid tendeis of
ieconciliation have been supplanted by an eagei anxiety to pioei and iespond
waimly to fiateinal gieetings among citizens of all sections thioughout the now
happily ie-United States. To be suie, some pionoithein inteipieteis of the Civil
Wai cast doubt on the success of this puipoited national ieconciliation. John A.
Logan, foi example, suggested that the South had failed to iecognize the enoi-
mity of its ciime. In a passage many white southeineis would have iegaided as
a patent falsehood, Logan claimed, When the Rebellion was quelled, the evil
spiiit which biought it about should have been utteily ciushed out, and none of
the questions involved in it should have been peimitted to be iaised again. But
the Republican Paity acted fiom its heait, instead of its head. It was meiciful,
foigiving, and magnanimous. The iesult of the Republican Paitys geneiosity
duiing Reconstiuction, accoiding to Logan, was the Souths attempt to iegain
contiol of the fedeial goveinment. Alieady the spiiit of the foimei aggiessive-
ness is deantly bestiiiing itself, Logan wiote in I88,. The old chieftains intend
to take no moie chances. The feel that theii Gieat Conspiiacy is now assuied of
success, inside the union.
8
As with Touiges iconoclastic views of Reconstiuc-
tion, Logans sentiments seem to countei the pievailing noithein tiend towaid
ieconciliation.
Metaphois and cultuial images of ieunion may well have abounded in post-
wai noithein cultuie, but they iemained scaice in the South. Tiue, by the I88os
foimei Confedeiates paiticipated in national veteians ieunions, but while
noitheineis weie inteiested in foigetting the past, white southeineis sought to
peipetuate theii heioic stiuggle foi an independent nation. If the mentality that
the past was dead goveined the noithein imagination, the need to iemembei
and honoi all that was gieat and noble about the Confedeiacy diove southeineis
to tell theii tales of the wai. Although Silbei maintains that Ameiicans cieated
myths about the Civil Wai because the event had faded fiom theii collective
memoiy, southeineis geneiated tales piecisely because the wai dominated theii
8o
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
consciousnesses. If the South, as a mattei of policy, weie to ignoie the past,
explained Cumming, she would gain the contempt of noitheineis and south-
eineis alike.
9
To abandon the piinciples foi which the Confedeiacy had saciiced
its existence would imply that the South had iepudiated its past and signal to
the Noith that the bloody conict was meiely a faice.
Foi those southeineis who chose to paiticipate in this conciliatoiy cultuie,
howevei, the Century Illustrated Mcnthly Magazine pioved an impoitant foium.
The magazine had its ioots in Scribners Mcnthly, a populai late-nineteenth-
centuiy jouinal. On Apiil I88I the enteipiising Roswell Smith, a majoi stock-
holdei in the Sciibneis and Company publishing im, bought out the ims
shaies owned by its paient company, Chailes Sciibneis and Sons, foi two mil-
lion dollais and ienamed the subsidiaiy aftei the Centuiy Club in NewYoik City.
The newly established Centuiy Company immediately began publishing the
Century Illustrated Mcnthly Magazine, which thiived undei the editoiial leadei-
ship of many of the men who had made Sciibneis and Company so successful,
including Alexandei W. Diake, Richaid Watson Gildei, Josiah Gilbeit Holland,
and Robeit Undeiwood Johnson. Smith soon gave Gildei, a noted mugwump,
complete editoiial contiol, and undei his guidance the magazine became an im-
poitant outlet foi southein wiiteis.
10
Gildei explained to a fellow jouinalist that because the magazine was na-
tional and antislaveiy in its views, it piovided an invaluable seivice to southein
wiiteis. It is of no paiticulai utility to the South to have a Southein peiiodical
manifest hospitality to Southein ideas, he ieasoned. But it is of gieat use that
a Noithein peiiodical should be so hospitable to Southein wiiteis and South-
ein opinion, and should insist upon giving a faii show to Southein views even
when they aie not altogethei palatable to oui Noithein ieadeis, among whom,
of couise is oui gieatest audience. The Century exposed its southein authois to
a widei ieadeiship than they would have ieceived had they published solely in
southein jouinals, theieby ensuiing that theii veisions of facts and opinions
ciiculated beyond the boundaiies of Dixie.
11
Beginning in I88 the Century began a thiee-yeai pioject that one histoiian
iefeis to as a tiiumph of jouinalistic enteipiise. Noting the favoiable ieadei
iesponse to the fewaiticles that othei magazines had published on the Civil Wai,
Gildei and his sta set out to capitalize on this populaiity and planned a seiies of
eight to ten aiticles on the wais majoi battles. The scheme giew, especially aftei
foimeily ieluctant geneials, many of whom faced nancial haidship because of
the economic panic of the I88os, agieed to piovide pieces.
12
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
8I
Robeit Johnson aveiied that he and the othei seiies editois weie deteimined
to piesent a nonpolitical account of the wai. Moie accuiately, the editois cul-
tivated the politics of ieconciliation, eschewing the iancoi of sectional ihetoiic.
They theiefoie chose to publish nonpolemical aiticles fiom both noitheineis
and southeineis, hoping that the seiies would iesult in a compiehensive histoiy
of the wai. Announcing the seiies, the editois stated that they aimed to cleai up
cloudy questions with new knowledge and the wisdom of cool ieection, and to
soften contioveisy with that bettei undeistanding of each othei, which comes to
comiades in aims when peisonal feeling is dissipated. The intioduction of the
seiies could not have been moie foituitous, the editois ieasoned, because the
passions of the wai had disappeaied fiom politics with the end of Reconstiuc-
tion. The time had come foi sectional motives to be weighed without malice,
and valoi piaised without distinction of unifoim.
13
The editois weie moie than satised with theii eoits. On the whole Battles
and Leadeis is a monument to Ameiican biaveiy, peisistence, and iesouiceful-
ness, boasted Johnson. Moie impoitantly, it fosteied the sectional ieconcilia-
tion that the editois so coveted. Thiough theii skillful editoiial management,
the seiies stiuck the keynote of national unity thiough toleiance and the pio-
motion of good-will. By judiciously selecting aiticles that celebiated the skill
and valoi of both sides, the editois hastened the elimination of sectional pieju-
dices and contiibuted to national ieunication by the cultivation of mutual
iespect. Johnson and his felloweditois had eveiy ieason to be pioud of theii pet
pioject. Battles and Leadeis of the Civil Wai ian thiough I88,, neaily doubled
the magazines sales duiing the ist yeai of the seiies publication, piompted the
Centuiy Company to issue a foui-volume companion set, which sold moie than
seventy-ve thousand copies, and ultimately gaineied moie than one million
dollais.
14
The Battles and Leadeis seiies did moie than meiely pique ieadeis intel-
lectual cuiiosity about the Civil Wai: it piompted many of them to pen theii
own expeiiences and maiket them aggiessively. White southein women weie
no stiangeis to this liteiaiy enteipiise and peddled theii aiticles with gieat fei-
voi. The luie of nancial compensation foi theii eoits was incentive enough
foi some. Mis. E. J. Beale of Suolk, Viiginia, explained to the editois of the
Century that she wiote hei iecollections not foi notoiiety, noi foi pleasuie, but
as a pooi widow stiuggling with poveity, and endeavoiing to take caie of hei
childien. Similaily, Susie Bishop sent the magazine a sketch of an occuiience
which took place . . . at the end of the wai which I have naiiated with the stiictest
8:
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
iegaid to the tiuth, and being unmaiiied, delicate, penniless, and almost alone
in the woild I have wiitten it with the hope that I] might dispose of it to you
oi some othei, and I thus would help ielieve my most piessing needs. These
unknown women could not hope to ieceive the same sums as the foimei gen-
eials weie paid foi theii contiibutions: Joseph E. Johnston ieceived s,oo foi two
aiticles, Ulysses S. Giant s,ooo foi foui aiticles, and James Longstieet s:,,I,
foi his aiticle on the battle of Gettysbuig. But if the Century chose a womans
aiticle foi eithei the magazine seiies oi the supplemental foui-volume set, she
could expect to be paid sosIoo.
15
Othei women weie less conceined with the teims of iemuneiation than with
having theii tales of the wai told. Mis. Heibeit Elleibe of Atlanta, Geoigia, con-
fessed to the editois that she was exceedingly anxious to become a contiibutoi
to the Century and was theiefoie enclosing an authentic account of the in-
auguiation of Jeeison Davis. Lucy R. Mayo of Hague, Viiginia, infoimed the
editois that hei iecollections of the wai weie stiictly tiue and] the incidents in
themselves aie iomantic and inteiesting and thus woithy of publication. Maiy
Bedingei Mitchell, upon ieading that the Century was about to publish an aiticle
by Geneial Geoige B. McClellan on the battle of Antietam, oeied the magazine
hei shoit desciiption and peisonal expeiiences of the battle. Mitchell con-
cluded that the aiticle would be valuable to the magazine not only because of its
veiacity but also because it may not be without inteiest to youi ieadeis. De-
spite hei equivocating language, Mitchell had condence in hei woik and was
willing to subject it to the sciutiny of a majoi New Yoik publishing house. The
Century concuiied with Mitchells opinion of hei woik and paid hei sixty dol-
lais to publish the piece in the supplement. Despite the iisk of iejection, othei
women expiessed the same condence in theii liteiaiy eoits and infoimed the
editois of the Century, as did Mis. Jonathan Coleman, that if the woik is ie-
jected, oi if the piece oeied is deemed insucient, will you ietuin it as I would
like to distiibute it to othei companies:
16
Some women chose not to attempt to publish theii iecollections of the wai but
instead oeied coiiections to othei wiiteis accounts published in the Century.
Vaiina Davis, the widow of ex-Confedeiate Piesident Jeeison Davis, chastised
the magazine foi a statement it had piinted about the foimei piesident which
is so iemaikable foi the uttei absence of the slightest foundation in fact that I am
impelled to inquiie how you came to make it and if you have been unwittingly
imposed upon by otheis destitute of tiuth. Davis latei admitted that she hoped
that the editois had been deceived by some malicious falsiei, foi if they had
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
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8_
utteied this libel in good faith, then they denitely owed hei space in theii
magazine foi a iebuttal. Fannie Conigland Faiinholt was less vitupeiative in hei
iequest to the editois of the Century foi a coiiection to one of theii aiticles on
the Union piison at Johnsons Island. Contiaiy to the authois statement that
no one had evei escaped fiom the piison, Faiinholt believed that she knew of
an escapee and was willing to fuinish the editois with the addiess of the daiing
Confedeiate soldiei. In both of these cases and in countless otheis, women chal-
lenged piinted waitime accounts and piesented alteinate veisions they believed
to be tiue.
17
The Century not only ieceived unsolicited manusciipts fiomsouthein women
but often actively sought out wai naiiatives. Aftei publishing a biogiaphical
sketch of Geneial Stonewall Jackson wiitten by his sistei-in-law, noted authoi
and poet Maigaiet Junkin Pieston, the editois of the magazine iequested that
she wiite a similai sketch of Geneial Robeit E. Lee. Pieston piomised to submit
to the magazine hei biogiaphy, which will consist of just such illustiative anec-
dotes and ieminiscences as I myself have peisonal knowledge of fiom living be-
side the Geneial foi ve yeais.
18
The Centurys editois iecognized authois who
pleased the magazines audience and theiefoie eageily encouiaged such wiiteis
to chuin out naiiatives of the wai.
Despite the solicitation of the Centurys editois and the attempts of uniec-
ognized authois, the magazine published few aiticles wiitten by white southein
women. Those aiticles selected weie geneially of a lightei natuie than the foimal
and stilted piose of the foimei combatants. Although the editois iecognized the
impoitance of publishing statistics and ocial iecoids, they encouiaged stoiies
that told of the human side of aaiis, avoiding the diy bones of histoiy. One
of the Centurys favoiite authois was Viiginia native Constance Caiy Haiiison, a
descendant of Thomas Jeeison and the wife of Buiton Noivell Haiiison, piivate
secietaiy to Jeeison Davis. Haiiison opened hei waitime ieminiscences not
with the details of a battle but with a desciiption of a walk thiough the woods:
My ist vivid impiession of wai-days, she iecollected, was duiing a iamble in
the neighboiing woods on Sunday afteinoon in spiing, when the young people
in a happy band set out in seaich of wild oweis. The sound of a tiain caiiying
volunteeis to Manassas bioke in on the young Haiiisons sylvan iomp, confiont-
ing hei with the ieality of the wai. It was the beginning of the end too soon
to come, she concluded. Contiasted with the maitial language of the foimei
soldieis iepoits, the sentimentality of Haiiisons piose glaies especially biight.
Hei editois, howevei, appaiently believed that Viiginia Scenes in oI oeied a
8
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
iepiesentation of the wai that the moie ocial iecollections failed to pioduce.
Many of the Centurys ieadeis concuiied. Not suipiisingly, Page believed that
he owed Haiiison a debt of giatitude foi peipetuating such an exquisitely ten-
dei pictuie of the soiiowful days of the wai. Only a gieat aitist, piaised Page,
could cieate a stoiy so absolutely ieal.
19
Page believed that he was eminently
qualied to comment on Haiiisons woik on antebellum and waitime Viiginia.
Boin into a plantation family shoitly befoie the wai began, Page was well veised
in the stoiies of the Old South as well as a cieatoi of its legends. Immeasuiably
giatifying to both Haiiis and Page was theii obvious agieement on the chaiactei
of the South. The Century seiies editois weie keenly awaie of the mass appeal
of a well-wiitten peisonal iecollection of the wai and thus juxtaposed Haiiisons
social histoiy with the stiategic and militaiy accounts to satisfy the magazines
ieading public.
Indeed, Haiiison so impiessed Johnson that he sought to piint a second aiticle
by hei. Despite the seveie space limitations in both the magazine and the pio-
posed foui-volume supplement, Johnson assuied Haiiison that the Century was
committed to publishing hei manusciipt on Richmond. The publishing com-
pany had ieceived such favoiable comments on the chaim and giaphic de-
sciiptiveness of Haiiisons pievious wiiting that Johnson concluded, if the wai
weie to be now, what a capital Womans Histoiy of the Wai you could wiite,
foi men to iead, equally. Johnson and his fellow editois at the Century hoped
to cash in on the piojected success of Haiiisons woik and included Richmond
Scenes in o: in the second volume of the supplement. As with hei ist piece,
Haiiison established that she did not intend to chionicle the movements of the
aimies duiing the Battle of Richmond: It is not my puipose to deal with the
histoiy of those awful Seven Days, she admitted. Mine only to speak of the
othei side of that canvas in which heioes of two aimies weie passing and iepass-
ing, as on some huge Homeiic fiieze, in the manoeuvies of a stiife that hung oui
land in mouining. Despite hei veiled apology, howevei, Haiiison knew that
she had wiitten a stiong aiticle. She attached a note to the ievised manusciipt
she sent to hei editoi in which she acknowledged that she was so pleased with
hei woik that she could bieathe fiee aftei it.
20
The Century editois shaied in
Haiiisons ielief and condence and continued to publish hei woik foi the next
fteen yeais.
Although the Century was piobably the single most impoitant vehicle thiough
which southeineis voiced theii desiie foi national ieconciliation, it was not the
only one. Piivate and published ieminiscences piovided southein women with
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
8,
anothei such outlet foi expiessing theii hope foi ieunication. Despite the emo-
tional tuimoil Annie Bioidiick expeiienced duiing the siege of Vicksbuig in
I8o_, she confessed in hei iecollections that thiity yeais latei, she haidly ieal-
ized oi undeistood the eice vindictive hate with which the Civil Wai had
been fought. Although Bioidiick ist defeiied to wisei heads to iendei judg-
ments on the inevitability of the wai, she latei stated that not only the wai but
its outcome was piedeteimined. Yet fiom the iuined homes, poveity, distiess
and death of the wai spiung the New South, which in loving ieconciliation,
accoiding to Bioidiick, holds fast the hand of hei Noithein biothei, and feels
that though ieconstiucted they aie now stiongei in aection and moie united
in thought.
21
Bioidiick acknowledged that the South had expeiienced its tiial
by ie, to be suie, but the iegion escaped peimanent damage and, much to hei
satisfaction, quickly and openly ietuined to the folds of the Union.
Paithenia Antoinette Hague, wiiting twenty yeais aftei the wai, expiessed
sentiments similai to Bioidiicks. Hague also detailed the haidships enduied by
hei family duiing the wai and declaied that despite the devastation sueied by
the South, hei iegion had ieconciled itself to its fate. Accepting all the decisions
of the wai, she explained, we have built and planted anew amid the iuins left
by the aimy who weie the conqueiois. Moieovei, the South had developed a
loyalty to the Union so piofound that it pieices like a swoid, oui evei being
taunted and distiusted. Thiough this ieveience and by its own industiy, ac-
coiding to Hague, the South would fulll its gloiious and piospeious destiny.
22
A Literature jcr Remembering
Most white southeineis found Hagues conciliatoiy position politically and
psychologically untenable. Unless they iepudiated theii Confedeiate past, they
could not embiace noitheineis in biotheihood, having consideied them moi-
tal enemies. Unlike the pieces published in the Century, which the editois chose
moie foi theii lack of vitiiolic sectional ihetoiic than foi theii explicit pio-
nouncements in favoi of ieconciliation, and the occasional utteiances in ieminis-
cences by women such as Bioidiick and Hague, then, most southein naiiatives
made little mention of ieunication. Although a conciliatoiy cultuie might
have dominated the late-nineteenth-centuiy Noith, such an attitude meiely
biushed the South. In a memoii cum histoiy of the Civil Wai, foimei Confed-
eiate soldiei Richaid Tayloi, foi example, desciibed noitheineis and the fedeial
goveinment as the enemies of the South, bent on sowing seeds of a pestilence
8o
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. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
moie deadly than that iising fiom disease-infested maishes. Of the still be-
sieged South, Tayloi wiote, now that Fedeial bayonets have been tuined fiom
hei bosom, the inuence of thiee-fouiths of a million negio votes, will speedily
sap hei vigoi and intelligence. Moieovei, the Scuthern Histcrical Scciety Papers
ian a numbei of post-Reconstiuction aiticles that spoke to the white souths
need to iemain skeptical of the noithein cultuial tiend of ieconciliation. To be
suie, the society did publish some chaiactei sketches of Union oceis, theieby
paiticipating, peihaps cautiously, in the spiiit of ieunion. Geneial Dabney H.
Mauiys piece, Giant as Soldiei and Civilian, aigued that theie aie indica-
tions of a ietuining sense of justice in the factions so lately aiiayed against each
othei in the bloodiest diama of modein times, and as the eia of peace and fia-
teinity, of which we of the South have heaid so much and seen so little, is neai
at hand, a discussion of the militaiy conduct of the gieat Captains who led the
opposing hosts may now be conducted in a spiiit of faiinessand in such man-
nei as may conseive the inteiests of histoiy. Moie common in the pages of the
Papers, howevei, weie stoiies that vindicated the Confedeiate past. Indeed, Rev.
R. L. Dabney excoiiated Geoige Washington Cable, who, in a ieconciliation-
style aiticle published in the Century, suggested that Confedeiates went to wai
in I8oI without justly knowing what we did it foi. Cable, aigued Dabney, like
a good child thanks oui conqueiois foi whipping the folly and naughtiness out
of him, although with whips dipped in hell-ie. Judge J. A. P. Campbell wained
ieadeis, we cannot and must not in anywise in the least sympathize with that
spiiit of seeming apology we sometimes meet.
23
Thus, many white southeineis
iecognized but categoiically iejected the noithein impetus foi ieconciliation.
In spite of cultuial piessuie, white southein women novelists and shoit stoiy
wiiteis continued to eschew the noithein liteiaiy convention of maiiiage be-
tween a ieconstiucted southein belle and a sympathetic Fedeial soldiei, the
metaphoiic iepiesentation foi national ieunication. Page, a Viiginian who be-
gan publishing shoit stoiies in the Century in I88, advised Louisiana authoi
Giace King, who was having tiouble getting hei novel published, to iefashion
hei tale. Now I will tell you what to do, he told hei. It is the easiest thing to
do in the woild. Get a pietty giil and name hei Jeanne, that name always takes!
Make hei fall in love with a Fedeial ocei and youi stoiy will be piinted at
once! Page piedicted. The publisheis aie iight, the public wants love stoiies.
Nothing easiei than to wiite them.
24
Although King held Page in gieat esteem,
she appaiently iejected his advice.
Sheiwood Bonnei, whose I8,8 Reconstiuction novel Like untc Like oeied
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
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8,
ieadeis a potential ieconciliation-iomance plot, nonetheless ultimately shied
away fiom maiiying the southein belle, Blythe Heindon, to the foimei Union
soldiei and abolitionist, Rogei Ellis. In the end, Blythe nds that she cannot
maiiy Rogei because his position is too iadical, too fai iemoved fiomall that she
had been taught to cheiish. And although Blythe tiies to bieak fiee fiom what
novelist Ellen Glasgow would latei teim the Souths stianglehold on the intel-
lect, the heioine fails, limply declaiing that she did not sevei hei engagement to
Rogei because he was a iadical oi because of his politics, oi because of his being
a noithein man. It is simply that we dont suit each otheithats all theie is
about it. The couples unsuitability, howevei, stems as much fiom Rogeis poli-
tics as fiom theii contiaiy peisonalities. Howevei stiing Blythe nds southein
convention, Rogeis comments on the Noiths halfheaited piosecution of the
wai and its lenient Reconstiuction policies aie even moie tioubling. In the end,
Blythe cannot maiiy a man who despises what I feel dimly I ought to ieveie,
and who was always tuining a tilt against things that a giant could not shake.
25
Similaily, novelist Emma Lyon Biyan had little patience foi southein women
who tempoiaiily fell undei the sway of Union soldieis. Mina, the female pio-
tagonist in Biyans I8,: novel, :8oo:8o,. A Rcmance cj the Valley cj Virginia,
chastised a fallen Confedeiate woman who had been enteitaining Yankee sol-
dieis. What an elegant silk ag, while ouis, pooi ouis, is tiailing in the dust
tatteied and toin, oui staiving boys, shoeless, iagged and hatless, while these
fat villains aie basking in gold and bioadclothoh, my pooi countiy . . . oui
deai boys. Haiiisons scenaiio between a Fedeial soldiei and a southein belle,
sketched out in an I8,: shoit stoiy, Ciows Nest, typied scenes found in white
southein womens ction of the post-Reconstiuction eia. When Newbold, the
Union soldiei, confesses his love foi Pink, the daughtei of a Viiginia plantation
ownei, his fiiend chastises him: Why cant you have the common sense to know
that . . . she would nevei look at you: These Southein giils aie the veiy devil!
26
Indeed, Newbold nevei stands a chance with Pink and spends his iemaining
yeais alone.
Viiginia novelist Maiy G. McClelland also iefused to oei hei ieadeis a iec-
onciliation iomance of the Civil Wai. In hei I8,_ novel, Brcadcaks, foi example,
she told the stoiy of Julian Kennedy, a once-pioud Viiginia aiistociat of the Old
South who loses his family foitune, his youthful vigoi, and his two sons in the
Civil Wai. Because the Kennedy sons died in battle, Julians daughteis alone caiiy
the buiden of peipetuating the Kennedy lineage and by extension the heiitage
of the antebellum South. But the Kennedy giils cannot entiiely be tiusted with
88
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
such a heavy load because they weie too young duiing the wai to undeistand
fully the meaning of defeat. Looking backwaid thiough the yeais, McClel-
land explained, the episode of the wai was to the giils like some shadowy, fai
away dieam, lled with distoited images, and known iathei fiom heaisay than
fiom tangible, individual memoiies. Of the vital excitement which had peime-
ated all things and caused life to seem as though lived amid an atmospheie sui-
chaiged with electiicity they, of couise, knew nothing. Because the Kennedy
daughteis neithei appieciate the chaims of the Confedeiate South noi undei-
stand the legacy of its defeat, they aie susceptible to the advances of unsciu-
pulous caipetbaggeis. Rebecca (Rebie) seems paiticulaily vulneiable and even-
tually falls undei the sway of Stuait Redwood, who had been sent south by a
New Yoik syndicate to take chaige of a mining ventuie in the mineial belt of
Piedmont, Viiginia.
27
Only Julian Kennedy, aimed with memoiies of the past, iecognizes Stuait as a
scheming, acquisitive speculatoi, and Julian is suitably hoiiied at Rebies giow-
ing infatuation with the noitheinei. Julian had consideied Geoiey Biuce, a
family fiiend and Confedeiate veteian, a moie appiopiiate suitoi. Only Stuaits
timely death saves Rebie fiom making a disastious choice in maiiiage paitneis,
ieleasing hei fiom hei infatuation and fieeing hei to love Geoiey. McClelland
ended hei novel befoie Rebie and Geoiey developed a loving ielationship. But
if McClelland did not fully imagine a postwai South ieinvigoiated by the mai-
iiage of the southein belle and the Confedeiate veteian, she nonetheless left the
possibility open. She had quite eectively (and liteially) killed o the possibility
of a ieconciliation iomance. Stuait Redwoods death pievents any such ieunion
fiom taking place in Brcadcaks.
Accoiding to McClelland, the town of Piedmont sueis, in many ways, fiom
a cultuial amnesia that makes it as vulneiable as Rebie is to Stuaits piedatoiy
machinations: Redwood had been well ieceived by the people of the neighboi-
hood and made himself, on the whole, faiily populai. Indeed, so smitten aie the
townspeople with Stuait that, despite all evidence pointing to his deeply awed
chaiactei, they mouin his death moie than is waiianted. Most of the locals fail
to iealize that Stuait died while tiying to plundei the giave of a Kennedy ances-
toi. In theii ignoiance of the tiue state of the case they had ieached conclusions
tendei and moie human than would have been possible could they have known.
And ieveiently, iegietfully, one phase of the omnipiesent sentiment entombed in
honoi the man on whom anothei phase had iuthlessly tiampled down to eaith
not many houis befoie.
28
McClellands message was cleai: failuie to appieciate
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
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8,
the viitues of the Old South, the Confedeiacy, and the meaning of defeat ien-
deied one vulneiable to Yankee onslaught. And although the Viiginia town was
saved by a deus ex machina, divine inteivention was not guaianteed. Bettei to
giid oneself with piopei and accuiate accounts of the past to fend o a possible
futuie.
Peihaps no Southein naiiative so diamatically alteied the ieunication plot-
line as Elizabeth Aveiy Meiiwetheis The Master cj Red Leaj. Boin inTennessee in
I8: to Quakei paients, Meiiwethei puipoited to have always been uncomfoit-
able with the institution of slaveiy. Although she and hei husband, Minoi Meii-
wethei, fieed theii slaves befoie the stait of the Civil Wai, Minoi fought foi the
Confedeiacy and latei joined the Ku Klux Klan, and both Elizabeth and Minoi
iemained unieconstiucted southeineis. Hei uneasiness with slaveiy combined
with hei im conviction in the Confedeiate cause to heavily inuence hei ist
novel, The Master cj Red Leaj. Published in I8,, by a London im because
noithein houses shied away fiom its explicit political content, the novel tells
the stoiy of Hestei Stanhope, the daughtei of a iabid New England abolitionist.
A missionaiy society sends Hestei to Louisiana to foment iebellion among the
slaves. Duiing hei tenuie as goveiness on the Devaseuis Red Leaf plantation,
the Civil Wai eiupts and the plantation is besieged by the Fedeial aimy. The pio-
tiacted scenes of Union iaids aoid Hestei, the Devaseuis, and ieadeis ample
oppoitunity to encountei and judge the actions of the Fedeial oceis, who aie
potential suitois foi Hestei, Claia Devaseui, and hei cousin, Geitiude Goidon.
Rathei than falling piey to the muideious, thieving, and iapacious Union sol-
dieis, howevei, the women aie hoiiied at the uniestiicted waifaie that these
men wage against noncombatants and consequently spuin the soldieis piofes-
sions of love. Only Lieutenant Reese, who iesigns his commission in the Fedeial
aimy aftei discoveiing that iestoiing the Union meant the uttei subjugation
of a pioud people long accustomed to the usages of fieedom, meant seating an
infeiioi and ignoiant iace ovei a supeiioi, stands a chance with the women of
Red Leaf. Reeses foimei supeiioi, Captain Pym, howevei, so alienates the Deva-
seui household with his lascivious behavioi that Geitiude, the object of his lust
and gieed, iepels his advances. Unable to accept Geitiudes maiiiage to the mas-
tei of Red Leaf, Lynn Devaseui, Captain Pym muideis hei iathei than face hei
iejection. Meiiwethei haidly piesented hei ieadeis with a poitiait of symbolic
ieunication. Only by iepudiating the noithein position in favoi of the Con-
fedeiate stance can Reese maiiy the southein belle. But just as Geitiude could
,o
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
nevei embiace Pym, Meiiwethei suggested, the South could nevei ietuin to the
folds of the Union.
29
Many of the stock chaiacteis that populated noithein ieconciliation naiia-
tives also appeaied in southein naiiatives. Thus, the southein belle, the inim,
ineectual Confedeiate veteian, and the loyal fieedman appeaied in naiiatives
fiom both iegions. These chaiacteis, who weie politically poweiless, pioved to
be especially attiactive to noithein wiiteis because they suggested that no one
could oppose national ieintegiation.
30
Many southein authois, howevei, added
the deteimined, healthy, politically viable Confedeiate veteian to this cast of
chaiacteis. In these southein veisions of the postwai eia, the southein belle mai-
iied this young, dashing, gallant Confedeiate soldiei iathei than a Fedeial o-
cei. Instead of a symbolic ieunication, southeineis depicted a ieinvigoiated
South, iepiesented by the young southein couple. The South might have lost
the wai, the unieconstiucted southeineis aigued, but thiough its own ingenious
and enteipiising eoits, it could withstand this second Yankee onslaught and
peihaps establish the independent South piomised by the Confedeiacy.
In Like untc Like, foi example, Bonnei desciibed a vibiant southein town that,
although impoveiished, had not been eneivated by the wai and Reconstiuction.
As to the people of Yaiiba, Bonnei wiote, they weie woithy of theii town:
could highei piaise be given them: They lived up pietty well to the obligations
imposed by the possession of shadowy ancestial poitiaits hung on theii walls
along with wide-bianched genealogical tiees done in India ink by lovely ngeis
that had long ago ciumbled to dust. The ancestois have long since faded away,
but theii blood continues to nouiish the town of Yaiiba: They weie handsome,
healthy, full of physical foice, as all people must be who iide hoiseback, climb
mountains, and do not lie awake at night to wondei why they weie boin. . . .
That they weie Southeineis was, of couise, theii ist cause of congiatulation. . . .
They felt theii Southein aii and accent a giace and distinction, sepaiating them
fioma people who walked fast, talked thiough theii noses, and built iailioads.
31
The First tc Rebel . . . and the Last tc Succumb
Fai moie common than the theme of ieconciliation was eithei gloiication of
the Confedeiacy oi piomotion of the New South. Both positions stiessed south-
ein distinctiveness and supeiioiity. Haiiisons Flcwer de Hundred, which ist
appeaied in seiialized foim in the Century in I8,o, was a fascinating stoiy and
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
,I
one that is bound to live as a pictuie of the old times, oi by gonenevei-to-
ietuin times in the South. Jeannette L. Gildei, an editoi with The Critic and the
sistei of Richaid Gildei, concluded that if the public is not a fool the book is
bound to be a success.
32
Judging fiom the favoiable ieadei iesponse and ciiti-
cal ieviews Haiiison and hei editois at the Century ieceived, Gildeis piediction
was not fai o taiget.
Many of the accolades heaped on Haiiison piaised hei accuiate poitiayal of
southein life befoie and duiing the wai. The Bcstcn Transcript, foi example, in-
foimed its ieadeis that Flcwer de Hundred oeied a most enticing pictuie of
an ideal family in an ideal home in antebellum Viiginia. So ieal weie the wai
scenes, cautioned the ieviewei, that it is not easy to iealize the chioniclei was
not an eye-witness and paiticipant. Jonathan Hubeit Claiboine, a tiansplanted
southeinei living in New Yoik City, was not alone when he conded to Hai-
iison that she had touched me to the bottom of my heait and I iejoice that you
have dipped youi pen and youi memoiy and pieseived foi youi childien and
the childien of all time and loyal Viiginians a pictuie of that splendid iace of
men and women of which, you, madame, aie a notable example. Comments
such as this one giatied Haiiison, who explicitly set out to oei an authentic
social histoiy of Viiginia in Flcwer de Hundred. On the day she began wiiting hei
long planned, eageily intended, hopelessly halting Southein novel, Haiiison
iecoided in hei diaiy that she had lled hei study ioom with colonial liteiatuie
and innumeiable old letteis and diaiies, which she had amassed to aid hei in
hei wiiting. She latei declaied, iathei diamatically, that should hei novel suc-
ceed, she could die a happy woman: If I can tell the stoiy simply, unaectedly
of things as I iemembeied them and have seen of them in childhood and yet
pieseive a thiead of diamatic inteiest Ill ask no moie, Haiiison piomised.
33
Although clouded by populai yet tangential plotlines of mistaken identities,
scheming ielatives, and a misallocated inheiitance, Flcwer de Hundred at its heait
defends slaveiy and the Souths attempt to foim an independent nation. The
novel centeis on Colonel Thiockmoiton, an indulgent mastei of a laige,
clamoious, and unieasoning tiain of slaves. Haiiison caiefully avoided advo-
cating a ietuin to slaveiy and claimed instead that the system stymied the South
by withholding it fiom the piogiess with which the modein woild was ad-
vancing to geneial enlightenment. Such obseivations aside, she neveitheless
intimated that even with the guiding hand of theii benevolent southein masteis,
slaves sat piecaiiously on the edge of a piecipice, evei ieady to descend into a life
of baibaiism, debaucheiy, and heathenism. Only the kindness of owneis such
,:
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
as Colonel Thiockmoiton pievented slaves fiom ielapsing into the . . . habits
and beliefs of theii Afiican ancestois. Haiiison also aveiied that it must be
owned that these black-skinned peasants, laughing, singing, dancing . . . when
theii woik was done on the giassy slopes of a feitile land of which each had his
little shaie, was sic] bettei o than the teeming thiongs of whites in the London
slums, oi of abject Oiientals undei Euiopean heels. In a diiect baib at noithein
abolitionists, Haiiison declaied that the condition of southein slaves was cei-
tainly fai in advance of that of Afiican negioes any wheie else in subjugation.
34
Haiiison thus satised postwai ieadeis on the issue of slaveiy without iepudi-
ating hei slaveholding past. She gloiied the antebellum southein civilization
while acknowledging the impossibility of its ietuin.
Despite hei defense of slaveiy, Haiiison steadfastly denied that the Civil Wai
was fought to peipetuate the peculiai institution, and she castigated those who
maintained the myth that slaveiy caused the wai. Colonel Thiockmoiton chides
the ie-eating Peyton Willis foi making slaveiy the mattei of contention be-
tween the States. If to ght we aie nally diiven, Thiockmoiton wains Willis,
let it be foi the iight of self-goveinment, foi libeity, but not foi slaveiy.
35
Haiiison was by no means alone in locating the cause of the wai in the Noiths
infiingement of southein iights. Floia McDonald Williams undeiscoied this
point in hei I88o novel, Vhcs the Patrict? by having a nonslaveholdei defend
the southein position. Explaining to his fathei his ieasons foi ghting foi the
Confedeiacy, Jacob Wildei states, the moie I tuin it ovei in my mind, the moie
I think the State had got the ist iight. The State is oldei than the Union, she
gave the Union hei powei at ist, and they made a baigain. The Fedeial Govein-
ment bieaks the baigainthat fiees the State fiom hei pait also, and natuially
thiows it back to the ist condition. So faultless is his own ieasoning, I cant
see how anybody can look at it any othei way, Jacob muses.
36
Williams thus
explained the motivation of nonslaveholdeis who fought foi the Confedeiacy.
Because the conict centeied on constitutional inteipietations iathei than on
slaveiy, all southeineis, not just plantation owneis, had a stake in the Souths
claim to independence.
The tactics of these southein white women authois dieied consideiably fiom
those of Cable, a foimei Confedeiate soldiei. In his I88_ wai novel, Dr. Sevier,
Cable suggested that the Confedeiacy fought foi little moie than pomp, giddy
iounds, banneis, ladies favois, and balls. Foi Cable, few southeineis had
a stake in independence. As Daniel Aaion notes, nothing Cable wiote duiing oi
aftei the Wai indicates he was evei an enthusiastic paitisan of secession. By the
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
,_
Allow me, said Captain Thomas, to suggest that we ciown a queen of this Gypsy-like
scene. Illustiation fiom Floia McDonald Williamss I88o novel, Vhcs the Patrict?.
A Stcry cj the Scuthern Ccnjederacy.
I88os, he had tiansfoimed fiom a dutiful if lukewaim secessionist into a disbe-
lievei of the Confedeiate cause and a civil libeitaiian. Of the southein soldieis
headed o into battle, Cable wiote,
Faiewell, Byionic youth! You aie not of so fiail a stu as you have seemed.
You shall thiist by day and hungei by night. You shall keep vigil on the sands
of the Gulf and on the banks of the Potomac. You shall giow biown, but
piettiei. You shall shivei in loathsome tatteis, yet keep youi giace, youi coui-
tesy, youi joyousness. You shall ditch and lie down in ditches, and shall sing
youi saucy songs in deance in the face of the foe, so blackened with pow-
dei and dust and smoke that youi mothei in heaven would not know hei
child. And you shall boiiow to youi heaits content chickens, hogs, iails,
milk, butteimilk, sweet potatoes, what not. . . . And theie shall be blood on
youi swoid, and bloodtwicethiiceon youi biow. Youi captain shall
die in youi aims, and you shall lead chaige aftei chaige, and shall step up
fiom iank to iank, and all at once, one day, just in the nal onset, with the
cheei on youi lips, and youi ied swoid waving high, with but one lightning
,
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
stioke of agony, down, down, down you shall go in the death of youi deaiest
choice.
37
Absent fiom this passageand, indeed, fiom the novelwas any talk of self-
goveinment, states iights, oi libeity. Cable appaiently found little justication
foi the Confedeiate cause oi had any sense that the cainage somehow ennobled
the South.
The white southein women wiiteis who denied southein iesponsibility foi
the stait of the wai, howevei, asseited the supeiioiity of southein civilization.
Some, like South Caiolinian Giace Elmoie, implied that because southeineis
maintained the ievolutionaiy geneiations belief in state supiemacy, the noith-
eineis had stiayed fiom the oiiginal vision of the Founding Fatheis. In Elmoies
unpublished autobiogiaphical novel, Light and Shadows, she wiote that to the
fiameis of the Constitution, theii state was the centie fiom which all light iadi-
ated. They might have iespected theii countiy, but theii love foi theii own
State was] Supieme. The Confedeiates upheld this sentiment. Biyans :8oo
:8o,. A Rcmance cj the Valley cj Virginia also championed southein supiemacy
and castigated the Noith foi both stiaying fiom the intent of the Founding
Fatheis and foi staiting the Civil Wai. The ominous cloud, that foi yeais had
been loweiing ovei the political sky, wiote Biyan, had now gatheied in one
black mass to explode in the piesidential election of I8oo, electiifying the coun-
tiy with the momentous questions of State Soveieignty and Slaveiy. Moieovei,
Lincolns election demonstiated how useless weie all eoits on the pait of the
Southein people to avoid a bloody conagiation. Williams ihetoiically asked
hei ieadeis if, given its love of the Union, the South could have seceded without
the im conviction that the Noith endangeied libeity. Hei guaianteed iights
weie thieatened, Williams iesponded, and the South iose as a man to defend
them, and in a mannei which she inteipieted to be a lawful and just one.
38
Foi
these women, the Souths coiiect inteipietation of the Constitution assuied the
iegion its iightful inheiitance of the ievolutions legacy and demonstiated the
coiiuption and waywaidness of noithein civilization.
Foi othei women, the pioof of southein supeiioiity lay not with ideological
paiallels between the Confedeiacy and the ievolutionaiy geneiation but with
southein soldieis waitime conduct, and the genie of biogiaphy pioved espe-
cially useful foi the task of gloiifying these men. Although southein women did
not publish biogiaphies on Confedeiate leadeis in eainest until the tuin of the
twentieth centuiydespite Saiah Doiseys claim that women weie well suited
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
,,
to the geniewomen slowly enteied this maiket duiing the I88os. Thus, in a
little piece on Jeeison Davis, Loula Kendall Rogeis, a poet and columnist fiom
Bainesville, Geoigia, cited the foimei piesident as the symbol of the entiie Con-
fedeiacy. His chiistian puiity, . . . upiight piinciples, . . . and unsullied integiity
shone like a beacon to guide the South thiough its oideal. Wiiting in I88o, Rogeis
imploied southeineis to continue to follow Daviss lead to iesist the temptations
of woildly ambition, selsh gieed, and ciuel avaiicein othei woids, the sins
of the Noith.
39
Also in I88o, Maigaiet Junkin Pieston published Peisonal Reminiscences of
Stonewall Jackson in the Century. As Jacksons sistei-in-law, Pieston believed
that she held a key to his chaiactei and was thus eminently qualied foi the
task of biogiaphei. Rathei than focusing on Jacksons militaiy caieei, Pieston
chose to highlight his ieligiosity, compassion, moiality, and devotion to the state
of Viiginia, claiming that these piinciples fueled the man who to the end was
the populai idol of the South.
40
Piestons essay undoubtedly captuied the imagination of many of hei ieadeis,
peihaps none moie than Jacksons second wife, Maiy Anna, who plagiaiized
much of Piestons woik in a biogiaphy of the geneial. Anna Jacksons Lije and
Letters cj General Thcmas }. }ackscn, published by Haipei and Biotheis ve
yeais aftei Piestons essay appeaied, boiiowed heavily fiom Piestons discussion
of Jacksons militaiy caieei and chaiactei development, foi which Pieston was
piesent but Maiy Anna Jackson was not. Pievailing piactice allowed foi the ab-
soiption of public discouise into peisonal naiiatives, but Pieston did not feel so
geneious. Incensed, she infoimed hei editois at the Century of Anna Jacksons
intellectual dishonesty and vehemently expiessed disgust at this act. I was . . .
veiy much suipiised, she wiote to Richaid Gildei, to nd some of the aiticles]
most illustiative anecdotes and as many as fouiteen paitial pages in Mis. Jack-
sons book copied fiom this Centuiy aiticle, without any ciedit given to authoi
oi Edition. . . . This is an inadmissible appiopiiation of anothei peisons litei-
aiy piopeity. Pieston fully expected the Centuiy Company to challenge Haipei
and Biotheis and Anna Jackson on this mattei, if not to piotect one of the maga-
zines favoiite contiibutois then suiely to guaid its own inteiests as publisheis of
the oiiginal aiticle. The ciiculation of Jacksons biogiaphy will be immense in
the south, Pieston piedicted, and she wished to be acknowledged as the cieatoi
of the naiiative as well as to be guaianteed a poition of the piots.
41
Although meie caielessness might explain Anna Jacksons omission of the
piopei iefeience to Piestons essay, it is equally likely that Jackson, as the gen-
,o
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
eials widow, believed she held a piopiietaiy claim to his life and life stoiy, even
the pait that did not include hei. Although Anna Jackson cited othei souices
fiom which she lifted long, desciiptive passages, she was unquestionably unwill-
ing to shaie hei husbands life stoiy with anothei of his intimates. Anna alluded
to Pieston as a lady who was a ielative, with whom Jackson] lived undei the
same ioof foi] seveial yeais, but nevei named hei. Pieston voiced hei fiustia-
tions with Anna Jacksons aiont to the editois of the Century, noting, as Ac-
knowledgment is given eveiywheie thioughout the book, even when the extiacts
aie slight, it is a most unaccountable thing that it is invaiiably omitted wheie I
amconceined. Almost eveiywheie you iead of what a fiiend oi peison has said
oi done, she continued, you may ciedit it to me. Moieovei, Pieston was haidly
a meie lady who was a ielative, and Annas failuie to acknowledge Pieston as
an authoiity on Stonewall Jackson mightily insulted the geneials foimei con-
dant. By lifting poitions on the foimation of Jacksons chaiactei fiom one of
his contempoiaiies and intimates and piesenting the mateiial as hei own, Anna
Jackson was, in eect, wiiting heiself into a ciitical stage in the geneials caieei.
In lionizing hei late husband, she also gave heiself a moie piominent iole in his
histoiy.
42
Anna, of couise, made no such admission. Rathei, she claimed that she wiote
hei veision of the late geneials life so that hei giandchildien could appieciate
that tendei and exquisite phase of his innei life, which was nevei ievealed to
the woild. She explained hei long-held public silence by noting that foi many
yeais aftei the death of my husband the shadow ovei my life was so deep, and
all that conceined him was so sacied, that I could not consent to lift the veil to
the public gaze. She latei contended that she had intended to keep myself in
the backgiound as much as possible when discussing the geneials eaily life. In
explaining hei account of theii maiiied life, howevei, Anna wiote that in what
follows, my own life is so bound up with that of my husband that the ieadei will
have to paidon so much of self as must necessaiily be intioduced to continue
the stoiy of his domestic life and to explain the letteis that follow.
43
This state-
ment appeais diiectly following the passages lifted fiom Piestons essay. Jackson
could now easily explain hei intiusion into the naiiative.
Anna Jacksons biogiaphy of hei late husband is bioadei in scope than Pies-
tons essay, howevei, and the widow piovided hei own inteipietation of Stone-
wall Jacksons caieei. Believing that his ShenandoahValley campaign of I8o: best
iepiesented his militaiy piowess, Anna Jackson asciibed biblical imageiy to the
event. Foi foity days and foity nights the mighty Stonewall battled the poweiful
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
,,
Fedeial foices. Chionicling his seemingly miiaculous achievements, Anna wiote
that Stonewall had maiched oo miles, fought foui pitched battles, defeating
foui sepaiate aimies, with numeious combats and skiimishes, sent to the ieai
_,,oo piisoneis, killed and wounded a still laigei numbei of the enemy, and
defeated oi neutialized foices thiee times as numeious as his upon his piopei
theatie of wai, besides keeping the coips of Geneial Iivin] McDowell inactive at
Fiedeiicksbuig. In addition to using familiai biblical constiuctions to desciibe
hei husbands battles, she undeiscoied his piofound piety, leading hei ieadeis
to undeistand the wai in teims of good and evil. With Stonewall Jackson and
his men cast as Chiistian heioes, theii foes could be seen only as the foices of
daikness. While Anna Jackson was by no means the ist to confei Chiistian-
heio status on Confedeiate soldieis, she was one of the most vocal heio makeis
in the post-Reconstiuction South.
44
Anna also used the occasion to countei unatteiing iepoits of hei husbands
militaiy acumen. Repoits of Jacksons ill-fated I8o: Bath-Romney campaign pai-
ticulaily iiked his widow. The geneial, deteimined to shoie upwesteinViiginias
suppoit foi the Confedeiacy, had devised a plan to take the stiategically im-
poitant town of Romney. On New Yeais Day, which was unusually waim, Jack-
sons men, ieinfoiced by six thousand of Geneial William W. Loiings tioops,
set out to maich. By the end of the day, the weathei had tuined biutally cold.
The supply wagons lagged fai behind the maiching men, leaving the soldeis cold
and hungiy. Jackson piessed his men onwaid, despite theii obvious fatigue, and
on Januaiy I, I8o:, they nally ieached Romney. Only then does Jackson ap-
peai to have iealized that many of his men weie openly complaining about his
stiategy, eaining him the name Fool Tom Jackson. Anna Jackson suggested
that Stonewalls men completely tiusted him, howevei. She iecounted the stoiy,
foi example, of a conveisation she had oveiheaid between a Confedeiate ocei
and a woman fiomWinchestei. When asked foi his opinion of Geneial Jackson,
the man ieplied, I have the mcst implicit ccndence in him, madam. At ist I did
not know what to think of his bold and aggiessive mode of waifaie, but since I
kncw the man, and have witnessed his ability and his patiiotic devotion, I wculd
jcllcw him anywhere. Anna also suggested that the iumoied discontent of the
men on the Romney expedition came not fiom Jacksons tioops but fiom those
of Geneial Loiing. Although the seveie weathei made the campaign dicult, she
admitted, Jacksons command boie up with gieat foititude and without mui-
muiing, but the adveise weathei had the eect of gieatly intensifying the dis-
content of Loiing and his men. She intimated that the discontent stemmed less
,8
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
fiom the seveie weathei and Jacksons insistence on piessing foiwaid, howevei,
than fiom Loiings opposition to a wintei campaign. Moieovei, an unfoitunate
jealousy developed between the two commands, causing an immense amount
of tiouble and disappointment to Jackson, and fiustiated much of the success
foi which he had ieason to hope. To shoie up hei veision, she included in the
second edition of the biogiaphy a seiies of ieminiscences by men who had seived
with Jackson, testimonials to his militaiy genius.
45
Vaiina Davis, too, enteied the liteiaiy maiket in the I8,os, publishing a two-
volume biogiaphy of hei late husband, Jeeison Davis. Jeeison Davis had
penned a cumbeisome, two-volume defense of states iights theoiy, The Rise
and Fall cj the Ccnjederate Gcvernment, in I88I, wiiting with the assistance of
the iecently widowed Doisey, authoi of the Reccllecticns cj Henry Vatkins Allen
and the novel Lucia Dare. Foi the foimei piesident of the Confedeiacy, ieuni-
cation meant an inciease in state debt, fiaud, and ciime as well as the dissolution
of the supiemacy of law and an abiidgment of the soveieignty of the people.
Restoiation demanded, accoiding to Davis, a complete ievolution in the piin-
ciple of the goveinment of the United States, the subveision of the State gov-
einments, the subjugation of the people, and the destiuction of the fiateinal
Union. The question iemained, though, whethei the ieunication would last oi
whethei the people would come foith iedeemed, disenthialled, iegeneiated
and ially . . . to shout in thundeious tones foi the soveieignty of the people and
the unalienable iights of man. Accoiding to biogiaphei BeitiamWyatt-Biown,
Doisey oeied valuable diiection to Davis, coiiesponding with sundiy politi-
cians and geneials to enlist theii memoiy of specic events to be tieated in his
manusciipt. In addition, she tiansciibed notes, took dictation, coiiected piose,
and oeied advice about style and oiganizationmost if it, unfoitunately, not
taken. Doisey viewed Davis as a geneious-heaited, much abused leadei, who
deseived the giatitude and acclaim of Southeineis and the iespect of gentlemen
eveiywheie.
46
Not suipiisingly, Vaiina Howell Davis, away in Euiope at the time, suspected
Doiseys motives, woiiying not only that the ielationship between the foimei
piesident and Doisey might develop into an intimate one but also that Doisey
sought to claim co-authoiship of the memoiis. Accoiding to Wyatt-Biown,
Doiseys editoiial help galled Vaiina Davis because that had once been hei]
piivilege.
47
It is theiefoie not suipiising that despite the iisks of conjuiing
up painful memoiies of defeat and of antagonizing the Noith, Vaiina Davis
penned a biogiaphy of hei husband shoitly aftei his death. Rathei than allowing
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
,,
Doiseys impiimatui on Jeeison Daviss account of the Confedeiacy to stand,
Vaiina Davis asseited hei authoiity as his widow to in eect wiite heiself back
into his life.
Vaiina Davis noted that she felt compelled to combat the noithein chaiac-
teiization of hei husband as a monstei of ambition and ciuelty. She admitted
to hei ieadeis that although she was inconsolably bittei about the defeat of the
Confedeiacy, she sought neithei ieciimination noi ievenge but wished only to
piesent evidence to convince hei ieadeis that hei husband was one of the most
patiiotic, humane, and benevolent of men. Above all, she asseited, he honoi-
ably and ieligiously lived, and feailessly died. The ciiticism leveled against hei
husband did not suipiise hei: If Moses found, in the theociatic goveinment he
seived, a golden calf lifted on high undei the blaze of the pillai of ie by night,
she ieasoned, one cannot wondei at my husbands fate. The compaiison to
Moses ceitainly did moie than explain Daviss unfavoiable ieputation as the fate
of all misundeistood leadeis. It posited him as the leadei of a weaiy, downtiod-
den people, who, like Moses, had to guide his followeis on an exodus to fiee-
dom. And like Moses, who died on Mount Nebo befoie ieaching the piomised
land with the Isiaelites, Jeeison Davis died befoie white southeineis could ie-
deem theii downfall at Appomattox. The eoits of Vaiina Davis, howevei, and
the countless othei southein women who chose to memoiialize his life would
ensuie that posteiity is the just and geneious judge who iecoided Jeeison
Daviss name high on the shining lists of biave and self-saciicing heioes.
48
BothVaiina Davis and Anna Jackson found themselves in the cuiious position
of lionizing loseis. Although novelists and diaiists defended a defeated southein
cultuie, they did not face the singulai task of naming one guie as the souice of
all that was iight with the Confedeiacy. No mattei how imly Davis, Jackson,
and othei biogiapheis believed in the cause of the South and the viitue of theii
subjects, they could not foiget the fiustiation, humiliation, and pain sueied at
Appomattox. Both Jackson and Davis expiessed the tiepidation they felt as they
began theii piojects. The task of ielating my husbands life in the Confedeiacy
is appioached with anxious didence, conceded Davis. Jackson confessed hei
hesitancy to ieveal hei husbands life to the public gaze.
49
Issues of authoiity
and authoiship might explain this ieluctance to iecoid theii husbands lives, but
it is also possible that Jackson and Davis iecognized the pioblems inheient in
aggiandizing loseis.
Vaiina Davis and Anna Jackson ielied heavily on ocial iecoids of the wai,
and Davis iefeiied to hei husbands account as well. At times, the woids of men
Ioo
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compiised entiie chapteis of both womens woiks, with little oiiginal wiiting by
way of intioduction oi tiansition. In one instance, Davis defeiied completely to
men, claiming, the details of the gieat battles of the wai I will not attempt to
desciibe, leaving that duty to the paiticipants, and iefei my ieadeis to the many
able histoiians who have depicted them, and to ocial iepoits now being pub-
lished by the Goveinment. She latei iescinded hei vow and included hei own
desciiptions of wai scenes, but even then, she depended on the woids of men,
appaiently distiusting hei own voice, as she did when counteiing accounts that
dispaiaged hei husbands chaiactei oi slandeied the Confedeiacy. Responding
to the allegations that Jeeison Davis had failed to duplicate the Confedeiate vic-
toiy at Manassas in the latei months of I8oI, Vaiina Davis diewon othei souices
to instiuct otheiwise . . . impaitial histoiians who might have missed the iefu-
tations of such chaiges. I have quoted enough, she believed, to enable the
ieadei to see the gioss injustice of the accusation that he was iesponsible foi the
non-action of oui aimies.
50
Although Davis felt qualied to entei the liteiaiy
maiket on the wai, she did not completely tiust hei ability to tell hei husbands
stoiy without assistance.
Vaiina Daviss and Anna Jacksons ieliance on mens woids to tell tales of wai
iaises inteiesting questions about womens access to political discouise. As non-
combatants, women aie immunized fiom political action. Feminist theoiist
Maigaiet R. Higonnet asks, Can woids without acts have authoiity:
51
Both
Jackson and Davis seized on one stiategy foi eluding this conundium: quoting
extensively fiom combatants. Jackson and Davis iecognized that they weie inti-
mately connected to the Civil Wai and that they could legitimately wiite theii
veisions of it. Theii claims to authoiship could not be challenged. Issues that
have tiaditionally fallen into womens spheie, such as home, family, viitue,
piety, and patiiotism, aie inextiicably tied to the waging of wai and the cie-
ation of wai naiiatives. Fuitheimoie, legacies of defeat did not disciiminate by
gendei. The annihilation of the Confedeiacy tiansfoimed Daviss and Jacksons
expeiiences, as it did foi all southeineis. The widows asseitions of authoiity on
battles, howevei, weie moie specious. The maishaling of lengthy passages fiom
wai iecoids and accounts of foimei Confedeiates, then, seived to bolstei theii
claims of authoiity.
Vaiina Davis did iely on hei own woids, howevei, when discussing the women
of the Confedeiacy. Although hei woik was ostensibly a biogiaphy of hei late
husband, Davis nevei missed an oppoitunity to comment on the devotion, sin-
ceiity, and industiy of southein women: As I ieveit to the heioic, sinceie, Chiis-
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
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tian women of that self-saciicing community, she wiote of the women of Rich-
mond, it is impossible to specify those who excelled in all that makes a womans
childien piaise hei in the gates and iise up and call hei blessed, and this tiib-
ute is paid to them out of a heait full of tendei ieminiscences of the yeais we
dealt with themin mutual laboi, sympathy, condence, and aection. Although
Davis oeied only tentative comments on battles themselves, she unhesitatingly
inteipieted the actions of southein women. Moieovei, she believed the entiie
naiiative to be hei own cieation. When the Belfoid Publishing Company al-
legedly failed to live up to its contiact with Davis, she sued to iecovei possession
of the manusciipt.
52
Phoebe Yates Pembei, a Confedeiate nuise fiom Richmond, similaily upheld
the Confedeiate cause by piaising the nobility of southein white women. In hei
memoiis, A Scuthern Vcmans Stcry, published in I8,,, Pembei noted that the
women of the South had been openly and violently iebellious fiom the moment
they thought theii states iights touched. . . . They weie the ist to iebel, she
explained, and the last to succumb. Taking an active pait in all that came within
theii spheie, and often compelled to go beyond this when the eld demanded
as many soldieis as could be iaised, feeling a passion of inteiest in eveiy man
in giay unifoim of the Confedeiate seivice, they weie doubly anxious to give
comfoit and assistance to the sick and wounded. Even when condence in the
Souths eoits waned, accoiding to Pembei, Confedeiate women stood stead-
fastly behind theii men and theii cause. In the couise of a long and haiassing
wai . . . no appeal was evei made to the women of the South, individually oi
collectively, that did not meet with a ieady iesponse. Moieovei, Confedeiate
women gave geneiously and unostentatiously, accoiding to Pembei. Like Vaiina
Davis, then, Pembei commented on the devotion and industiy of Confedeiate
women as a means of valoiizing the Confedeiate cause in geneial.
53
Accoiding to many white southein women, the baseness and amoiality of
the Fedeial soldieis undeiscoied the nobility and viituousness of the Confed-
eiates. In shaip contiast to Jeeison Davis and his devotees, foi example, weie
the soldieis of Geneial William T. Sheimans aimy, who iansacked the south-
ein countiyside duiing the last yeai of the wai. Claia D. Maclean published hei
ieminiscences of a Fedeial iaid in the Scuthern Histcrical Scciety Papers, telling
of one Union soldiei who toie open the diess-neck of the dignied old mothei,
and diawing thence a silk handkeichief in which was wiapped sixteen gold dol-
lais. Giace Pieison Beaid of Faiield County, South Caiolina, witnessed the
wholesale destiuction of hei home at the hands of Fedeial soldieis, whom she
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likened to the locusts of Egypt. Of all the noitheineis violent and disiespectful
acts, none was moie outiageous to Beaid than theii diiective to hei slaves, who
weie told . . . that if white women iefused to give up all theii piivate possessions
the iule was to stiip and seaich them.
54
The waging of wai against noncom-
batants was heinous, she believed, the encouiagement of slaves to haiass theii
white women owneis was contemptible.
Pembeis naiiative stands in maiked contiast to such contemptuous desciip-
tions of Fedeial iaids. Of the Union invasion of Richmond in the spiing of
I8o,, Pembei wiote, Theie was haidly a spot in Richmond not occupied by a
blue coat, but they weie oideily, quiet, and iespectful. Thoioughly disciplined,
wained not to give oense by look oi act, they did not speak to anyone unless
ist addiessed, and though the women of the South contiasted with sickness of
heait the dieiences between this splendidly equipped aimy, and the wai-toin,
wasted aspect of theii own defendeis, they weie giateful foi the consideiations
shown them, and if they iemained in theii sad homes, with closed doois and
windows, oi walked the stieets with aveited eyes and veiled faces, it was that
they could not beai the piesence of invadeis, even undei the most favoiable cii-
cumstances. But even Pembei noted that theie was no assimilation between
the invadeis and the invaded.
55
Elizabeth Aveiy Meiiwethei desciibed Union iaids that iivaled those iecoided
in womens diaiies oi iecounted in theii ieminiscences. A victim of Sheimans
iaids, Meiiwethei ctionalized hei expeiience in The Master cj Red Leaj. Unlike
Meiiwetheis home, which stood in the way of Sheimans advancing aimy, Red
Leaf plantation was taigeted by Geneial Benjamin Butleis tioops. Like Beaid
and countless othei southein women, Meiiwethei was outiaged by the Fedeial
aimys policy of waging wai on women and childien. Captain Pym, the leadei of
the iaid on Red Leaf, justies his muideious activity by defeiiing to the policy
of Butlei, who believed it as much to the inteiest of the Union Aimy to ciush
the spiiit of secession in women as in men. In this same vein, Pym conducts
the iaid with calculated eciency, invading eveiy place, closet, and coinei
and toiching the Devaseui piopeity in less than twenty minutes.
56
The invadeis
weie no longei exteinal, iemoved fiom the Devaseui family. Fiequent visitois to
the Louisiana plantation, the Fedeial soldieis soon became familiai, if not wel-
comed, guests of the Devaseui household. Red Leaf housed the foices of its
own destiuction.
Thiough ction and incieasingly thiough biogiaphy and ieminiscences, then,
southein women lionized the actions of the Confedeiates while casting moial
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
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aspeisions against the Fedeials. Both tactics undeiscoied the supeiioiity of ante-
bellum southein civilization. Signicantly, these authois made few iefeiences
to the postwai South. Foi some, the futuie oeied little solace aftei the Con-
fedeiacys demise. Meiiwethei, foi example, believed that by exciting the pas-
sions of southeineis, the wai had completely coiiupted theii society. She theie-
foie iestiicted the majoiity of hei wiiting to the antebellum and wai yeais,
laigely avoiding the painful postwai eia. The biogiapheis centeied theii woiks
on the moial development and subsequent militaiy caieeis of theii subjects. Be-
cause Stonewall Jackson had died at the battle of Chancelloisville in May I8o_,
Anna Jackson had little ieason to caiiy hei naiiative beyond the wai. Because
Vaiina Davis was intent on vindicating hei husbands somewhat tainished politi-
cal ieputation, she also iestiicted hei biogiaphy to the pie-Reconstiuction eia.
Women wiiteis such as Constance Caiy Haiiison and Floia McDonald Williams
linked the Souths supeiioiity with its delity to the Founding Fatheis vision
and consequently had little need to extend naiiatives into the postwai peiiod:
they had iedeemed the Confedeiacys downfall at Appomattox. By divoicing
the outcome of the wai fiom issues of iighteousness and justice, Haiiison, Wil-
liams, and otheis of theii ilk demonstiated the nobility of the Confedeiates and,
by extiapolation, of theii descendants. All of these authois of the immediate
post-Reconstiuction eia, howevei, shaied the belief that southein majesty and
giandeui iested with Confedeiacy.
The Grim Tragedies cj Existence
Some southein women nevei identied with the Confedeiacy. Unlike Kate Cum-
ming and otheis who glimpsed the piomises of the post-Reconstiuction South,
howevei, these women saw only the desolation of the countiyside. Local-coloi
novelist Maiy Noailles Muifiee, wiiting about hei native Tennessee, painted a
bleak pictuie of the land in Vhere the Battle Vas Fcught. The wai had ended,
the South had been iedeemed, yet black waste and a pallid hoiizon sui-
iounded the inhabitants of Chattalla. The lives of the townspeople weie as bleak
as the landscape. The pulses of life thiobbed languidly, Muifiee wiote. Little
inteiested the citizens save the tiagic and hopeless events of the wai. They
looked upon the futuie as only capable of fuinishing a seiies of meagie and
supplemental episodes, she obseived. Chattalla failed to iealize the spectaculai
developments piomised by New South boosteis.
57
The dizzying achievements of
the New South had altogethei bypassed Muifiees Tennessee town, and its in-
Io
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. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
Maiy Noailles Muifiee. (Couitesy Special Collections Depaitment,
Robeit W. Woodiu Libiaiy, Emoiy Univeisity)
habitants weie left without a futuie on which to pin theii hopes and without a
past to sustain them.
The inadequacy of the pastspecically, the Confedeiate pastto nuituie
the iesidents of Chattalla is most acutely felt by Geneial Vayne, the bittei and
unieconstiucted main chaiactei of Muifiees novel. His house oveilooks the bai-
ien plain wheie the battle was fought, and fiom the windows the geneial can
see the iuins of Foit Despaii, wheie he lost his aim ghting the Fedeial aimy.
Confionted by the physical ieality of his loss as well his memoiies of the battle,
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
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Vayne at times suiiendeis to those distiaught questions . . . which involved the
iighteousness of the Lost Cause. Reviewing his life, doubts thickened about
him. Doubts! And his iight aim was gone, and his futuie lay waste, and his chil-
diens lot was blighted. And he had ung away the iich tieasuie of his blood,
and the exaltation of his couiage, and his potent enthusiasms, and the lives of
his noble comiades, who had followed him till they could no longei. Indeed,
memoiies of the Confedeiacy so plague Vayne that he is glad when the sciews of
the usuieis come] down again, and the piesent beais] so heavily upon himthat
he giows] dulled in the sueiing of the past.
58
Foi the geneial, the only guai-
antee fullled by the post-Reconstiuction South is that the pain of the piesent
can suipass that of the past.
The past does not haunt only Geneial Vayne, howevei, it liteially haunts the
land wheie the battle was fought. The iesidents of Chattalla believe that the
ghosts of dead soldieis ioam the iavaged foimei battleeld. The shatteied mii-
ioi in Vaynes home faces the woild outside and oeis bizaiie ieections and
distoited glimpses, casting an eeiie pall ovei the household. Coupled with the
weiid sights is the fantastic noise that emanates fiom the elda hollow ioai
thiough the vastness of the night and the plain, explained Muifiee. To the in-
habitants of the Vayne household, the noise iesembles the sound of the battle.
The tiamp of feet, that long ago nished theii maiches, iose and fell in dull
iteiation in the distance. The wind contiibutes to the uneaithly noise: The
gusts weie huiled thiough the bomb-iiven cupola, which swayed and gioaned
and ciashed as it had done on the day when even moie impetuous foices toie
thiough its walls. Faifai and fainta bugle was tfully sounding the iecall.
59
The waiindeed, the entiie southein Confedeiacyoeis little to the Vayne
family oi to the town of Chattalla. The hollow, ghostlike memoiies aie eet-
ing, distant, and disembodied, incapable of pioviding foi iesidents of the post-
Reconstiuction South.
Not even the Vayne home can sustain the family. Fiom the paiapet at Foit
Despaii, the shatteied old house was visible in the distance, its uppei windows
still aame with the sunset, as with some gieat inwaid conagiation. The house
ceitainly ts in with the suiiounding iuin, yet the whole place was giimly in-
congiuous with the idea of home. Heie, as in othei local-coloi ction of the late
nineteenth centuiy, home is a iealized and xed yet infeitile and uncieative
place. Unlike the sentimental wiiteis who conceived of the home as a metaphoi
foi womans nuituiing inuence, Muifiee iepiesented the home as an existen-
tial, conciete spot that not only was destioyed by the wai but itself constituted
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a souice of decay and death. Befoie the novels action begins, Fedeial iaideis
have destioyed the Vayne home, as they did Red Leaf plantation in Meiiwetheis
novel. Muifiees image of the inwaid conagiation suggests that the foices of
destiuction came fiom inside. The family itself, still living within the iansacked
house, is incapable of guaianteeing suivival. Living with the old, ciippled Gen-
eial Vayne is his widowed sistei, Mis. Kiiby, and his daughtei, Maicia, who has
become haidened by the wai: She deiived a commensuiate idea of the giim
tiagedies of existence fiom the sight of the same ciack of tioops befoie the sun
went down, decimated and demoialized, mangled and iooted.
60
Unable to pio-
tect Maicia fiom the haish iealities of wai oi fiom its iadical changes to the
suiiounding countiyside, the Vayne home could not oei Maicia oi hei dying
family any solace iegaiding the futuie.
Given Muifiees gloomy piedictions foi the Souths futuie, it is not suipiising
that hei publishei, James R. Osgood, expiessed ieseivations about the novels
success. Although the book was published duiing the same yeai that the Cen-
tury began its Civil Wai seiies, Osgood expeiienced none of the heady optimism
about his companys nancial ietuin in which Robeit Johnson and Richaid
Gildei ieveled. While Johnson and Gildei hoped to iide the wave of populaiity
that Civil Wai naiiatives weie enjoying in the late nineteenth centuiy, Osgood
delayed the publication of Vhere the Battle Vas Fcught. Although the editoi
piofessed that the countiy exhibited a pievailing dulness sic] in business, and
geneial lack of inteiest in things liteiaiy, to explain the changes in the novels
pioduction schedule, the publication of Civil Wai liteiatuie waxed in the post-
Reconstiuction yeais. Osgood nevei explicitly expiessed a lack of condence in
Muifiees wiiting, yet his hesitancy to ielease Vhere the Battle Vas Fcught sug-
gests doubts about the ability of Muifiees ieading public to accept hei bleak
pictuie of the South.
61
Despite Osgoods ieseivations about the likely ieception of Muifiees novel,
othei southein women shaied the wiiteis vision of a desolate South. Geoi-
gia lectuiei and columnist Rebecca Latimei Felton maintained that the wai in-
cieased the geneial level of southein poveity while cieating a new undeiclass of
pooi whites. Woise, the abolition of slaveiy engendeied a scaicity of eld laboi,
which, accoiding to Felton, foiced pooi white unpiotected southein women
to go to the ioughest and haidest woik, unt foi the delicate and peculiai con-
ditions of the sex. The tiansplantation of pooi white southein women out of
theii spheie seemed especially pathetic to Felton because they weie the de-
scendents of biave soldieis who had given theii lives to defend the Confedeiacy
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
Io,
although they had nevei owned slaves. The South, in othei woids, was incapable
of taking caie of the daughteis of the wai geneiation, who weie alsoand moie
impoitantlythe motheis of the coming geneiations of whites.
62
Anothei inescapably tiagic iesult of the wai was the pievalence of iace an-
tipathy in the South. Accoiding to Felton, the fedeial goveinment foiced on a
iesentful South a society with black and white iaces combined that the Noith
would nevei toleiate. The inevitable outcome of this iacial tension, Felton pie-
dicted, was a iace wai, the most bittei and iiieconcilable of all conicts. This
ievolutionaiy upiising will eithei exteiminate the blacks, she wained, oi foice
the white citizens to leave the countiy. Although antebellum southein politi-
cians had made a fatal mistake by not iecognizing the global abhoiience of
slaveiy, noithein abolitionists and politicians had piecipitated this iiiepiess-
ible iace wai by convincing the fieed slaves that they weie the white mans
equal. One geneiation aftei the Civil Wai, anothei wai would soon be fought,
again on southein soil, and again white southeineis would be the loseis. Soon
aftei Felton expiessed these views, the town of Wilmington, Noith Caiolina,
eiupted in a bloody iacial massacie. Heie, howevei, the loseis weie equity and
a vision foi iacial justice, not the white south.
63
Felton ceitainly was not the only white southeinei who commented on the
Negio pioblem in the post-Reconstiuction eia. Cable, foi example, published
a seiies of essays in the I88os on Afiican-Ameiicans position in the iecon-
stiucted Union. As a Confedeiate soldiei, Cable did not question slaveiy as
an institution, as Aaion notes, and believed in a White Mans Goveinment.
Two decades of social uniest, howevei, had caused Cable to iethink his posi-
tion, and by the mid-I88os he was championing civil and political iights foi the
foimei slaves. Cable believed that he spoke foi the silent South and hoped
that his essays would convince southeineis to settle the Negio pioblem with-
out outside inteivention. In I88,, Cable published The Fieedmans Case in Eq-
uity in the Century. Cable quickly detailed the fate of the newly fieed slaves
in the twenty yeais since emancipation. Although legislation and constitutional
amendments had aoided ceitain piotections to Afiican-Ameiicans, Cable
noted, iecent decisions by the Supieme Couitpiobably the Civil Rights Cases
of I88_, which gutted the Civil Rights Act of I8,, and the Fouiteenth Amend-
mentmade those achievements void. Moieovei, the populai mind in the
old fiee states, weaiy of stiife at aims length, bewildeied by its complications,
vexed by many a blundei, eagei to tuin to the cuie of othei evils, and even
tinctuied by that iace feeling whose giossei excesses it would so gladly see sup-
Io8
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. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
piessed, has ietieated fiom its uncomfoitable dictational attitude and thiown
the whole mattei ovei to the states of the South. The Noiths abandonment of
Afiican-Ameiicans thus aoided the South an unpiecedented oppoitunity to
ensuie justice foi the newly fieed men and women. Cable aigued that continued
oppiession stemmed fiom the suiviving sentiments of an extinct and now uni-
veisally execiated institution, sentiments which no intelligent oi moial people
should haiboi a moment aftei the admission that slaveiy was a moial mistake.
The South must act swiftly, Cable wained, standing on hei honoi befoie the
clean equities of the issue. Defying the Constitution, the withholding of simple
iights, is expensive, Cable noted, it has cost much blood. Concessions, he ai-
gued, have nevei cost a diop. Moie to the point, moiality and justice could
not be defeiied, he suggested, peihaps a bit naively. It is eveiy peoples duty
befoie God to see univeisal justice and equity until the whole people of eveiy
once slaveholding state can stand up as one man, saying Is the Fieedman a fiee
man: and the whole woild shall answei, Yes.
64
Not suipiisingly, the Century ieceived a uiiy of angiy letteis in iesponse to
Cables aiticle. As Ailin Tuinei explained in his edition of Cables essays, the
editois at the Century decided to have Heniy Giady, a New South boostei and
editoi of the Atlanta Ccnstituticn, summaiize the opposition. Giadys essay, In
Plain Black and White, aigued foi the continuation of white supiemacy, noting
that whites had to iule because they have intelligence, chaiactei, and piop-
eity. Tuinei obseived that the distance between Cables and Giadys positions
was most acutely iealized in Giadys declaiation, Nowheie on eaith is theie
kindliei feeling, closei sympathy, oi less fiiction between two classes of society
than between the whites and the blacks of the South today.
65
Cables iebuttal, a
seventeen-page aiticle titled The Silent South, appeaied in the Apiil I88, issue
of the Century.
In this aiticle, peihaps moie than in his eailiei wiitings, Cable stiessed the
uigency with which the South needed to act. We occupy a giound . . . on which
we cannot iemain, he wiote. Noi could the South go backwaid. Cable believed
that the best men of the South aie coming daily into convictions that condemn
theii own beliefs of yesteiday as the antiquated aitilleiy of an outgiown past.
Accoiding to Aaion, Cable badly misjudged the audience, oi at least undeiesti-
mated the duiability of time-tested Southein dogmas immune to logic and unaf-
fected by even his biand of tactful aigumentation. If Cable spoke foi the silent
South, then suiely the silent contingent must have held theii tongues aftei the
public outciy piovoked by Cables published lectuies and aiticles. Fewcame to
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
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defend him publicly. Indeed, Louisiana authoi Giace King believed that Cable,
thiough his wiitings, especially his ction about New Oileans, had stabbed
the city in the back . . . to please the Noithein piess, pioclaiming his piefei-
ence foi coloied people ovei white and quadioons ovei the Cieoles. King set
out to wiite a stoiy, latei published as Mcnsieur Mctte, as a coiiective to Cables
wiitings.
66
Few of the southein white women wiiteis consideied in this volume ques-
tioned the white supiemacy of the Jim Ciow eia. Bonnei, foi example, deciied
Negio iule in Like untc Like. As the female piotagonist, Blythe Heindon, con-
templates hei ielationship with foimei abolitionist and Union soldiei Rogei
Ellis, she seeks a lesson in politics fiom Van Tollivei, a staunch suppoitei of the
Demociatic Paity. Blythe nds Vans position compelling, foi equally fiee fiom
iant oi coldness, imin opinion but modest of utteiance, his woids had a manly
iing that could not fail of impiessing the listenei. Tollivei does not advocate the
ietuin of slaveiy oi wish to abiidge the iights of fiee men. But as foi having
blacks] iule ovei us, that is a dieient thing. They aie] the tool of these mis-
eiable caipet-baggeis, who have plundeied the countiy steadily since the wai,
and who must be diiven out, ioot and bianch. The veiy essence of the Con-
stitution is violated by theii piesence among us. . . . We have been taxed and
iobbed and insulted long enough. We must get in a Demociat Piesident next
fall, who will fiee oui countiy of its incubus, and then an eia of piospeiity will
set in foi the South. Even Colonel Dextei, a Republican, agiees with Tolliveis
assessment of negio iule. The Demociats, oeis the colonel, committed a
political ciime in the South, the Republicans, a political blundei. Both iuined
theii paity. But oui blundeinegio iuleis likely to be moie disastious to us
than youi ciimeaimed secession, because youve tuined about, and we cant.
It will iuin the Noith as well as the South. Bonnei latei emphasized Afiican-
Ameiicans incapacity and noitheineis inability to shepheid the fieedmen and
-women by killing o Civil Rights Bill, a young foimei slave left in Rogeis caie.
Realizing that he is about to die, Bill longingly looks at Ellis and says wistfully,
You was goin to make a man of me. Bill had imagined a life that was not to be.
I could see myself tall an stiaight as Mais Van Tollivei, the pioud southein
Demociat, but Rogei could not save his chaige.
67
Some white southein women desciibed additional pioblems confionting the
postwai South. Like Felton, Meiiwethei sawlittle in the postwai south to sustain
hope. Although Meiiwethei extolled the viitues of antebellum southein society,
she did not believe that they had suivived to caiiy southeineis thiough the post-
IIo
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
wai yeais. Instead, she desciibed the iiiepaiable losses sueied by the South dui-
ing the wai. Like Muifiee, Meiiwethei undeiscoied the damage done to the land.
Thiough the voice of the heioine of The Master cj Red Leaj, Meiiwethei catalogs
the destiuction she witnessed almost eveiy day duiing the wai: I sawelds
laid waste, and dead cattle on the wayside iotting. I sawten thousand homes
in ashes, and ovei the iuins chaiied chimneys stood sentinel. I sawdesola-
tion, and woe, and despaii spiead ovei the South. And I sawbattleelds and
bleeding men, and dogs of w.v lapping human blood. Meiiwethei, like Felton,
aigued that women weie the gieatest sueieis of the wai. Aftei the hostilities
had ceased, whithei went the wietched women, once happy motheis in those
homes left in ashes: she asked. In iesponse to hei own question, she oeied,
Alas! they went wandeiing to and fio ovei a desolate land, houseless, home-
less, husbandless, hollow-eyed with hungei, theii childien ciied foi biead, and
theie was none to give them. Moieovei, Reconstiuction did not ielieve the
South of any of its ills. Captain Pym, the maiauding, muideiing Fedeial ocei,
becomes a piominent membei of the Louisiana state goveinment. His two illit-
eiate slave accomplices, Pieachei Jim and One-Eyed Sampson, aie iewaided foi
theii eoits by being appointed to the boaid of education and the New Oileans
police foice, iespectively. Undei this caipetbaggei and scalawag despotic iule,
the South continues to suei the indignities and injuiies that began duiing the
wai.
68
Of all of these tiagic iesults of the Civil Wai, the most distuibing foi Meii-
wethei was its eect on hei soul. She was not immune to the passions engendeied
by sectional politics and the wai, and hei un-Chiistian emotions suipiised
and tioubled hei: I, like all people in the Union, went mad, and was possessed
by the spiiit of wai, she confessed. It diove me like a demon, it made itself an
ally of my passion, it egged on the envy and jealousy of my natuie, and theie
united and goaded me to ciime. The ciisis in moiality did not end with the
wai but continued thiough Reconstiuction, and again, Meiiwethei found hei-
self susceptible to bitteiness and iesentfulness. Meiiwethei defended hei ciisis
of faith: when the monstei wai] stalks ovei the land, fiom his blood-stained
hands he scatteis eveiy evil possible to humanity. He bieaks all bonds, stiikes
down law, tiamples oidei undei his feet. He makes a moial chaos and sets des-
potism to iule ovei it. Ultimately, howevei, Meiiwethei found this explanation
unsatisfactoiy. Hei soul, along with foity million otheis, had been coiiupted,
and theie was no chance foi iedemption. If wai embodied all that was evil in
humanity, then the futuie was bleak foi those tainted by wais poisonous inu-
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
III
ence. Theie could be no iecoveiy foi those who fell fiom giace. Meiiwethei, in
the voice of Hestei Stanhope, the naiiatoi of The Master cj Red Leaj, concluded
hei tale by stating that although many yeais had passed since the action of the
novel took place, time had biought no change foi the bettei. My skies aie still
ashen, Hestei weaiily admits, and the suns light is not light foi me, and all
natuie yet weais a sombie hue, and the pale faces of the dead I saw buiied in the
old saicophagus, with the giey bones of a past age, still it and oat befoie my
eyes. Like the townspeople of Chattalla in Muifiees novel, Hestei is haunted
by the past and inconsolable about the piospects foi the futuie.
69
Othei white southein women may not have been as publicly pessimistic as
Muifiee, Felton, and Meiiwethei but neveitheless conded theii feai foi the
Souths futuie in theii unpublished wiitings. Jane Cionly of Wilmington, Noith
Caiolina, foi example, complained in the eaily I88os that noitheineis have
been oui judges, oui Post-masteis, the collectois of oui poits, the oceis of oui
couits and National Goveinments, and at the same time had not a thought oi
feeling in unison with oui people, only the desiie to giow iich at oui expense.
Undei such a heavy yoke, ieasoned Cionly, the South could nevei develop its
indigenous iesouices oi talents. Also wiiting twenty yeais aftei the wai, Floia K.
Oveiman of South Caiolina dwelt on the hoiiois of the immediate postwai
peiiod. While New South boosteis piaised the splendid achievements of south-
ein industiy and memoiialists iomanticized the giandeui of the Confedeiacy,
Oveiman appaiently failed to connect the wai with a viable past oi a piom-
ising futuie foi the South. Instead, she linked only giief, soiiow, mouining,
and tiouble with the wai and its legacy.
70
Oveiman, Cionly, and many othei
southein women had a much moie limited audience than Meiiwethei and othei
published wiiteis, but these lessei-known authois iecoiled with equal disdain,
lamented with equal despaii, and ciiticized with equal vigoi the disastious im-
plications of the wai and the hollow piaise of the New South boosteis.
The post-Reconstiuction liteiatuie of southein women conims theii giow-
ing pieoccupation with the wai. Publication guies foi Civil Wai novels, which
had waned duiing Reconstiuction, began to soai duiing the I88os and I8,os.
71
The woiks of southein women ceitainly contiibuted to this suige. Incieasingly
bieaking fiee fiom the connes of the puiely imaginative iealm, women began
in eainest to publish biogiaphies, diaiies, histoiies, and ieminiscences. Whethei
ieveling in the accomplishments of southein industiy, celebiating the iesuigence
of the Demociatic Paity, oi mouining the devastation of the landscape and the
II:
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
destiuction of the individual soul, these women could not escape the wais pio-
found and lasting legacies. With consciousnesses evei consumed by the exigen-
cies of the wai, southein white women incieasingly tuined to wiiting as a way
to exoicise theii demons.
Countless southein white women, most of them complete neophytes in the
liteiaiy woild, unabashedly peddled theii stoiies to the majoi NewYoik publish-
ing houses. While these women might otheiwise have iefiained fiomsuch public
behavioi, ielegating the iest of theii lives to the inteiests of theii local commu-
nities, they condently enteied the veiy public woild of the national debate on
the wai. Foi some women, like Maiy Noailles Muifiee, this entiance maiked
the beginning of a long and distinguished liteiaiy caieei. Otheis published only
duiing this peiiod and only on the Civil Wai. Still otheis, like Vaiina Davis and
Maiy Anna Jackson, weie public guies who chose to shoie up theii ieputations
by wiiting about the Civil Wai. Although the numbei of women who published
theii accounts of the wai incieased thioughout the post-Reconstiuction eia, the
majoiity of white southein women may nevei have intended theii woiks to be
seen by a national ieading public. But if theii stoiies weie peisonal, they weie
not meant to be piivate. Giace Pieison James Beaids A Seiies of Tiue Inci-
dents Connected with Sheimans Maich to the Sea iemained unpublished, but
she neveitheless expected otheis to peiuse hei account, wiiting, Deai ieadeis,
I am now old and long since a widow but I notice theie exists in the minds of
so many eiioneous ideas of those tioubled times that I felt it incumbent upon
me to make public the ieal expeiiences thiough which I then passed.
72
Beaids
intended audience might have been only hei immediate family, but even if hei
ieadeiship weie so ciicumsciibed, she believed that hei naiiative could iemedy
the ills to southein society caused by untiue accounts of the wai. Regaidless
of the size of hei audience, Beaid enteied the public debate on the Civil Wai.
She, along with many othei women, both published and unpublished, could no
longei iemain outside the national dialogue. Just as the wai itself piofoundly af-
fected white southein women, so too did the postwai dialogue, and these women
incieasingly paiticipated in the discussion.
Thioughout the post-Reconstiuction peiiod, southein women oeied only
isolated accounts of the wai. Theii woiks demonstiate theii familiaiity with
othei veisions of wai stoiies, but as a gioup these wiiteis did not iespond to
these othei accounts. By the mid-I8,os, howevei, southein women had banded
togethei and foimed one of the laigest oiganizations foi the collective mobiliza-
tion of southein accounts of the wai, the United Daughteis of the Confedeiacy.
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
j
II_
The 0ic attiacted thousands of membeis, who soon found themselves man-
dated by theii newoiganization towiite theii accounts of the wai. The numbei of
stoiies in ciiculation skyiocketed, but the vaiiation in inteipietations lessened.
Although the 0ic did not dictate how its membeis had to wiite, it did uphold
ceitain woiks as models and oei guidelines to be followed. One single naiia-
tive of the wai nevei existed, and of couise women who weie not membeis of
the 0ic continued to pen accounts, which fiequently dieied fiom the oiga-
nizations agenda, but the vaiiety of inteipietations that had chaiacteiized the
immediate post-Reconstiuction eia ended.
II
i
. vi iw ivom 1ui mo01.i
4
The
Imperative
of Historical
Inquiry,
18951905
The Ccnjederate war shculd be classed with thcse
wcrld-wide mcvements which dc nct begin cr end
with themselves, which dc nct remain within
bcundaries, which beccme universal thrill. All the
patrictisms cj all the pecples cj the earth were vital-
ized in that civilizaticn which called men, wcmen, and
children tc the wcrk cj :8oo. Ccnjederates shculd kncw
where, when, and hcw began that superb war, which
was a pcetic prcphecy. That war means hercic senti-
ment and just thcught, bcund intc active, willing
sacrice by a pecple.
mvs . 1uom.s 1.viov, Address tc the United
Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy
Tc men like Pinetcp, slavery, stern cr mild, cculd be
but an equal menace, and yet these were the men whc,
when Virginia called, came jrcm their little cabins in
the mcuntains, whc tied the int-lccks upcn their
muskets and jcught unccmplainingly until the end.
Nct the need tc prctect a decaying instituticn, but
the instinct in every jree man tc dejend the scil, had
brcught Pinetcp, as it had brcught Dan, intc the
army cj the Scuth.
iiii ci.s cow, The Battle-Giound
Some twenty yeais aftei the oveithiow of the slaveholding gentiy, the blind
Mis. Blake, a tiagic and pathetic chaiactei in Ellen Glasgows I,o novel, The
Deliverance. A Rcmance cj the Virginia Tcbaccc Fields, sat in what had once been
hei oveiseeis deciepit hovel but was now hei home, tenaciously clinging to the
false belief that the Confedeiacy had won the wai. She lived upon lies, Glas-
gow wiote, and thiilled upon the sweetness she extiacted fiom them. Foi Mis.
Blake, the Confedeiacy had nevei fallen, the quiet of hei dieamland had been
disiupted by no invading aimy, and _oo slaves, who had in ieality scatteied like
cha befoie the wind, she still saw in hei cheeiful visions tilling hei familiai
elds. . . . In hei memoiy theie was no Appomattox, news of the death of Lin-
coln nevei ieached hei eais, and piesident had peacefully succeeded piesident
in the secuie Confedeiacy in which she lived. Glasgow intended foi Mis. Blake
to stand foi much moie than one old southein woman blind and nouiished
II,
In a massive Elizabethan chaii of blackened oak a stately old lady
was sitting stiaight and sti. Illustiation fiom Ellen Glasgows
I,o novel, The Deliverance. A Rcmance cj the Virginia Tcbaccc
Fields.
by illusions. Rathei, Mis. Blake symbolized the postbellum South, paialyzed
by an inability to giapple with the tiemendous economic, political, and cultuial
upheavals that occuiied because of the Civil Wai. Just as Mis. Blake clung to
hei foimei way of life, so too did the South cling with passionate delity to the
ceiemonial foims of tiadition.
1
IIo
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
Augusta Jane Evans Wilsons chaiacteiization of the Confedeiate widowin hei
I,o: novel, ASpeckled Bird, iesembled Glasgows chaiacteiization. Although not
blind to the changes in southein society, like Mis. Blake, the unieconstiucted
Mis. Mauiice nonetheless shut hei doois to them and secieted heiself away
in a daikened chambei in hei home wheie she had constiucted a shiine to
hei slain husband and to all the Confedeiacy. Ovei the old-fashioned maible
mantel hung a poitiait of Geneial Egbeit Mauiice, Wilson wiote, clad in uni-
foim weaiing thiee stais and a wieath on his collai, and holding his plumed hat
in his iight hand. At one coinei of the mantel a fuiled Confedeiate ag leaned
until it touched the fiame of the pictuie, and fiom the maible shelf, wheie lay
the Geneials sash and swoid, hung the stained and toin guidon of his favoiite
iegiment.
2
Thioughout the novel, Mis. Mauiice iefuses to accept the iealities
of postwai society. Instead, she piefeis hei piedictable and solitaiy woild of
dead hopes and embalmed memoiies to the distuibing ieality iaging outside hei
dooi.
By the time Glasgow and Evans had desciibed theii visions of the southein
widow who dedicated hei life to the memoiy of the Confedeiacy, white women
acioss the South, mostly fiomthe middle class and mostly fiomcities and towns,
had banded togethei to foim the United Daughteis of the Confedeiacy (0ic),
one of the laigest oiganizations devoted to the cieation and mobilization of
memoiies of the Civil Wai. By the eaily I8,os, women who had belonged to
auxiliaiies of United Confedeiate Veteians (0cv) camps splinteied o, setting a
sepaiate agenda and beginning sepaiate woik. The ielationship between the 0cv
and 0ic iemained fiiendly, howevei. Even aftei the 0ics foimation, the 0cv
maintained its inteiest in piaising the woik of Confedeiate women, fiequently
setting aside time at its ieunion meetings foi women to addiess the aging vetei-
ans. Foi its pait, the 0ics objectives weie at once philanthiopic, educational,
histoiical, and memoiial. The diiving foice behind its cieation was the divinely
commanded impeiative its membeis felt to tell the tiue stoiy of the Civil Wai.
Kate Noland Gainett, a founding membei of the Viiginia Division of the 0ic,
summaiized the oiganizations mission at its I,o, annual convention, held in
San Fiancisco: We have met togethei to pledge anewoui undying delity to the
memoiy of the Confedeiate soldiei, to teach oui childien, to iemote geneiations,
the tiue histoiy of the South, the deeds of biaveiy, of heioism, of patiiotism and
of self-saciice that distinguished the men who woie the giey. In an eia of
piogiessive iefoim, the 0ics function was to celebiate the past, not to iefoim
the piesent.
3
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
II,
Ve Are Nc Accidental Thing
Although the exact moment and location of the 0ics oiigin iemain a mattei of
debate, its tiemendous giowth and populaiity aie indisputable. In I8,o, the 0ic
had 8, chapteis nationally and a total membeiship of ,oI:. Two yeais latei, the
guies had swelled to :, chapteis and I,I: membeis, and by I,o,, the oiga-
nization boasted neaily 8,o chapteis and moie than o,ooo membeis acioss the
countiy. Not suipiisingly, its stionghold lay in the Deep and Uppei South, with
Viiginia and Texas the states with the most chapteis and membeis. Southein
women who had left the foimei Confedeiacy aftei the wai also weie inclined to
band togethei to foim chapteis of the 0ic, which thus exeited its inuence in
places as unsouthein as New Yoik, Califoinia, and Montana.
4
Pitted against the Daughteis in this epic battle ovei the naiiative of the Civil
Wai weie those noitheineis who continually falsied the histoiical iecoid by
publishing eiioneous, contemptible accounts of the wai. The heait of the debate
tuined on the wais oiigins. While noithein histoiians insisted that the South
had piecipitated the wai to piotect slaveiy, the iegions most cheiished institu-
tion, the 0ic aigued that the Noith had instigated the conict, seeking to stiip
the South of its constitutionally guaianteed libeities. The task was cleai, pointed
out Gainett in hei I,o, addiess: the South must not only wiite, but she must
use hei own histoiies, oi she will be judged by those wiitten fiom a Noithein
standpoint, which place the South wholly in the wiong.
5
Two yeais aftei Gainetts speech, Coinelia Bianch Stone of Texas elaboiated
on the 0ics mission. Foi do not fail to iealize that we aie no accidental thing,
she admonished the oiganization in hei I,o, piesidential addiess. God has
biought us into existence foi specic puiposes . . . which no othei people on
the face of the eaith can do oi will do. The consequences would be diie should
the Daughteis of the Confedeiacy fail to tell the tiue histoiy of the Civil Wai.
God will hold us accountable foi this woik which He means foi us to do, Stone
infoimed hei audience, suggesting the ciitical natuie of the task. Not only did
each new geneiation of southeineis depend on the 0ic foi accuiate accounts
of the wai, but an exacting and demanding God mandated that the Daughteis
obey his will. Louise Wigfall Wiight, piesident of the Maiyland Division of the
0ic, thanked God that he had given the women of the South the stiength to
do his woik. Speaking to the Maiyland Divisions I,o, convention, Wiight ex-
hoited, Shall we not thank God that we weie given the stiength and means to
II8
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
make this memoiial to him: Moieovei, she suggested, 0ic membeis should
give thanks foi knowing that as long as time shall last, the giief of the women
who loved him, theie poitiayed, shall follow him, and the gloiy, which the false
enemy shall wiest fiom him, shall fold him foievei to hei bieast, while the light
of the Divine patience of his saciice of self shall shine evei iound and about
him, and moie and moie shall illumine oui path fiom the daik mysteiies heie
of pain and eaith to the heaven wheie we shall know the ieason of it all.
6
0ic membeis ielied on a vaiiety of outlets to advance theii message. In an
I8,, aiticle published in the Nashville-based Ccnjederate Veteran, which began
publication in I8,_ and by late I8,, adveitised itself as the ocial 0ic oigan,
A Nashville Daughtei appealed to the women of the South: Theie is a gieat
and holy task devolving upon you, she infoimed hei ieadeis. This task iequiied
them to join the 0ic, standing shouldei to shouldei as a bulwaik of tiuth
against the assaults of eveiy calumny designed to mislead the newgeneiation of
southeineis about the wai. A Nashville Daughtei believed women to be the
books, the aits, the academes that nouiish the woild and theiefoie to be pai-
ticulaily suited to this mission.
7
And, in hei view, the 0ic oeied the best way
foi women to fulll this mission.
Ccnjederate Veteran oeied scoies of women like A Nashville Daughtei an
oppoitunity to piaise the 0ics eoits to champion a tiue histoiy of the South.
Accoiding to its bannei, the Veteran was published monthly in the inteiest
of Confedeiate veteians and kindied topics. Editoi Sumnei A. Cunningham
theiefoie chose to piint notices, updates, and iepoits about the national and
state divisions of the 0ic as well as shoit ieminiscences and aiticles by 0ic
membeis. Mis. Thomas Tayloi of the Wade Hampton Chaptei, South Caiolina
Division, explained hei oiganizations mission at a local meeting, foi example,
and Ccnjederate Veteran published a shoit exceipt fiomhei addiess. We aie not
woiking foi what is unattainable, she noted. The Daughteis aie honest and
vigoious in theii eoit to cheiish the immoital spiiit which will keep woiking
those activities, which will have to woik peihaps as natuie does daik woik
the seciet giowing of powei below the suiface of the eaithuntil the fullness
of time comes foi it to buist out, meet the sunlight and stiengthen life. Lest
ieadeis giow conceined that the Daughteis weie oveistepping the bounds of
southein piopiiety, Tayloi cautioned, it is good foi women to do theii pait, the
pait we aie nowdoing as nouiisheis, and theie we stop. We cannot make healthy
manhood by standing in its place and assuming its obligations. The 0ic, she
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
II,
assuied hei ieadeis, concentiated on collecting ielics and iecoids to ieach the
spiiit contained theiein. If we do no ieach that spiiit and bind it to oui
uses, she wained, we will have biead without salt.
8
This sense of a divine impeiative was not meiely a ihetoiical device, used
only in public addiesses and piinted aiticles. Membeis of the oiganization in-
fused theii piivate coiiespondence with a sense of accountability and uigency
with which they must undeitake theii woik. Rebecca Cameion, Noith Caiolina
Division state histoiian, advised Elviia Evelyna Mot, a newly elected chaptei
histoiian, on the impoitance of the 0ics woik: piopeily wiitten and pieseived,
histoiy lives well aftei the dust of the men who made it has been iesolved
into its piimal elements. Thus, Cameion ieasoned, the 0ic should tieat its task
as a sacied debt to futuie geneiations, a tiust and a iesponsibility foi which we
must be held to account. Cameion latei emphasized the impoitance of expe-
ditiously caiiying out this woik. Let youi chaptei iealize that iight now is the
time to do this woik, she counseled Mott. Both the ciitical need to infoim
the new geneiation of southeineis about the exploits of the Confedeiacy and
Cameions conviction that only hei aging geneiation could accuiately iecoid
the events of the wai fueled hei sense of uigency: We, who have lived thio the
wai, aie the ones who know what happened and how we lived,we might just
as well wiite.
9
Accountability and uigency, then, not only made good speech
and piess copy but also guided the 0ics daily oiganizational woik.
The 0ic believed that a divine powei did much moie than compel the oigani-
zation to tell the tiue histoiy of the wai: this divine powei oiganized the iealmof
histoiical action. Accoiding to at least one histoiian, the Civil Wai caused most
Ameiicans to abandon a millennial, piovidential conception of histoiy in favoi
of a seculaiized undeistanding of it.
10
This seculai viewemphasized histoiicism,
oi the idea that each event in histoiy can be explained by piioi events in his-
toiical time. The 0ic and many othei southeineis, howevei, maintained that
the diiection of histoiical events exceeded the iealm of human action, instead
obeying divine guidance. Much in the same way as colonial New Englandeis de-
cipheied theii jeiemiad, the 0ic inteipieted the Confedeiacys downfall as a
sign that God had selected his people to enduie this tiavail. Defeat did not sig-
nal that the South was wiong in its intentions but iathei conimed southeineis
chosen status.
While a new geneiation of histoiians ocked to the newly established giadu-
ate schools, modeled aftei Geiman univeisities, to leain about the application of
scientic objectivity to the discipline of histoiy, 0ic membeis contented them-
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1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
selves with the conviction that divinely mandated events of histoiy iesisted the
oideiing and manipulation of a seculai bianch of knowledge. The Civil Wai may
not have pioven an especially populai subject of inquiiy with these noithein his-
toiians. As Civil Wai histoiiogiaphei Thomas J. Piessly notes, a new geneiation
of histoiians came of age duiing the I8,os, and that decade was maiked by any
numbei of incidents which demonstiated that the piimaiy issues and alignments
in Ameiican life weie no longei those of I8oI. Univeisities oeied piofessional
histoiians inteiested in the Civil Wai moie than just tiaining, howevei. Giaduate
schools and the histoiical piofession ieected and piobably stimulated among
histoiians the contempoiaiy spiiit of nationalism and of sectional ieconcilia-
tion, foi both the giaduate schools and the histoiical piofession quickly be-
came national in scope and sentiment, and appaiently militated against intellec-
tual sectionalism. Even southein scholais who tiained at the nations piemiei
univeisities, such as Woodiow Wilson, William P. Tient, John Spencei Bassett,
Edwin Mims, William Gaiiott Biown, and William E. Dodd, abandoned tiadi-
tional Confedeiate explanations of the coming of the wai. Dodd especially de-
ciied the censoiship of histoiy textbooks by the histoiy committees of Confed-
eiate memoiial oiganizations and compaied the advocates of pio-Confedeiate
histoiy to Union veteians who defiauded national coeis by diawing exception-
ally laige pensions. The Confedeiate Veteian, he wiote in I,o, woiks almost
as gieat havoc in the eld of histoiy . . . as does the Union Veteian in the neigh-
boihood of the United States Tieasuiy.
11
0ic membeis thus undeistood that
the wai continued to hold inteiest and stood ieady to countei methodological
thieats and incoiiect inteipietations.
The scientic method was, accoiding the 0ic, a wholly inappiopiiate analyti-
cal tool foi the undeistanding of the foices of histoiy. Addiessing the Daughteis
I8,8 national convention in Hot Spiings, Aikansas, Adelia Dunovant asked hei
colleagues, How then, can science] be applied to the attiibutes of the soul:
Noithein histoiians fundamental awlay in theii attempts to giasp and iegulate
the divinely oideied univeise in human oi eaithly teims. Science and mathe-
matical foimulas, she infoimed hei audience, could not explain God-given at-
tiibutestiuth, justice, meicy. The pathos of southein defeat could not be jus-
tied by accounts of so many hundieds of noithein tioops, so many thousands
of Confedeiate dead, so many battles won and lost. Ah, can Aiabic numeials
measuie injustice, anguish, desolation, heaitbieaks: queiied Dunovant.
12
Foi
the Daughteis of the Confedeiacy, the answei was a iesounding no.
If science did not piovide an adequate model foi wiiting histoiy, the humani-
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
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ties did. In an I8,o addiess of welcome to the Geoigia Division convention,
Eliza F. Andiews claimed that histoiians had tiaditionally ignoied the heio of
the Lost Cause, ielegating his stoiy to the poet and the aitist. Andiews did
not bemoan the fate of the stoiy of the Lost Cause heio, howevei: I, foi one,
am well content, she confessed to hei colleagues, that . . . it is bettei to live in
the ballads and legends and cheiished tiaditions that aie so neai to the heaits
of the people than to ll a cold niche in the aichives of histoiy. But Andiews
was not completely sanguine about the ability of modein liteiatuie to tell the
Confedeiate heios stoiy. Paltiy iealism enthialls liteiatuie, and, accoiding to
Andiews, this condition was caused by the same phenomena that conned his-
toiy to the giip of science. When wiiteis and aitists iose above this cuiient state
of liteiaiy aaiis, they would once again cheiish the lofty, noble, and heioic.
Then, when the gieat epic oi diama oi novel, oi whatevei foim the favoiite
liteiaiy pioduct of the futuie may assume comes to be wiitten, Andiews con-
cluded, the aitist will tuin foi his theme to the South, the land of legend and
iomance, the land of biave men and noble deeds, the land that has had its bap-
tism of blood and its puiication by ie.
13
Andiews had good ieason to be conceined about the fate of the Civil Wai
in iealist liteiatuie. As David Shi notes, undeineath the Civil Wais iomantic
veneei luiked giim iealities: mass killing, maiming, and civilian tiavails that
sobeied many paiticipants and onlookeis. In this sense, the wai seived as a
double-edged swoid. Foi some the wienching event ieinfoiced iomantic and
sentimental tendencies. Foi otheis, it piovokedoi heighteneda moie ieal-
istic outlook towaid life and cultuie. Those whom the Civil Wai sobeied coun-
teied the sentimentality of the iomanticists with naiiatives that suggested that
waifaie was less the stu of legend than of nightmaies. Stephen Cianes The Red
Badge cj Ccurage, published in I8,,, haidly confoims to a sentimental view of
wai, foi example. Of this novel, Daniel Aaion wiote, A pictuie of wai that ie-
sembles a ieligious ievival in hell, all sound and fuiy, seems to place Stephen
Ciane on the side of the debunkeis and against the paiticipants who saw it as a
holy ciusade. His wai is ciuel and puiposeless, especially foi the foot soldiei.
At the tuin of the centuiy, white southeineis like Andiews who engaged in in-
teipieting the Civil Wai could haidly have aigued that the wai was puiposeless,
foi to do so would have been tantamount to iepudiating the Confedeiate past,
a tieasonous action in the Jim Ciow South. As Viiginia novelist Glasgow be-
moaned in a I,:8 aiticle, few iealists iesided in the South. Those who did weie
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as lonely as sinceiity in any eld, who dwell outside the Land of Fable inhabited
by faiiies and goblins.
14
Sentimentalism and iomanticism thus iemained populai modes of expies-
sion in the late-nineteenth-centuiy white South. 0ic histoiian-geneial Adelia
Dunovant echoed Andiewss assessment of the poetic natuie of the Lost Cause
naiiative. Speaking befoie the I8,8 national convention, Dunovant agieed with
John Miltons assessment that histoiy was a heioic poem. Only histoiians with
epic souls, not those with piofessional, scientic tiaining, could wiite tiue his-
toiy: What a giand panoiama of epics is oeied by oui Civil Wai to the histo-
iian with an epic soul, to him who could entei into the soul of the gieat South,
who could follow the footsteps of hei heioic sons. Having an epic soul ie-
quiied valoi, tiuth, and integiityin othei woids, only a heio could tiuthfully
poitiay heioes.
15
White southeineis geneially shaied the 0ics viewof histoiy. B. B. Munfoid,
wiiting in the Scuthern Histcrical Scciety Papers, explained, the veiy pathos of
oui stoiy will enlist the inteiest of the woild. Calvaiies and Ciucixions take
deepest hold upon humanity. The tiuth will be found, he continued, and pio-
claimed just so suie as saciice and devotion appeal most stiongly to the heaits
and minds of men. Elizabeth Pieston Allan noted in hei intioduction to Mai-
gaiet Junkin Piestons Civil Wai diaiy, published posthumously in I,o_, that the
famed Noith Caiolina poet had disdained telling meiely cold haid facts: As this
little volume claims to be histoiy, it is peihaps necessaiy to say that oui poet
could nevei be tiusted to tell an unvainished tale! Tiue, she used only facts in hei
naiiations, but the pooi baie facts would have found it haid to iecognize them-
selves when she was done with them! It was neithei histoiy noi iomance, Allan
concluded, but the iomance of histoiy. Caioline Meiiick, a foimei plantation
mistiess fiom East Feliciana, Louisiana, piefaced hei I,oI memoiis by noting
the meiits of histoiical endeavois. She hoped to elicit hei ieadeis inteiest and
sympathy thiough hei honest eoits to tell the tiuth . . . foi, aftei all, tiuth is
the chief viitue of histoiy.
16
The 0ic claimed to piize tiuth above all else and tianslated its theoiy of his-
toiy into tangible woiks and deeds. Membeis of the I,oI Histoiical Committee
distiibuted a ciiculai to the state histoiians that detailed the suggested foimat foi
0ic meetings. Signicantly, the committee did not see its oiganizations engage-
ment in seiious, iigoious study as a betiayal of the commitment to pioviden-
tial histoiy. Rathei, such study would ieinfoice the 0ics inteipietation. Each
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
I:_
chaptei meeting should begin with a ieading, the committee suggested, with a
due iegaid foi connected, methodical thought, followed by a discussion of the
chosen passage. The ciiculai latei oeied the goals of piopei consideiations in
histoiic study. Diligent attention to accuiate histoiies should immediately lead
0ic membeis to iealize that Histoiy is the Mothei of Liteiatuie. The Histoii-
cal Committee, then, cleaily placed histoiy within the iealm of the humanities
iathei than the sciences. Daughteis should also quickly discein that while his-
toiy elucidates human action, it also embiaces ceitain piinciples on govein-
ment and wai. The objects of this iigoious couise of study weie fouifold:
Vindication of the men of the South
Pioof that they weie patiiots, and maityis to Constitutional Libeity
Fulllment of an obligation which we owe to the memoiy of oui Biave
Defendeis
The dischaige of a duty to futuie geneiations, thioughout the univeise, to
piesent in cleai outline the Fedeiative Systemof Goveinment established by
oui foie-fatheis, foi upon the pieseivation of those Piinciples the destiny
of mankind will, soonei oi latei, depend.
Finally, an eective study of histoiy would lead 0ic membeis to compiehend
the hopes and puiposes of theii ancestois, the foundeis of the Goveinment of
the United States. In othei woids, southeineis would gain the appieciation that
they weie the tiue inheiitois of the geneiation that cieated the Constitution.
17
State divisions and local chapteis evidently followed the Histoiical Commit-
tees outlines foi meetings. The iecoiding secietaiy of the Secessionville Chaptei,
James Island, South Caiolina, noted that the chaptei decided to take an appio-
piiate subject foi each month, and in this way make a study of local Confedeiate
Histoiy. The gioup began with papeis on Geneials P. G. T. Beauiegaid, Robeit
Andeison, and Wade Hampton and pioceeded to the bombing of Foit Sumtei,
the Battle of Shiloh, and ieadings fiom Maiy Chesnuts I,o, Diary jrcm Dixie.
Cameions Hillsboio, Noith Caiolina, chaptei followed the guidelines diawn
up by South Caiolina Division Histoiian Maiy Poppenheim foi chapteis in hei
state. Poppenheimiespectfully and eainestly iequested that the Daughteis de-
vote meetings to the study of nullication in all its phases in Ameiican His-
toiy, bieaking the assignment into manageable sections with appiopiiate iead-
ings. The West Viiginia Division diafted a twenty-foui-month study plan foi
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1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
its local chapteis that singled out specic battles and delineated geneial topics,
such as the histoiy of slaveiy and the doctiine of states iights.
18
Countless othei
divisions and chapteis followed these outlines, ensuiing that membeis ieceived
adequate guidance in theii academic puisuits.
The 0ics histoiian-geneials and state histoiians also piesciibed the piopei
foimat foi papeis that membeis iead at local meetings. These guidelines in-
cluded infoimation on the physical piesentation of the mateiial. Foi those chap-
tei histoiians who endeavoied to compile histoiical volumes, histoiian-geneial
Mildied Lewis Rutheifoid of Athens, Geoigia, advised the use of ,",.:," papei,
with a I" left maigin. She also suggested that the women wiite on one side of
the papei, constiuct an index, paste (not copy) newspapei clippings, and send
the completed volumes of foui to ve hundied pages to the state histoiians foi
statewide use. Each 0ic local chaptei, accoiding to Rutheifoid, should com-
plete volumes of mustei iolls, ieminiscences, sketches of women, Confedeiate
ielics, the Daughteis of the Confedeiacy, stoiies of faithful seivants, Confed-
eiate histoiy, naval heioes, Confedeiate ags, and books by southein authois.
Rutheifoid made a numbei of piosciiptions as well: Dont allow the Var be-
tween the States to be called a Civil Wai. By following that incoiiect convention,
she wained, we own that we weie cne state, not many as we contend. Daugh-
teis should iefiain fiom calling themselves iebel, even in jest, foi although
theie was a iebellion . . . it was noith of the Mason and Dixon line. Finally,
Dont piociastinate, she advised, uiging the women to do the woik you have
pledged youiselves] to do when you accepted the honoi confeiied upon you.
Rutheifoid piomised a silk bannei to the state division that most caiefully and
thoioughly followed hei guidelines.
19
Moie impoitant than the 0ics guidelines on the piesentation and oigani-
zation of histoiical papeis, howevei, weie its diiectives on content. Rutheifoid
and othei 0ic histoiians suggested topics foi histoiical inquiiy, such as the dif-
feient systems of laboi in the Noith and South, the Missouii Compiomise, the
Nullication Acts, the Kansas-Nebiaska Act, the Died Scott decision, biogia-
phies of Confedeiate soldieis and statesmen, womens woik duiing the wai, and
majoi battles. Ciitical to any naiiative on the wai, howevei, was a discussion of
its causes. Addiessing the Geoigia Divisions I8,, convention, Rutheifoid as-
seited that dieiing inteipietations of the Constitution had led diiectly to the
wai. The South maintained that the fiiends of that instiument weie those who
conned the Fedeial Goveinment within the limits piesciibed by it, the enemies
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
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I:,
weie those who weie willing to saciice the iights that belong to each State in
oidei to subseive peisonal oi political ends.
20
This oveiiiding conviction must,
accoiding to Rutheifoid, guide eveiy papei wiitten by 0ic membeis.
With each Daughtei compelled to wiite a naiiative of the wai accoiding to
specic, detailed guidelines, the 0ic geneiated thousands of papeis, each pie-
senting one womans inteipietation of the wai. Taken togethei, these papeis oei
a single, collective metanaiiative that ieects the 0ics undeistanding of his-
toiy. Not suipiisingly, the numeious papeis wiitten by Rutheifoid duiing hei
long tenuie as the oiganizations Geoigia Division histoiian and as national
histoiian-geneial ably demonstiate the 0ics position on the Civil Wai. Non-
oceholding membeis contiibuted to the coipus of 0ic woik as well. Hai-
iiet Cobb Lanes Some Wai Reminiscences suppoits the 0ics asseition that
the South fought the wai to pieseive constitutionally guaianteed libeities and
stiesses the uigent need foi the 0ic to set stiaight the histoiical iecoid. Theie
aie childien in the South who have been taught to believe that the wai of the
sixties was a wai of humanity, waged to set fiee a ciuelly oppiessed people, and
theie aie some who have been taught that the wai was piecipitated to save the
Union and pieseive the United States ag, claimed an indignant Lane. But
when the tiuth is known it pioves that no ag on eaith waved ovei daikei ciimes
than did this same stais and stiipes when it was peiveited to coeice neaily one
half of the United States. Similaily, Mis. Geoige Reids papei on Keishaws Bii-
gade of Viiginia ieiteiated the 0ics position that tiue histoiy did not meiely
oei a skeleton consisting of an enumeiation of the battles, and skiimishes and
maiches . . . with the names of the commanding oceis. Rathei, histoiy should
illuminate the puiposes and piinciples foi which the Confedeiates had fought
the wai.
21
Individual membeis demonstiated theii iespect foi the 0ics theo-
ietical musings on histoiy by infusing them into these histoiical papeis.
0ic membeis also iecognized that multiple accounts of one event could foim
a single collective naiiative that oeied a common inteipietation of the wai. Ad-
diessing a South Caiolina local chaptei, Haiiiott Hoiiy Ravenel somewhat hesi-
tatingly gave hei peisonal iecollection of the buining of Columbia. The numei-
ous veisions of the event by ablei pens than mine initially tioubled Ravenel.
She then iemembeied that a photogiaphei had once told hei that to take a pei-
fect pictuie, it was necessaiy to take many photos, each fiomits own focus, and
to place the negatives togethei. The iesult would be one pictuie that unites them
all and gives a ieal and coiiect pictuie in tiue and peifect piopoitions. Ravenel
believed that the same could be done with stoiies of the wai and hoped that by
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1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
combining these vaiious accounts, each given fiomits own standpoint, oui Con-
fedeiate Histoiy may come to be wiitten with the foice of sinceiity and tiuth.
22
The 0ic compelled its membeis to tell theii accounts of the wai not only out of
an inteiest in letting eveiy woman be heaid but also because the gioup wanted
to piesent a single collective naiiative suppoited by many accounts.
A Deeper, Surer, and Mcre Permanent Mcde cj Vindicating the Scuth
Not content meiely to compel its membeis to wiite theii stoiies of the wai, the
0ic established a Textbook Committee to select meiitoiious woiks foi south-
eineis to study. The 0ic was not the ist oi only southein oiganization to iec-
ommend and condemn woiks on the Civil Wai to its membeis. Beginning in
I8,: the 0cvs Histoiical Committee, foi example, geneiated impiessive ieading
lists foi its membeis. Omitted fiom these lists, of couise, weie woiks wiitten by
noithein histoiians in the ist ten oi fteen yeais following the close of the wai,
dictated by piejudice and piomoted by the evil passions of that peiiod, which]
aie unt foi use, and lack all the bieadth, libeiality, and sympathy so essential
to tiue histoiy. The 0cv iecommended oiganizing subcommittees at the state
level, a deepei suiei, and moie peimanent mode of vindicating the South than
ielying upon the employment of one oi moie wiiteis to act as special attoineys to
plead the cause at the bai of histoiy. In evaluating Civil Wai histoiies, the 0cvs
Histoiy Committee iecommended that its membeis ask, foi example, in giving
a tiuthful naiiation of the events of the civil wai, do the woiks oei] the unpai-
alleled patiiotismmanifested by the southein people in accepting its iesults, and
the couiage and peiseveiance displayed by them in building up theii shatteied
homes and iuined estates. The 0ic took its cue fiom the 0cv, foimulating
iathei sizable ieading lists, continually updating them, and distiibuting them
at local, state, and national meetings. The 0ic banned noithein histoiies that
piaised Abiaham Lincoln, asseited that the South fought to pieseive slaveiy, oi
omitted discussions of the Noiths eaily attempts at nullication. Most insidious,
howevei, weie histoiies that suggested that the colonies weie a compact nation
at the time of the ievolution. By imposing a false unity on the colonies, the 0ic
aigued, these histoiies glossed ovei the veiy ieal dieiences between the two
sections of the countiy.
23
Accoiding to the 0ic, this ieading signaled noithein
histoiians incoiiect inteipietation of the Constitution, which in actuality gave
piimacy to the individual states iathei than to the nation.
Not suipiisingly, the 0ic placed a high piemium on woiks wiitten by south-
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
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I:,
ein white women. Thus, woiks deemed woithy of seiious study by the 0ic dui-
ing the ist yeais of its existence included Myita Lockett Avaiys A Virginia Girl
in the Civil Var, Viiginia Clay-Cloptons A Belle cj the Fijties, Judith McGuiies
Diary cj a Rejugee (wiitten undei the pseudonym A Lady of Viiginia), Saia
Piyois Reminiscences cj Peace and Var, and Louise Wigfall (Mis. D. Giiaud)
Wiights A Scuthern Girl in o:. The 0ic did not limit its focus to womens pei-
sonal iecollections of the wai but also sanctioned the Charlestcn Ccuriers col-
lection of documents, Our Vcmen in the Var, Emily Masons Pcpular Lije cj
Gen. Rcbert Edward Lee, and Mis. S. Fox Seas A Briej Review cj Slavery in the
United States.
The woiks of Clay-Clopton, Piyoi, Avaiy, and Wiight depaited signicantly
fiom eailiei wiitings by piominent Confedeiate women. Both Vaiina Davis and
Maiy Anna Jackson had chosen biogiaphy as the genie best suited to delivei
theii inteipietations of the Civil Wai. No longei constiained by the shackles
of that genie, howevei, eaily-twentieth-centuiy women wiote about themselves
and, in so doing, contiibuted to the public discouise about the wai. Like Davis
and Jackson, these latei womens status as wives of Confedeiate statesmen and
soldieis ensuied legitimacy and authoiity to wiite on the wai. The 0ic, in tuin,
bolsteied this authoiity, avowing that any southein womans peisonal stoiy of
the wai deseived to be told. As an oiganization that asseited its inuence in
local communities, state goveinments, and national dialogues, the 0ic foicibly
demonstiated that southein women possessed a gieat deal of cultuial powei by
encouiaging its membeis to wield theii pens. As white southein women giew
moie condent in telling theii tales, and with the backing of a national associa-
tion, they incieasingly abandoned the task of wiiting stiict biogiaphies, shifting
the focus of theii naiiatives to themselves.
Although these women boldly enteied the liteiaiy maiket, they still needed
an intioduction to the ieading woild to justify theii piojects. Oddly enough,
Rogei A. Piyoi piefaced his wifes Reminiscences cj Var and Peace with a slight
to Saias talents as a wiitei: It will be obvious to the ieadei, he began, that this
book aects neithei the dignity of histoiy noi the authoiity of political instiuc-
tion. Moie competent pens than Saia Piyois, skilled in the ait of wai naiiative,
had alieady completed those weighty tasks. But, he continued, desciiptions
of battles and civil convulsions do not exhibit the full condition of the South
in the ciisis. A complete naiiative of the wai depends on social chaiacteiistics
and incidents of piivate life as well as on desciiptions of battles. Although Saia
Piyoi was neithei a statesman noi a philosophei, concluded hei husband, she
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1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
was nonetheless eminently qualied to comment on the antebellumand waitime
South.
24
Similaily, Avaiy, editoi of A Virginia Girl in the Civil Var, intioduced hei vol-
ume by pioclaiming its ability to biing ieadeis close to the human soul. She
explained, Memoiis and jouinals wiitten not because of theii histoiical oi po-
litical signicance, but because they aie to the wiitei the natuial of expiession
of . . . life . . . have a value entiiely apait fiom liteiaiy quality. Avaiy believed
that A Virginia Girl poitiayed events and emotions unexploied in standaid his-
toiies and novels yet captuied the veiacity and chaim of both genies. The
ieviewei foi the Ccnjederate Veteran agieed with Avaiy, wiiting, Stiictly speak-
ing, the book cannot be called a novel, and yet it abounds in many of those
elements without which a novel would piove a failuie. It is animated with inci-
dents that follow in happy sequence, the ieviewei continued, and it thiobs
with the anguish of wai and thiills with the joy of loving its heioes. Peihaps
most notewoithy to the ieviewei, howevei, was that the hideous automatons of
second-iate ction aie ielegated to the shades wheie they belong, and theii giim
specteis do not cioss the pages to haunt the ieadei. The ieviewei felt compelled
to oei such a glowing ieview, lest peichance the othei half of the ieading woild
that has not yet seen the splendid book may fail to ieap the haivest of pleasuie
which it aoids.
25
These volumes aoided new geneiations of southeineis isthand glimpses of
antebellum civilization. Avaiy desciibed opulent New Yeais celebiations that
weie unknown to the impoveiished, weaiy postwai geneiation. Pietty giils ut-
teiing in laces and iibbons and featheis and spaikling with jewels and smiles
. . . and gallant men young and old, ieady to die foi them oi live foi them,
populated these paities but weie stiangeis to Avaiys postwai ieadeis. Wiight,
the daughtei of a Confedeiate senatoi, peppeied hei ieminiscences with gossipy
tales about Miss Pegiams fashionable school foi giils. Richmond has always
been famed foi its lovely women, she boasted, but I ventuie to asseit that theie
has nevei been a laigei assembly of beauties than that collected at Miss Pegiams
School duiing the wai. Wiight and the othei fashionable giils found it quite dif-
cult to maintain theii studies when such beaux soldats weie maiching, with
diums beating, and banneis ying by oui veiy doois.
26
Just as the editois of the
Century had chosen womens accounts of the wai foi the Battles and Leadeis
seiies because of the belief that women oeied peispectives dieient fiom those
of foimei soldieis and veteians, publishing ims capitalized on these naiiatives
contiibutions to a fullei undeistanding of the wai.
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
I:,
Yet Avaiy, Clay-Clopton, Piyoi, and Wiight by no means iefiained fiom en-
teiing political and militaiy discussions in these social ieminiscences. Clay-
Clopton oeied hei assessment of the oiigins of the wai eaily in hei account:
Theie was, on the pait of the Noith, a palpable envy of the hold the South
ietained so long upon the Fedeial City Washington, D.C.], whethei in poli-
tics oi society, and the iesolution to quell us, by physical foice, was eveiywheie
obvious, she claimed. Foi foity yeais, Clay-Clopton contended, the Noith had
seethed with animosity and jealousy iegaiding the South, until aimed conict
iemained the only outlet foi these emotions. In full accoid with the 0ics posi-
tion on the justication of the southein cause, Piyoi outlined the common sol-
dieis motivation foi enlisting in the Confedeiate aimy: Not to establish the
iight of secession, not foi the love of the slavehe had no slaves, but the de-
teimination simply to iesist the invasion of the South by the Noith, simply to
pievent subjugation, compelled the aveiage southein soldiei. His quaiiel was a
sectional one, she concluded, and he fought foi his section.
27
Ostensibly cen-
teiing naiiatives on fashion and the social activities of piominent southeineis,
these women utilized eveiy oppoitunity to defend the Confedeiacy.
With so many white women publishing theii naiiatives of the wai, the liteiaiy
maiket became satuiated by the tuin of the twentieth centuiy. Clay-Cloptons
editoi, Ada Steiling, immediately developed a stiategy designed to make hei
clients woik stand out. I peiceived long ago, and veiy cleaily, she advised
Clay-Clopton, that youi memoiis must be . . . light and gay, and incautiously
put togethei, so that they would seive as a summeis ieading, and so please oi at
least be taken by publisheis who piovide populai ieading. Despite this stiategy,
Steiling neveitheless expeiienced diculty in convincing publishing houses of
the nancial viability of still anothei southein womans memoiis intioduced in
the I,o liteiaiy season. Steiling bitteily infoimed Clay-Clopton, Oui woik
has now been tuined down by thiee houses, to wit, the Centuiy people, the
A. S. Baines Co., and, seiially, Haipeis sic]. Signicantly, the Baines people
had contacted piesidents of local 0ic chapteis about theii willingness to pui-
chase and maiket the book. The answeis to the lettei sent out seem to have
been unsatisfactoiy, Steiling suimised. Much to Steilings excitement, howevei,
Doubleday, Page, and Company subsequently agieed to publish the woik, tai-
geting the fall of I,o as its ielease date. Steiling and the publisheis adopted an
aggiessive maiketing plan designed to blanket the South with copies and favoi-
able ciitical notices. Although close to a dozen southein womens ieminiscences
of the wai came out at the tuin of the centuiy, Steilings condence in hei clients
I_o
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
woik was bolsteied when she passed a secondhand book stoie on Twenty-thiid
Stieet in Manhattan and saw shelves of iemaindeied copies of Piyois Reminis-
cences cj Var and Peace. Steiling expected a moie dignied end foi Belle cj the
Fijties.
28
Such ieseivations about oveisatuiating the liteiaiy maiket pioved unfounded.
Southeineis appaiently iead these accounts voiaciously and with gieat pleasuie.
Heniy Watteison of the Lcuisville Ccurier-}curnal wiote to Clay-Clopton, in-
foiming hei that he had iecently iead Belle cj the Fijties, Reminiscences cj Var
and Peace, and A Scuthern Girl in o:, which have quite lled me with memo-
iies of the old times. Not suipiisingly, most ieadeis favoied one account ovei
the otheis. Emily Ritchie McLean singled out Avaiys A Virginia Girl in the Civil
Var: Of all the multitudinous wai stoiies, McLean wiote to the authoi, none
has pioven so attiactive to me as this Viiginia Giil. The naiiative so impiessed
McLean that she iegaided it as a little classic and piedicted that the geneial
public would soon shaie hei view, guaianteeing A Virginia Girl s place among
the invaluable woiks on the wai. Similaily, Letitia Dowdell Ross of Aubuin, Ala-
bama, piaised A Belle cj the Fijties, confessing to Clay-Clopton that southeineis
owed hei foi what you have done, foi what you enduied, foi youi devotion and
woik foi the South, and we will owe you moie love and homage foi the plea-
suie and piot we must gain fiom these tiue and patiiotic glimpses of oui deai
homeland thiough youi ieminiscences.
29
The 0ic undoubtedly contiibuted to the populai and ciitical success of these
ieminiscences. With each of the oiganizations thousands of membeis diiected
to iead woiks singled out by the national executive boaid, a wide audience was
guaianteed foi the selected ieading list. Publisheis weie acutely awaie of the
0ics powei, as Steilings lettei to Clay-Clopton suggests. Without the oiga-
nizations explicit pledge to piomote vigoiously A Belle cj the Fijties, a majoi
im iefused to handle Clay-Cloptons manusciipt. The 0ic not only guaian-
teed a woiks success but in some cases dictated whethei a manusciipt would be
published.
The Vhite Light cj Truth
Many woiks fell within the 0ics guidelines but weie not specically singled out
foi study. Helen Doitch Longstieets and La Salle Coibell Picketts biogiaphies
of theii husbands both confoimed to the oiganizations ideas of a millennial
and heioic histoiy.
30
Like Davis and Jackson decades eailiei, Pickett and Long-
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
I_I
stieet aggiandized Confedeiate heioes. Although these latei wiiteis followed
Daviss and Jacksons method of ielying heavily on pieviously published souices,
both Longstieet and Pickett weie much moie willing to tiust theii own voices.
Although Davis and Jackson oeied inteipietations of the meaning of Confed-
eiate defeat, Longstieet and Pickett pushed beyond these limits and desciibed
battles and stiategy. These woiks dieied fiom those tuin-of-the-centuiy iemi-
niscences by Avaiy, Clay-Clopton, Piyoi, and Wiight, howevei. Longstieet and
Pickett still clung to the genie of biogiaphy. Moie signicantly, they defeiied
to iecognized authoiities on especially tioublesome events, ensuiing that theii
naiiatives contained accepted elements. By telling theii tales in familiai ways
and suppoiting populai conceptions of histoiy, Longstieet and Pickett elevated
to idol status two of the Confedeiacys most contioveisial guies.
Helen Doitch Longstieet opened Lee and Lcngstreet at High Tide, hei I,o
biogiaphy of hei deceased husband, Geneial James Longstieet, with a declaia-
tion of hei lifes mission: This houi . . . clamois] foi the white light of tiuth
which I ieveiently undeitake to thiow upon the deeds of the commandei, who,
fiom Manassas to Appomattox, was the stiong iight aim of the Confedeiate
States Aimy. Fiomthe time the young Doitch maiiied the aging geneial in I8,,
until hei death in I,o:, she stiove to ielate the tiuth of hei husbands piomi-
nent and highly contioveisial iole at Gettysbuig, unwaiped and undistoited by
passion. Thioughout this woik and in othei wiitings, Helen Longstieet pains-
takingly and iepeatedly emphasized that hei naiiation of the events of that piv-
otal battle weie based solely on cold, haid facts. Indeed, she ielied heavily on
hei husbands memoiis, Frcm Manassas tc Appcmattcx, published in I8,,. The
geneial oeied his woik in much moie of a conciliatoiy spiiit than his widow
latei oeied, piefacing his memoiis with the statement, I believe theie is to-
day, because cj the war, a bioadei and deepei patiiotism in all Ameiicans, that
patiiotism thiobs the heait and pulses the being as aidently of the South Caio-
linian as of the Massachusetts Puiitan. His memoiis, he believed, contiibuted
to the passing of the mateiials of histoiy to those who may give them place in
the iecoids of the nation,not of the South noi of the Noith,but in the his-
toiy of the United Nation. His chaiity did not extend to those who blamed him
foi the Confedeiates loss at Gettysbuig, howevei. Because it does not look like
geneialship to lose a battle and a cause, aigued Longstieet, Geneial Robeit E.
Lees suppoiteis had needed to nd a scapegoat foi Gettysbuig. That iole fell to
Geneial Longstieet, who spilled a lot of ink defending his name.
31
In pait be-
cause Helen Longstieets woik ielied so heavily on hei late husbands memoiis,
I_:
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
Geneial James and Helen Doitch Longstieet, I,oI. (Couitesy
Special Collections Depaitment, Robeit W. Woodiu Libiaiy,
Emoiy Univeisity)
hei claims of objectivity aie spuiious: Lee and Lcngstreet at High Tide is a woik
of passion and subjectivity. Hei iepiesentation of the battle sought to iecast hei
husbands image fiom that of the tiaitoi of Gettysbuig to that of a heio of the
Confedeiacy.
Helen Longstieets woik was veiy much a pait of the tiadition of southein
womens biogiaphies lionizing patiiotic Confedeiates, a tiadition that Davis
and Jackson had begun in the I88os and I8,os. But moie than these othei
women, who faced the tensions inheient in gloiifying loseis, Longstieet found it
dicult to t hei naiiative within the paiameteis of the Lost Cause myth. Gen-
eial Longstieet did not face accusations of meiely losing a battle in a wai that,
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
I__
by the tuin of the twentieth centuiy, most southeineis deemed unwinnable by
the Confedeiacy. Indeed, had that alone been the case, Helen Doitch Longstieet
could easily have told of hei husbands valiant eoits to fend o an unstoppable
enemy in the face of suie defeat. But Geneial Longstieets fellowoceis chaiged
him with disobeying oideis, with betiaying Geneial Leein shoit, with foi-
saking the cause of southein independence.
32
Although competing discouises
continually caused the myth of the Lost Cause to evolve, it had yet to ieach the
stage of embiacing a tiaitoi to the Confedeiacy. Thus, Helen Longstieets nai-
iative instiuctively delineates the ways in which white southeineis sought to
expand the myths boundaiies in the eaily twentieth centuiy.
The contioveisy suiiounding Geneial Longstieets actions at Gettysbuig
staited well befoie he maiiied Helen Doitch, a foimei classmate of his daugh-
tei by a pievious maiiiage. While some obseiveis questioned his behavioi im-
mediately following the Confedeiate debacle, the dispute did not begin in eain-
est until late I8,: and eaily I8,_, when Geneial William Pendleton launched a
speaking toui devoted to denouncing Longstieet and aggiandizing Lee. Helen
Doitch Longstieet made much of the timing of this campaign against hei hus-
band, claiming that his detiactois could only have vilied Longstieet aftei Lees
death: Lee, she felt ceitain, would have defended Longstieet. Helen Longstieet
coiiectly noted the delay in the tainishing of hei husbands ieputation. When
James Longstieet iode away fiom Appomattox in Apiil I8o,, histoiian Jeiy D.
Weit wiote, few, if any, would have piedicted that in time he would become
the scapegoat foi the Confedeiate defeat. Longstieet had advanced in the Aimy
of the Confedeiacy and had been Lees senioi suboidinate. Like othei high-
ianking geneials in the aimy, Longstieet] had had his failings, but his peifoi-
mance had ianked him with Stonewall Jackson as Lees nest oceis. Once
Lee was eectively silencedand, peihaps equally signicant, once Longstieet
had accepted a political post fiomRepublican Piesident U. S. Giantthe stoim
bioke. Geneials Pendleton, John Goidon, Fitzhugh Lee, and othei ianking
membeis of the foimei Confedeiacy accused Longstieet of disobeying Lees
oideis to attack the U.S. Aimy at suniise and of being culpably slow in his
attack on July _. Fiom the time of Pendletons defamation of Longstieet in I8,:,
chaiged his widow, until she began hei ciusading eoits to ieconstiuct hei
husbands image moie than twenty yeais latei, the south was seditiously taught
to believe that the Fedeial victoiy was wholly the foituitous outcome of the cul-
pable disobedience of Geneial Longstieet.
33
The timing of Helen Longstieets iesponse to hei husbands ciitics was no
I_
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
less oppoitune than that of the detiactois themselves. Lee and Lcngstreet at
High Tide appeaied one yeai aftei Geneial John B. Goidon, one of Longstieets
haishest ciitics, published his memoiis, Reminiscences cj the Civil Var. Not sui-
piisingly, Goidon used his memoiis as a vehicle foi defending Lees stiategy at
Gettysbuig and foi ciiticizing Longstieets inaction at this ciucial battle. Accoid-
ing to Goidon, Lee died believing (the testimony on this point is oveiwhelm-
ing) that he lost Gettysbuig at last by Longstieets disobedience of oideis.
Goidon had leveled his most seveie ciiticisms at a fellow Confedeiate ocei.
Moieovei, he had claimed to oei his memoiis in the spiiit of conciliation. He
piefaced his account by stating, It will be found, I tiust, that no injustice has
been done to eithei section, to any aimy, oi to any of the gieat leadeis, but
that the substance and spiiit of the following pages will tend iathei to lift to a
highei plane the estimate placed by victois and vanquished upon theii countiy-
men of the opposing section, and thus stiengthen the sentiment of inteisectional
fiateinity which is essential to complete national unity. Despite the memoiis
conciliatoiy tone, howevei, the 0ics Histoiical Committee endoised Goidons
account at its I,o_ national convention in Chaileston, South Caiolina.
34
Helen Doitch Longstieet wanted hei biogiaphy to countei Goidons most
iecent attack on hei husbands ieputation and to challenge the 0ics iecom-
mendation of Goidons account. She faced a dicult task. Both Goidon and
Longstieet died in I,o. Not only did Goidons account of Gettysbuig beai the
impiimatui of the 0ic, but his death was mouined by countless chapteis of the
oiganization. Scoies of tiibutes to the foimei geneial appeaied in the Ccnjeder-
ate Veteran duiing I,o. With the exception of a biief obituaiy, no such tiibute
appeaied foi Geneial Longstieet. Now that the old ghtei is dead, the obitu-
aiy iead, it is bettei to foiget his mistakes, if he made any, and to iemembei
only the gieat things of his life, which, indeed, weie many, and to honoi him
foi theii sake.
35
This defense of Geneial Longstieet would haidly satisfy his
young widow.
Foitunately foi Helen Longstieet, she wiote when the myth of the Lost Cause
was the dominant discouise in southein naiiatology. If southein audiences weie
unaccustomed to accounts that posited tiaitois as heioes, such ieadeis weie
ceitainly familiai with the foimula Longstieet used to tell hei tale. Like Davis
and Jackson, Longstieet quoted extensively fiom ocial iecoids, ex-Confedei-
ates accounts, and hei husbands desciiptions of the battle. Lee and Lcngstreet
at High Tide, she asseited, is the caiefully sifted stoiy of the iecoids and con-
tempoianeous witnesses. Although she admitted that foi claiity she intioduced
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
I_,
heie and theie Geneial Longstieets account of the disputed stoiy, she vehe-
mently insisted that in the end heis was the stoiy of the iecoids.
36
This method
gave hei, like Davis and Jackson, the authoiity to wiite on wai despite hei status
as a noncombatant. Although the myth of the Lost Cause shelteied Longstieet, a
Confedeiate oceis widow, fiom attack by suspecting southeineis, hei claims
of authoiity weie neveitheless specious. Unlike Davis and Jackson, who had at
least lived thiough the I8,os and I8oos and weie intimately connected with theii
husbands caieeis duiing the Civil Wai, Longstieet was of a dieient geneiation
and did not meet the geneial until long aftei his contioveisial paiticipation in
the Battle of Gettysbuig. Moieovei, although she had maiiied a Confedeiate, he
was to most southeineis a tiaitoi and had yet to be enshiined by the Lost Cause.
Helen Longstieet thus sought to gain legitimacy with hei audience by mimick-
ing the way in which Davis and Jackson wiote theii biogiaphies. The familiai
foimula, Longstieet hoped, would compensate foi the unfamiliai text.
La Salle Coibell Pickett, Geneial Geoige E. Picketts thiid wife, also followed
the biogiaphical foim established by Davis and Jackson and did so foi simi-
lai ieasons. In the compilation of this iecoid, Pickett admitted in hei pieface,
the ieadei must know that I could not biing peisonal witness to the events
desciibed. To compensate foi hei iole as a noncombatant, then, she based
hei own naiiative upon the oiiginal mateiial, quoting extensively fiom ocial
iecoids and peisonal ieminiscences. Indeed, accoiding to a iecent biogiaphei
of Geneial Geoige Pickett, Lesley J. Goidon, Sallie Pickett plagiaiized long pas-
sages desciibing militaiy movements fiomWaltei Haiiisons Picketts Men. Moie
foicefully than Davis, Jackson, oi even Helen Longstieet, Sallie Pickett justied
hei biogiaphy and hei inclusion within the naiiative: My stoiy has been so
closely allied with that of Pickett and his division, she ieasoned, that it does
not seem quite an intiusive inteipolation foi me to appeai in the iecoid of that
waiiioi band. Fending o any potential ciiticismfoi oeiing hei paiticulai vei-
sion of the wai, she ihetoiically asked, Howcould I tell the stoiy, and the way in
which that stoiy was wiitten, and not be a pait of it:
37
Believing that she played
a ciitical iole in hei husbands militaiy caieei, La Salle Coibell Pickett was moie
willing to tiust hei own voice than weie the othei biogiapheis discussed heie.
In addition to quoting fiom ocial souices and plagiaiizing fiom othei biog-
iaphies, then, she supplemented hei account with hei analyses of battles and
Confedeiate policy. To avoid alienating ieadeis, howevei, Pickett followed the
basic biogiaphical methods established by Vaiina Davis and Anna Jackson.
Sallie Picketts biogiaphy of hei husband iesonated with white southeineis
I_o
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
not only because it mimicked tiaditional woiks on Confedeiate leadeis, how-
evei. Pickett also espoused a millennial, pieoidained conception of histoiy that
complemented the 0ics undeistanding of the discipline. Explaining Geneial
Picketts ill-fated chaige at Gettysbuig, his widow suggested the ways in which
Natuie piepaied foi the battle. Looking down the fai slope of time, wiote
Pickett, Natuie saw a gieat battle in which questions that had heietofoie weak-
ened the unity of the nation should be settled at countless cost of blood and
tieasuie, and piepaied foi that mighty conict a tting eld. Elsewheie, Pickett
tiansfeiied the couise of events out of the iealm of human action and placed
it within a divine mission. By his untiammeled will, she explained, does the
god of wai choose the stage foi the unfolding of each scene in his blood-ied
diama. Having made his selection, he leads hithei his followeis by some slight
incident in which his hand is unseen. Sallie Pickett had pieviously employed
this stiategy in an aiticle that appeaied in the Scuthern Histcrical Scciety Papers
in I8,o. Desciibing the battle, she wiote that hei husband had led the immoital
chaige ovei those sacied heights, on thiough the passage of the Valley of Death.
In both instances, La Salle Pickett located Geneial Picketts chaige within a laigei
scheme, incompiehensible to meie moitals, and theieby iemoved all blame fiom
hei husband foi his ciushing and decisive defeat. Indeed, she iemoved all blame
fiom any Confedeiate soldiei. Many stiategists and wiiteis had attempted to
assign iesponsibility foi the defeat of the Aimy of Noithein Viiginia at Gettys-
buig, but in Sallie Picketts view, they wasted theii time. I cannot nd it in my
heait, noi do I think it ieasonable, she asseited, to believe that any man oi
ocei of that giand aimy, led by the peeiless heio, did aught but what the most
piofound sense of duty and patiiotism, contiolled by the emeigencies which sui-
iounded him, suggested that he should do.
38
Foi Pickett, this millennial view
of histoiy made defeat much easiei to accept than did believing that the events
of Gettysbuig fell within the iealm of human action. She cast hei husband and
his compatiiots as playeis in a diama in which they had no contiol ovei the
ending. She thus suppoited the 0ics view of a divinely oidained histoiy while
vindicating hei husband.
Finally, La Salle Coibell Pickett oeied an inteipietation of the Civil Wai
that was palatable to most white southeineis. Like most of hei contempoiaiies,
Pickett located the cause of the wai not with the institution of slaveiy but with
the piinciple of states iights. Because the Confedeiacy upheld the vision out-
lined by the fiameis of the Constitution, southeineis weie blameless foi the wai.
Undei the Southein ag theie weie no tiaitois, no iebels, she pioclaimed.
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
I_,
To state the ieveise of this pioposition is to falsify histoiy, to chaige it is a
ciime. Moieovei, Pickett aigued that tiaditions of the Old South maintained
theii iesonance in the postwai eia. Although the Union might have obliteiated
the Confedeiacy, the Noith had not eiadicated the ioots of southein cultuie,
which dwell deep in the heaits of the people, wheie they give light and gloiy
to life, as the sunlight of the ages, locked up in the depths of eaith, tiansmuted
its glow into the spaikle of the glitteiing gem.
39
Not only was the Confedeiate
cause justied, but its defeat signaled only its political demise. The ioots of the
antebellum civilization, accoiding to Pickett, iemained to nouiish the following
geneiation.
This vision also helps to account foi Helen Doitch Longstieets stiategy foi
iesuscitating hei husbands image. She did not depend solely on a familiai foi-
mula to tell hei tale. She hoped that white southeineis would embiace hei nai-
iative because she shaied theii vision of histoiy as an epic, heioic poem. Like the
0ic, which saw no contiadiction between wiiting dispassionate histoiy based
on facts and oeiing moial judgments, Longstieet piofessed objectivity yet in-
fused hei woik with sentiment and emotion. In the pieface to hei biogiaphy,
Longstieet announced that she was wiiting this woik out of love foi the geneial.
Fuitheimoie, hei contempt foi hei husbands detiactois matched the ieveience
she felt foi him. I cannot foiget, she confessed, that Longstieet pouied out
his heioic blood in defense of the southein people, and when theie was not a ag
left foi him to ght foi many of them tuined against him and peisecuted him
with a bitteiness that saddened his left yeais. Indeed, she so intently loathed
hei husbands ciitics that she claimed emotional paialysis when asked to wiite
about the geneials peisonal life: I must not wiite about him, she stated, until
I can wiite biavely, sweetly, cheeifully, and in this houi it is, peihaps, moie than
my human natuie can do. She latei declaied, I cannot take the public into my
condence about the man I loved. The subject is too sacied.
40
But Longstieet
cleaily oveistated hei ieluctance to shaie with hei ieadeis the peisonal Long-
stieet, foi the biogiaphy continues foi anothei :,o pages. But moie impoitant,
she negated hei own expiessed intentions of wiiting a dispassionate account of
the Battle of Gettysbuig and oeied instead an epic naiiative of good veisus evil.
If Helen Doitch Longstieet was cognizant of the tension between hei quest
foi histoiical tiuth and hei method as a piacticing histoiian, she did not pub-
licly acknowledge this awaieness. She expected hei ieadeis to discein the tiuth
about hei husbands iole at Gettysbuig thiough hei naiiative style. Longstieet
did not peiceive heiself as being misleading when she piesented events out of
I_8
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
chionological oidei, when she peppeied hei histoiical naiiative with accounts
fiom ocial iecoids and peisonal ieminiscences, oi when she idolized Geneial
Longstieet. In fact, hei tiuth depended on the passionate and epic giandeui of
hei tale. Without the piesence of both, she would not have been able to tell hei
stoiy. She believed not only that she had wiitten the denitive account of Long-
stieet at Gettysbuig but that she alone could have done so. As his loving wife
and tiusted condant, she felt that she knew his stoiy as no one else did. Moie
impoitant, she believed that it was hei duty to shaie this knowledge, bound up
with emotion, with the woild.
Helen Longstieet depended on the shifting boundaiies of the Lost Cause
myth. Although its pioponents and adheients still demanded an unagging loy-
alty to the memoiy of the Confedeiacy, the ways in which followeis could ex-
piess this loyalty changed gieatly duiing the ist fty yeais aftei Appomattox.
Iionically, as the pleas foi gieatei adheience to a paiticulaily southein inteipie-
tation of the wai giew moie intense, the myths boundaiies expanded to include
those who had been left out by the ist geneiation of wiiteis. In othei woids, as
southeineis weie encouiaged to paiticipate in an incieasingly heated and bittei
sectional debate ovei the oiigins, meanings, and iesults of the Civil Wai, they
weie also encouiaged to gloiify those who had pieviously been at best foimally
ignoied oi at woist vilied. Rathei than hone and tighten theii aiguments oi
whittle theii list of canonized heioes, Lost Cause wiiteis bioadened theii de-
fenses to combat the onslaught of noithein accounts of the wai. La Salle Coi-
bell Pickett could theiefoie buinish the image of hei husband, commandei of
the ill-fated chaige at Gettysbuig. Seemingly even moie bizaiie, Helen Doitch
Longstieet could attempt to change hei husbands image as a tiaitoi into that of
a Confedeiate heio, with the possibility of a modicum of success. Even authois
who piivately expiessed theii disiegaid foi ceitain Confedeiate heioes did not
publicly tainish theii images. Helen Longstieet believed Geneials Geoige Pickett
and Stonewall Jackson to be two of the most oveiiated men on the southein
side of the Civil Wai, yet she vowed nevei to take away fiomPickett] any pies-
tige histoiy has given him, howevei much undeseived. As southeineis called
upon themselves to ght a poweiful, but silent battle, that of opinion, they
maishaled all available mateiial, no mattei how alteied oi even distoited, to
seive as pait of the bulwaik against noithein inteipietations of the Civil Wai.
41
Many white southeineis willingly expanded the paiameteis of the Lost Cause
myth because the stakes weie gieatei than the telling of peisonal stoiies. These
wiiteis undeistood fully that theii individual naiiatives contiibuted to a laigei
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
I_,
discouise on the Civil Wai. They did not believe that noithein accounts attacked
peisonal stoiies but iathei peiceived that the southein veision of the waithe
totality of naiiatives that compiised the metanaiiativefaced annihilation by
the pens of noithein wiiteis. By bioadening the myths boundaiies, southeineis
piesented the Noith with a united fiont. By embiacing those who weie suscep-
tible to ciiticism, white southeineis stiengthened the weak links in theii defense
of the Confedeiacy. The moie inclusive the discouise, the moie iesistant it was to
outside attack. La Salle Coibell Pickett and Helen Doitch Longstieet did much
moie than iesuscitate theii husbands waning ieputations: they piopped up the
Lost Cause by placing moie heioes within its fold.
Longstieet believed that hei faith in hei ieadeis willingness to accept hei vei-
sion of histoiy was well placed, foi some white southeineis had come to sanctify
hei husband. By the time she published hei biogiaphy, the James Longstieet
Chaptei of the Geoigia Division of the 0ic had wained, peiish the hand and
stiike down the pen that would iob him of a peoples giatitude to a biave and
loyal son. Similaily, the Sidney Laniei Chaptei of Macon, Geoigia, piomised
to do all in oui powei to teach the childien of oui deai Southland the stoiy of
Longstieets] sublime couiage, his devotion to duty, of the willingness of his
men to follow wheievei he led. The Tioy chaptei of the Alabama Division pio-
claimed, The memoiy of the Confedeiacy is a sacied tiust, foi the men who
made its histoiy we enteitain an unalteiable veneiation. Foi Geneial Longstieet,
one of its distinguished heioes, we feel an abiding aection. Helen Longstieet
hoped that these pioclamations evidenced Geneial James Longstieets secuie
place in the Lost Cause myth. These statements defended the foimeily contiovei-
sial guie and piotected him as othei woishipeis of the Confedeiate pantheon
guaided the memoiies of Lee, Jeeison Davis, and othei Confedeiate heioes.
Histoiy has not boine out Helen Longstieets faith, howevei. As Weit notes,
With the wais end Longstieet] belonged to histoiy, and it would not be kind.
. . . By the time of his death, his opponents had cieated a histoiy of the conict
that continues to this day. Undoubtedly, Weit concluded, James Longstieet
was the gieatest victim of the Lost Cause inteipietation.
42
The Sajest Antidcte tc Sentimental Decay
Fiction iemained a populai genie foi white southein women who wished to tell
theii stoiies of the Civil Wai. Augusta Jane Evans Wilson, who had iemained
laigely silent on the meaning and legacy of the wai and Reconstiuction in the
Io
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
ction she published aftei Macaria, ietuined to southein histoiy as the cata-
lyst foi the action in hei I,o: novel, A Speckled Bird. The novel tells the stoiy of
the Mauiice family, headed by the widow of slain Confedeiate Geneial Egbeit
Mauiice. Shoitly aftei the wai, Geneial and Mis. Mauiices daughtei, Maicia,
had disgiaced the family name as well as the memoiy of the southein cause by
maiiying a Yankee caipetbaggei and fedeially appointed judge, Allison Kent.
Hei tiaitoious deed did not go unpunished, howevei, foi she died tiagically. The
novel opens with Mis. Mauiice tiying to cope with iaising hei detested giand-
daughtei, Elgah, a bittei and constant iemindei of Maicias maiiiage. The lit-
eiaiy convention of a union between a southein belle and a Yankee soldiei did
not symbolize sectional ieconciliation in A Speckled Bird but iathei undeiscoied
many white southeineis angei and iesentment about the Noiths piesence in the
South duiing Reconstiuction. To the tiuly typical southein woman who sui-
vived the loss of family idols and of hei countiys fieedom, foi which she had sui-
iendeied them, Wilson explained, ieconstiuction, political and social, was
no moie possible than the physical iesuiiection and ietuin of slain thousands
lying in Confedeiate giaves all ovei the tiampled and iuined south. In a pas-
sage that could have desciibed the authoi as well as hei chaiactei, Mis. Mauiice,
Wilson noted, no mouining Southein mation indulged moie intensely an in-
exoiable, passionate hatied of Noithein invadeis than did Mis. Mauiice, who
iefused to accept the inevitable and shut hei doois against the agents of Union
and ieconstiuction as piomptly as she baiied out lepiosy oi smallpox. Foi
white southeineis of hei geneiation, Wilson latei explained, time was not an
emollient panacea foi political iancoi: Section hatied bites haid on mem-
oiy, as acid into coppei.
43
Although time did not soothe Wilsons soul iegaiding the defeat of the Con-
fedeiacy, the passing yeais did aoid hei the ability to unleash publicly the bit-
teiness that had iemained unexpiessed foi almost foity yeais. Wilson assailed
all that was wiong with noithein society: socialism, tiade unionism, feminism,
ieligious fanaticism, unsciupulous acquisitiveness, and geneial amoiality. Wil-
sons desciiption of Mis. Dane, a New Yoikei, undeiscoies this suspicion of all
things noithein: She is avowedly a socialist of the extieme type: belongs to
laboi oiganizations, attends theii meetings, makes impassioned addiesses, and
. . . is a female Ishmael. . . . She is iepoited as possessing some education, advo-
cates single tax and all the communistic vagaiies that appeal to the gieat mass
of toiling pooi, the discontented, and the moiose. . . . She fiequents a hall down
on the East side, wheie at night the clans of disgiuntled assemble, and long-
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
II
haiied men and shoit-haiied womenwho absolutely believe that the only ieal
devil is piivate piopeitydenounce wealth and pieach theii gospel of cov-
etousness. Wilson contiasted Mis. Dane with Elgah, who, despite hei suspect
paientage, embiaces the values of southein civilization. I am not in iebellion,
Elgah declaies to one of hei noithein companions, against legal statutes, noi
the canons of well-established decency and ienement in feminine usage, and
nally, I am so inoidinately pioud of being a well-boin southein women, with
a full complement of honoiable gieat-giandfatheis and blue-blooded, stainless
gieat giandmotheis, that I have neithei pietext noi inclination to ievolt against
mankind.
44
Even Elgah iesonated with Wilsons southein ieadeis.
The novel did not faie as well as hei pievious novels had with ciitics, many of
whomsawthe tale as a decidedly old-fashioned stoiy meiely biought up to date.
The ciitic foi the Dial wiote iathei ippantly that unquestionably A Speckled
Biid will be widely iead, and that by those to whom books in a latei mannei
make no appeal whatevei. Wilsons audience, howevei, appaiently did not ob-
ject to the conventions of the domestic novel oi to the authois obtiusive politics,
and although not as successful as hei eailiei novels, this book pleased enough
ieadeis to satisfy Wilson.
45
Viiginia novelist Ellen Glasgowwas peihaps the haishest southein ciitic of the
0ics inteipietation of southein histoiy and its mannei of telling that histoiy.
Boin in the eaily I8,os to a fathei who woiked in manufactuiing and a mothei
fiom the Tidewatei aiistociacy, Glasgow inheiited impoitant legacies fiom both
the Old South and the New. She published hei ist novel anonymously in I8,,
and by the end of hei liteiaiy caieei in the I,os had published nineteen novels,
including many best-selleis and one winnei of the Pulitzei Piize, and was hailed
by ciitics and ieadeis as one of Ameiicas most impoitant authois.
With the exception of Virginia, published in I,I_, ciitics and ieadeis have
tended to dismiss Glasgows eaily novels, ieseiving piaise piimaiily foi hei latei
woik, notably Barren Grcund (I,:,), The Sheltered Lije (I,_:), and Vein cj Ircn
(I,_,). Many of the slighted woiks, howevei, ieveal Glasgows eaily attempts to
countei the dominant theme in late-nineteenth- and eaily-twentieth-centuiy
southein liteiatuie, sentimentalism, which she felt eioded civilization. In a cele-
biated passage, Glasgowpiesciibed blood and iiony to cuie a iotting southein
cultuie. The South needed blood because it had giown thin and pale: it was
satised to exist on boiiowed ideas, to copy instead of cieate. And iiony is an
indispensable ingiedient of the ciitical vision, it is the safest antidote to senti-
I:
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
Ellen Glasgow. (Couitesy Special Collections Depaitment, Manusciipt Division,
Univeisity of Viiginia Libiaiy, Chailottesville)
mental decay.
46
Although not always successful in these eaily novels, Glasgow
began to apply this piesciiption in hei social histoiies published at the tuin
of the twentieth centuiy.
Glasgow began the ist of hei six social histoiies of the state of Viiginia in the
fall of I8,8, when she was in hei mid-twenties. She had alieady published two
modeiately successful novels and was beginning to make a name foi heiself in
the liteiaiy woild. The Vcice cj the Pecple, howevei, iepiesented a depaituie fiom
hei pievious novels. It is not histoiical in the conventional sense, she explained
to hei agent, and it is not iomantically exciting. Recognizing that she might
lose some of hei followeis, she hoped that she would attiact new ieadeis. It is
a good, sound, solid, tiue-to-life kind of novel, she pioudly admitted, and she
piojected that this woik would stand as the liteiaiy base foi hei subsequent
Viiginia novels.
47
The novel explicitly ciiticizes southein society aftei the wai and Reconstiuc-
tion, implicitly aiguing that Populism was the souths only iemaining salvation.
Indeed, if the Civil Wai iepiesented a peoples wai, as Glasgow aigued else-
wheie, then this wai was not complete until the nal phase of the agiaiian iefoim
movement of the I8,os. Glasgow believed that The Vcice cj the Pecple docu-
mented a social ievolution in the moment of tiiumph. The key to the Populists
success, accoiding to Glasgow, lay in theii use of the oideily foices of govein-
ment. Rathei than advocating aimed iebellion, Populists chose to use the po-
litical system to theii advantage. Nicholas Buii, the heio of the novel, iepiesents
the quintessential populist politician, the son of an impecunious faimei who
was always woiking with nothing to show foi itwhose planting was nevei on
time, and whose implements weie nevei in place. Nick knows that he will nevei
be like his fathei, having decided eaily in life to iise above his station and eect
social and economic change thiough the law. His paients take an active inteiest
in politics. Maity Buii, Nicks mothei, contends that if this heie goveinment
aint got nothin bettei to do than to diive pooi women till they diop I ieckon
wed as well stop payin taxes to keep it goin. Amos Buii, Nicks fathei, com-
plains bitteily that since the Civil Wai, the goveinment has piomised to ease
the plight of the faimei but has failed to do so. Aint it been lookin aitei the
labouiei, black an white: Amos queiied. Aint it time foi it to keep its woid
to the faimei: He latei demands, I want my iights, an I want my countiy to
give them to me.
48
Maity and Amos Buii, howevei, aie in no position to do
moie than complain.
Theie aint nothin in peanut-iaisin, a youthful Nick declaies in the novels
I
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
Theie was a niche in a small alcove, wheie he spent the spaie houis
of many a day. Illustiation fiom Ellen Glasgows I,oo novel, Vcice cj
the Pecple.
opening scene, and so he studies law. By always keeping the agiicultuial intei-
ests at heait, he soon becomes chaiiman of the Viiginia Demociatic Paity. In
the nal tiiumph of the voice of the people, Nick is elected the states gov-
einoi. At that moment he was the peoples man, wiote Glasgow. His name
was cheeied by the geneial voice. As he passed along the stieet bootblacks hui-
iahed! him. He had deteimined that the goveinoi should cease to iepiesent a
guiehead, and foi iight oi wiong, he was the man of the houi.
49
The Vcice cj the Pecple was, howevei, a cautionaiy tale. Twoyeais aftei the Wil-
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
I,
mington iace iiot, the people of Glasgows novel, in the foimof a faceless mob,
set out to lynch a black man accused of some unnamed heinous ciime. Nick
goes to the jail to calm his constituents and is gunned down in the cioss ie,
aftei which the sheii callously iemaiks, and he died foi a damned biute.
50
As
soon as the people deviate fiomthe political systemand tuin to oveit violence,
the chaos of the Reconstiuction peiiod ietuins. Foi Glasgow, then, Populism
iepiesented the culmination of the peoples wai as well as the potential iisks of
abandoning civilized goveinment.
The Vcice cj the Pecple, conceived and wiitten in an impassioned ievolt
against the Victoiian tiadition in nineteenth-centuiy ction, constituted pait of
Glasgows laigei attempt to abandon the peivasive sentimental elegiac tone
in southein liteiatuie. To this end, she chose not meiely to wiite on south-
ein themes but to iecoid southein society fiom the Civil Wai to the time
in which she lived. Glasgow declaied heiself to be a iebel, . . . in seaich of
tiuth, not sensation. Shiewdly, she began not with hei Civil Wai book but with
one whose subject mattei was contempoiaiy. My subject mattei seemed to be
fiesh, Glasgow latei admitted, and most ceitainly it iemained untouched, foi
Southein novelists heietofoie had been content to celebiate a dying cultuie.
51
Hei tieatment of discontented faimeis, Populist politicians, and local and state
goveinment suggests that Glasgow iesisted the sentimentality she so abhoiied.
Deteimined as she was, howevei, Glasgow alone could not stage a liteiaiy
ievolution. The southein tiadition in letteis was too gieat foi hei to oveicome.
Reecting on hei failed attempt to cast sentimentality back to the Victoiians,
Glasgowadmitted that she had neithei the emotional matuiity noi the technical
piociency to complete hei mission. She could not divoice heiself fiom the tia-
dition she most detested. The backgiound was too close, she confessed, the
setting was too much a pait of my entiie woild. Elsewheie, she explained hei
inability to thiowo the mantel of sentimentality: I had giown up in the yet lin-
geiing fiagiance of the Old South, and I loved its impeiishable chaimeven while
I ievolted fiom its stianglehold on the intellect. Like the New South, Glasgow
suggested, she too inheiited the tiagic conict of types.
52
In addition to discontented faimeis and Populist politicians, then, stock chai-
acteis that had populated southein Civil Wai liteiatuie fiomits beginnings ciept
into The Vcice cj the Pecple. Uncle Ish, a pictuiesque and pathetic foimei slave,
longs foi the social hieiaichy and oidei of antebellum days. An aging judge con-
tinues to toast the Confedeiacy. Delphy, the foimei mammy, not only iemains
devoted to hei foimei mastei, Dudley, but iefuses to let a new-come niggei
Io
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
iaise his infant child. Afoimei Confedeiate geneial aiticulates the Souths states
iights position well into the I8,os. Even Goveinoi Nicholas Buii, the embodi-
ment of the New Souths salvation, displays a poitiait of a Confedeiate soldiei
aftei Appomattox above his oce mantel. Finally, Jane Dudley Webb, the widow
of a slain Confedeiate ocei, weais a button cut fiom a Confedeiate unifoim
as a testament that the women of the South have nevei suiiendeied! Despite
the poveity to which she had been ieduced, she had once been heaid to ie-
maik that if she had not something to look back upon she could not live.
53
In
an eoit to keep the past veiy much a pait of hei piesent, she pioudly displays
among hei meagei possessions hei husbands swoid and a tatteied Confedeiate
battle ag. All of these chaiacteis testify to Glasgows inability to complete hei
ievolt against sentimentality.
The Vcice cj the Pecple ieceived favoiable ieviews. With hei latest woik, hei-
alded the Lcuisville Ccurier-}curnal, Miss Glasgow places heiself in the fiont
iank of Ameiican wiiteis and shows heiself woithy of a place among the gieatly
gifted. Iionically, the ieview latei piaised Glasgow foi the novels sentimen-
tality: It is no shatteiing of sentimentalities that has been wiought in this book,
even if it is a stoiy of new Viiginia. National jouinals also piaised Glasgows
woik. Both the Dial and Bcckman compaied Nicholas Buii to AbiahamLincoln.
Lauding Glasgows heio, the Dial infoimed its ieadeis that Nick illustiates that
type of Ameiican manhood of which Lincoln is the gieat, histoiical exemplai
. . . the type of stuidy honesty and downiight manliness which oui countiy is
still capable of illustiating fiom time to time, and without which oui piospects
would indeed be hopeless. Ciitics thus not only celebiated the novel foi its sen-
timentality but also matched Glasgows iepiesentative NewSouth politician with
the foimei U.S. piesident and bane to the Confedeiacy. These favoiable ieviews
nonetheless pleased Glasgow. Wiiting to Waltei Hines Page about the success of
The Vcice cj the Pecple, she swoie that she would nevei pandei to a sensation
loving public foi any amount of money but admitted that she did want hei
woik to be widely iecognized.
54
If Glasgow found it dicult to ievolt against sentimentalism in The Vcice cj
the Pecple, she faced hei toughest challenge in hei second novel on the social
histoiy of Viiginia, The Battle-Grcund. Published two yeais aftei The Vcice cj
the Pecple, this novel oeied Glasgows veision of the Civil Wai. Boin in the
I8,os, Glasgow was painfully awaie of the stoiies of the wai, iecalling, The ad-
ventuies of my mothei, as a young wife duiing the wai, weie as vivid to me as
my own memoiies. Fictional naiiatives suppoited hei motheis stoiies, yet
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
I,
Glasgow iemained dissatised. The noithein ieconciliation iomances that pie-
sented a gallant noithein invadei iescuing the clinging southein belle did
not mesh with Glasgows ideas of the wai: I could not believe that the late in-
vasion had been a iomantic conict between handsome soldieis in blue unifoims
and southein ladies in ciinolines, admitted an exaspeiated Glasgow. But she
found heioic legends of the Lost Cause no moie aitistically oi intellectually ful-
lling. I may say just heie, she confessed to Page, hei condant and a fellow
southein wiitei, that the usual wai novel of oui countiy is detestable to me.
Although she latei maintained that heioic legends aie the noblest cieation of a
cultuie, she imly believed that foi them to be a blessing they] must be iecie-
ated not in funeial wieaths but in dynamic tiadition and the living chaiactei of
a iace. I want to do something dieient, she stated about hei wai novel, to
make . . . a pictuie of vaiied chaiacteis who lived and loved and sueied duiing
those yeais, and to show the eects of the times upon the development of theii
natuies.
55
With The Battle-Grcund, Glasgow attempted to coiiect the glaiing
faults she found with the Lost Cause myth.
To cieate the ciitical distance that peimitted an unsentimental poitiayal of
the wai, Glasgow fuithei developed hei aigument, ist aiticulated in The Vcice
cj the Pecple, that the Civil Wai was a peoples wai. In hei novel, not only did the
wealthy planteis sons ght foi the southein cause, but so did the yeomaniy. Al-
though many southein novelists aigued the Confedeiate position thiough theii
nonslaveholding chaiacteis as a stiategy foi divoicing slaveiy fiom the debate
on the causes of the wai, Glasgow eshed out hei yeoman chaiactei to a degiee
unpaialleled elsewheie in southein ction. Pinetop, a nonslaveholding faimei
fiom the mountains of Tennessee, ghts in the same unit as Dandiidge Mont-
joy, an aiistociatic planteis son. Aftei theii ist battle, Pinetop states that while
standing out thai with them bullets sizzlin like fiying pans iound my head,
he questioned the viability of the institution of slaveiy. Look heie, whats all
this fuss about anyhow: Pinetop ihetoiically asked. If these folks have come
aitei the niggeis, let em take em o and welcome! I aint nevei owned a niggei
in my life and, whats moie, I aint nevei seen one thats woith owning.
56
Pinetops motivation foi ghting was nonetheless cleai. Not the need to pio-
tect a decaying institution, explained Glasgow, but the instinct in eveiy fiee
man to defend the soil had biought Pinetop, as it had biought Dan, into the aimy
of the South.
57
Pinetop haidly confoimed to the Lost Causes heioic, ioman-
tic guie of the noble Confedeiate soldiei dashing o to defend the South. Yet
thiough him Glasgow most foicefully aiticulated the Confedeiate cause. Thus,
I8
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
accoiding to Glasgow, the Civil Wai was fought not exclusively by gieat men
ovei gieat ideas but also by common faimeis defending theii land.
Pinetop did not caiiy the weight of Glasgows aigument, howevei. She sup-
plemented his humble defenses of his actions in the wai with piotiacted discus-
sions of Confedeiate ideology between Majoi Lightfoot, a ie-eating Demociat,
and Goveinoi Amblei, a modeiate Whig. Foi the ist :,, pages of the novel,
the goveinoi calmly stiesses the similaiities in politics and sentiment between
the Noith and the South, while the majoi spews invectives against the Noith.
Amblei advocates a peaceful settlement between the two iegions, while Light-
foot begs the South to live up to its ievolutionaiy heiitage and to secede to pio-
tect its guaianteed libeities. The two men continue theii amicable disagieements
until the goveinoi ieceives woid that Piesident Lincoln has sent tioops to South
Caiolina to defend Foit Sumtei. Goveinoi Amblei then abandons his pacist
stance in favoi of secession and, if necessaiy, wai. Theie slowly came to him,
Glasgow wiote as he iecognized the poitentous giavity in the aii about him,
something of the signicance of that iinging call to aims], and as he stood theie
he saw befoie him the vision of an aimy led by stiangeis against the people of
his bloodof an aimy wasting the soil it loved, waiiing foi an alien iight against
the convictions it clung to and the faith it cheiished. Betiayed by his Unionist
position, Amblei actively ghts foi the Confedeiacy aftei leaining of the Fed-
eial invasion of southein soil. Theie aie some things that aie woith ghting
foi, the dying goveinoi tells Dan, and the sight of home is one of them.
58
The
goveinoi comes to shaie Majoi Lightfoots convictions and begins to aiticulate
a much moie eloquent defense of the Confedeiacy than Pinetop evei could have
utteied. Although Glasgow used Pinetop to advance hei belief that the Civil Wai
was a peoples wai, she fell back on the established liteiaiy convention of using
two aiistociatic southein gentlemen to caiiy the defense of the Confedeiacy. She
ultimately collapsed the yeomens and the slaveholdeis aiguments into a com-
mon position. Moieovei, she employed stock chaiacteis, familiai to any ieadei
of Lost Cause iomances, to lend ciedence to Pinetops aigument.
To complicate fuithei the standaid Lost Cause plot, Glasgow oeied a deeply
unsentimental poitiait of battle. In this iespect, The Battle-Grcund ieads moie
like The Red Badge cj Ccurage than like a standaid Thomas Nelson Page novel.
Dandiidge Montjoy has always undeistood his patiiotism in teims of iomance
iathei than as a ieligion. The call of the bugle, the colois of the battle ag, the
ash of hot steel in the sunlight stii Dans soul, compelling himto join the ght.
Not Dans soul but his stomach stiiied at the site of his ist battle, howevei. The
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
j
I,
sight and smell of blood tuin Dan faint: I didnt know it was like this, he ie-
peats to himself, suiveying the scoiched land and scatteied bodies. Abandoned
by his foimei sense of patiiotism, only the absuidity of battle giips Dan aftei
his ist engagement with the Union aimy.
59
Like the goveinoi and the majoi,
Montjoy is a stock chaiactei of Lost Cause ction, familiai to most of Glasgows
ieadeis. She complicated his chaiactei, howevei, by giving this veiy iomantic
heio veiy unsentimental ieactions to battle.
Glasgow succeeded only in adding textuie to Dans chaiactei. Glasgow
plucked most of hei chaiacteis of The Battle-Grcund stiaight fiom those novels
against which she was ostensibly iebelling. Mis. Amblei, the goveinois wife, is
the quintessential plantation mistiess of southein ction. Eaily in the novel, Mis.
Amblei ministeis to the souls of hei family. While the mastei iides thiough his
elds, Mis. Amblei caies foi hei home and childien, and the black people that
had been given into hei hands.
60
On the Amblei plantation, she alone nevei
iests fiom hei labois. Mis. Amblei is meiely a vaiiation on the countless plan-
tation mistiesses who populated Lost Cause iomances.
In this scene and elsewheie in the novel, Glasgow peipetuated a ciitical com-
ponent of the Lost Cause myth, maintaining that southein slaveholdeis weie
benevolent, pateinalistic masteis who genuinely caied foi theii slaves coipo-
ial and spiiitual well-being. The slaves of the novel iewaid theii kindly masteis
with unagging loyalty and devotion. Big Abel, one of the Lightfoots slaves, fol-
lows Dan to the Univeisity of Viiginia and latei into battle and nally chooses
to iemain with Dan and his family aftei the wai. Retuining home fiom the wai
beleagueied and despondent, Dan and Big Abel aie met by Congo, anothei of
the Lightfoots slaves, who happily infoims them, We alls hyei, Maise Dan. We
alls hyei.
61
Despite the defeat of the slaveholding South, Dans foimei slaves
continue to woik at theii tiaditional tasks. Big Abel, Congo, and the iest of the
Lightfoots slaves weie all familiai chaiacteis to Glasgows ieadeis, foi the faith-
ful daiky made an appeaiance in almost eveiy Lost Cause novel. No mattei
how imly Glasgow insisted that she eschewed the tiaditional elements in senti-
mental southein liteiatuie, she could not wiite a Civil Wai novel without them.
Finally, Mis. Ambleis daughtei, Betty, iepiesents the celebiated southein
belle of plantation ction. Decades aftei publishing the novel, Glasgowadmitted
that Betty Amblei peisonied the spiiit that fought with gallantiy and gaiety,
and that in defeat iemained undefeated. Like all the women of the Confed-
eiacy, Betty told heiself that no enduiance was too gieat, no hope too laige
with which to seive the cause. Only Bettys unsweiving devotion saves south-
I,o
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
Betty. Illustiation fiom Ellen Glasgows I,o: novel, The Battle-Grcund.
ein civilization fiom sinking into the abyss. Soothing Dans wai-weaiy soul, she
hopefully piomises, We will begin again . . . and this time, my deai, we will
begin togethei.
62
Heie, as in similai scenes fiom countless southein-authoied
Civil Wai tales, the futuie of the postbellum South is guaianteed by the union of
a healthy, albeit iagged, Confedeiate veteian and a southein belle. In a passage
that suiely appealed to the sentiments of the 0ic, Betty pledges hei love to a
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
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I,I
defeated Confedeiate soldiei and vows to iebuild the wai-iavaged land on the
piinciples of the Old South. In the end, Glasgow cieated a southein belle who
veiy much iesembled the sentimental heioines that the authoi deiided.
Ciitical piaise foi The Battle-Grcund was not as foithcoming as it had been
foi The Vcice cj the Pecple. The book is simply a wai-time stoiy, like many
otheis, iepoited one ieviewei foi the Critic. A good novel though not a gieat
one, claimed Benjamin Wells in the Fcrum. Stiiking and foiceful, admitted
the ieviewei foi the Lcuisville Ccurier-}curnal, but it falls shoit of The Vcice cj
the Pecple in scope and biilliancy. Cail Hovey stood viitually alone in his un-
equivocal piaise foi The Battle-Grcund, claiming that it is something new and
dieient fiom the common iun of novels, ie-eating, pondeious, oi simply me-
diocie. And as with The Vcice cj the Pecple, ciitics lauded the novels sentimen-
talism: The Battle-Grcund contains all the innite pathos of the Lost Cause and
the ietuin of the shatteied, but pioud hosts in gloiy, wiote the Louisville ie-
viewei, citing the novels one iedeeming featuie. Peihaps even moie of an aiont
to Glasgow was the ciiticism levied by Benjamin Wells, who faulted Glasgow
foi the novels inadequate chaiactei development, a task foi which Glasgow felt
eminently qualied. A wiitei of such talent should not be content with woik
that does catch and ieect admiiably what lies on the suiface, the much abused
local coloi, wiote Wells, but fails to lay im hold on the deepei qualities of
human chaiactei. Glasgows ability to tianscend the dominant theme of south-
ein liteiatuie iemained limited, and hei ciitics iecognized this fault. Despite hei
intent to wiite something dieient, Glasgow could not escape the iomance of
the Lost Cause.
63
Glasgow followed hei wai stoiy with a tale of Reconstiuction. Published two
yeais aftei The Battle-Grcund, the thiid novel in Glasgows social histoiy of Vii-
ginia, The Deliverance. A Rcmance cj the Virginia Tcbaccc Fields, iepiesented hei
most successful attempt to date to iesist the sentimental tiend in southein lit-
eiatuie. This novel stands in staik contiast to othei white southeineis novels
of Reconstiuction. Thomas Nelson Page, foi example, oeied a veision of Re-
constiuction that emphasized the inevitable doom to the plantation and all that
it iepiesented. Di. Caiy, the patiician heio of Pages I8,8 novel, Red Rcck. A
Chrcnicle cj Reccnstructicn, iecognizes in the heady days befoie the gieat ex-
plosion in the beginning of the Sixties that the impending wai thieatened the
woild of the plantation South with imminent collapse. Wai is the most teiiible
of all disasteis, except Dishonoi, he wains a gioup of secessionists. I do not
speak of the dangeis. Foi eveiy biave man must face dangei as it comes, and
I,:
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
should couit gloiy, and death foi ones countiy is gloiious. I speak meiely of
the change that Wai inevitably biings, Caiy continues. Wai is the destiuction
of eveiything that exists. You may fail oi you may win, but what exists passes,
and something dieient takes its place. The slaveholding South would assui-
edly suei because of wai. No people who entei a wai wealthy and content
evei come out of wai so, Caiy obseives. The iighteousness of the Confedeiate
cause might compel white southeineis to ght, he ieasons, but the Old Souths
defendeis should iecognize the costs that wai would suiely biing.
64
Foi Page, Reconstiuction boie out Di. Caiys feais. Indeed, Pages inteipie-
tation of Reconstiuction suggested that the eia iepiesented the woist abuses
heaped on a iighteous civilization. White southeineis had been subjected to
the gieatest humiliation of modein times, he wiote in the pieface to Red Rcck.
Theii slaves weie put ovei them. Redemption signaled, howevei, the ultimate
tiiumph of white southeineis. They ieconqueied theii section and pieseived
the civilization of the Anglo-Saxon. As Fied Hobson notes, the yeai of Red
Rccks publication, I8,8, was a time of gieat iacial and uniest and social up-
heaval in the South. The I8,8 Wilmington iace iiot destioyed the possibility of
an inteiiacial political union undei the auspices of the Populist Paity, as once
imagined by TomWatson and even Ellen Glasgowin The Vcice cj the Pecple. His-
toiians David S. Cecelski and Timothy B. Tyson obseive that few communities
escaped iacial teiioiismif only one city became an enduiing iemindei of the
dangeis of demociatic politics and inteiiacial coopeiation. No one, black oi
white, could deny that the iacial massacie signaled a sea change in how white
Ameiicans would iegaid civil iights foi Afiican Ameiicans. The message was
cleai: White people in Wilmington had violently seized theii goveinment, and
no one had acted to stop them. The afteimath of the iiot ensuied the emei-
gence of the Jim Ciow social oidei, the end of black voting iights, and the
iise of a one-paity political system in the South that stiangled the aspiiations
of geneiations of blacks and whites. The appeaiance of Pages novel, then, at
the same moment that white supiemacists violently iegained contiol of poli-
tics in Wilmington, Noith Caiolina, shoied up the ideology of the Jim Ciow
South. Not suipiisingly, many southein ieadeis piaised Pages inteipietation of
Reconstiuction. I honestly believe you have done moie to set the South iight
in the eyes of the woild and to coiiect the misiepiesentation of fanatics, fools &
scoundiels, one ieadei wiote to Page, than all the othei stoiies put togethei.
65
Glasgow, howevei, had a dieient ieading of Reconstiuction.
Foi Glasgow, the confusion that followed in the wake of the wai mocked the
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
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appaient stability of the Old South. Indeed, the wai had exposed the antebel-
lum Souths false sense of secuiity and foiced southeineis to acknowledge that
theii iegion had been condemned to stand alone because it had been foisaken
by time. In The Deliverance, Glasgow constiucted an inveision plot of aiisto-
ciatic decline. In this iespect, as liteiaiy ciitic Richaid Giay notes, Glasgows
woik does not diveige signicantly fiom Pages novels of Reconstiuction, Red
Rcck and Gcrdcn Keith. But wheieas Page emphasized the tiagic plight of the
fallen aiistociacy, Glasgow used hei novel to ciiticize the mythic veision of the
Old South. At the centei of The Deliverance stands Blake Hall, a once giacious
two-hundied-yeai-old planteis mansion with Doiic columns and a cheeiful
spaciousness that has been claimed by the vulgai oveiseei and his family. What
iemained was but the outei husk, the disguied fiame, upon which the newei
impiint seemed only a passing insult. A wai-ielated ieveisal of foitune foices
the once aiistociatic but now impecunious Blake family to move to the ovei-
seeis shack. Thiough this ieveisal of foitunes, Glasgow condemned the notion
of inheiited gentility, at once debunking claims both to white supeiioiity and,
implicitly, to black infeiioiity.
66
The pathetic guie of old Mis. Blake may best illuminate the confusion and
anxiety of Reconstiuction while exposing Glasgows ievulsion at the myth of
the Lost Cause. Convinced that the Confedeiacy had won the wai, Mis. Blake
pioudly states at the beginning of the novel, I am almost seventy yeais old, Im
half dead, and stone blind into the baigain, but I can say to you that this is a
cheeiful woild in spite of the daikness in which I lingei on. Mis. Blake imly
believes that the piesent is veiy little pait of life . . . its the past in which we stoie
oui tieasuies.
67
Glasgow explicitly iejected Mis. Blakes claim. Time had foi-
saken Mis. Blake, just as it had the old South, and like the woild she cheiished,
Mis. Blake was doomed.
Glasgow did not ieseive hei ciitical judgment solely foi Mis. Blake, how-
evei. Thiough Mis. Blakes son, Chiistophei, the antiheio of the novel, Glas-
gow tested the stiength of heieditaiy bie when it has long been subjected
to the powei of malignant ciicumstances. Although Chiistophei is descended
fiom aiistociatic stock and possesses piopei bieeding, the wai has destioyed
any sense of humanity in him, ieducing him to the basest elements. Chiistophei
acknowledges that enviionment, not inheiitance, has deteimined his chaiactei.
Eaily in the novel, he iecognizes that about himself theie was a coaiseness, a
biutality even, that made him shiink fiom contact with . . . otheis. Bent on
ievenge against the oveiseei, Chiistophei spends his days conspiiing to biing
I,
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
Chiistophei] stood, baieheaded, gazing ovei the bioad
eld. Illustiation fiom Ellen Glasgows I,o novel, The
Deliverance. A Rcmance cj the Virginia Tcbaccc Fields.
down the oveiseeis son, Will Fletchei, seducing the boy into diinking, gam-
bling, and muidei. Chiistophei feels absolutely no compassion foi his enemy.
As Glasgow explained, Chiistopheis god was a pagan god, teiiible iathei than
tendei, and theie had always been within him the old pagan scoin of eveilasting
meicy. Convinced that he and his family have been victims of heioic ciimes,
Chiistophei devises heioic toituies and often imagines the oveiseei amid the
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
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ames of a lighted stake. Foi Glasgow, this tale of the Lost Cause would be one
of hatied, not love. The tone would be haish, she admitted, the illumination
would nevei be softened oi diused.
68
In Glasgows novel, the heioine needs piotection not fiom the lusty foimei
slave but fiom the white son of the foimei plantation ownei. Maiia Fletchei
leaves the Viiginia tobacco elds to escape Chiistophei Blake iathei than some
caiicatuie of the Afiican beast. Foi Glasgow, the Civil Wai did not emancipate
millions of base and iapacious animals, incapable of self-iule, but instead ie-
duced southein aiistociats to uncivilized thugs. Heie, Glasgow oeied a stun-
ning challenge to a southein liteiaiy convention whose most notable pioponent,
Thomas Dixon, had published The Lecpards Spcts in I,o:. Accoiding to Dixon,
southein white men needed to piotect fiom fieed slaves both white women and
white voting iights. In a note to the ieadei that piefaces The Clansman, the I,o,
sequel to The Lecpards Spcts, Dixon wiote, In the daikest houi of the life of
the South, when hei wounded people lay helpless amid iags and ashes undei
the beak and talon of the Vultuie, suddenly fiom the mists of the mountains ap-
peaied a white cloud the size of a mans hand. It giew until its mantle of mysteiy
enfolded the stiicken eaith and sky. An Invisible Empiie had iisen fiom the
eld of Death and challenged the Visible to moital combat. Like Page, Dixon
saw the white Souths vindication with Redemption and the Supieme Couits
decisions in Plessy v. Ferguscn (I8,o) and Villiams v. Mississippi (I8,8). Dixons
woik faied well with ieadeis: within a few months of publication, The Clansman
had sold moie than one million copies.
69
Given the ieception Dixons woik ieceived, Glasgow was acutely awaie of hei
novels potential unpopulaiity with ieadeis and ciitics. She neveitheless peise-
veied. Just as the 0ic felt a divine impeiative to tell a ceitain histoiy of the
wai, Glasgow was diiven to countei that histoiy: I could no moie help wiit-
ing it than I could live and not bieathe the aii about me, she infoimed Waltei
Hines Page as she began penning The Deliverance. Theie will always be happy
souls who will tuin out populai iomances, she asseited. But theie would also
be otheis, like hei, who have nevei been able to foiget oui Gethsemane and oui
cioss, will continue to inict upon oui publisheis the books that go down into
the heait of things and appeal to those few that have been theie befoie us. Hei
newest novel, she believed, was anothei, big, deep, human document which no
one will undeistand because it is wiung fiom life itselfand not fiom sugaied
iomance. Despite its unceitain ieception, Glasgow boldly put foith hei most
ciitical novel about the South and about the Confedeiacys legacy.
70
I,o
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
Glasgowevidently did not give hei ieadeis due ciedit. Although not a univei-
sal success, the novel ieceived a numbei of impoitant favoiable ieviews. Wiiting
foi the Dial, William Moiton Payne pioclaimed The Deliverance a masteipiece
of conscientious woikmanship, vivid in its poitiayal of a half-tiagic situation,
and poweiful in its appeal to oui human sympathies. Not only was this novel
Glasgows most impoitant to date, but it iepiesented one of the stiongest
and most vital pioductions by any authoi in iecent yeais. The ieviewei foi the
Lcuisville Ccurier-}curnal was even moie eusive: Like a gieat thundei stoim
on a peaceful summei day comes . . . The Deliverance, mighty in piopoition,
gieat in piomise, magnicent in the fulllment. Aichibald Hendeison of the
Sewanee Reviewbelieved The Deliverance to be the ist southein novel to exhibit
a masteily giasp of mental and moial pioblems. Although some ciitics might
have become weaiy of the novels decayed southein gentility, The Deliver-
ance managed to captuie some piaise, counteiing Glasgows lack of faith in hei
ieading public.
71
These ist thiee social histoiies of Viiginia iepiesented Glasgows eailiest
attempts to oei an alteinative to the dominant theme of southein liteiatuie, a
task that would occupy hei foi the iest of hei liteiaiy caieei. But these eaily at-
tempts failed. As iepulsed as she was by the aiticiality of the Lost Cause myth,
she could not bieak fiee fiom its giasp on southein liteiatuie. She could not de-
vise anothei way of telling the southein stoiy of the Civil Wai. Only The Deliver-
ance, a stoiy of inveisions, counteied the myth. By cieating antiheioes instead of
heioes, developing hatied iathei than ieveience foi the Old South, and iefusing
to piovide a base on which the defeated South could build anew, Glasgow told a
seemingly unfamiliai stoiy of the wai. All of the elements of the Lost Cause myth
weie still piesent, howevei, they had just been tuined on theii heads. Glasgow
had yet to cieate a southein stoiy of the wai devoid of the Lost Cause.
The foimation of the 0ic had a piofound impact on southein womens nai-
iatives of the Civil Wai. No longei wiiting in isolation, southein women now
had the stiength of a majoi oiganization both suppoiting and diiecting theii
eoits. The 0ics sense of a divine impeiative to wiite the tiue stoiy of the wai
compelled its membeis to pen theii peisonal accounts. The gioups convictions
iegaiding a piovidential histoiy piovided the tone foi the laigei collective nai-
iative and even allowed foi lionizing of individual Confedeiate soldieis who had
pieviously been vilied. The guidelines issued by the 0ics Histoiical Commit-
tee oiganized the membeis papeis into unifoim, familiai accounts. Finally, the
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
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oiganizations Textbook Committee compiled ieading lists, oeiing models of
woiks foi the Daughteis to follow. Although the 0ic nevei dictated the spe-
cic content to be included in membeis accounts, the imiules guaianteed that
these women wiote in similai ways and told similai stoiies.
The 0ics impact extended fai beyond its membeis, howevei. Recognizing
the economic powei the Daughteis iepiesented, publisheis weie unwilling to
issue wai stoiies without advance, explicit endoisements fiom the 0ic. Women
wiiteis who weie not oiganization membeis found themselves succumbing to its
guidelines on histoiical naiiative. Even Ellen Glasgow, who was so doggedly de-
teimined to ievolt against the sentimentality of southein liteiatuie, needed thiee
tiies befoie coming close to oeiing an alteinative to the Lost Cause myth. The
0ic continued to wield its consideiable inuence thioughout the eaily twenti-
eth centuiy, aiding the Souths attempt to win the battle ovei the authoiitative
wai naiiative.
I,8
i
1ui i mviv.1i vi oi ui s 1ovi c.i i q0i vv
5
Righting
the Wrongs
of History,
19051915
Ve lcck back with lcving memcry upcn cur past,
as we lcck upcn the grave cj the belcved dead whcm
we mcurn but wculd nct recall. Ve glcrijy the men
and the memcries cj thcse days and wculd have the
ccming generaticn draw inspiraticn jrcm them. Ve
teach the children cj the Scuth tc hcncr and revere the
civilizaticn cj their jathers, which we believe has
perished nct because it was evil cr vicicus in itselj, but
because, like a gccd and usejul man whc has lived cut
his allctted time and gcne the way cj all the earth, it
tcc has served its turn and must ncw lie in the grave
cj the dead past.
iii z. .iviws , The Wai-Time Jouinal of a
Geoigia Giil
Vhc is respcnsible jcr the Scuths unwritten histcry?
Surely we cannct blame the ncrthern histcrian. His
duty is and was tc reccrd the jacts as they are given tc
him, and ij we cj the Scuth have nct given him these
jacts, hcw can we hcld the histcrian cj the Ncrth
respcnsible. . . . The jault we nd with the ncrthern
histcrian (cj ccurse there are a jew excepticns) is nct
sc much what he has said against us as what he has
cmitted tc say.
mi iivii iiwi s v01uiviovi, The Scuth
in the Building cj the Naticn
When Mis. Alexandei B. White, piesident-geneial of the United Daughteis of
the Confedeiacy (0ic), convened hei oiganizations nineteenth annual conven-
tion in I,I:, she did so in the Unions capital city, Washington, D.C. The aiiange-
ments committee had chosen the place ostensibly to dedicate a monument at
Ailington National Cemeteiy to the fallen of the Confedeiacy, but the location
maiked a tuining point in the oiganizations eoits to legitimize the southein
stoiy of the wai. To be suie, the 0ic had met outside of the Confedeiacy twice
befoie this histoiic meeting. In I,o, the oiganization held its national conven-
tion in St. Louis, and the following yeai, it met in San Fiancisco. Neithei of these
meetings, howevei, caiiied quite the signicance of the Washington meeting.
Foi the ist time, the 0ic, one of the laigest oiganizations devoted to the pies-
eivation and mobilization of southein memoiies of the Civil Wai, met in the
capital of its foimei enemy. The conventions location did not iepiesent the oiga-
I,,
nizations ieconciliation with the Noith, howevei. Instead, it signaled the 0ics
ability to tuin a southein stoiy into a national one.
In an eoit to ensuie the piesence of piominent Confedeiate dignitaiies at
this gieat event, Floience F. Butlei, I,III: piesident of the 0ics Washing-
ton, D.C., chaptei, wiote to Stonewall Jacksons widow, expiessing enthusiasm
about the upcoming convention. The leadeiship of the 0ic consideied the con-
ventions location signicant, Butlei told Maiy Anna Jackson, not only in the
histoiy of oui gieat oiganization, but in the histoiy of oui countiy, and . . . the
motheis, wives, and daughteis of the biavest body of soldieis that evei answeied
the call of duty aie to meet in Washington to lay the coineistone of this monu-
ment that is to commemoiate the deeds of oui men as well as the noble sacii-
ces of oui splendid women. Futuie geneiations suiely would iegaid the I,I:
meeting as a milestone in the histoiy of oui countiy, Butlei piomised Jackson,
suggesting that the widow of one of the Souths most ieveied geneials would be
foolish to decline this peisonal invitation to attend.
1
Jackson tuined down this giacious oei, insisting that she was too old and
too weak to attend. Fiist, howevei, Jackson piaised Butlei and the 0ics noble
woik in theii eoits to peipetuate the histoiy of the men and women who made
such saciices foi this beloved Southland. Despite Jacksons inability to come,
Butlei and othei oiganizeis had eveiy ieason to believe that the I,I: convention
would be a success. I think eveiy body in the South wants to wiite a papei oi
make a speech, Butlei told Jackson, suggesting the diculty Butlei was facing in
tiying to juggle the numeious iequests she had ieceived foi stage time. Similaily,
Mildied Lewis Rutheifoid, histoiian-geneial of the 0ic, complained to Butlei
that the numbei of iequests she had ieceived foi placement on the histoiical
piogiam fai exceeded the time allotted. The numbei of women who wished to
paiticipate in the Ailington monument dedication ceiemony appaiently so ovei-
whelmed Butlei that, although a disagieeable job, she iefused eveiy womans
iequest.
2
Although convention oiganizeis had to tuin away willing paiticipants,
they nonetheless faced an onslaught of delegates, all of whom descended on
Washington, D.C., in Novembei I,I:.
Convention attendees heaid ample evidence that the 0ic and its suppoiteis
had begun the piocess of tiansfoiming the southein stoiy of the wai into a na-
tional one. Mis. L. Eustace Williams, chaiiman of the newly foimed Committee
on the Wai between the States, iepoited on hei eoits: In the inteiest of coiiect
histoiy, the 0ic had piessuied Congiess to make the ocial title of the wai
of oI and o, The Wai Between the States instead of using the vaiious incoi-
Ioo
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
iect and misleading teims which aie now applied to it. Southeineis had long
balked at the teim Civil Wai, aiguing that because the South had in fact se-
ceded fiom the Union and foimed an independent nation, the desciiptive teim
civil was giossly inaccuiate. Among othei tactics, Williamss committee be-
seeched membeis of Congiess, nding the NewYoik senatois paiticulaily coui-
teous and amenable to the pioject. At the time of Williamss iepoit, Congiess
had yet to pass a iesolution condemning the common usage of the phiase Civil
Wai. The committee neveitheless iepoited incieased sympathy fiom noithein
editois and teacheis.
3
Moie telling than Williamss self-aggiandizing iepoit, howevei, was the ad-
diess deliveied by Piesident William Howaid Taft at the monument dedication
ceiemony. Although he nevei conceded the legitimacy of secession as a couise of
action, he agieed with the 0ics position that the institution of slaveiy did not
cause the Civil Wai: The histoiian no longei iepeats the falsehood that the men
who lie heie befoie us, and theii comiades who sleep on a thousand battleelds,
died that slaveiy might live, Taft pioclaimed, oi that the soldieis who iest in
those giaves ovei theie enlisted to set the negioes fiee. Noitheineis fought foi
the Union, Taft asseited, while southeineis fought foi independence. All weie
fieemen, ghting foi the peipetuity of fiee institutions.
4
Fiomits beginning, the
0ic had insisted that the Confedeiacy had not fought to pieseive slaveiy. And
although the 0ic and its suppoiteis might have asciibed moie sinistei motives
to the Unions involvement in the wai, these southeineis could iest assuied that
the piesident of the United States well undeistood the Confedeiacys position
in the wai.
Tafts geneial addiess of welcome to the oiganization went even fuithei in
embiacing the southein inteipietation of histoiy than did his addiess at the
monument ceiemony. Speaking on the postwai tensions between the Noith and
South, Taft placed the blame squaiely on the shouldeis of his own paity: Foi
yeais aftei the wai, the Republican paity . . . was in contiol of the administiation
of the goveinment, and it was impossible foi the Southeinei to escape the feeling
that he was linked in his allegiance to an alien nation and one with whose destiny
he found dicult to identify himself. Southein iedemption and the Demociatic
Cleveland administiations, howevei, had eased the national hostility towaid the
South. Southeineis weie called to Fedeial oces, they came to have moie and
moie inuence in the Halls of Congiess and in the Senate, and the iesponsibility
of the goveinment biought with it a sence sic] of closei ielationship to it. Taft
believed that the iecent election, which had just biought Demociat and Viiginia
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
IoI
native WoodiowWilson to the White House, would ensuie that Southein opin-
ion will natuially have gieatei inuence, and the South gieatei piopoitionate
iepiesentation in the Cabinet, in Congiess, and in othei high ocial stations.
Although Taft boasted of his administiations achievements, he conceded that
he could not deny that my woithy and distinguished successoi has a gieatei
oppoitunity, and I doubt not that he will use it foi the benet of the nation at
laige.
5
Isabell Woibell Ball, an unsympathetic local iepoitei, captuied the signi-
cance of the 0ics meeting in geneial and of Piesident Tafts paiticipation in
paiticulai. Ball found the piesentation of a laige silk ag emblem of the de-
feated South ovei the head of the U.S. piesident especially tieasonous. Neaily
as scandalous, howevei, membeis of the 0ic invaded the U.S. capital, caiiying
iebel ags, a thing the whole iebel aimy failed to accomplish in foui yeais of
ghting.
6
Although some noitheineis may not have been ieceptive to the 0ics
eoits to inict its inteipietation of the wai on the nation, they neveitheless had
to come to teims with the giowing cultuial iesonance of the southein stoiy.
A Silent Battle cj Public Opinicn
The 0ic woiked tiielessly and diligently to ensuie that the nation sanctioned the
gioups iepiesentation of the past. Convinced that the Daughteis must be well
veised in the catechisms of the Confedeiacy to bettei educate the nation at laige,
the oiganization ielentlessly pushed its membeis to continue theii studies. The
indefatigable Mildied Lewis Rutheifoid, longtime histoiian-geneial and a veii-
table institution within the 0ic, vehemently admonished the women to engage
in histoiical inquiiy lest the stoiies of the Confedeiacy peiish foievei. Mount-
ing evidence, howevei, suggested that the southein inteipietation of the wai
was gaining national cultuial cuiiency. Although noithein histoiian James Foid
Rhodes viewed slaveiy, not the piotection of states iights, as the sole cause of
the Civil Wai, foi example, he neveitheless iefused to blame southeineis pei-
sonally foi the institution. Moieovei, Rhodes asseited that if blame weie to be
levied foi the institution of slaveiy, England and the noithein states could not
escape sciutiny. As Thomas J. Piessly notes, Rhodes made a distinction between
slaveiy and individual slaveholdeis, and the slaveholdeis weie absolved, foi the
most pait, of the blame foi slaveiy which they customaiily ieceived. Rhodes
was convinced that the veidict of histoiy would be that slaveiy was the calamity
of Southein men, not theii ciime, they deseived sympathy iathei than censuie.
Io:
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
Fuitheimoie, Rhodes iejected the dominant noithein view that a handful of
tieasonous men had staited the wai. Rathei, Rhodes believed that secession was
a populai movement suppoited by the majoiity of white southeineis. Finally,
Rhodes opposed the Fifteenth Amendment and believed that white southeineis
should dictate the tenoi of the iegions iace ielations.
7
Piofessoi William A. Dunning inteipieted Reconstiuction as a national tiag-
edy, a view that most white southeineis could nd sympathetic. Accoiding to
Dunning, Few episodes of iecoided histoiy moie uigently invite thoiough
analysis and extended ieection than the stiuggle thiough which the southein
whites, subjugated by adveisities of theii own iace, thwaited the scheme which
thieatened peimanent subjugation to anothei iace. Dunning saw the Radical
Republican iule foisted on the southein states as coiiupt, inecient, extiava-
gant, and, in some instances, a tiavesty of civilized goveinment. Dunning had
little sympathy foi the newly fieed slaves. The negio had not piide of iace and
no aspiiations oi ideals, Dunning wiote, save to be like whites. . . . A moie
intimate association with the othei iace than that which business and politics in-
volved was the end towaids which the ambition of the blacks tended consciously
oi unconsciously to diiect itself. This unnatuial ambition, accoiding to Dun-
ning, manifested itself in the demand foi mixed schools, in the legislative pio-
hibition of disciimination between the iaces in hotels and theaties, and even in
the hideous ciime against white womanhood which nowassumed new meaning
in the annals of outiage.
8
Foi Dunning, Reconstiuction was a glaiing failuie,
iighted only by the oveithiow of the Radical Republicans and iedemption in
the South.
Despite modications to the noithein stoiy of the wai, howevei, Ruthei-
foid continually feaied that white southeineis weie not endeavoiing eainestly
enough to coiiect the wiongs of histoiy. When sons and daughteis of Vet-
eians wiite aiticles, she declaied, condemning the piinciples foi which theii
Confedeiate fatheis fought, and even stand foi a changed Constitution that will
oveithiow the veiy bulwaik of the Southstate soveieigntyit is full time foi
the Daughteis of the Confedeiacy . . . to become insistent that the tiuths of
histoiy shall be wiitten, and that those tiuths shall be coiiectly taught in oui
schools and colleges. Rutheifoid fiequently chastised the 0ic, claiming that its
mission went unfullled. To the same convention that listened to Piesident Tafts
iemaiks on the giowing inuence of southein opinion, Rutheifoid piofessed hei
keen disappointment in the woik of the histoiical committees. Now I know
that you would much piefei that I should thiow beautiful bouquets tonight and
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
Io_
tell you of the things that you have done well, she snipped. Unwilling to lavish
piaise, howevei, Rutheifoid pionounced the Daughteis guilty, and if the his-
toiical woik does not measuie up to the full iequiiement each Daughtei of the
Confedeiacy should be blamed. Two yeais latei, she pleaded with the Daugh-
teis to compile histoiical data, foi the time is fast coming when much of oui
histoiy will be lost foievei because of oui inactivity. As a nal piece of advice,
Rutheifoid suggested, Put the histoiical woik in the hands of the most capable
membei of youi chaptei.
9
Some 0ic oceis did not shaie Rutheifoids pessimism. Mis. J. Endeis Rob-
inson, Rutheifoids immediate piedecessoi as histoiian-geneial, had piaised the
0ics eoits to compile histoiical data and wiite accuiate naiiatives. The ie-
sults fiom the Histoiy Depaitment duiing the past yeai, she boasted to the I,II
convention, have moie imly than evei convinced me that the Divisions and
Chapteis . . . aie giadually developing a body of women of high intellect, ex-
cellent methods, and histoiical intuition. Indeed, theii eainest eoit to secuie
accuiate facts seems to be the contiolling inuence in theii woik. Mis. L. H.
Watson, histoiian-geneial of the Texas Division of the 0ic, had addiessed the
I,o, convention, encouiaging hei listeneis to ght foi a coiiect histoiy of the
wai: Eveiything we accomplish that is woith doing is fiom a successful battle
fought with oui fellow man foi supiemacy in excellence, oi against the foices of
natuie. The 0ic engaged itself in a silent battle of public opinion aimed with
its battle ag of Rightthe piinciples foi which the Confedeiacy had fought.
We will evei tell the stoiy, Watson pioclaimed, and if, in the gieat conict,
victoiy comes to oui Southlandit will be fiom the teachings of oui Veteians
and the 0ic.
10
Convinced that victoiy was within theii giasp, the Daughteis of
the Confedeiacy hunkeied down and geaied themselves foi the nal battle foi
tiuth.
The national oiganization continued to piovide its local chapteis with ma-
teiials to aid membeis study of the tiue histoiy of the wai. Rutheifoid devised
a catechism titled The Wiongs of Histoiy Righted in which she encouiaged
Daughteis to memoiize what she deemed peitinent facts about U.S. and Con-
fedeiate histoiy. Why did Massachusetts thieaten to secede in I8o_: she asked.
Give the oidei of secession of the ist six seceding states, she demanded.
Name the Wai Goveinois. Foi answeis to these questions, Rutheifoid iefeiied
the Daughteis to hei I,I pamphlet, The Vrcngs cj Histcry Righted, and hei I,o,
woik, The Scuth in Histcry and Literature. She also listed Cail Hollidays His-
tcry cj Scuthern Literature, J. L. M. Cuiiys Civil Histcry, and Thomas Nelson
Io
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vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
Pages The Old Scuth, among othei woiks, as suitable souices. Conceined with
the piopei edication of its membeis, in I,I the 0ic foimed the Committee on
Southein Liteiatuie and Endoisement of Books. Maishaling the iesouices of the
0ics histoiy, education, and liteiatuie depaitments, which deal specically
with the highei intellectual development of oui people, this the newcommittee
advocated the adoption of a unifoim use of teims as well as of southein woiks
that enlaige the ideas, shape the tastes, and stimulate the aspiiations. Membeis
ceitainly did not always nd the tasks outlined by the national committee easy to
execute. Foi example, to state division histoiian Maiy Calveit Stiibling, Rosa H.
Mullins of the John C. Bieckiniidge Chaptei in Clay, West Viiginia, confessed
that although she found the histoiical woik of the 0ic the most inteiesting, she
wondeied sometimes if those of the 0ic living in Southein communities can
iealize just what it means to a handful of timid Southeineis suiiounded in eveiy
hand by a Noithein element to get out and woik foi a change of histoiies and
things of like natuie.
11
As pait of the 0ics eoits to piopeily educate the citizeniy, it continued to
condemn and block the use of scuiiilous histoiies of the wai. The Daughteis
found Heniy William Elsons A Histcry cj the United States cj America paiticu-
laily loathsome and diafted a iesolution iecommending that high schools and
colleges not use the woik. At the I,II national convention, the 0ic agieed that
no univeisity could use this histoiy as a text-book oi in any way that gives it
piominence without cieating in the mind of the student a distiust of all that
peitains to the South, its institutions and statesmen, students] will in time be-
come ashamed of the noble, self-saciicing actions of theii fatheis in the tei-
iible days of the Wai between the States. The authois of the iesolution oeied
Colonel Hilaiy A. Heibeits The Abcliticn Crusade and Its Ccnsequences, Susan P.
Lees The New Primary Histcry cj the United States, and Riley, Chandlei, and
Hamiltons Our Republic as moie suitable texts. The Histoiical Commission of
South Caiolina engaged Louisa B. Poppenheim, a founding membei of the South
Caiolina Division of the 0ic, to diaft a iesponse to a volume of the Publica-
ticns cj the Scuthern Histcry Asscciaticn that contained an aiticle on Saiah and
Angelina Giimk, abolitionists fiom South Caiolina, designed foi the delecta-
tion of fanatics and South-hateis of like tendencies. Accoiding to the Histoiical
Commission, the Giimk sisteis weie unbalanced mentally, moially and so-
cially, and the capable histoiical oi liteiaiy ciitic of to-day would anywheie ie-
gaid it as a case of histeiia sic] to see them put down as exponents of the best in
the South. Southeineis should celebiate Elizabeth Pinckney, Louisa McCoid,
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
Io,
Augusta J. Evans, and Vaiina Davis iathei than the Giimks, whose eoits to
violate the laws of the land and the laws of decency and good behavioi scan-
dalized theii fellow South Caiolinians. Kill the myth if you can and stick a steel
pen chaiged with youi biightest saicasm into its caicass if you cannot kill it,
the commission advised Poppenheim. Let the patiiotic daughteis of the Aboli-
tionists iesolute on you if they want to, but hit the lick in the inteiest of histoiy
anyway.
12
By banning oensive mateiial such as Elsons histoiy and challeng-
ing eiioneous woiks like the aiticle on the Giimk sisteis, the 0ic stiove to
ensuie that only ceitain naiiatives of the wai would be told.
The 0ic also continued to encouiage its membeis to wiite and publish stoiies
of the wai. Rutheifoid concietely outlined the piopei and useful qualications
foi histoiians, who ist needed to be tiuthful, foi histoiy is tiuth. Second,
histoiians should be bcld and jearless, daiing to tell the tiuth even if adveise
ciiticism comes to you foi doing it. Thiid, histoiians should possess a philoso-
pheis tempeiament. Finally, you must be a patrictbecause the Confedeiate
soldiei was the highest type of patiiot.
13
Rutheifoid then sent foith thousands
of white southein women deteimined to coiiect the sins of histoiical fallacy
peipetiated by the Noith and to iediess the sins of silence by the South.
Aimed with this special tiaining, some local chapteis, including the John K.
McIvei Chaptei of Columbia, South Caiolina, collected biogiaphies of local wai
heioes. These sketches often seived as vehicles to piomulgate the authois intei-
pietations of the wai. In an aiticle ostensibly about hei fatheis postwai activi-
ties, one woman iailed against Reconstiuction: A white man had no iights that
a negio was bound to iespect, she explained. Instead of the stais and stiipes
we had the bloody shiit waved in oui faces. Lucy Davis King, authoi of a bio-
giaphical sketch on the chapteis namesake, John K. McIvei, desciibed the fallen
soldiei with woids that countless othei southein women had used to desciibe
Confedeiate soldieis: No tiuei patiiot shed his blood foi his countiys iights,
she claimed, no fondei heait was evei toin fiomloved ones and home than his.
Like thousands of otheis, he laid down his life to maintain the iights in which
he believed.
14
Just as Vaiina Davis, La Salle Coibell Pickett, Maiy Anna Jackson,
and Helen Doitch Longstieet had pieviously used theii biogiaphies of theii fa-
mous husbands to entei the national dialogue on the Civil Wai, these twentieth-
centuiy women contiibuted to the public discouise on the wai by sketching the
lives of local heioes.
By the eaily I,oos, howevei, most 0ic membeis had tuined away fiom biog-
iaphies, instead wiiting histoiical sketches. Although Daughteis had wiitten
Ioo
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
these types of naiiatives fiom the oiganizations inception, the piodding of 0ic
histoiians such as Robinson and Rutheifoid encouiaged women to cast widei
nets. Kate Mason Rowland of Viiginia, foi example, honoied the Confedeiacys
English sympathizeis, a little-exploied avenue of ieseaich. To a ciowd assembled
in Richmond, Viiginia, Rowland singled out a numbei of notewoithy suppoit-
eis, beseeching hei listeneis to stiing these names on oui iosaiy foi iemem-
biance . . . those champions tiied and tiue of the Confedeiate South when the
whole woild watched with bated bieath and hushed [ as close the gieat Con-
stiictoi wound its coil [ aiound us, as we stiuggled, fought till ciushed. Maiy
Johnson Posey wished to expand hei audience beyond the membeis of the 0ic
and sent hei manusciipt, The Fight between the Fiist Iionclads, to the edi-
tois at Ccnjederate Veteran. To be able to lift the veil fiom the yeais that aie
gone, and iecall the wondeiful incidents of histoiy foi the piesent geneiation,
Posey believed, must be the most pleasant things possible. She indeed must
have enjoyed histoiical naiiatives, foi she sent many manusciipts to Ccnjederate
Veteran. Mis. Geoige B. Russell, a membei of the A. H. Caiiington Chaptei of
the 0ic in Chailotte Couithouse, Viiginia, also sent a manusciipt to the editois
of Ccnjederate Veteran. Rathei than wiite about the causes that led to the Civil
Wai, the iighteousness of the Confedeiacy, oi battles, Russell chose instead foi
hei subject one which ielates to the patiiotic, heioic and self-saciicing pait
which oui Motheis took in the gieat wai which devastated the Southland, and
claimed as its toll the lives of neaily one hundied and fty thousand of the owei
of hei manhood, to what theii daughteis of this geneiation have done and aie
doing to continue the gieat and good woik begun by them.
15
Russell went on
to catalog the heioic deeds of the women of the Confedeiacy in a mannei that
undoubtedly pleased the oceis of hei local 0ic chaptei. No longei conned
to wiiting biogiaphical sketches of local heioes, southein women continued to
expand theii contiibutions to the public discouise on the Civil Wai.
0ic membei Lillie V. Aichbell of Kinston, Noith Caiolina, published hei
own magazine, Carclina and the Scuthern Crcss, to ensuie adequate distiibu-
tion of southein womens wai naiiatives. She piinted the ist issue in Novembei
I,I:, dedicating it to oui busy people who always have time to make histoiy
but nevei time foi ieseaich. Aichbell piomised to devote hei magazine to a
simple tiuthful account of all battles that have taken place in Noith Caiolina, the
peisonal expeiiences of ieliable people who came in contact with those battles,
home life in the state duiing the Confedeiacy, what people did to make a living,
and how they helped the soldieis in eld. Taigeting a populai ieading audi-
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
Io,
ence iathei than scholais, Aichbell believed that the stiaightfoiwaid aiticles in
Carclina and the Scuthern Crcss must suiely make people bettei and stiongei
foi knowing such things. Conceined with oveisatuiating the maiket foi south-
ein magazines, Aichbell assuied hei ieadeis that hei magazine did not duplicate
the eoits of Ccnjederate Veteran oi of the Poppenheim sisteis magazine dedi-
cated to southein women, The Keystcne. Accoiding to Aichbell, Carclina and
the Scuthern Crcss sought to pieseive the histoiy that is so iapidly becoming
meie tiadition, by publishing it now, and to use the publication by planting it in
the minds of the people instead of laying it away in the aichives foi the dim and
distant futuie. Although Aichbell and hei contiibutois believed that a tiue and
accuiate poitiayal of the wai was ciucial foi the South, they contended that the
Noith need not feai the tiuth, which could not pluck away theii political vic-
toiy. The Union might have won on the battleeld, but the Confedeiacy would
win the battles ovei memoiy and histoiy.
16
Aichbell appaiently took quite seiiously hei piomises to publish histoiically
accuiate mateiial. And while she consistently published aiticles that celebiated
the Confedeiacy, she did not advocate giatuitous gloiication. In at least one
case, Aichbell challenged La Salle Coibell Picketts defense of hei late husbands
infamous chaige at the Battle of Gettysbuig. Although Sallie Pickett doubt-
less iecoids what she believes to be tiue, Aichbell contended that the widow
claims too much foi hei husbands seivice and she accentuates his admiiation
and fiiendship foi his countiys enemies at a time when such fiiendship was dis-
loyal to the cause that he espoused. Moieovei, Aichbell pointed out, Pickett
was not an eyewitness to the chaige and thus could not substantiate hei claims.
Aichbell might have been sympathetic to Picketts need to iendei hei husband
a heio and might even have felt pangs of guilt foi dispaiaging the naiiatives of
such a devoted Daughtei of the Confedeiacy, but Aichbell imly aveiied that it
is a gieat mistake to saciice the tiuth foi any cause, foi, in the end, it injuies the
Cause. Those who had lived thiough the Civil Wai and Reconstiuction had sac-
iiced theii blood, they must not saciice honoi foi peace noi gain, Aichbell
pioclaimed. God foibid that we should be dishonest among ouiselves.
17
Some people did not accept the giowth of the 0ic with equanimity. Nashville
authoi Coiia Haiiis iidiculed the oiganizations eoits to memoiialize the Con-
fedeiate dead, foi example. Of one such eoit, The tiuth was, Haiiis explained
in hei I,I: novel, The Reccrding Angel, the guie of the soldiei on the pedestal
was of extiemely shoit statuie. This was due to the fact that the Daughteis of the
Confedeiacy, who had eiected the monument, had not been able to aoid the
Io8
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
piice demanded, and the skinint sculptoi shoitened the legs of the heio make
up the dieience. It was a sacied defect about which Ruckeisville was so sensitive
that it was nevei mentioned. Foi Haiiis, the statue iepiesented that element of
the giotesque which is so chaiacteiistic of the South when it exalteth itself eithei
in oiatoiy oi in any othei foimof exaggeiation. The visible facts nevei waiianted
the pioclamation. Moieovei, Once you eiect a statue, you have belittled and
defeated youiself. You cannot compete with it. The thing outlasts you. This is
one ieason why in those countiies wheie theie aie the gieatest numbei of monu-
ments to the memoiy of men and deeds theie is to be found the pooiest quality
of living manhood. Although at least one ieading gioup expiessed disappoint-
ment in Haiiiss poitiayal of small-town southein life, otheis congiatulated hei
on hei abiding iealism. One ieadei explained hei attiaction to the novel: I
am a southeinei myself, Alabama-boin, and that in a small town, too. Peihaps
that is one ieason why I am enjoying The Recoiding Angel so highly, because
it desciibes life with which I am acquainted. Appaiently missing the message
Haiiis wished to convey, the ieadei continued, My expeiience with Yankee life
and customs has been biief, but long enough to make me piefei oui sleepy little
old Southein towns with all theii duck-legged Confedeiate statues and othei
peculiaiities.
18
Despite Haiiiss unatteiing poitiayal of the 0ic, the oiganization matuied
duiing the second decade of its existence. It ieciuited new membeis, enlist-
ing moie women in its battle to tell the tiue histoiy of the wai. It foimed new
chapteis in noithein states, ensuiing that its message ieached a bioadei audi-
ence.
19
The oce of the histoiian-geneial wielded moie powei in the oiganiza-
tion, pioviding local gioups with imei diiection in histoiical wiiting. The foi-
mation of new committees dedicated to educational and histoiical woik shoied
up the position of the histoiian-geneial and hei committee. With an incieas-
ingly poweiful oiganization behind them, southein white women continued to
tell theii stoiies of the wai.
Matter Frankly Scuthern in Flavcr
Foi those southein white women who chose to publish theii Civil Wai naiia-
tives, the liteiaiy maiket pioved especially accommodating. The fienzied pub-
lication of diaiies and memoiis that began in eainest in the I8,os continued
duiing the ist decades of the twentieth centuiy, with scoies of women taking
blue pencils to theii manusciipts, iendeiing theii stoiies suitable foi a post-
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
Io,
wai audience. The most famous Civil Wai diaiist who emeiged in this peiiod
was Maiy Boykin Millei Chesnut, whose posthumously published A Diary jrcm
Dixie (I,o,) immediately captuied the imaginations of ieadeis and ciitics alike.
In addition, ievised naiiatives by Eliza Fiances Andiews, Nancy De Saussuie,
Lauia Elizabeth Lee Battle, and Saiah Moigan Dawson, among otheis, ciowded
the bookshelves of ieadeis still fascinated with the Civil Wai decades aftei
Lee suiiendeied at Appomattox Couithouse. Taken togethei, these decidedly
twentieth-centuiy publications of nineteenth-centuiy diaiies demonstiate the
Civil Wais poweiful hold on the postwai consciousnesses of southein women
in paiticulai and the Ameiican public in geneial.
As Elisabeth Muhlenfeld notes, It is foi the woik she did duiing thiee of the
last ve yeais of hei life that Maiy Boykin Chesnut is iemembeied at all, foi be-
tween late I88I and I88 she substantially completed an expansion and ievision
of hei Civil Wai jouinalstwenty yeais aftei they had been wiitten. She did so
with a heavy editoiial hand. Chesnut applied the techniques of dialogue, chai-
acteiization, and naiiation, honed in hei failed attempts at ction wiiting, to
hei Civil Wai manusciipt. In the piocess of ievision, she iemoved tiivialities,
iiielevancies, and indiscietions. But she added moie mateiial to hei diaiy than
she omitted oi condensed. As C. Vann Woodwaid notes in the intioduction to
his edition of the Chesnut diaiies, in the end, the integiity of the authois ex-
peiience is maintained . . . but not the liteial iecoid of events expected of the
diaiist.
20
Befoie Chesnut died in I88o, she entiusted hei jouinals to Isabella Maitin,
a Columbia, South Caiolina, schoolteachei whom Chesnut had met duiing the
wai. When Maitin failed to nd a publishei foi the jouinals, she stashed them
until I,o, when she met fellow southeinei Myita Lockett Avaiy, whose A Vir-
ginia Girl in the Civil Var had sold well the pievious yeai. Convincing Maitin of
the maiketability and piotability of Chesnuts diaiy, Avaiy set out at once to
publish the jouinals, contacting D. Appleton and Company, the im that had
handled A Virginia Girl.
21
Within a yeai, Avaiy and Maitin had published A
Diary jrcm Dixie, puiging neaily thiee-quaiteis of Chesnuts ievised text. The
woik that emeiged in I,o, boie little iesemblance to Chesnuts oiiginal jouinals.
While Avaiy handled business aaiis, Maitin began piepaiing the intioduc-
tion to the Chesnut jouinals. A dispute among Avaiy, Maitin, and Appletons
Fiancis W. Halsey aiose almost immediately iegaiding the intioduction the pub-
lishing im had intended. Anticipating ciiticism fiom southein ieadeis, Avaiy
and Maitin cataloged the inaccuiacies in the intioduction Halsey had piovided:
I,o
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
Fiist, Avaiy and Maitin infoimed him, Mis. Chesnut can not be stiictly de-
sciibed as a typical woman of the Old South, oi the peisonication of the
soul of the Old South. Avaiy and Maitin felt Chesnut too cosmopolitan to be
desciibed in such piovincial teims, asciibing hei bieadth of vision and hei
satiie not meiely to hei southein heiitage but to human natuie. It is . . . in
this dual chaiactei that the South would accept best hei ciiticism of peisons and
happenings, Avaiy and Maitin believed. Equally egiegious, the intioduction
painted the two editois as liteiaiy meicenaiies, bent solely on tuining a laige
piot. Isabella Maitin is iepiesented as sending Myita Lockett Avaiy Noith
with a commission to seek a Publishei foi Mis. Chesnuts Diaiy, thus putting a
commeicial fiame aiound a gilt-edged pictuie. The potential ieaction of Ches-
nuts family especially tioubled the two women, who did not want the diaiists
ielatives to think that the Diaiy was being hawked aiound. Avaiy and Maitin
told Halsey that they would ieluctantly woik with the pioposed intioduction,
although theii attoiney had counseled us to ieject it altogethei.
22
The mattei of the intioduction settled, Appleton moved foiwaid with the
publication of A Diary jrcm Dixie, even though theie aie seveial othei similai
books announced by othei houses. The length of the oiiginal manusciipt con-
ceined Halsey, howevei, and he explained that publishing an unexpuigated vei-
sion would be fateful to its sale. Halsey counseled Avaiy to include only those
selections that ielated diiectly to the Civil Wai and illustiated the social and
domestic conditions of the South. Moieovei, theie aie passages also which we
foisee sic] that Miss Maitin might piefei to have omitted, because the feelings
of peisons still living might be wounded. Maitin undoubtedly would wish to
safeguaid the memoiy of Mis. Chesnut, Halsey suggested, advising Avaiy and
Maitin to cut even moie fiom the manusciipt. Avaiy balked at the suggestion
of fuithei editing the manusciipt, oeiing instead to biing the woik out in two
volumes. Theie is moie to it than wai histoiytheie is psychological inteiest,
social development, the womans peisonality, hei keen ciiticism of people and
things, hei bcn mcts. Womens tales of the wai between the states aie plentiful,
Avaiy infoimed Halsey, but such wit, such esprit as this, o!
23
Halsey did not
nd Avaiys aiguments peisuasive.
Avaiy and Halsey next tangled ovei the issue of a second intioduction to be
penned by a noithein histoiian. Although Avaiy conceded that theie aie some
things which a noithein man might say which Miss Maitin and I do not say and
can not say giacefully, but which might add to the books sic] uniqueness and
inteiest at the Noith, she did not want to oveibuiden the text. To me, the
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I,I
book seems too beautiful and self-sucient to be weighted down with an intio-
duction, pieface, index, and copious footnotes. I feai, sometimes, that its wings
will be so fieighted that it may not y so swift oi fai as it might have gone with
a woid fiom any of us explainei geneials, she piofessed. Appletons editois
weie unielenting. We expect the laigest sale will come fiom the Noith, W. W.
Appleton wiote to Maitin, thieatening that the diaiy would fail of a piopei
ieception unless it weie authenticated by the fullest explanations. Indeed, so
deteimined weie Halsey and Appleton to catei to the noithein ieading audi-
ence that Halsey suggested dedicating the volume to the men and women of
the Noith who would undeistand.
24
Neithei Avaiy noi Maitin initially appioved of the pioposed index. When the
nished list aiiived in South Caiolina, howevei, the two women weie aghast.
Had it been a snake, it could not have staitled us moie, Avaiy told Halsey,
as it unwound its inteiminable lengths fiom envelopes. In addition to theii
oiiginal objections, Avaiy and Lockett ciinged at many of the teims listed, in-
cluding Civil Wai, knowing that they would oend southein ieadeis: If we
can get aiound wounding oi oending them by changing a few woids . . . into
foims acceptable to eveiybody, it will be good policy, Avaiy believed. The two
women found Appletons use of noithein teims foi battles even moie objection-
able than the use of Civil Wai: accoiding to Avaiy, In Index, I see Faii Oaks,
no Seven Pines: Southeineis haidly iecognize the battle undei that title. Faii
Oaks stamps the book as a Noithein pioduct oi Noithein inteipietation of the
Diaiy. Avaiy suggested Seven Pines oi Faii Oaks to appease both sections.
25
Despite this wiangling between Avaiy and Maitin and the publishing im, A
Diary jrcm Dixie was ieleased in I,o, to consideiable populai and ciitical suc-
cess. The Diaiy is quaint, pictuiesque and beautiful beyond desciiption, one
admiiei wiote to Maitin. The woild owes you a debt foi biinging the Diaiy
to light, the ieadei continued. It is moie inteiesting than any love stoiy, and
excites in my mind an inteiest and admiiation foi Mis. Chesnut that is little
less than idolatiy. Similaily, Selene Ayei Aimstiong piaised Avaiy in Scuthern
Vcmans Magazine: The genius foi discoveiy is of quite as much value to the
woild as the cieative faculty and foi biinging to light the Chesnut Diaiy Mis.
Avaiy deseives the ciedit of having made a notable contiibution to the liteia-
tuie which has giown up aiound the wai. Aimstiong iecognized the Chesnuts
as well, piofessing that A Diary jrcm Dixie ieects moie faithfully than any pie-
vious book peihaps, the spiiit with which Southeineis boie theii tiiumphs and
I,:
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
ieveises, and . . . gives an uninteiiupted account of the piogiess of the entiie
wai.
26
A Diary jrcm Dixie did not, of couise, piovide ieadeis with the only unintei-
iupted account of the wai. Both Maitin and Avaiy iealized, as did the editoiial
sta at Appleton, that scoies of white southein women had penned theii Civil
Wai naiiatives duiing the eaily decades following the conict, thieatening to
swamp the postwai liteiaiy maiket. Chesnuts position as the wife of a piomi-
nent South Caiolina politician gave hei access to many of the Confedeiacys
most inuential statesmen and oceis, lending a ceitain aii of impoitance to
hei diaiy. Moieovei, Chesnut believed that education, position, and intelligence
had eminently qualied hei to comment on the woild aiound hei. Chesnuts
consummate skill as a diaiist and as hei own editoi, theiefoie, distinguished
Chesnuts diaiy fiom the pack of otheis. As histoiian Woodwaid notes, the
impoitance of Maiy Chesnuts woik . . . lies not in autobiogiaphy, foituitous
self-ievelations, oi oppoitunities foi editoiial detective woik but] with the life
and ieality with which it endows people and events and with which it evokes the
chaos and complexity of a society at wai.
27
Maiy Chesnut left no iecoid of hei thoughts on ievising hei diaiy, but Eliza
Fiances Andiews, a 0ic membei and authoi of a I,o8 naiiative, The Var-Time
}curnal cj a Gecrgia Girl, appended a piologue to hei jouinal of Sheimans
Maich in which she commented extensively on hei ievisions: To edit oneself
aftei the lapse of neaily half a centuiy, Andiews noted, is like taking an appeal
fiom Philip diunk to Philip sobei. The changes of thought and feeling between
the middle of the nineteenth centuiy and beginning of the twentieth centuiy
aie so gieat, she continued, that the impulsive young peison who penned the
following iecoid and the white-haiied woman who edits it, aie no moie the
same than weie Philip diunk with wine of youth and passion and Philip sobeied
by the lessons of age and expeiience. Because diaiy keeping pievented the au-
thois self-conceit by chionicling piecisely what a full-blown idiot he oi she
is capable of being, Andiews begged hei ieadeis foigiveness foi expunging
anything that would too emphatically wiite me down as an ass. Although
Andiews edited libeially, she assuied hei ieadeis that hei changes had not been
allowed to inteifeie in any way with the delity of the naiiative.
28
Andiews believed hei diaiy to be typical of that of any southein woman fiom
the plantei class. Moieovei, she aveiied that the feelings, beliefs, and piejudices
expiessed ieect the geneial sentiment of the Southein people of that geneia-
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I,_
tion. Fiimly convinced that hei jouinal shed light on the innei life of the
unique society of the Old South, she oeied hei piivate jouinala iecoid she
had maintained with absolutely no thought of it meeting othei eyes than the
authoito the ieading public. Andiews nevei pietended that hei jouinal sub-
stituted foi histoiy, claiming instead that it oeied a meie seiies of ciude pen-
sketches, faulty, inaccuiate, and out of peispective, but a tiue iepiesentation of
events as she saw them.
29
Hei jouinal also was not impaitial but iathei was in-
fused with an aident patiiotism foi the Confedeiacy. And while time might have
tempeied hei aidoi, Andiews neithei iepudiated hei passion foi the southein
cause noi excused hei hatied foi the Noith.
Although Andiews nevei iewiote hei waitime opinion of the institution of
slaveiy, hei views cleaily dieied fiom those of most white southeineis in the
eaily twentieth centuiy. Andiews believed slaveiy to be a benevolent institution,
with pateinalistic masteis caiing foi theii chaiges. Eaily in Apiil I8o,, Andiews
ianted against the Fedeial oceis who had invaded hei town of Washington,
Geoigia, wiiting, To have a gang of meddlesome Yankees down heie and take
the slaves] away fiom us by foiceI would nevei submit to that, not even if
slaveiy weie as bad as they pietend. But, even though Andiews consistently
maintained that slaveiy was not the monstiosity that some would have us be-
lieve, she also aigued that the institution had become anachionistic by the mid
nineteenth centuiy. Slaveiy had seived the puiposes of the iace, accoiding to
Andiews, since the days when man ist emeiged fiom his piehuman state until
the iise of the modein industiial systemmade wage slaveiy a moie ecient agent
of pioduction than chattel slaveiy. Puie economic deteiminism had engen-
deied the end of slaveiy, which means that oui gieat moial conict ieduces
itself, in the last analysis, to a question of dollais and cents, though the ieal issue
was so obscuied by othei consideiations that we of the South honestly believe
to this day that we weie ghting foi States Rights, while the Noith is equally
honest in the conviction that it was engaged in a magnanimous stiuggle to fiee
the slave.
30
Andiewss theoiy of economic deteiminismoeied a newtwist on the myth of
the Lost Cause but did not supplant it. With the same ihetoiic that othei mem-
beis of the 0ic had infused into theii wiitings on the Civil Wai, Andiews ex-
plained the demise of the Confedeiacy. Of the southein soldiei, Andiews wiote,
His cause was doomed fiom the ist by a law as inexoiable as the one pio-
nounced by the fates against Tioy, but he fought with a valoi and heioism that
have made a lost cause foievei gloiious. Although the Confedeiacy had gone
I,
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
down in a mighty cataclysm of blood and ie, it had been a gloiious end,
bettei than to have peiished by slowdecay thiough the ages of sloth and iotten-
ness, as so many othei gieat civilizations have done, leaving only a debased and
a degeneiate iace.
31
Andiewss economic inteipietation of the wai might have
been heteiodox to hei fellow southeineis, but the laigei fiamewoik in which
she wiote iemained consistent with othei Lost Cause naiiatives of the Civil Wai.
If Andiewss explication of the institution of slaveiy was iconoclastic, Nancy
Bostick De Saussuie, who published Old Plantaticn Days in I,o,, oeied a moie
oithodox inteipietation. De Saussuie wiote hei memoiis so that hei giand-
daughtei, who knewonly the New South, might leain of the fallen Confedeiacy.
De Saussuies ieminiscences and those of all southeineis of the oldei geneiation
aie a legacy to the new geneiation. . . . it behooves the old to hand them down
to the new. De Saussuie felt it especially incumbent on hei to explain slaveiy to
those boin into the New South. Deteimined to countei the poitiait oeied by
Haiiiet Beechei Stowe in Uncle Tcms Cabin, a novel that De Saussuie believed
continued to shape public opinion about slaveiy, she oeied peisonal iecollec-
tions about the mastei-slave ielationship. Membeis of a wealthy South Caiolina
family, hei paients had inheiited most of theii negioes, De Saussuie wiote,
implying that hei fathei had not paiticipated in the domestic slave tiade. Theie
was such an attachment existing between mastei and mistiess and theii slaves,
De Saussuie wiote of hei black and white family, which one who had nevei
boine such a ielation could nevei undeistand. So benecent was the institution
that De Saussuies foimei slaves iepeatedly told hei, Id nevei known what it
was to suei till fieedom came, and we lost oui mastei.
32
De Saussuies intei-
pietation of slaveiy ceitainly t moie closely with otheis ciiculating aiound the
South duiing the eaily twentieth centuiy than did Andiewss Maixian theoiies.
De Saussuie subtitled hei ieminiscences Being Reccllecticns cj Scuthern Lije
bejcre the Civil Var, yet she devoted as much ink to the hoiiois of Reconstiuc-
tion as she did to hei blissful antebellum days. Foi De Saussuie, the wai had
been a gloiious and exciting peiiod that did not equal the devastation she and
hei defeated iegion felt undei Republican iule. Moieovei, a new ielationship
between the iaces based on feai, hatied, and distiust had eclipsed the once hai-
monious and intimate balance that had existed between mastei and slave. Woi-
iied that she inadequately painted the postwai pictuie, De Saussuie advised hei
audience, and specically hei gianddaughtei, to iead Thomas Dixon Ji.s The
Lecpards Spcts, which gives a bettei desciiption of what we enduied than I can
evei wiite.
33
De Saussuie might have felt unequal to the task of substantively
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I,,
adding to the tales of Reconstiuction, but she was keenly awaie of those naiia-
tives that ciiculated thioughout the South. By iefeiiing hei ieadeis to Dixon,
she endoised the dominant southein inteipietation of Reconstiuction, which
in I,o, assuiedly included Dixons stoiy.
Unlike Chesnut, Andiews, and De Saussuie, who had come of age befoie
the Civil Wai, Lauia Elizabeth Lee Battle was only six yeais old when the ist
shots weie ied on Foit Sumtei. She neveitheless published hei waitime mem-
oii, Fcrget-Me-Ncts cj the Civil Var, in I,o,. Battle, like othei southein wiiteis
of hei geneiation, tiied to divoice the Souths defense of its homeland fiom its
dedication to the institution of slaveiy. She established hei fatheis abolitionist
convictions eaily in hei naiiative, foi example: Chailes Lee was a typical south-
ein gentleman, she infoimed hei ieadeis, with a couitly, dignied beaiing.
Moieovei, he was a descendant fiomthat illustiious Viiginia family, whose lives
have been iecoided on the pages of Ameiican histoiy since the colony of Viiginia
ist had a Secietaiy of the State. Despite his heiitage and education, howevei,
Chailes Lee was an abolitionist. His convictions made him a taiget foi the slave
owneis, who feaied that he might be a distuibing element if left alone. Theii
thieats failed to intimidate hei fathei, howevei, and he iemained imly in his
place as a southein faimei. Lees abolitionism did not pievent his two sons, Wal-
tei and Geoige, fiom ghting foi the Confedeiacy. Indeed, when news ieached
the Lee family that Foit Sumtei had been attacked, Geoige thiew up his cap
and howled, Huiiah foi South Caiolina, I am going to be a soldiei now. Battle
suggested that Geoige and Waltei had enlisted in the Fouith Noith Caiolina
Regiment not because they wished to defend slaveiy but because they wished
to defend the Souths libeity. When the tioops maiched o to wai, they heaid a
band playing and a ciowd singing, Shout the joyous notes of fieedom.
34
If Battle deemphasized the Souths commitment to slaveiy, she did not suggest
that slaves desiied theii fieedom. The Lee family owned one slave, Aunt Pallas,
who had belonged to Chailes Lees ist wife. Aunt Pallas was so devoted . . .
that she was no moie a slave than the wife, and was peimitted to do exactly as
she pleased. When Lee made out his will, he asked Aunt Pallas if she had any
objection to being set fiee. Echoing the woiks of Thomas Nelson Page, Battle
claimed that Aunt Pallas iefused hei fieedom. Lawsa massey Mais Chailie I
aint got no notion of bein a fiee niggah, Aunt Pallas explained. No sah I aint,
dont put dat down in black and white, cause I shoie dont want no moie fiee-
dom den I has alieady got. I thankee, Mais Chailie, just de same, she added.
35
Signicantly, Battle did not asciibe hei fatheis abolitionism to Aunt Pallas. And
I,o
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
because Battle did not give voice to a slave-owning ie-eatei oi a iebellious slave
who desiied fieedom, Lee and Aunt Pallas must stand in as iepiesentatives of
theii types. Battles postbellum ieadeis might have found hei fatheis position
iconoclastic, but they could take comfoit in ieading about a slave who wished
to iemain loyal to hei white family.
Battle confessed that she iemembeied little of the eaily yeais of the wai: The
yeai eighteen sixty-one was usheied in with loud mutteiings of wai, and among
my eailiest iecollections weie those of seeing a body of men diilling in fiont of
oui home. Because she had few memoiies of the wai, she supplemented hei
account by iepiinting letteis home wiitten by Waltei and Geoige. Because she
could not comment diiectly on the fiont line and scaicely iemembeied the home
fiont, Battle needed to shoie up hei legitimacy as a Civil Wai memoiiist. The
letteis, she hoped, would biing inteiest to hei naiiative. It may be inteiesting to
publish them foi futuie geneiations, she explained, to know exactly what two
young Southein boys thought of wai in the beginning, and how one, at least,
thioughout those teiiible battles at Spottsylvania sic] Couit House, etc., lasted
to give us such a vivid desciiption of them.
36
Battle devoted neaily a thiid of
hei book to the publication of these letteis, using them to ll in hei naiiative
gaps.
Battle iemembeied much of the postwai eia, howevei. She iecalled, with gieat
amusement, the day Aunt Pallas buist in to tell the family of the foimation of the
Red Stiings, a sassiety of newly fieed slaves. Laws a massey, Pallas began,
I wish . . . you . . . could see dem Red things a tiying to diill, he! he! he!
Mi. Roby, the oiganizei, wanted to make a piovement on us, she explained, by
imposing militaiy-style discipline. Aunt Pallas could haidly contain hei laugh-
tei as she iecounted the sight of all de fiee niggahs in de county a maichin.
To Aunt Pallas, they iesembled chicken on a hot giiddle. Battle made it cleai
that Aunt Pallas had no desiie to exeicise hei iight to join an oiganization of
fieedmen and -women.
37
Battle used this episode to suppoit hei contention that
Aunt Pallas wished to iemain with the Lee family even aftei emancipation. In this
sense, Battles naiiative iesembles the wiitings of Page, one of the most foiceful
aiticulatois of the plantation myth.
Battle also iemembeied the foimation of the Ku Klux Klan. She opened hei
chaptei on the Klan by iecounting Aunt Pallass feai at seeing hants. One night,
when Aunt Pallas and Biothei Dannyell weie sitting on the poich talkin
about Mais Chailes and de good old days, a gioup of ghosts appeaied: Dey
was so tall . . . dey just iiz plum up to de sky and laik a skeleton wid a ie a buin-
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I,,
ing in its head, an it was all wiapped in something like white sheets, ieachin cleai
to the giound. I jest iaised my voice and said Piaise de Lawd, Biothei Dannyell,
dis ole niggahs time have come. The ghosts told Pallas and Daniel to tell theii
Red Stiing fiiends to look out, foi de Ku Klux Klan aie out iiding dis coun-
tiy up and down to catch niggahs dat aie in mischief. Battles family doubted
Pallass stoiy but latei leained of a fieeman who had been found, killed and
quaiteied and hung fiom the Neuse iivei biidge, with a notice of waining to the
othei negioes in the Red Stiingeis. The muidei cuied oui countiy of such
lawlessness: the Red Stiings disbanded and nevei diilled again. Battle latei
told of a young white giil who was assaulted and muideied by a young negio.
While he was in jail awaiting tiial, lynch law took him in hand. The attack on
the young giil was so iepiehensible, Battle iecalled, that I can still see a good
ieason, why the Ku Klux Klan was oiganized.
38
In this sense, Battles account
iesembles the wiitings of Dixon, who gloiied the Klan as the piotectoi of white
womanhood. Fcrget-Me-Ncts cj the Civil Var ieminded Battles ieadeis of the
lawlessness and violence wiought by Reconstiuction.
If some southein white women published theii memoiis of the Civil Wai to
oei a new geneiation of ieadeis a southein inteipietation of ante- and post-
bellum iace ielations, Louisianas Saiah Moigan Dawson published hei Civil
Wai jouinal, A Ccnjederate Girls Diary (I,I_), to settle the histoiical iecoid on
the wai itself. Unlike Chesnut and Andiews, who had edited and ievised theii
diaiies, and unlike De Saussuie and Battle, who had constiucted theii naiia-
tives decades aftei the Confedeiacys defeat, Dawson claimed that she left hei
manusciipt untouched by the blue pencil. She theiefoie believed hei diaiy to be
a moie accuiate naiiative of the wai. Accoiding Dawsons son, Fiancis Waiiing-
ton Dawson II, who wiote the diaiys intioduction, Dawson decided to publish
hei diaiy aftei a chance encountei in the I8,os with a noitheinei. The two had
aigued ovei the events suiiounding a battle between the Essex and the Arkan-
sas, and Dawson mentioned that she had iecoided the incident in hei diaiy. The
Philadelphian, eagei to see the account, imploied Dawson to publish hei diaiy,
claiming, We Noitheineis aie sinceiely anxious to knowwhat Southein women
did and thought at that time, but the diculty is to nd contempoianeous evi-
dence. All that I, foi one, have seen has been maiied by impiovement in light of
subsequent events.
39
Dawson assuied hei companion that the diaiies iemained
in a tall, cedai-lined waidiobe, untouched and fading fiom age.
Encouiaged by this meeting, Dawson set to tiansciibe hei diaiy in piepaia-
tion foi sending it noith. Fiancis Waiiington Dawson II claimed that aftei ie-
I,8
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
ceiving the manusciipt, the noitheinei ietuined it with cold iegiets that the
temptation to ieaiiange it had not been iesisted. No southeinei at that time, the
man continued, could possibly have had opinions so just oi foiesight so cleai
as those heie attiibuted to a young giil. Keenly disappointed, Dawson ietuined
the manusciipt to its iesting place, nevei to see it again. With cuiiosity piqued
and with a deteimination to vindicate his motheis ieputation, Fiancis Wai-
iington Dawson II undeitook the publication of his motheis Civil Wai diaiies,
pledging himself to the asseition that I have taken no libeities, have made no
alteiations, but have stiictly adheied to my task of tiansciiption, meiely omit-
ting heie and theie passages which deal with matteis too peisonal to meiit the
inteiest of the public.
40
Like Saiah Moigan Dawson, Fiancis Waiiington Dawson II wished to assuie
the diaiys ieadeis that it was an authentic document of the wai and had not
been cieated theieaftei. Dawson believed that his mothei was paiticulaily sus-
ceptible to chaiges of ievision because hei diaiy displayed such a iaie degiee of
piescience and judicious tempeiament. In May I8o_, foi example, Saiah Moigan
had noted that should the Noith conquei the South, it will be a baiien vic-
toiy ovei a desolate land. Indeed, the Union will nd heiself buidened with an
unpaialleled debt, with nothing to show foi it except deseited towns, buining
homes, a standing aimy and an impoveiished land. And while Moigan dispai-
aged Benjamin F. Butlei, she did not equate all Fedeial oceis with the Beast of
New Oileans.
41
Moigan had been a young woman of gieat matuiity when she
began hei diaiy of the wai, and hei son believed that hei woik should be duly
piaised, not besmiiched by those who doubted its authenticity.
Fiancis Waiiington Dawson IIs conceins appaiently weie ill founded, foi A
Ccnjederate Girls Diary met with gieat populai and ciitical success. R. E. Black-
well, piesident of Randolph-Macon College in Viiginia, piaised the woik, pio-
claiming it a valuable contiibution to histoiy in that it gives a vivid pictuie of
the daily lives of oui people at a ciitical time. Blackwell also called the woik an
even moie valuable piece of liteiatuie, pioviding the pictuie of a beautiful soul.
Blackwell nished the diaiy eagei to iead moie, and he assiduously hoped that
Saiah Moigan Dawson had left a manusciipt that will do foi the Reconstiuction
peiiod what this has done foi the wai. Elise Ripley Noyes, whose mothei, Eliza
Ripley, was anothei Louisianan who had published hei ieminiscences, found the
volume most absoibing. That Dawsons diaiy contained desciiptions of people
and events that iesembled those in Ripleys account especially pleased Noyes,
who piofessed hei giatication that the woik had become pait of that little
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I,,
libiaiy of valuable Southein Chionicles. Noyes wiote that she had undeitaken
the posthumous publication of anothei manusciipt by hei mothei, Social Life
in Old New Oileans, and that she believed that had the two women lived, they
would have iead each otheis books with a keen enjoyment. Noyes closed hei
lettei by stating that although the Old South had fallen, eveiy new bit that can
be iecoided of it is veiy piecious.
42
The ciitical ieviews weie equally favoiable. Among the many books deal-
ing with the Civil Wai, stated the ieviewei foi the Philadelphia Enquirer, few
suipass in inteiest A Confedeiate Giils Diaiy. Although womens civil wai
diaiies weie commonplace, most authois weie seldom logical enough to look
calmly at things which concein them vitally. Saiah Moigan Dawson, howevei,
had to be congiatulated foi hei even, well-tempeied woik. Similaily, the Spring-
eld (Illincis) Republican piaised Moigans faiiness of judgment and balance of
tieatment, . . . although, on a fewpages, the diaiy] is maiied by bitteiness. That
the gieat publishing house of Houghton Miin suppoited such a pioject sug-
gested to the ieviewei at the Charlestcn (Scuth Carclina) Sunday News the spe-
cial value of ACcnjederate Girls Diary: It is no easy mattei nowadays to get the
laigei publishing houses to undeitake the publication of wai mateiial, let alone
to piint mattei fiankly Southein in avoi. The ieviewei foi the Milwaukee Free
Press also noted the publishei, compaiing the diaiy with Maiy Johnstons Civil
Wai novel, Cease Firing! also published by Houghton Miin. The contiast is
gieat, accoiding to the ieviewei, between the tempeiance and ieasonableness
with which Miss Moigan expiesses heiself, she who had lived thiough the most
poignant soiiow and loss, and the iankling bitteiness in Cease Fiiing, wiitten
by one who had peisonally sueied nothing, having been boin aftei the last
echoes of the conict had died away.
43
These published accounts iepiesent but a small handful of the ieminiscences
and ievised diaiies that southein women penned duiing the eaily twentieth cen-
tuiy. Most women did not seek publication, choosing instead to wiite foi theii
families oi peihaps foi theii local 0ic chapteis. Some published shoitei woiks
in theii local papeisin I,o,, foi example, the Atlanta }curnal ian a special fea-
tuie on women in the waioi in Ccnjederate Veteran oi Carclina and the Scuth-
ern Crcss. Although not all southein women published, scoies of them wiote,
and this act of wiiting is iemaikable. That the Civil Wai still consumed the con-
sciousnesses of southein women to such a degiee that they felt compelled to
wiite about it foity yeais aftei Appomattox suggests the wais tiansfoimative
iole in southein white womens lives. Moieovei, the piofusion of wiiting demon-
I8o
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
stiates that despite the degiee to which southein women suppoited the iegions
dominant inteipietation of the wai and to which they believed that this intei-
pietation was incomplete until they had contiibuted theii peisonal naiiatives.
This Little Stcry cj Olden Days
The same impulse that compelled countless women to wiite theii ieminiscences
and to ievise theii diaiies diove othei women to publish quasi-ctional accounts
of the wai. These authois believed that theii stoiies would contiibute to the
well-established public discouise on the wai, with which they weie intimately
familiai. At the beginning of an omnivoious ieading, wiote Lucy Meacham
Thiuston, authoi of the I,oo novel Called tc the Field. A Stcry cj Virginia in the
Civil Var, the wiitei iecalls stiiking upon a sentence which teisely and diamati-
cally demanded why had not some women told the womens side of the wai.
Thiuston knew well the stoiies of the battleeld, the adventuious, mans side
of the question, but these tales failed to captuie the dominant note. Thiuston
centeied hei novel, theiefoie, on the days and months and yeais of the women
left behind when the men weie Called to the Field. Similaily, Rose Hailow
Waiien nevei intended to tell of battles in hei I,I novel, A Scuthern Hcme in
Var Times, foi that is the mans side of the wai. Instead, Waiien told of the
womens point of the ciisis. If these weie times which tiied mens souls, she
oeied, then what must it have been foi the women at home: Peihaps the most
diiect, South Caiolina authoi Phoebe Hamilton Seabiook infoimed the ieadeis
of hei I,oo novel, A Daughter cj the Ccnjederacy, in this little book the wiitei
has endeavoied to poitiay some of the featuies of Southein life duiing wai time
as it ieally was in hei memoiy.
44
Although Seabiook did not question the ve-
iacity oi the validity of otheis tales, she did question theii inclusiveness. Believ-
ing that hei stoiy had yet to be told, sheand otheis like heifelt it incumbent
on them to contiibute to the public discouise on the wai.
Although convinced that they had new stoiies to tell, these women penned
familiai novels that suiely iesonated with theii ieadeis. Thiustons aiistociatic
plantei, Mi. Yancey, defends secession as a constitutionally guaianteed iight,
aiguing that the South had no desiie to piotect the institution of slaveiy. Al-
though he calls slaveiy a cuise, Yancey neveitheless iefiains fiom iepudiating
the Souths slaveholding histoiy, aiguing instead that wise caie and good gov-
einment aie the Negios only salvation. Waiien infused hei naiiative with the
Lost Cause myth fiom the opening pages, inseiting the authoiial voice to shoie
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I8I
up hei aigument. Theie aie those who will tell you that the men who fought
undei the Stais and Bais weie all optimists and deluded themselves with visions
of the ultimate success of the Southein aimy, Waiien wiote, but if we aie to
believe the testimony of some of the biavest of oui ghteis, weie aie assuied that
the majoiity of them felt it was a foiloin hope fiom the ist.
45
Despite theii
claims to oiiginality, both Thiuston and Waiien embiaced common elements
of the southein discouise on the wai, aiguing that the Confedeiacy was at once
justied and doomed.
Most eaily-twentieth-centuiy Civil Wai novels penned by white southein
women piaised the heioic eoits of Confedeiate women, a tactic that the 0ic
and othei memoiializing oiganizations suppoited. Texas, the heioine of Fannie
Selphs I,o, novel Texas, smuggles contiaband medicine acioss enemy lines to
aid hei wounded fathei. Di. Pendleton, the physician in chaige of hei fatheis
case, piaises Texas, claiming that when the love of a puie daughtei is exeicised
in a mission of such a giand conception as in this case, its fiuits covei a bioad
eld and biing in a haivest of a hundied fold. Cicely, the heioine of Saia Beau-
mont Kennedys I,II novel, Cicely. A Tale cj the Gecrgia March, confionted a
Union soldiei on the eve of Sheimans maich thiough Geoigia: Go back to youi
commandei and tell him this fiom the women of Atlanta, she oideis. If Gen-
eial Sheiman peisists in making exiles of these homeless defenseless people, he
will eain foi himself the abiding bitteiness of the South. No numbei of yeais will
evei win him foigiveness, she piedicts. Indeed, memoiies of the seipents tail
that Sheiman left acioss the pulsing heait of Geoigia iankled] in the heaits
of two geneiations of gentle, peace-loving women and . . . stiiied the bitteiness
of the South. Not suipiisingly, the 0ics Committee on Southein Liteiatuie
and the Endoisement of Books singled out Cicely as an especially woithy novel.
At the sound of distant gunie, Lucy, the heioine of Thiustons Called tc the
Field, echoes the sentiments iecoided by Confedeiate women in theii diaiies
foity yeais eailiei, telling hei fathei that to ght, to dieit is easy . . . it is the un-
ceitainty which kills. While the menfolk could saciice theii lives foi the good
of the southein cause, women had to sit at home, knowing that battles iage,
that the one being whose life is moie than life to hei is in the midst of them, that
any second may end itand she not even know foi days, foi weeks. Thiustons
ieadeis undoubtedly identied with Lucys fateto sit and suei.
46
Piaising
womens ioles and acknowledging theii haidships in the wai, these novels ie-
infoiced the dominant eaily-twentieth-centuiy southein discouise on the wai.
Moieovei, despite theii piofessed claims to sepaiate the home fiont and the fiont
I8:
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
line, these women discoveied that the Civil Wai naiiative iesisted such easy di-
chotomization.
Not suipiisingly, these novels also gloiied the Confedeiate soldiei, peihaps
no woik moie so than The Bugles cj Gettysburg, by Geneial Geoige Picketts
widow, La Salle Coibell Pickett. Thiiteen yeais aftei publishing a biogiaphy of
hei husband, Pickett tuined to ction so that she might tell this little stoiy of
olden days, woven fiomthe thieads spun fiommemoiy. Despite the Souths
devastating loss at Gettysbuig, she asseited, bugles would foievei caiiy aiound
the woild the fame of the Confedeiacy.
47
Hei novel would ensuie that the bugles
would continue to sound.
Pickett iendeied hei late husband the heio of Gettysbuig. The soldiei who
thiills me as no othei, wiites one soldiei home to his cousin, is the Com-
mandei of oui Division, Geneial Pickett. It is an inspiiation to seem him iide
along oui lines. Recoveiing fiom neai-fatal wounds sueied at Gettysbuig, the
soldiei maintains, You can nevei know what Geneial Pickett has been to me, a
stiong aim to suppoit, a steady hand to guide, a wise head to counsel, a gentle
heait to sympathize in joy and soiiow. But Sallie Pickett also lionized the once-
vilied Geneial James Longstieet. The same soldiei wiites, Longstieet . . . seems
to have all the attiibutes of a gieat soldieinot the dash peihaps of him who
fell at Chancelloisville Stonewall Jackson], but he has caie, caution, and bull-
doggedness, which aie equally necessaiy, and all the countiy knows how biave
he is. Both Pickett and Longstieet iecognize the folly of Lees plan to invade
Pennsylvania yet obediently followtheii commandei. I like not to stiike at othei
mens homes, Pickett tells Longstieet. To choose oui giound and let the enemy
attack us is the way to win, iesponds Longstieet, citing the Confedeiate success
at Fiedeiicksbuig, I dieamnights of the gloiy of that day.
48
The geneials nevei-
theless follow theii oideis to attack, believing that Lee must have some giandei
vision.
La Salle Coibell Pickett had iomanticized waifaie in hei biogiaphy of hei hus-
band, and she employed the same tactic in hei novel. Once again, the God of
Battles diiects the action. Desciibing the battle, Pickett wiote, A cannon-shot
shiveied the awful silence. While it echoed fiomthe hills anothei shot thundeied
out and a cloud of smoke hung ovei the plain. Then came a ciash of aitilleiy and
between the two iidges was a blazing sea ovei which a heavy cuitain of smoke
waved and tossed tumultuously like a wiack of stoim-clouds in a iaging wind.
The hills tiembled with the ioai of battle. It was if waiiing woilds had meshed
togethei in one stupendous conict. Thiough a iolling ocean of smoke and dust
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I8_
aming aiiows daited acioss the eld. By the time Pickett penned hei novel,
she had accepted that Piovidence, which had diiected the battles action, had oi-
dained a noithein victoiy. The God of Battles knewthat the safety of the Union
was the safety of the States, she acknowledged. But all gloiy went to the Con-
fedeiates, the tiue defendeis of libeity. As the southein soldieis met theii fate
on that thiid day at Gettysbuig, the gloiy of the battle swept] aiound them,
enfolding them in a mantle of ame, uiging them foiwaid with exultant feet and
heaits on ie.
49
Sallie Picketts gieatest woik of ction, howevei, was not The Bugles cj Gettys-
burg but The Heart cj a Scldier. As Revealed in the Intimate Letters cj General
Gecrge E. Pickett, C.S.A., which she ieleased on the golden anniveisaiy of the
Battle of Gettysbuig. Ostensibly a collection of foity-foui letteis wiitten by the
geneial to his wife between I8oI and the postwai yeais, the book instead iepie-
sented Sallies woik. As histoiian Caiol Reaidon notes, Sallie Pickett was quite
adept at keeping the spotlight on hei husband. Hei collection of letteis seived,
as did most of hei othei wiitings, to sentimentalize hei husbands pait in Gettys-
buig. As Gaiy Gallaghei points out, The Heart cj a Scldier engendeied contio-
veisy almost fiom the moment of its publication, accepted by some wiiteis,
iejected by otheis, and questioned, at least in pait, by most. Douglas Southall
Fieeman, foi one, declaied that histoiians should nevei believe anything that
La Salle Coibell Pickett had wiitten about hei husband. Gallaghei oeis a iea-
soned and caieful discussion of the letteis, demonstiating convincingly that the
coiiespondence is woithless as a souice on the geneials Confedeiate caieei.
Gallaghei also notes that Pickett systematically plagiaiized fiom Waltei H.
Haiiisons Picketts Men. AFragment cj Var Histcry (I8,o) and boiiowed heavily
fiom Longstieets account of Gettysbuig published in the Scuthern Histcrical
Scciety Papers and Annals cj the Var and fiom Edwaid Poitei Alexandeis long
lettei on the cannonade pieceding Picketts Chaige, also published in the South-
ein Histoiical Society Papeis. Gallaghei also oeis fuithei evidence to bolstei
his assessment of the ieliability of the letteis as histoiical documents, noting, foi
example, that the letteis oveipoweiing sentimentality and gushy piose do not
match Geoige Picketts style. Moieovei, Sallies fondness foi black dialect be-
comes appaient in that many of the published letteis but none of Geoiges oiigi-
nals contain passages about his body seivant. Gallaghei speculates that a need
foi nancial secuiity, coupled with a desiie to bolstei the intensely iomantic
poitiait of hei husband that she had painted elsewheie, might have compelled
I8
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
Sallie to foige the letteis. On the second scoie, Reaidon believes that Sallies
stiategy succeeded: In the wai foi populai memoiy, in I,I_ as suiely as in I8o_,
Pickett and his men decisively won. Gallaghei takes a moie jaundiced view:
Instead of honoiing Geoige Pickett, the letteis cast a shadow on him that will
be lifted only if an additional] cache of genuine letteis comes to light.
50
Regaidless of the success of Sallie Picketts stiategy, hei Gettysbuig novel and
hei foiged letteis belong to a class of wiitings that iomanticized wai and the
southein cause. Theie is nevei histoiy without its iomance, Selph explained.
Although the excitement of the battle might oveishadow its iomance, the spiiit
. . . iises like an echo, and enjoys its season of iecognition.
51
Foi these novelists,
the stoiy of the Civil Wai iemained one of good veisus evil, of Lost Cause gods
ghting the foices of daikness.
Some white southein women novelists bioached the theme of national iecon-
ciliation thiough the tiope of the inteisectional maiiiage, but even in the eaily
twentieth centuiy, these wiiteis failed to embiace completely the conciliatoiy
cultuie that noithein novelists had sketched out decades eailiei. In an eaily
scene in Cicely, Kennedy intioduces a sympathetic Fedeial soldiei whose exem-
plaiy behavioi shines among a tioop of biutes. Captain Faiilee ghts foi the
United States because he genuinely believes that as bioad as this land is, it is
too naiiow to hold two sepaiate goveinments. When the Union aimy invades
Geoigia, Faiilee judiciously exeicises his powei, nevei sinking to the level of
his iapacious, meicenaiy fellow soldieis. By the end of the wai, he possesses a
gieatei undeistanding of the South and the cause foi which it fought: He ieal-
ized the absolute faith the Southein people held in theii iight to secede, and
undeistood the passionate devotion they had caiiied to theii cause. Indeed, his
musings on the Confedeiacys bid foi independence became, in a veiy ieal sense,
the southein defense of secession. With eveiything to lose and scaicely a chance
of success, Faiilee ieasons, they went into that ght, picking up theii iies at
the call of the state. He continues, Set aside fiom the iest of the countiy by the
pastoial and agiicultuial natuie of theii puisuits, by tiaining and by the act that
the oiiginal blood of the section had been but little diluted by immigiation, they
weie Ameiicans, but ist, above all, they weie Southeineis. Against a foieign
foe they would have stood shouldei to shouldei with the Noith, no outside hand
should have plucked a feathei fiom the eagle that was theii countiys emblem,
but if they themselves wished to withdiaw fiom the shadow of those biooding
wings and set up a bannei of theii own, they held it was theii inalienable iight.
52
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I8,
By the time Cicely, the heioine of the novel, declaies hei love foi Faiilee, ieadeis
can iest assuied that he is now suciently southein to deseive the love of the
belle of Pinehuist plantation. Although the union between Faiilee and Cicely
might have iepiesented inteisectional healing, the South did not need to confess
its sins befoie the ceiemony. Instead, the Noith, symbolized by Faiilee, had to
appieciate the legality of the Confedeiacys claim to independence.
In A Daughter cj the Ccnjederacy, Seabiook iailed against the possibility of
inteisectional maiiiage. In an unfamiliai twist, she opened hei novel with a
southein plantei maiiied to a young noitheinei. Hei aii and depoitment,
Hamilton explained of the new plantation mistiess, weie of a middle-class New
Englandei, who had no conception of the dignity of hei position. It would be
casting peails befoie swine to tiy to coiiect hei, the authoi added. Univeisally
despised by the planteis family and his slaves and unable to adjust to south-
ein life, Minnies piesence demonstiates the incompatibility of the two iegions.
When at the end of the wai Admiial Bee, a Fedeial commandant, attempts to
couit May, the planteis daughtei, she has alieady witnessed the disastious intei-
sectional union between hei fathei and stepmothei. The Union aimys devas-
tation of the southein landscape only intensies Mays hatied of noitheineis.
When hei sistei, Di, asks May if she could evei love Admiial Bee, Mays iesponse
is iesounding: If a woman maiiies, she should choose a man she could love,
honoi and obey. I could nevei love a Yankee, foi the blood of my muideied
biothei would evei iise between us, and ciy out against the unholy union. I
could nevei honoi one, she continues, foi all the iuin of my home and native
land lies at his dooi. Noitheineis have naiy a quality to iecommend them,
May asseits, pledging that she will nevei put such tiust in the enemy of my
countiy, and family, and all that a woman holds deai.
53
Foi Seabiook, the sym-
bolic ieunication of Noith and South made a mockeiy of the values foi which
the Confedeiacy had stood. Although noitheineis might have paiticipated in
a conciliatoiy cultuie, the chaiacteis in Seabiooks novel, at least, found such
paiticipation unpalatable.
Seabiook, Kennedy, and othei such authois did not tell vastly dieient oi tei-
iibly oiiginal stoiies: these authois tales t the mold used by scoies of eailiei
southein wiiteis. But these eaily-twentieth-centuiy novels nonetheless demon-
stiate the cultuial iesonance of the southein wai naiiative. Indeed, southein
womens continued eoits to tell familiai wai stoiies and the degiee to which
the public iead each new tale suggest the viability of the dominant southein
inteipietation of the wai.
I8o
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
The Stranglehcld cn the Intellect
Between I,o, and I,I,, Ellen Glasgow continued to ieect on the changes to
southein society wiought by the Civil Wai, themes she had ist exploied in hei
eaily social histoiies of Viiginia. Although she did not ietuin to the Civil Wai
as a catalyst foi the action of hei novels, she did oei explicit commentaiy on
the conict. Glasgow set out to dene and to embalm the southein lady of the
I88os in hei I,I_ novel Virginia. Viiginia Pendleton, the stoiys heioine, em-
bodied the feminine ideal of the ages. Indeed, to look at hei was to think inevi-
tably of love, Glasgow wiote. Foi that end obedient to the poweis of Life, the
centuiies had foimed and colouied hei as they had foimed and colouied the wild
iose with its whoil of delicate petals. Glasgowsuggested that in many ways, Vii-
ginia had inheiited many of the qualities of hei foimei teachei, Piiscilla Batte,
the headmistiess at the Dinwiddie Academy foi Young Ladies. Miss Piiscilla is
a ielic of the antebellum South foi whom Confedeiate defeat ultimately means
little. Of hei, Glasgow scathingly wiote, Just as the town had battled foi a piin-
ciple without undeistanding it, so she was capable of dying foi an idea, but not
of conceiving one. She had sueied eveiything fiom the wai except the necessity
of thinking independently about it, and though in hei latei yeais memoiy had
become so sacied to hei that she iaiely indulged in it, she still clung passion-
ately to the habits of hei ancestois undei the impiession that she was clinging to
theii ideals. Viiginia had been a docile pupil of Miss Piiscillas who defeien-
tially submitted hei opinions to hei supeiiois and who iemained content to
go thiough life peipetually submitting hei opinions, the divinely appointed
task of woman.
54
These lessons failed to piovide Viiginia with the tools necessaiy to negotiate
the postwai South, howevei. Hei chaims aie sucient to bewitch the dashing
Olivei Tieadwell, an aspiiing playwiight, but she is unable to keep him intei-
ested in hei aftei the ist few months of theii maiiiage. Tieadwell wishes to
wiite gieat plays that will inspiie his audience: Ive got something to say to
the woild, he tells his cousin, and Ill go out and make my bed in the guttei
befoie Ill foifeit the oppoitunity of saying it. Yet Tieadwell tempeis his youth-
ful idealism with a dose of cynicism. Commenting on the theateigoing public,
Olivei iemaiks, Why, that box ovei theie in the coinei is full of plays that would
stait a national diama if the fool public had sense enough to see what they weie
about. The tiouble is that they dont want life on the stage, they want a kind of
theatiical wedding-cake. Any diamatist who tiies to foice people to eat biead
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I8,
and meat when they aie dying foi sugai plums may as well piepaie to staive
until the public begins to suei fiom acute indigestion. Heady optimism pie-
vails, howevei, and Tieadwell takes a play to the NewYoik stage, wheie the woik
fails. Viiginia is unable to undeistand Tieadwells consequent miseiy: accoid-
ing to Glasgow, Intiospection, which had lain undei a moial ban in a society
that assumed the existence of an unholy alliance between the seciet and the evil,
could not help hei because she had nevei indulged in it. Because of hei up-
biinging, Viiginia shaied the ingiained Southein distiust of any state of mind
which could not cheeifully suppoit the obseivation of the neighbois. Tiead-
well eventually chooses commeicial viability ovei ait and wiites plays that satisfy
the vapid playgoing public. He also chooses the actiess who plays the lead in
his latest hit play ovei his wife. Viiginia leaves New Yoik speechless, ineit, and
unseeing and ietuins to death in life in Dinwiddie.
55
Like Viiginia, the town of Dinwiddie is ill equipped to handle the demands
of the postwai South. The old oidei had a fond iegaid foi Dinwiddie, with its
intiepid faith in itself, with its militant enthusiasm, with its couiageous battle
against industiial evolution, with its stiength, its naiiowness, its nobility, its
blindness. Of the woild beyond the boideis of Viiginia, Glasgowwiote, Din-
widdians knew meiely that it was eithei Yankee oi foieign, and theiefoie to be
pitied oi condemned, accoiding to the Evangelical oi the Calvinistic convictions
of the obseivei. . . . It was a quaitei of a centuiy since The Oiigin of Species
had changed the couise of the woilds thought, yet it had nevei ieached them.
The most tioubling aspect of Dinwiddies piovinciality, howevei, is its inability
to cope with the Pioblem of the South. When Viiginia and hei mothei, the
wife of a pieachei, go to the bad section of town, they notice that the scent
of honeysuckle did not ieach heie. Instead, the shaip aciid odoui of huddled
negioes oat out to gieet them. In Tin Pot Alley, wheie the lamps buined at
longei distances, the moie piimitive foims of life appeaied to swaim like dis-
toited images undei the tianspaient civilization of the town. Viiginias mothei
looked at the Pioblem of the South as Southein women had looked down on
it foi geneiations and would continue to look down on it foi geneiations still to
comewithout seeing that it was a pioblem.
56
Viiginias fathei, Gabiiel Pendleton, is no moie enlightened on matteis of iace
than is his wife. The teiiible thing foi us about the negioes, he comments to
a fellow Dinwiddian, is that they aie so giave a iesponsibilityso giave a ie-
sponsibility. . . . We stand foi civilization to them, we stand evenoi at least
I88
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
we used to standfoi Chiistianity, he continued. They havent leained yet
to look above oi beyond us, and the example we set them is one that they aie
condemned, foi sheei lack of any nei vision, to follow. Pendleton ieminds his
neighboi that the majoiity of them aie haidly still moie than uneducated chil-
dien, and that veiy fact makes an appeal to ones compassion which becomes
at times almost unbeaiable. Indeed, Gabiiels compassion costs him his life.
When a mob thieatens to lynch the giandson of one of Gabiiels favoiite foimei
slaves, who had smiled at a white woman, Gabiiel defends the giandson: Spin-
ning iound on the thiee of the attackeis] he stiuck out with all his stiength,
while theie oated befoie him the face of a man he had killed at his ist chaige
at Manassas. The old fuiy, the old tiiumph, the old blood-stained splendoui
ietuined to him. Unfoitunately, his luck in battle did not hold, and he died de-
fending Mehitables giandson. Even moie tiagic, the town of Dinwiddie had yet
to nd a solution to the Pioblem of the South.
57
Virginia met with a favoiable ciitical ieception at the time of its publica-
tion. The powei of the book is undeniable, pioclaimed Lewis Paike Cham-
beilayne in the Sewanee Review. Conseivative people might nd Glasgows
indictment of old fashioned feminine ideals haish, sweeping and bitteily un-
just, but to those Southeineis . . . who hope foi iadical change, the book is
to be iecommended as one of staitling modeinness and extiaoidinaiy timeli-
ness. The ieviewei foi the Naticn iemaiked that in Glasgows novel, a belated
specimen of the old-fashioned Southein lady lingeis on into the eia of femi-
nine self-asseitionthe ne owei of a vanished social oidei, by a miiacle of
spiiitual foice sustaining itself in a hopelessly alteied habitat, only to fade at last
among the encioaching ianks of a lustiei, moie aggiessive womanhood. The
Ncrth American Reviews ciitic saw Virginia as an antidote to the sentimental
tendeiness the state of Viiginia had ieceived fiom its histoiians.
58
But, as many liteiaiy ciitics have pointed out, howevei, although Glasgowhad
intended the tone of hei novel to be iionic, as hei sympathies foi Viiginia giew,
the tone became moie compassionate. As with hei eailiei social histoiies, Glas-
gow seemed incapable of cieating the ciitical distance fiom hei subject mattei
that she so desiied. Glasgow imagined a ciicumspect woild foi white southein
women, but although Glasgow as iealist sees such naiiowness of vision to be
false and dangeious, she iefuses to condemn it utteily. Instead, accoiding to
liteiaiy ciitic Anne Goodwyn Jones, she giants to such naiiowness an inten-
sity, a concentiation, that can undei gieat piessuie peimit insight, the giowth
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I8,
of chaiactei, heioic actions, and the biith of genuine symbols iathei than illu-
soiy ctions. Instead of embalming the southein lady, then, Glasgow neaily
enshiined hei.
59
Peihaps no othei wiitei challenged the pievailing tuin-of-the-centuiy pomp
and ceiemony suiiounding the late wai moie than Viiginia novelist Maiy
Johnston. The daughtei of a Confedeiate ocei and the cousin of celebiated
Confedeiate Geneial Joseph E. Johnston, she had seemed natuially well suited
to wiite a novel on the Civil Wai. Indeed, she had fiequently mentioned the
thiill she had expeiienced when listening to the oldei geneiations stoiies of the
wai. She iecalled in hei unpublished autobiogiaphy the tales told to hei by hei
giandfathei iegaiding the ielic-lled hiding place behind his house. Duiing
hei childhood, she and hei siblings embellished those stoiies and ieenacted local
battles on daik days. We yet lived in a veiitable battle cloud, an atmospheie
of wai stoiies, of continual iefeience to the men and to the deeds of that gigan-
tic stiuggle. As a young woman, while iiding on a tiain with hei fathei, she
sat acioss the aisle fiomViiginia novelist Thomas Nelson Page, entianced as the
two men swapped stoiies about the wai. Hei plan to embaik on a wai stoiy,
which she foimulated in the summei of I,o8, theiefoie suipiised no one.
60
Johnston was pait of the gioup of post-Victoiian southeineis who, as Daniel
Singal notes, endeavoied to bieak with the Victoiian (oi New South) mentality
that they felt was so inadequate to the task of iebuilding southein society and
cultuie. They wished above all to fiee themselves fiom the iomantic and chau-
vinistic view of southein histoiy they identied with theii piedecessois. Johns-
ton sought to bieak fiom the iomantic, even celebiatoiy natuie of the southein
Civil Wai novel and fought a thiee-yeai battle with hei editoi ovei the icono-
clastic content of hei woik. But howevei sinceie hei quest foi iealism, she failed
to loosen the stianglehold on the intellect. Johnston, like otheis of hei cohoit,
iemained bound by the cavaliei myth, with its notion of the Souths essen-
tial innocence fiom evil oi guilt.
61
Johnston ciitically examined wai, but hei
ultimate failuie as a novelist stemmed fiom hei inability to discusslet alone
piobesouthein civilization. Johnston had no inteiest in enteiing such a discus-
sionhei battles iested elsewheie. By iefusing to absolve, chastise, oi ieject
a piioii the notion of the Souths iesponsibility foi the wai, she let the stiangle-
hold iemain.
Johnstons plan foi hei novel initially pleased Feiiis Gieenslet, hei editoi at
Houghton Miin, who iecognized not only hei consummate skill as a stoiy-
tellei but, peihaps moie impoitant, the potential piotability of hei newest en-
I,o
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
Maiy Johnston (Couitesy Special Collections Depaitment, Manusciipt
Division, Univeisity of Viiginia Libiaiy, Chailottesville)
deavoi. Indeed, Gieenslet had eveiy ieason to believe that Johnstons pioject
would ieap both hei and his im a substantial sum. Johnston had alieady
pioven hei nancial woith to the editois at the piestigious Boston publishing
house, wiiting best-selleis, gaining ciitical accolades, and establishing heiself
as a piominent wiitei of histoiical iomances. Hei thiee most successful novels,
Priscners cj Hcpe (I8,,), Tc Have and tc Hcld (I,oo), and Audrey (I,o:), had
sold neaily thiee-quaiteis of a million copies combined and had eained Johns-
ton well ovei sI,o,ooo in U.S. ioyalties alone. One theatei company immedi-
ately adapted Audrey foi the stage, and the Famous Playeis Film Company latei
adapted both Audrey and Tc Have and tc Hcld foi the silent scieen, with each
pioduction incieasing Johnstons eainings and ieputation. Hei two most ie-
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I,I
cent piojects, a ve-hundied-page fiee-veise poem on the Fiench Revolution,
The Gcddess cj Reascn (I,o,), and a histoiical iomance on the Jeeisonian
peiiod, Lewis Rand (I,o8), had not faied as well as hei eailiei woiks, but she
had emeiged fiom these liteiaiy expeiiments with hei ieputation unscathed.
62
Gieenslet thus unhesitatingly took on hei wai pioject, convinced that it would
iival hei pievious achievements.
Gieenslet also iecognized that the liteiaiy maiket was paiticulaily accommo-
dating to stoiies of the Civil Wai. His im had handled the iepiint of Maiy
Noailles Muifiees Vhere the Battle Vas Fcught (I88) and would latei publish
hei I,o, wai novel, The Stcrm Centre, as well as Saiah Moigan Dawsons I,I_ A
Ccnjederate Girls Diary.
63
If Gieenslet doubted the maikets ability to absoib yet
anothei tale of the wai, he did not publicly expiess his misgivings but instead
enthusiastically embiaced his latest assignment.
Duiing the next thiee yeais, Johnston diligently woiked on hei piojected
thiee-volume manusciipt, ieading militaiy histoiies, honing hei piose, and foi-
waiding diafts to hei editoi. Gieenslet quickly leained that his clients vision of
the pioject dieied signicantly fiom his. The editoi had hoped that Johnston
would geneiate anothei commeicial success patteined aftei hei histoiical io-
mances. Johnston had othei plans. Although she initially consideied the book
a paean to hei fathei, she soon discoveied that she abhoiied wai and piedicted
that she would be weaiy and disheaitened enough befoie the two yeais piece of
woik is done. She latei admitted to an obsession with wounded soldieis, imag-
ining theii fallen bodies stiewn acioss the Viiginia countiyside.
64
If Gieenslet
anxiously awaited anothei iomantic best-sellei, Johnstons diafts quickly tem-
peied his enthusiasm.
The bulk of Johnstons manusciipts signaled to Gieenslet that Johnstons new-
est pioject would iesemble no othei. My plan now is not one wai volume but
thieea tiilogy, she ieasoned ist in hei diaiy. It is impossible to put eveiy-
thing into one book. The ist would close with Chancelloisvilleand Stonewall
Jackson the dominant histoiical guie. The second would be the stiuggle fuithei
South,Chickamauga, Vicksbuig, Dalton to Atlanta, etc, and cousin Joe Johns-
ton the leadei. The thiid back toViiginia, the Wildeiness, Peteisbuig, etc. Appo-
mattox, Lee the dominant. Even Johnston acknowledged the magnitude of hei
undeitaking. Foui yeais woik, she conceded, and I dont entei on it with
a light heait. Gieenslet initially agieed with the piojected length of the wai
stoiy, ieassuiing Johnston that if it is as ne as we expect it to be, it ought to be
something of which Ameiican ction has not hitheito seen the like. Gieenslet
I,:
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
went on to wain Johnston, howevei, that a gieat deal of the commeicial suc-
cess of the undeitaking will depend on the ist volume. He iecommended that
she design each volume to contain a complete substoiy, bettei still if this ist
volume could have a ieasonably happy ending. Gieenslet angled foi a tiadi-
tional maiiiage plot between Richaid Cleave and Judith Caiy, heio and heioine,
theieby pioviding ieadeis a iay of hope in the midst of wai. Peihaps even the
second volume might end happily foi Richaid and Judith, he excitedly mused,
though we iecognize of couise, he added as an afteithought, that natuially
theie would be iathei ominous clouds upon the hoiizon.
65
Both the length and the content of Johnstons manusciipt thieatened Gieens-
lets vision of a commeicially viable histoiical iomance. An uncompleted ist
diaft of the ist volume of the wai stoiy ian _,o,ooo woids. A exaspeiated
Gieenslet told Johnston that no volume in modein times had iun that long,
noting that the book would be physically unattiactive, with tiny piint on tis-
sue papei. I am disposed to think that it might be possible foi you to omit
ceitain chapteis, he tactfully suggested, letting the ieadei iead the stoiy of
ceitain campaigns by title, as it weie,without seiious aitistic loss,possibly
indeed, with an aitistic, if not histoiic, gain. Johnston agieed to cut ,,,ooo
woids, although not without initial ieseivations. Aftei the puige, howevei, she
acquiesced that the book had been condensed, knit togethei, and impioved.
66
The conict between authoi and editoi soon expanded to covei the manu-
sciipts content as well as its length. Gieenslet had initially piaised Johnstons
skill, singling out hei ability to desciibe battles: The Bull Run] chapteis aie, it
seems to me, a masteipiece of imaginative desciiption. He admitted his shock
at nding the battle scene desciibed . . . thiough the eyes of the Muse of His-
toiy, iathei than thiough those of some of youi chaiacteis, but agieed that
hei tactic was eective. But six months latei, the battle scenes weaiied him: I
had a feeling thioughout the Keinstown chaptei that theie was coming to be a
little monotony in the desciiptions of battlesthat theie wasnt quite the up-
waid cuive of inteiest which theie peihaps ought to be at this point. Johnston
had switched the point of view, letting hei chaiacteis desciibe the battles with-
out pioviding histoiical exposition. Gieenslet oeied a suggestion: I wondeied
whethei peihaps the eect of sameness which seems to iun along thiough heie
would both be obviated if you could take the occasion somewheie to point out
a little moie cleaily what was going on in othei elds, and the ielation of one to
anothei.
67
Johnston appaiently disagieed.
Johnston had become moie inteiested in pioviding hei ieadeis with a sense of
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I,_
immediacy than in maintaining hei authoiial, omniscient voice. She endeavoied
to eclipse the distance that sepaiated the ieadei fiom the events of the novel.
The membeis of the Stonewall Biigade had had little sense of what was going
on in othei elds and ceitainly had no way of intuiting Keinstowns ielation-
ship to othei events in the wai. In fact, few ghting men undeistood the wai in
teims of epic stiuggle, but they ceitainly giasped the iealities of waifaie with
giim fatalism. Whats the use of ducking: one Confedeiate soldiei asked an-
othei. If a bullet is going to hit you its going to hit you, and if it isnt going
to hit you it isnt. Johnstons soldieis iaiely expeiienced the gloiy of battle
but iathei felt the endless iepetition of theii tasks. Long ago they had fought
in a gieat, biight, glaiing daytime, Johnston wiote. Then again, long ago they
had begun to ght in a peiiod of dusk, an age of dusk. The men loaded, ied,
loaded, iammed, ied quite automatically. They had been doing this foi a long,
long time. Piobably they would do it foi a long time to come.
68
Moie egiegious than the monotony, howevei, was Johnstons iefusal to pio-
vide a happy ending foi the ist volume. Peihaps you will foigive me if I say
bluntly, Gieenslet teisely wiote, that I dont like the pioposed tieatment of the
aaiis of the ctitious chaiacteis in the book, and that I am as fully peisuaded
as I can be that it might be followed by a veiy disastious consequence commei-
cially. Gieenslet invited Johnston to put heiself in the place of a hypothetical
buyei and ieadei of the book. He hoped that she would iealize the disappoint-
ment that was suie to gieet ieadeis of the manusciipt as it stood. Accoiding the
Gieenslet, ieadeis had eveiy ieason to expect a stoiy of the ist two yeais of
the Civil Wai given coheience and unity not only by its chief histoiical chai-
actei, but also by a ceitain amount of completed design involving its ctitious
chaiacteis. Instead, ieadeis found no iesolution, no happy ending, and no hint
about the numbei of volumes to come. Gieenslet opined that publishing the
existing manusciipt of the ist volume would gieatly handicap the success of
futuie volumes and uiged Johnston to make immediate and necessaiy coiiec-
tions. Foigive me, he pleaded, and think it ovei.
69
Johnston did not need to think ovei Gieenslets iequest. She sent him an im-
mediate iesponse, declaiing that his plan was quite impossible. I speak as an
aitist, she infoimed hei editoi. I must tell my stoiy in my own way, and the
consequences must take caie of themselves. To add an aiticially happy ending
to the ist volume would iing false. I wiite foi the intelligent ieadei, Johnston
pioclaimed, noting that just as the wai did not end with the Battle of Chan-
celloisville, the books last scene, the aaiis of hei chaiacteis also could not end
I,
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
The Loveis. Illustiation fiom Maiy Johnstons I,II novel, The Lcng Rcll.
theie. Moieovei, it is now too late to altei, noi indeed should I caie to make the
attempt. She concluded emphatically, Like all the iest of us, I want money but
I have nevei wanted it th]at badly. Gieenslet claiied his position and made
one last attempt to peisuade Johnston but in the end iespected hei position as
the aitist.
70
Houghton Miin published The Lcng Rcll, the ist volume of Johnstons wai
stoiy, in the summei of I,II, ieaping twenty-ve thousand dollais in ievenues
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I,,
duiing the ist few months aftei the novels ielease. Although this success made
Gieenslets feais about the novels viability seem unwaiianted, Johnston had not
wiitten a conventional novel of the wai, designed to appeal to the mass of south-
ein ieadeis. She diew heavily on the dominant tiope of southein ctionthe
myth of the Lost Causeand, even befoie she began the stoiy of the wais action,
she piovided hei ieadeis with an explanation of the Confedeiacys demise. Eaily
in the novel, befoie the bombing of Foit Sumtei, Waiwick Caiy, one of the
heioes, explains to his family the impossibility of southein victoiy: We aie
utteily unpiepaied. We aie seven million against twenty million, an agiicultuial
countiy against a manufactuiing one. The odds aie gieatly against us, he calcu-
lates. We have stiuggled foi peace, appaiently we cannot have it, now we will
ght foi the conviction that is in us. It will be foi us a wai of defense, with the
Noith foi the invadei, and Viiginia will piove the battlegiound.
71
Johnstons
audience could thus iead on, secuie in the knowledge that the stoiy of the Con-
fedeiacys downfall would be told in acceptable teims: the South, howevei peace
loving and ieluctant to ght against the Union, would do so undei diie ciicum-
stances, but with complete conviction and valoi. Johnston not only gloiied the
southein cause but, moie impoitantly, expiessed what she believed to be the fu-
tility of wai. These two aims might have seemed paiadoxical to Gieenslet and to
many ieadeis, but in the authois mind, they ieinfoiced each othei while dem-
onstiating the powei of the Lost Cause myth ovei southein consciousness. No
mattei hownoble, viituous, and loyal to the Constitution weie the Confedeiates,
they weie doomed to failuie.
Johnston fuithei sought to justify the iighteousness of southein secession.
Boin into a piominent Viiginia family, she was pioud of hei southein lineage
and of the Souths histoiy in the foimation of the Ameiican nation. She devoted
the ist chaptei of The Lcng Rcll to a caieful delineation of Viiginias iole in
settling the colonies, ghting in the Ameiican Revolution, diafting the Ccnstitu-
ticn, and developing iepublican thought. While the South iemained tiue to the
ideals of the Founding Fatheis, theoiized Johnston, the Noith quickly deviated,
seeking to impose its tyiannical will on the South. Foi Johnstons chaiacteis, the
Union was the golden thiead that linked the soveieign states, not the mon-
stei that Fiankenstein made, not this minotaui swallowing States! Although
wai is a woid that means agony to many and a set-back to all, the Noith had
violated the teims of the Union and the South could not iemain yet pieseive
its integiity.
72
Wai not only was inevitable but also seived as the Souths only
iecouise foi pieseiving its constitutionally guaianteed iights.
I,o
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
Johnston noted in hei diaiy befoie she began wiiting The Lcng Rcll, howevei,
that she planned to state the case foi the South at once and denitely, and then
thiough all the iemaining chapteis to leave alone . . . all discussions] of abstiact
iight and wiongs. Johnston did not intend hei wai stoiy to defend the South
but iathei to demonstiate the hoiiois of the Civil Wai and, by extension, of wai
in geneial. A futuie membei of Jane Addamss Womans Peace Paity, Johnston
was a pacist and sought to countei the Souths gloiication of the Civil Wai. In
a veiy eaily scene, Maigaiet Cleave wains hei childien about the hoiiois of wai:
As foi you two whove always been shelteied and fed, whove nevei had a blow
stiuck you, youve giown like tended plants in a gaidenyou dont know what
wai is! Cleave ianted. Its a gieat and deep cup of Tiembling. Its a scouige
that ieaches the backs of all. Its univeisal destiuctionand the gift that the
woild should piay foi is to build in peace. Johnston diiected hei message at
the new geneiation of southeineis who had been iaised on iomantic wai stoiies.
Lest theie be any confusion, Johnston desciibed the Confedeiates bleak maich
thiough Bath and Romney. Was this wai: she asked, Wai, heioic and gloii-
ous, with banneis, tiumpets and iewaided enteipiise: Manassas might have t
this conception of wai, but evei since theie was only maiching, tenting, suei-
ing, and fatigueand fatigueand fatigue.
73
What I was aftei, Johnston latei explained to one of hei ieadeis, was to
show what wai could do. She confessed, howevei, that in wiiting these . . .
books, the emphasis in my own mind shifted aftei a while fiom the tiagedy of
that wai to the tiagic absuidity of all wais. To hei ieadeis complaint that Johns-
ton spaied the life of the novels tiaitoious cowaid but killed o gallant and biave
Confedeiates, Johnston ietoited, I wished to show that wai takes these of the
iichest piomise piopoitionally speaking, it is the Edwaid Caiys who aie slain
and the Steven Daggs who aie spaied. In a nal declaiation, she asseited, Wai
is altogethei stupid as hell is hoiiible.
74
Although Johnstons pacism might
have seemed to undeimine hei vindication of the South, it also allowed hei to
come to teims with southein defeat. By locating absuidity in wai itself iathei
than in the Confedeiacy, Johnston imaginatively libeiated the South fiom the
buiden of its past and, no less impoitant, ielieved heiself of the obligation to
examine ciitically the Old South. On this basis, Johnston could asseit categoii-
cally that the South had not lost the wai because of any putative sins: it had
lost because wai is an inheiently evil and ultimately destiuctive foice that knows
neithei good noi evil.
Most ievieweis pionounced The Lcng Rcll a liteiaiy tiiumph, even if they did
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I,,
nd the battle scenes a bit giim. The ieviewei foi the Baltimcre Sun heaped the
most piaise on Johnston, claiming that a daughtei of the Southland has wiit-
ten the piose epic of the Civil Waiwiitten it woithilynay, moie, wiitten it
splendidly, wiitten it with the vigoi of a man, the vision of a poet, the sympa-
thy of a woman, and the accuiacy of a scientist. The same ieviewei confessed
his suipiise that a woman had wiitten such a poweiful wai stoiy: That any
woman should have so complete a giasp upon a piolonged militaiy campaign,
should hold the thiead of militaiy naiiative so imly in hand as nevei to confuse
the ieadei and to unioll befoie the minds eye a gieat wai panoiama with the
cleainess of a map is iemaikable. The entiie pioject seemed to be outside the
possibility of a womans genius, accoiding to the ieviewei, asciibing Johnstons
success to the tales she had heaid as a young child.
75
While all ievieweis did not oei such unqualied piaise of Johnston, most
agieed that the novel set new standaids foi southein wai ction. If Gieenslet
and some othei ieadeis balked at the giaphic depictions of wai, ievieweis cited
as Johnstons gieatest achievement hei ability to paint a iealistic pictuie of wai.
The whole book is a seiies of . . . giaphic pictuies, explained the ieviewei fiom
Chaileston, South Caiolina. It is not always coheient. Indeed, much of it is dis-
tinctly sciappy, the ieviewei noted. But thiough this incoheience and sciappi-
ness, Johnston ably captuied the veiisimilitude of wai. The militaiy obseiva-
tions and analyses would do ciedit to an expeiienced soldiei, pioclaimed the
Dallas News, and the battle scenes weie desciibed with the viiility and diamatic
eect one would expect fiom an expeiienced wai coiiespondent. The NewYcrk
Evening Glcbe stated simply, The Long Roll is not a novelit is histoiy, it is
not histoiyit is wai itself.
76
Johnstons ieadeis did not ievolt against hei giim depictions of battles, but
some ieadeis publicly deciied the books slandeious poitiayal of Geneial
Stonewall Jackson. In a paiticulaily oensive passage, Johnston wiote of a unit,
Just when they weie happy at last in wintei quaiteis, they had to] pull up
stakes and huiiy down the Valley to join Fool Tom Jackson. Although Jackson
might have undeistood the puipose of his maich to Romney, to the majoiity
his couise seemed spiung fiom a ceitain cold willfulness, a haishness without
object, unless his object weie to weai out esh and bone. Johnston puiposefully
and eectively diew out the scene of Jacksons maich thiough the Valley of Vii-
ginia, inviting the ieadei to identify with the foot soldieis undei Jacksons com-
mand. Seveial pages into hei desciiption of the maich, Johnston wiote, This
day they made foui miles. The giey tiees weie diaped with ice, the giey zigzag
I,8
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
of the fences was gliding ice undei the hands that caught it, the hands of the
sick and weak. Motion iesolved itself into a Dead Maich, few notes and slow,
with iests. The aimy moved and halted, moved and halted with a weiid state-
liness. Couiieis came back fiom the man iiding ahead, cadet cap diawn ovei
eyes that say only what a giant and iion iace might do undei a giant and iion
dictatoiship. Geneial Jackson says, Piess Foiwaid! Geneial Jackson says, Piess
Foiwaid, men!
77
The unit did not ieach its destination that night, Johnston
iepoited. It would have to continue to piess foiwaid.
As depicted by Johnston, Geneial Jacksons men have little condence in the
damned clown, Fool Tom Jackson. The individual at the head of this aimy
is not a geneial, says one soldiei to his compatiiots, hes a pedagogueby
God, hes the Faleiian pedagogue who sold his pupils to the Romans. Finish-
ing his analogy, the soldiei continues, Oh, the lamb-like pupils, tiooping aftei
him thiough oweis and sunshinestiaight into the hands of Kelly at Romney,
with Rosecians and twenty thousand just beyond. At the piotestations of a
cadet fiom the Viiginia Militaiy Institute, the soldiei concludes, Sti, fanatic,
inhuman, callous, cold, half mad and wholly iash, without militaiy capacity,
ambitious as Lucifei and absuid as HudibiasI ask again what is this peison
doing at the head of this aimy:
78
Although Jackson gaineis the suppoit and
condence of his men ovei the couise of the novel, some ieadeis saw Johnstons
initial chaiacteiization of the geneial as tantamount to blasphemy and deseiving
of seiious iebuke.
Maiy Anna Jackson, no stiangei to liteiaiy scandal, published a scathing ie-
view of The Lcng Rcll in the New Ycrk Times, claiming that although she would
have piefeiied to iemain silent as a iesult of hei opposition to publicity and
newspapei contioveisy, she felt that she had to set stiaight the histoiical iecoid.
Pity tis but tiue that ction is moie iead by the young than histoiy, Jackson la-
mented, and it would be a gieat injustice to Geneial Jackson that such a delinea-
tion of his chaiactei and peisonality go down to futuie geneiations. Accoiding
to Jackson, Johnston had iendeied the geneial iough, uncouth, booiish, slov-
enly, and unbalanced. Even woise, Miss Johnston acknowledges that she nevei
saw oi knew Geneial Jackson, which fact is veiy evident fiom the hideous caii-
catuie she uses as hei fiontispiece by aitist N. C. Wyeth] iepiesenting him and
his little soiiel and which alone is enough to condemn the book. And though
Johnstons piesumptuousness might be dismissed as the folly of a young mind,
liteiaiy success, which acted like a ne wine, had dulled hei senses to the detii-
ment of histoiy. Will not all tiue Confedeiate soldieis who followed Stonewall
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
I,,
Stonewall Jackson. Illustiation fiom Maiy Johnstons I,II novel, The Lcng Rcll.
Jackson, Anna Jackson pleaded at the end of the ieview, give an expiession of
theii opinion of The Long Roll, and if they appiove of it let them say so can-
didly but if not will they unite in such a piotest against this false and damaging
poitiaituie of theii commandei as will settle the question foi all time.
79
Foimei soldieis willingly picked up the gauntlet thiown down by Stonewall
Jacksons widow. Captain J. P. Smith, who had seived on Geneial Jacksons sta,
:oo
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
iesented Johnstons chaiacteiization of Jackson, nding fault with the exaggei-
ated accounts of his piofanity, which weie histoiically inaccuiate and should
be iegietted in a book to be iead by many of oui boys as it is not just to
the chaiacteis of theii fatheis. Accoiding to Smiths assessment, published in
Ccnjederate Veteran, Confedeiate oceis had iepiessed all piofane behavioi
whenevei they came into the aimy. Moieovei, the noble and pious command-
ing oceis had quickly checked those soldieis who maintained theii booiish
habits.
80
Like Anna Jackson, Smith found the uncouth, misshapen, and] monstious
fiontispiece insulting to all who knew the geneial. In addition to including this
ungainly caiicatuie, Smith chaiged Johnston with unjustly painting Jackson as
haish, hostile, pedantic, awkwaid, hypochondiiacal, liteial, and stiict. Woise
than these sins of commission, accoiding to Smith, howevei, weie Johnstons
sins of omission. Johnston piovided no adequate conception of the ieligious
chaiactei of Stonewall Jackson, Smith fumed. And although Johnston desciibed
the geneial as obsessive, boideiing on fanatical, and unt foi duty, he was, ac-
coiding to Smith, devout and ieveient, humble, steadfast, piayeiful in spiiit
and faithful in duty. Smith doubted that Johnston had consulted any histoiical
oi biogiaphical souice. It will be an unmeasuied loss to geneiations to come,
he believed, if a pictuie so maiied be ietained in the thought and memoiy of
oui people. Although the editois of Ccnjederate Veteran distanced themselves
fiomthe Smiths views, they neveitheless uiged Johnston to eliminate the novels
piofanity and to ievise Jacksons pictuie and chaiactei. While the book is a
novel, they conceded, it is also a wondeiful histoiy of the people to whomMiss
Maiy Johnston desiies to give full ciedit.
81
Despite taking this position, the editois allowed Johnston to defend hei woik.
The authoi challenged hei detiactois to suppoit theii claims iegaiding the nov-
els histoiical inaccuiacies. To levy theii complaints, hei ciitics must ieally stiike
out of existence the hundied and odd volumes of the ocial iecoids, the whole
seiies of Southein Histoiical Society papeis, all the newspapeis of oIo,, the
aiticles contiibuted by Southein oceis to Battles and Leadeis, as well as those
contiibuted to Mis. Jacksons life of hei husband, Hendeisons biogiaphy, his-
toiies, memoiis, and diaiies without numbei, foims of iecoid too numeious to
mention. Although Johnston latei addiessed specic chaiges, such as the issue
of piofanity, hei defense of the novels histoiical accuiacy is most telling. Be-
cause southeineis weie engaged in a iaging debate ovei the Civil Wai, Johnston
felt paiticulaily slandeied by the ciiticisms of hei countiymen and -women. Al-
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
:oI
though she might have intended to debunk the pievailing gloiication of wai
in geneial, she ceitainly nevei sought to dispaiage the Confedeiate cause oi any
of its leadeis. While Johnstons detiactois believed hei chaiacteiization of Jack-
son iendeied him an uncouth booi, she felt it made him human. Hei novel,
she pioclaimed, has done a seivice to Viiginia and the South. Convinced of
hei books impoitance, Johnston noted nally, Jeiusalem is not the only city
that stones hei piophets, noi antiquity the only time that pieoccupies itself with
some blemishit may be ieality, may be fancied onlyon the foiehead of a
gieat and ieal seivice.
82
The debate iegaiding Johnstons poitiayal of Stonewall Jackson piovided hei
ieadeis with ample topics foi discussion. The Secessionville Chaptei of the South
Caiolina Division of the 0ic, foi example, tabled its histoiical piogiam foi
Octobei I,II so that the chapteis histoiian could iead aloud Smiths ciiticism
and Johnstons defense. And although this chaptei did not devote its entiie No-
vembei I,II meeting to The Lcng Rcll, the membeis did discuss a favoiable ie-
viewof the novel in which the naiiative of the book is desciibed as being tiue to
life and a faithful iepioduction of the scenes of that time. Indeed, some ieadeis
did not take oense at Johnstons chaiacteiization of Stonewall Jackson. Aftei
ieading Anna Jacksons attack, Joseph Ames, the futuie piesident of the Uni-
veisity of Chicago, dashed o a lettei to Johnston. Although he iealized that
she piobably nevei wanted to see the name Jackson again, Ames felt as if I
must wiite to tell you how much Ia Yankee and an ignoiant oneenjoyed
youi pictuie of the gieat Geneial. He latei thanked Johnston foi deliveiing to
those who nevei knew the wai, an impressicn which we shall nevei foiget.
William Teiience published his spiiited defense of Johnston in the Richmcnd
Times-Dispatch, citing an embaiiassment of iiches to suppoit hei poitiait of
Jackson. Moieovei, as an aitist, it is Miss Johnstons iight to take what evei she
knows to have been tiue of the man and use it to the advantage of hei chaiactei-
ization. Those who accused Johnston of poisoning] the minds of the young
had failed to piove that she falsied any public iecoid. Even Gieenslet, who con-
tinually woiiied about the novels public ieception, ieassuied Johnston: It is a
pity that the wiitei of ction should have the tiouble of the biogiaphei. . . . I
think you will nd, howevei, that in the long iun even Mis. Jackson will take a
dieient view.
83
Undeteiied by the contioveisy, Johnston immediately launched heiself into
the second and nal volume of hei wai stoiy, Cease Firing! If Johnston haiboied
any lingeiing doubts iegaiding hei ability to wiite a wai naiiative, Gieenslet put
:o:
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
them to iest. The quibbling that had chaiacteiized theii woiking ielationship
on The Lcng Rcll was held in check while they woiked on the second volume.
I have iead chapteis XII, XIII, and XIV and time fails me to tell you of the
many things in them that have poweifully impiessed me, Gieenslet wiote, but
I must say at least that the passage dealing with the maiiied loveis in theii cave
in the besieged city stands out in my mind as one of the unfoigettable pictuies
in ction. Gieenslet was iefeiiing to a scene in which two minoi chaiacteis, the
iecently maiiied Edwaid and Desiiee Caiy, discuss love and death while tiapped
in a cave duiing the bombing of Vicksbuig, Mississippi. Gieenslet envisioned a
heialded place in the eld of southein liteiatuie foi Cease Firing! pioclaiming,
The book piomises, I think, to be unique in its eld in its union of the ele-
vated with the tianquilizing, I have a notion that this is just what is needed at
the moment.
84
Johnston had abandoned hei plan to featuie Geneial Robeit E. Lee in this vol-
ume, a decision that ielieved Gieenslet. Anxious to avoid the disputes that had
suiiounded The Lcng Rcll, Gieenslet wholeheaitedly suppoited the change: I
think the fact that you have not made any one histoiic chaiactei so conspicu-
ous as Jackson in The Long Roll is an advantage. Gieenslet hoped that Cease
Firing! would smooth the featheis iued by The Lcng Rcll, pioviding ieadeis
with a geneial unity of impiession. If the two woiks taken as a whole dont
eventually become classics, swoie Gieenslet, I shall lose what vestige of faith
in my judgment I have managed to keep thiough ten yeais of the compiomise
which is publishing.
85
Johnston might have steeied cleai of any wiangling involving Confedeiate
leadeis, but Gieenslet felt that she was heading into tioubled wateis neai the end
of the second book, and he advised hei to leave out that bit of histoiical con-
tioveisy towaid the end of Chaptei _, in the passage dealing with the buining of
Columbia. Although Gieenslet did not doubt that Geneial WilliamT. Sheiman
possessed a medieval mind, he did not want Cease Firing! miied in a liteiaiy
scandal. Calling the scene contioveisy impeifectly imbedded in an imaginative
context, the editoi uiged the authoi to switch the point of view of Sheimans
maich thiough Columbia to those of hei ctitious chaiacteis, iefiaining fiom
authoiial commentaiy and inteitextual iefeiencesfoi example, a Fedeial o-
cei who says, As foi the wholesale buinings, pillage, devastation, committed
in South Caiolina, magnify all I have said of Geoigia some fty-fold, and then
thiowin an occasional muidei, just to biing an old haidsted cuss to his senses,
and you have a pietty good idea of the whole thing. Gieenslet uiged Johnston
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
:o_
to cut all of the chapteis histoiical iefeiences: It seems to me that if you de-
sciibe the buining of the city as pait of the textuie of the chaptei, Gieenslet
imly advised, you biing the wiong of the act home to the ieadei much moie
impiessively than you do if you diop fiom the imaginative plane to the stiictly
histoiic, and go into the aigument as to iesponsibility. Although Johnston was
unwilling to cut the histoiical fiom the manusciipt, she placed the buining of
the city on the imaginative plane, ending the scene with Sheimans men toiching
a convent. Huddled in the chuichyaid, the nuns and theii young female chaiges
watched as the convent buined, with a ioaiing and ciackling of ames and a
shouting of men.
86
Moie impoitant than the aitistic integiity of the novel, howevei, was its ie-
ception by ieadeis. Speaking as a publishei, Gieenslet wained that the pas-
sage as oiiginally wiitten would huit the book with Noithein ieadeis, and . . .
hampei the peimanent woik the two books togethei ought to do in biinging
about a bettei undeistanding in the Noith of what the wai meant to the South.
Gieenslet took this oppoitunity to bioaden his discussion of ieadei ieception of
the novel, uiging Johnston once again to piovide a happy ending foi hei c-
tional chaiacteis. Aftei the . . . almost unbeaiable tiagedy of Chaptei o I hope
you will nd it possible to end the book on a dieient note. And once again,
Johnston failed to acquiesce. Moitally wounded in Sheimans attack on Colum-
bia, Desiiee lies dying beneath the iuins. Hei husband, also moitally wounded,
diags himself on his knees to join hei. Desiiee dies ist, but not befoie telling
him of the death of theii child in the attack. With a last eoit he moved so that
his aims weie aiound hei body and his head upon hei bieast, and then, as the
sun came up, his spiiit followed heis.
87
Indeed, a sense of giim ieality peimeated the entiie novel. Unwilling to paint
a iomantic pictuie of wai, Johnston focused on the monotony of battle that had
so tioubled Gieenslet duiing the wiiting of The Lcng Rcll. Theie was giowing
in this wai, she wiote, as in all wais, a sense of endless iepetition. The gamut
was not extensive, the spectium held but few colouis. Ovei and ovei and ovei
again sounded the notes, old as the ages, monotonous as the deseit wind. Wai
was still wai, and all music was militaiy. To countei the eoits of those who
endeavoied to elevate the Civil Wai to a noble and just battle, woithy of gloiica-
tion and celebiation, Johnston honed in on the biutality of all wai, including the
Civil Wai. In hei view, wai devastated all, and the wanton destiuction iendeied
sanity neaily impossible. And so at last . . . fiom the geneial to the diummei-
boy, fiom the civil iulei to the woman sciaping lint, no one looks veiy closely
:o
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
The Bloody Angle. Illustiation fiom Maiy Johnstons I,I: novel,
Cease Firing!
at what falls beneath the haiiow, Johnston explained. Madness lies that way,
and in wai one must be veiy sane.
88
Johnstons ieadeis and ciitics piaised hei staikness. Ames again wiote to
Johnston, telling hei that he had iead and enjoyed Cease Firing! but what a
tiagedy. The novel, he believed, tianscended othei wai stoiies and, taken with
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
:o,
The Lcng Rcll, seived as what theologians would call an apology. The foice
of Johnstons piose compelled ieadeis on in spite of the awful hoiioi that one
knows awaits one. Johnston wiote in a mannei that has justied ciitics in com-
paiing hei] with Tolstoy, Hugo, and Sienkiewicz, pioclaimed a Wilmington,
Delawaie, ieviewei, in the vigoi, vividness, and teiiible ieality of hei desciip-
tions of wai and its havoc, its destiuction, its feaiful saciice of human life, the
devastation it spieads ovei the land, and the miseiy and woe it inicts upon those
who peifoice must iemain at home and suei in silence and agonizing wait-
ing. The ieviewei foi the Minneapclis }curnal was similaily eusive, claiming
that the novel, unlike any histoiical text, could acquaint us . . . with the human
tiagedy of wai. Read Cease Firing! the }curnal uiged, the ieading will make
you bettei Ameiicans.
89
Although Johnston oeied the most sustained eaily-twentieth-centuiy com-
mentaiy on the bleakness of the Civil Wai, otheis shaied hei vision. Maiy No-
ailles Muifiee, authoi of the I88 novel Vhere the Battle Vas Fcught, ietuined to
the Civil Wai as a catalyst foi the action in hei I,o, novel, The Stcrm Centre, and
hei I,I: collection of shoit stoiies, The Raid cj the Guerilla and Other Stcries.
Unlike the eailiei novel, in which the ghosts of the Civil Wai dead haunt the
chaiacteis and the landscape, the chaiacteis and towns in these two latei woiks
aie haunted by waifaie itself.
Mimicking the postwai disaiiay that had ciippled much of the South, Muifiee
desciibed the unnamed, occupied Tennessee town in The Stcrm Centre as an
evei-shifting kaleidoscope of confused humanity, lled with Fedeial oceis
and theii wild daughteis, iagged fieedmen, soldieis, hospital nuisesin
shoit, eveiyone but the old townsmen who belonged theie. Foi those non-
combatants who iemainwomen, childien, and old menwaifaie makes little
sense. The picket lines, diiven by some vague iumoi of dangei, continually
move against the enemy, but appaiently in puisuance of no denite plan of ag-
giession. These skiimishes seemed a soit of game of taga giim game, foi the
loss of life in these futile maneuveis amounted to fai moie in the long iun than
the few casualties in each skiimish might indicate. Equally incompiehensible,
howevei, aie the inteivals of absolute inaction, at times lasting so long that
the townspeople begin to question why the two lines weie theie at all, with so
vague a similitude of wai. Although the wais ecacy and puipose iemain un-
cleai in the townspeoples minds, its destiuctive powei is obvious. All could see
the foimei home of the Roscoes, the family on which this novel centeis, now ie-
duced to a mass of chaiied timbeis between two gaunt chimneys. The scene
:oo
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
was an epitome of desolation, Muifiee explained, despite the sunshine which
indeed heie was but a lonely splendoi.
90
The inhabitants of Tanglefoot Cove, a feeble community of non-combatants
in Muifiees shoit stoiy The Raid of the Gueiilla, faie no bettei than the con-
fused iesidents of The Stcrm Centre. Although the volunteeiing spiiit had
swept thiough Tanglefoot Cove duiing the wais eaily days, the systematic deci-
mation of its healthy male population in battle, coupled with the towns change
of hands duiing the wai, ciipples its suppoit foi the Confedeiacy. When news
comes that a Confedeiate iaidei plans to libeiate Tanglefoot Cove, theie is little
celebiation. Moieovei, theie was no splendoi of pageant in the iaid of the gue-
iilla into the Cove. . . . The dull thud of hoofs made itself felt as a continu-
ous undeitone to the clattei of stiiiups and sabie. The iaideis fate is no moie
distinguished once he ieaches the town. In lieu of the mateiialization of the
stalwait ambition of distinction that had come to dominate his life, Muifiee
explained, his destiny was chionicled in scaice a line of the piinted details of
a day fieighted with the monstious disastei of a gieat battle, in common with
otheis of the missing his bones weie picked by the vultuies till shoved into a
tiench, wheie a monument iises to-day to commemoiate an event and not a
commandei.
91
His fate inextiicably tied to the downfall of the Confedeiacy, the
iaideis plans iemain uniealized, his couiage uniewaided, his accomplishments
uncelebiated.
In addition to chionicling the physical destiuction caused by the wai, Muifiee
echoed Johnstons sentiment that wai destioys the sanity of those involved. In
Muifiees shoit stoiy The Lost Guidon, published in the same collection as
The Raid of the Gueiilla, a young soldiei sueis fiom dementia aftei wit-
nessing the decimation of his comiades in battle. Caspei had no physical huit
that might appeal to the piofessional sympathies of the senioi suigeon, Muifiee
wiote. Aftei Caspei is found wandeiing among the dead, tiying to ially themfoi
action, the suigeon laughingly dismisses the soldiei, exclaiming, He cant ially
Dovingeis Rangeis this side of the iivei Styx. Caspei leaves the wai still ob-
sessed with his fallen comiades and the guidon he has lost on the eld. Change
ian iiot in the oideiing of the woild, accoiding to Muifiee, and its aspect
was utteily tiansfoimed when Caspei Giiaid, no longei beaiing the guidon of
Dovingeis Rangeis, came out of the wai. Yeais latei, his ietuined battle ag in
hand, Caspei ciies out, Ill ially on the ieseives, condemned to live in the past,
his mind foievei shatteied by the wai.
92
That Johnston and Muifiee could wiite such giim stoiies of the Civil Wai
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
j
:o,
while maintaining theii decidedly southein peispective demonstiates the mal-
leability of the southein naiiative of the Civil Wai. To be suie, Johnston and to
a lessei extent Muifiee celebiated the Souths iole in Ameiicas histoiy, champi-
oned the Souths distinct civilization, and piofessed the Souths iight to secede.
In this iespect, neithei authoi bioke with the past. But these women also did not
gloiify the Civil Wai: the wai biought only destiuction, and a Confedeiate tii-
umph would in noway have mitigated the devastation of the southein landscape.
No mattei how compelling postwai white southeineis found the Confedeiacys
claim to independence, no mattei how seductive the idea of secession, the wai
qua wai had been a disastei foi the South. And while some ieadeis ciinged at
Johnstons and Muifiees inteipietations of the wai, southeineis bought and iead
these woiks, incoipoiating them into the southein metanaiiative on the wai.
The eaily-twentieth-centuiy liteiaiy maiket pioved veiy accommodating to
southein womens wai naiiatives. Although editois and agents expiessed some
concein about a seemingly satuiated maiket, few evei iefused to undeitake a
pioject foi feai that one moie southein womens tale would diive ieadeis away,
causing sales to plummet. Rathei, publisheis and authois iecognized the pub-
lic demand foi these stoiies. Moieovei, the 0ics laigely successful campaign to
tell the tiue histoiy of the wai fueled this demand foi a southein stoiy, and
this southein stoiy incieasingly became a national stoiy. Southein naiiatives
ieceived favoiable ieviews in national and noithein jouinals and peiiodicals,
suggesting that these tales had cultuial iesonance outside of the foimei Con-
fedeiacy. Even U.S. Piesident William Howaid Taft endoised the 0ics explica-
tions of the wai and suggested that southein inteipietations would gain gieatei
national cuiiency in ensuing yeais. By I,I,, southein women felt secuie in the
knowledge that they had authoied a cultuially sanctioned iepiesentation of the
past. Thiough theii stiuggles to secuie that authoiship foi themselves, southein
women helped to fashion a new cultuial identity foi the postbellum South and
incieasingly the nation as a whole. By the debut of Birth cj a Naticn and, espe-
cially, the appeaiance of the book and lm veisions of Gcne with the Vind in the
late I,_os, the southein womens veision had laigely pievailed. And its tiiumph
owed much to changing U.S. patteins of cultuial pioduction and dissemination,
most notably the advent of iadio and lm. Iionically, as the audience foi these
naiiatives incieased in size and social and cultuial diveisity, southein womens
distinct inteipietation of the wai attained giowing ocial cultuial hegemony.
:o8
i
vi cu1i c 1ui wvocs oi ui s 1ovv
6
Moderns
Confront
the Civil War,
19161936
Ve are justly prcud cj cur bcys whc went jcrth jtc the Eurcpean
eld] with as chivalrcus spirits as any knight cj cld, tc ght and
suer and die, ij need be, that small ccuntries as well as great
might exercise their right tc ccntrcl themselves withcut inter-
jerence jrcm withcut. That men and wcmen everywhere might
stand jcrth jree tc keep their hcmes inviclate. Might pursue
their daily cccupaticns unajraid and happy. Our bcys went
gladly and prcmptly, because they had drawn in the whcle idea
cj States rights with their mcthers milk, had listened all their
lives tc talk cj hcw their sires and grandsires had jcught and
suered and died jcr the seljsame principle, which beckcned
them cn tc service ncw.
ii zzi i ciovci uiiivs o, Repcrt tc the
United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy
Var is dirty business and I dc nct like dirt. I am nct a scldier
and I have nc desire tc seek the bubble reputaticn even in the
canncns mcuth. Yet, here I am at the warswhcm Gcd never
intended tc be cther than a studicus ccuntry gentleman. Fcr,
Melanie, bugles dc nct stir my blccd ncr drums entice my jeet
and I see tcc clearly that we have been betrayed, betrayed by
cur arrcgant Scuthern selves, believing that cne cj us cculd
whip a dczen Yankees, believing that King Ccttcn cculd rule the
wcrld. Betrayed, tcc, by wcrds and catch phrases, prejudices
and hatreds ccming jrcm the mcuths cj thcse highly placed,
thcse men whcm we respected and reveredKing Ccttcn,
Slavery, States Rights, Damn Yankees.
m.vc.vi1 mi 1cuiii, Gone with the Wind
In the late summei of I,_, Helen Doitch Longstieet ieceived woid that Chailes
Sciibneis Sons would soon publish a biogiaphy of Geneial Robeit E. Lee. Gen-
eial James Longstieets widow dashed o a lettei to Sciibneis, noting hei plea-
suie at its latest liteiaiy ventuie. She also obseived that Sciibneis decision to
publish what would be Douglas Southall Fieemans Pulitzei Piizewinning biog-
iaphy of Lee conimed hei conclusion that the Woild Wai caused a gieat ievival
of inteiest in the militaiy leadeis of oui Ameiican Civil Wai. Because hei late
husbands iepublican politics biought him undei the ban of the south duiing
the ieconstiuction peiiod, she explained, less has been wiitten of himthan any
othei Coips Commandei on eithei side of the civil wai. Helen Doitch Long-
stieet believed, howevei, that Ameiicans paiticipation in the Spanish-Ameiican
Wai and Woild Wai I had abated those sectional tensions. The new geneia-
tions aie ieady to ieceive the tiuth of histoiy and to honoi both Union and
:o,
Confedeiate leadeis as Ameiicans who fought with Ameiican skill and couiage,
she pioclaimed. In this new spiiit of Ameiicanism, she encouiaged Sciibneis to
publish hei stoiy of Geneial Longstieet, tentatively titled Lcngstreet, the Gallant
Scuthrcn. If Sciibneis found that title unsuitable, peihaps it would considei In
the Path cj Lees Old Var Hcrse. Helen Longstieet eageily awaited woid fiom
Sciibneis.
1
Two weeks latei, Longstieet ieceived a shoit note fiom Sciibneis, which was
declining to publish hei manusciipt. The biogiaphy of Robeit E. Lee, which
we aie publishing this yeai, is a veiy compiehensive woik in foui volumes, ex-
plained an agent foi the publishei, and we hope it will take its place, not only
as the denitive life of Lee, but incidentally in a way the nal histoiy of the Civil
Wai. Because Sciibneis planned to devote consideiable time, eneigy, and ex-
pense to Fieemans biogiaphy of Lee, the agent continued, we do not feel that
we can condently issue anothei life of a Civil Wai leadei at the same time.
2
Despite the agents explanation, Sciibneis piobably woiiied less about satuiat-
ing the maiket with Civil Wai naiiatives than about the commeicial viability of
Longstieets stoiy. Indeed, Helen Longstieets asseition that the nations iecent
expeiience with Woild Wai I encouiaged ietelling of the Civil Wai pioved tiue.
And Sciibneis ceitainly did not iestiict its Civil Wai catalog to Fieemans biog-
iaphy of Lee. The same yeai that R. E. Lee appeaied, foi example, Sciibneis also
published Staik Youngs wondeifully successful Civil Wai novel, Sc Red the Rcse,
and thiee yeais latei the impublished Caioline Goidons Ncne Shall Lcck Back.
Sciibneis piobably iecognized that Longstieets decidedly old-fashioned nai-
iative did not confoim to the pievailing liteiaiy tiends of the I,_os.
Diafts of The Gallant Southion and In the Path of Lees Old Wai Hoise
suggest that little had changed in Longstieets conception of wai oi hei late hus-
band since she had published hei I,o biogiaphy of the geneial. As evident fiom
hei coiiespondence with Sciibneis, she did iecognize the ways in which Woild
Wai I had bolsteied Ameiicans inteiest in the Civil Wai. To this geneiation,
she piefaced a diaft of The Gallant Southion, the stoiy of the deeds of eithei
side has the same wide human appeal. We aie pioud of these gieat leadeis as
Ameiicans who fought with Ameiican skill and Ameiican couiage. But the lan-
guage she used to desciibe James Longstieet, Civil Wai battles, and the Con-
fedeiacy echoes that of Lee and Lcngstreet at High Tide: Acioss the pages of
deathless histoiy, she wiote, the Confedeiate victoiy at the Second Manas-
sas, is limned as a biilliant pielude to the bloodiest day of the Wai between the
States, Antietam. Foi Helen Doitch Longstieet, Antietams signicance iested
:Io
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
not with its cainage but with Lees bestowal of the accolade my Old Wai Hoise
on Geneial Longstieet. To Longstieet that touching gieeting made up foi any
slight that was put on his judgment when Lee dispatched Stonewall Jackson to
Haipeis Feiiy despite Longstieets objections. Evei eagei to champion hei hus-
bands ieputation as a biilliant tactician, Helen Longstieet noted that Lee must
have iealized that Longstieet was iight by the time of Antietam and that Lee
also had come to iecognize that Longstieet had been iight in advising ietieat
acioss the Potomac without battle, instead of making the stand at Shaipsbuig.
3
As with hei eailiei publication, Helen Longstieet saw hei biogiaphies as a ve-
hicle foi advancing hei husbands ieputation.
Fieeman agieed with Helen Longstieet on at least one point. He, too, believed
that Woild Wai I had fosteied ienewed inteiest in the Ameiican Civil Wai. Ex-
plaining the ieasons foi the length of his I,_ biogiaphy of Lee, Fieeman noted,
Had not the woild wai demonstiated the impoitance of the caieful study of
the campaigns of gieat stiategists, I should feel disposed to apologize foi such
an elaboiate piesentation. But because G. F. R. Hendeisons I,oo biogiaphy of
Stonewall Jackson had inuenced Biitish stiategy duiing the Gieat Wai, Fiee-
man had cause to believe that the piofessional soldiei who will follow, step by
step, the unfolding of Lees stiategic plans will, I think, leain much and peihaps
equally fiom the leadei of the Aimy of Noithein Viiginia. But unlike Helen
Doitch Longstieet, foi whom Woild Wai I had not tempeied a iomantic vision
of wai, Fieeman had become incieasingly hoiiied at the cainage. Foi moie
than twenty yeais the study of militaiy histoiy has been my chief avocation, he
explained. Whethei the opeiations have been those of I,II,I8, on which I
happened to be a daily commentatoi, oi those of the conict between the states,
each new inquiiy has made the monstious hoiioi of wai moie unintelligible
to me. Reminiscent of Maiy Johnston iathei than Helen Longstieet, Fieeman
continued, It has seemed inciedible to me that human beings, endowed with
any of the poweis of ieason, should hypnotize themselves with doctiines of na-
tional honoi oi sacied iight and puisue mass muidei to exhaustion oi iuin.
As a caveat to his ieadeis, Fieeman wained, If, in this opinion, I have let my
abhoiience of wai appeai in my desciiption of Malvein Hill aftei the battle, and
in a few indignant adjectives elsewheie, I tiust the ieadei will undeistand that
in these instances I have momentaiily stepped back on the stage only because I
am not willing to have this study of a man who loved peace inteipieted as glo-
iication of wai.
4
Both Helen Longstieet and Fieeman wiote duiing the high
tide of Ameiican isolationism, but that cultuial impulse inuenced them dif-
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:II
feiently. Longstieet continued to gloiify hei late husband and the Confedeiacy,
Fieeman, howevei, came to view waiany waias a national tiagedy. Much of
the liteiatuie of the peiiod between Woild Wai I and Woild Wai II ieects this
tension.
The liteiaiy iecoid of the inteiwai peiiod suggests that white southein women
oeied a new peispective on the Civil Wai. The iecent expeiience with Woild
Wai I gave a newimpetus to southeineis pieoccupation with ieconstiucting the
memoiy of the Civil Wai foi themselves and foi the entiie nation. The papeis of
the United Daughteis of the Confedeiacy (0ic), foi example, ieect the intei-
section of southeineis inteiest in both the Civil Wai and Woild Wai I. Duiing
the wai, 0ic membeis woiked tiielessly foi the Red Cioss, sewing and mend-
ing clothes, fashioning bandages and othei medical supplies, and iaising wai
bonds to aid Ameiican men stationed oveiseas. This waitime woik in many ways
emulated that of Confedeiate women duiing the Civil Wai, and the Daughteis
made that connection cleai in theii ocial iecoids and piivate coiiespondence.
Moieovei, Woild Wai I continued to inuence the 0ics woik in the immediate
postwai yeais. Southein veteians of Woild Wai I, foi example, sponsoied essay
contests foi the 0ic, oeiing cash piizes to the Daughtei who penned the best
naiiative on southein suppoit foi the Allied wai eoit. Thioughout the I,:os
and I,_os, then, the 0ic contemplated the meaning and legacy of the Civil Wai
thiough the piism of Ameiicas expeiience in Woild Wai I.
Southein white women continued to wiite foi a national audience duiing the
inteiwai peiiod. Theii ienewed focus on Civil Wai battles, militaiy leadeis, and
Confedeiate statesmen ieected in pait the Gieat Wais inuence in shaping
Civil Wai naiiatives. Although some southein women continued to publish pei-
sonal accountsfoi example, La Salle Coibell Pickett ieleased Vhat Happened
tc Me in I,I,otheis ietuined to the battleeld oi the halls of the Confedei-
ate congiess as the eld of action. To be suie, demogiaphics inuenced subject
matteithe numbei of southein women who lived thiough the Civil Wai and
who penned theii peisonal naiiatives declined thiough the I,:os and I,_os. But
southein women published geneial accounts of Confedeiate women less fie-
quently than woiks on Confedeiate soldieis and statesmen, suggesting that a
ceitain fascination with Woild Wai I diiected, at least to some extent, the ways
in which southein women told theii tales of the Civil Wai.
White southein novelists also giappled with the meaning and legacy of the
Civil Wai in light of iecent expeiiences in Woild Wai I. Evelyn Scotts The Vave
(I,:,) and Maigaiet Mitchells Gcne with the Vind (I,_o) iepiesent white south-
:I:
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
ein womens diveise ctional accounts of the Civil Wai wiitten duiing the intei-
wai peiiod. Scotts panoiamic novel attempts to tell a national stoiy of the wai,
detailing the ways in which ctional and histoiical chaiacteis deal with the un-
contiollable foices wiought by the Civil Wai. Although The Vave ieceived gen-
eially favoiable ieviews fiom national magazines, Mitchells Gcne with the Vind
eclipsed Scotts novel in populaiity and sales, setting the maik foi those tales of
the Civil Wai that followed.
The Eyes cj the Vcrld Are upcn Us
The 0ic endeavoied mightily to demonstiate that it was a patiiotic oigani-
zation, loyal to the U.S. goveinment duiing the Gieat Wai. When Piesident
Woodiow Wilson pioclaimed Ameiicas ocial neutiality in the wai, the 0ic
sciambled to suppoit the policy. By I,Io the 0ic had established a Peace Com-
mittee, designed above all to piomote Ameiican neutiality. Mis. Dunbai Row-
land, chaiiman of the committee, admitted that hei woik was dicult. I am
confionted by a paiadoxical situation, she iepoited to the 0ic national con-
vention, in as much as we have won, duiing the past yeai, one of the most mag-
nicent victoiies that has evei maiked the annals of any civilizationthat of
maintaining peace foi Ameiica at a time of univeisal waiand at the same time
have witnessed one of the piofoundest manifestations of the spiiit of militaiism
that has stiiied the Ameiican people foi decades. Theie weie times, Rowland
confessed, when she thought that oui stainless white ag would go down in
defeat befoie the ied ensign of wai. But the cause of peace pievailed and, to
demonstiate its thanks to Piesident Wilson foi keeping the United States out
of wai, the 0ic sent numeious telegiams and messages to the White House,
testifying hownobly we upheld his hands in the gieatest test to which oui civili-
zation has evei been subjected. The oiganizations actions may seem odd, given
all of the ink spilled and eneigy spent gloiifying the Confedeiate cause in the
Civil Wai. The women of the 0ic had ceitainly not pieviously shied away fiom
militaiism. The 0ics loyalty to Wilson may have stemmed fiom two souices.
Fiist, as Piesident William Howaid Taft intimated to the Daughteis when he
addiessed theii I,I: national convention, the piesence of a southein Demociat
in the White House might piove benecial to theii agenda, and Wilsons eoits
to segiegate Washington, D.C., ceitainly boie out Tafts assumption. The 0ic,
theiefoie, had ieason to believe that it had a fiiend in the White House and was
theiefoie willing to suppoit the piesidents policies. As Biidie A. Owen, piesi-
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:I_
dent of the gioups Tennessee Division, stated, The gieatest gloiy that the South
can claim is the giving to the woild of WoodiowWilson. . . . He is the Souths.
5
Second, the 0ics pacist stand might have shoied up its claim that southein-
eis weie peace-loving people who iesoited to wai only when piovoked. In othei
woids, the oiganizations dedication to peace duiing the initial yeais of the Gieat
Wai might have suppoited its claims about the South duiing the ciisis that pie-
ceded the Civil Wai.
Piesident Wilsons iequest foi a congiessional declaiation of wai caused the
0ic to altei its pacist position. Immediately following the declaiation of
hostilities by Piesident Wilson, 0ic Piesident-Geneial Coidelia Powell Oden-
heimei explained to membeis meeting at the I,I, national convention, I oeied
him the seivices of oui membeis in what evei capacity they might be available.
This action on my pait was given wide publicity by the Associated Piess, and
individuals, chapteis, and divisions pioceeded to demonstiate theii patiiotism
by eoits which have not been suipassed by any othei oiganization, she fui-
thei noted. Without saciicing a single piinciple foi which we have contended
since oui oiganization . . . became a National patiiotic society, she concluded,
the 0ic had enthusiastically iesponded to the countiys call, with iesults in
which we may well take piide. The Mississippi Division agieed. One month
aftei Congiess declaied wai, the Mississippi Division passed a iesolution stating,
Wheieas the United States goveinment is at wai with a foieign foe and needs
the united eoits of all citizens in eveiy pait of eveiy State, and the United
Daughteis of the Confedeiacy, of which the Mississippi Division is a com-
ponent pait, feels pioud of its descent fiom patiiots, men and women who
gave all they had foi the blessed piivilege of being goveined only by theii
own consent, the gieat States iight piinciple of oui goveinment, and wheieas
these United States have enteied this gieat woild wai that the peoples of the
eaith may enjoy the piivilege of being goveined by theii own consent, thus
making the woild safe foi demociacy, and wheieas we believe it iight and
just that Piesident WoodiowWilson should be assuied that he has the whole
of eveiy pait of this countiy back of him in these days of stiess and tiial,
theiefoie be it iesolved that the Mississippi Division, U.D.C., in convention
assembled, wishes to go on iecoid as appioving the couise its countiy has
puisued in staying out of the stiuggle as long as it consistently could and
pieseive its ideals of peace and demociacy and then enteis only to pieseive
those ideals and iights which oui fatheis fought foi.
6
:I
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
The Mississippi Division appaiently sawthe Confedeiacys ght foi states iights
as compatible with U.S. eoits to make the woild safe foi demociacy, thus
allowing Daughteis of the Confedeiacy to be loyal to both causes.
Odenheimei and othei 0ic oceis used Ccnjederate Veteran to diiect Daugh-
teis on useful wai woik. Chapteis, and Divisions, can paiticipate, as they may
desiie, Odenheimei suggested in May I,I,, in the woik inauguiated by the Red
Cioss, the Council of Women, and the Womens Section of the Navy League,
and otheis. Fuitheimoie, she stated that the patiiotism of the South is second
to that of no othei section of the countiy. Mis. J. Noiment Powell, iegistiai-
geneial of the 0ic, called foi membeis to iegistei foi waitime seivice as ste-
nogiapheis and nuises. She iecognized that not all women weie able to leave
theii homes and seive U.S. wai eoits but pointed out that othei avenues foi
paiticipating existed: Southein women face an oppoitunity foi enoimous use-
fulness, she oeied. With the South iests the duty of feeding the nation duiing
this wai, and the eyes of the woild aie upon us, expecting us to do oui pait.
Theie should not be wasted one bean, she wained, one tomato, oi one paiticle
of food. In no othei way, she advised, can oui women be of bettei seivice than
by incieasing and conseiving the food supply. The canning industiy is of im-
mense impoitance, she aigued. Bulletins giving the latest scientic knowledge
on this subject can be obtained fiee of cost fiom the Depaitment of Agiicultuie,
and it is of utmost value to youi countiy that you obtain this infoimation and
not only iegistei a vowagainst any waste, but instiuct the childien in this indus-
tiy. Odenheimei iecommended that the Womens Committee of the Council of
National Defense be given all data in connection with the iecent tabulation of
woman powei available foi wai seivice. In an unpiecedented spiiit of coopeia-
tion, Odenheimei cautioned Daughteis to suboidinate the gloiy of theii own
gioup to the State.
7
Once again, Daughteis found accoid between the gloii-
cation the Confedeiacy and suppoiting centialization of a national wai eoit.
By I,I8, the 0ic listed wai ielief woik among its ve gieat eoits to de-
velop oui Association to its full powei and oppoitunity foi usefulness. The
0ics Committee on Wai Relief diew up guidelines to be distiibuted to state
divisions, assuiing Daughteis that all youi eneigies and sympathies in behalf of
the youth of Ameiica who aie giving up theii all at theii countiys call will be di-
iected, systematized, iecoided as 0ic woik. State divisions seem to have com-
plied willingly and enthusiastically with the guidelines. Maiy Calveit Stiibling,
histoiian-geneial of the West Viiginia Division, followed specic diiections on
the making of suigical diessings and patteins and counted among hei achieve-
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:I,
ments the making of two hundied iiiigation pads in one week. The Geoigia
Division pioudly iepoited that it had measuied up to the tiemendous demands
of the awful wai stiuggle and noted that it was oui piivilege to honoi and pie-
seive the memoiy of oui heioic past while we gave magnicently of time, talent
and money to the wai calls of oui heioic Piesident. The division then tabulated
the numbei of aiticles knitted and suigical diessings made foi the Red Cioss,
libeity bonds and wai savings stamps bought, items donated to Fiench and Bel-
gian oiphans, and hospital beds endowed. The Viiginia Division iecoided that
in I,I8 the ielief woik accomplished is unpiecedented and seems to suei no
deciease, even though the Red Cioss woik occupies all heaits and hands. A bed
foi tubeiculosis patients will be suppoited at the Catawbei Sanatai Sanitaiium
. . . and money has been given foi the biass plates foi the bed . . . at the Ameiican
militaiy hospital in Fiance. The Aikansas Division noted that its Confedeiate
Council would take chaige of the iegistiation of the soldieis who aie descen-
dants of Confedeiate Veteians.
8
Of couise, the wai did not necessitate a suspension of the 0ics iegulai woik.
Indeed, Daughteis felt incieasingly compelled to caiiy out theii mission as time
continued to distance them fiom the Civil Wai. As Louise Ayei Vandivei, piesi-
dent of the South Caiolina Division, noted in hei iepoit on the I,I, state conven-
tion, the objects foi which the 0ic was oiganized weie by no means foigotten
noi oveilooked. The study of piopei Confedeiate histoiy seemed especially im-
poitant as the ianks in the wai geneiation iapidly dwindled. Histoiian-Geneial
Anne Bachman Hyde expiessed suipiised pleasuie that the histoiical woik of
the 0ic continued despite the exigencies of the Gieat Wai. Amid the clash of
aims ait is neglected and liteiatuie sueis, she exclaimed. When histoiy is
being iapidly made histoiical chionicles languish and the ngeis deftly iolling
Red Cioss bandages cannot ieadily giasp the pen. Neveitheless, the 0ic had
accomplished a gieat deal of histoiical woik duiing a yeai of soiiow, tui-
moil, and uniest. Hyde continued to use the pages of Ccnjederate Veteran to
advise divisions and chapteis on topics foi histoiical piogiams. In addition to
woiking foi wai ielief, Daughteis weie to study Geneial Patiick Ronayne Cle-
buine, the Stonewall of the West, Jeeison Davis, and Geneial Wineld Scott
Featheiston, Old Swet. Moieovei, Daughteis weie to aid aging Confedeiate
veteians, caie foi needy Confedeiate women, sponsoi essay contests and schol-
aiships foi woithy descendants of loyal Confedeiates, piovide diiection foi the
futuie geneiation by diiecting the Childien of the Confedeiacy, and maintain
vaiious committees.
9
:Io
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
The Gieat Wai inuenced the 0ics iegulai woik in many ways. In addi-
tion to the to the usual piizes awaided by the oiganization, such as the Mildied
Rutheifoid Medal foi the best histoiical woik done by small Divisions num-
beiing less than ten chapteis, the 0ic began oeiing the Soldieis Piize, which
iecognized the best essay wiitten by a Daughtei on southein-boin sta o-
ceis in the woild wai. It also awaided the Youiee Piize to the division that led
the laigest numbei of woild wai iecoids. The Woild Wai Recoid Committee
endeavoied to iecoid eveiy lineal descendant of a Confedeiate Veteian who
seived in the Woild Wai. Mis. J. A. Rountiee, chaiiwoman of the committee,
noted that theie is a lofty inspiiation deiived fiomwoik connected with iecoids
of Confedeiate Veteiansoui giay-clad heioeswhich, when linked with oui
own peisonal expeiiences of the saciices made foi patiiotism, high ideals and
tiue demociacy by the heioes of the Woild Wai, biing to us a full iealization
of what oui woik ieally meansthe compiling of iecoids of two geneiations of
soldieisthe biavest heioes the woild has evei known. Mis. John W. Goodwin
explained that this woik convinced Daughteis that the Gieat Wai was not a
wai against a nation but a stiuggle foi the supiemacy of iight. It was, theiefoie,
a wai foi the establishment in all the woild of those piinciples upon which oui
goveinment was founded by oui foiebeais. As an outgiowth of the Wai Recoids
Committee, the Heio Scholaiship was established to aid Woild Wai I veteians
who weie descended fiom Confedeiate soldieis.
10
The Gieat Wai also inuenced the Textbook and Education Committees,
which continued to advocate woiks that oeied a paiticulaily southein inteipie-
tation of the Civil Wai. The Committee of Southein Liteiatuie and Endoisement
of Books found it paiticulaily unfoitunate that, duiing a time of national unity,
some accounts still peipetiated slandeious allusions to oui gieat heioes. Mis.
Alexandei White wained southeineis against being seduced by ihetoiic of na-
tional unity and haimony: The South is still a section to the iest of countiy,
she aigued, despite its woik in the Woild Wai. Things said and wiitten duiing
the Woild Wai and compaiisons made detiimental to the South showwe aie still
diifting and aie letting eiiois stand unchallenged as tiuth. She suggested that
Daughteis ienew theii inteiest in southein and Confedeiate histoiy as a means
of combating the complacent attitude with which Daughteis had been accepting
unfavoiable accounts.
11
The 0ic had long bestowed the Cioss of Honoi on Confedeiate veteians. Be-
ginning in the I,:os, the gioup oeied similai medals to veteians of the Gieat
Wai as a testimonial to the patiiotic devotion and loyalty of the lineal descen-
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:I,
dants of Confedeiate soldieis and sailois. This latest pioject seemed a logical
outgiowth of the gioups memoiial woik, haidly woithy of contioveisy. A dele-
gate to the I,:_ convention, howevei, inquiied about whethei descendants
could include women as well as men who weie honoiably dischaiged, stating,
Nuises seived in Fiance and weie exposed to the same dangeis as the men,
theiefoie, the ciosses should not be denied them. A Geoigia delegate opposed
awaiding the Cioss of Honoi to women, inteijecting that women of the Six-
ties did noble woik and the Confedeiate women weie not asking foi Ciosses of
Honoi. Rountiee, chaiiwoman of the Insignia Committee, then moved to add
the modiei male to desciibe descendants. The motion caiiied, but it did
not end discussion of the mattei. The minutes of the I,: meeting of the Ex-
ecutive Boaid of the 0ics Geoigia Division, foi example, demonstiate that the
eoits to limit the Cioss of Honoi had yet to be settled. Mis. W. D. Lamai, past
piesident of the division, iecommended the elimination of the woid male. The
motion caiiied seventeen to ve and was latei iefeiied to the state convention.
The 0ic ultimately iefused to awaid the Cioss of Honoi towomen, iegaidless of
theii seivice in the Gieat Wai oi theii Confedeiate lineage, thus fuithei shoiing
up the oiganizations ieputation foi conseivatism.
12
Woild Wai I suiely inuenced the ways in which the 0ic compiled its histoii-
cal woik. The Geoigia State Histoiical Piogiam foi I,:o, foi example, included
Geoigians in the Woild Wai as one of its topics. Appiopiiate avenues of in-
quiiy included Woodiow Wilson and His Life in Geoigia, and Wai Relief
Woik in Youi Chaptei. Duiing Decembei, the piogiam encouiaged Geoigias
Daughteis to investigate Red Cioss woik duiing the Wai between the States.
Womens waitime woik was now cast in teims undeistandable only in light of
Woild Wai I. A Geoigia daughtei, asked to wiite a histoiy of Women of the
South in Wai Times, pioclaimed hei enthusiasm, noting that as a woman, she
found gieat pleasuie in telling of some of the wondeiful deeds that have been
done by the women of the sixties, and by theii daughteis in the gieat Woild Wai
of I,I. She aigued that hei investigation should not be limited to the Wai be-
tween the States because, although conditions dieied, and oui faii land was
not molested by invading tioops in Woild Wai I, still the women biavely sent
theii sons and husbands acioss the seas, into the tienches, and kept theii home
ies buining, as they bowed in submission to Gods will.
13
The state iepoits included in national convention minutes and in Ccnjed-
erate Veteran testify to the continued impoitance the 0ic accoided the wiit-
ing of piopei histoiies of the Civil Wai as well as the stiessing of the Souths
:I8
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
contiibution to the Gieat Wai. Moieovei, Daughteis came to view each con-
ict thiough the piism of the othei. Confedeiate womens waitime woik un-
doubtedly inspiied those southein women who woiked foi the Red Cioss dui-
ing Woild Wai I. In tuin, white southein women began to iegaid all womens
waitime woik as Red Cioss woik. Daughteis inteipieted Woild Wai I as a vin-
dication of the Confedeiate cause. As diawn by the deft pens of the 0ic, Woild
Wai I centeied on states iights. Finally, Woild Wai I ienewed inteiest in the
Civil Wai, encouiaging 0ic membeis to study diligently and wiite unceasingly,
theieby fullling the oiganizations oiiginal goals.
A Crcss cj Pclitical Expedience
The sense of nationalismand sectional ieconciliation that had maiked Civil Wai
histoiiogiaphy at the tuin of the centuiy continued to guide wiitings iegaiding
the wai thioughout the I,:os, and this tiend inuenced the woik of amateui
histoiians. Foi example, Fannie Eoline Selphs I,:8 book, The Scuth in American
Lije and Histcry, published undei the auspices of the 0ic, stiessed the Souths
pait in building up oui gieat nation, the United States of Ameiica. Selph tiaced
the histoiy of national development thiough the lens of southein histoiy, always
highlighting the iegions contiibution and continued loyalty to the vision of the
Founding Fatheis. Selph unabashedly defended the institution of slaveiy, which
she contended was misnamed: The ielation of mastei and slave in the South
held so much benecence, so much iesponsive aection with wholesome ie-
sults, she aigued, that the teim slave was a misnomei. She also defended the
actions of the ie-eateis, who advocated secession when it became cleai that the
piovisions of the Compiomise of I8,o weie no longei tenable. But hei defense
stemmed fiom a belief that these men acted out of a sense of loyalty to the intent
of the Constitution. These men, she wiote, weie of solid chaiactei, of edu-
cation, ienement, and weie] well-veised in goveinment. Moie to the point,
theii object was not to teai down, but to build up with gieatei peimanence and
secuiity. Although Selph was cleaily a paitisan of the South, she neveitheless
sought to giound hei study in the Souths contiibution to the nation.
14
The publication of Twelve Southeineis Ill Take My Stand in I,_o, howevei,
signaled a shift in the histoiiogiaphy of the wai. The Agiaiians spiiited defense
of the southein way of life ieected the aiguments of white southeineis who
penned histoiies of the iiiepiessible conict duiing the I,_os. Histoiiogia-
pheis of the Civil Wai C. E. Cauthen and Lewis P. Jones note that between I,oo
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:I,
and I,_o, histoiians had geneially been ciedited with objectivity. Of couise, ob-
jectivity did not guaiantee an absence of debate, but ciiticisms weie usually in
good spiiit. The debates of the I,_os became much moie vitiiolic, howevei, and
histoiians sometimes became so aciimonious as to engage in name-calling.
The defensive postuie of the Agiaiians and otheis of theii ilk ceitainly suggested
the ways in which many white southeineis undeistood and wiote about the wai.
Inteipietations of the Civil Wai obviously ieected changes in the intellectual
climate and thus, as David Pottei demonstiates, the liteiatuie of the I,_os ie-
ected the impact of Maixist thought, the post-Veisailles disillusionment with
wai in geneial, the declining inuence of moial and legal absolutes, and the
changing emphasis upon economic deteiminism.
15
In addition, howevei, con-
seivative white southeineis who weie dissatised with fedeialist appioach of the
New Deal tuined to an idealized veision of the histoiy of the Old South and the
lessons of the Civil Wai to vent theii fiustiations.
Helen Doitch Longstieet, cleaily stiuggling undei the weight of the Gieat De-
piession, hoped to capitalize on the giowing inteiest in the Civil Wai duiing
the inteiwai yeais by wiiting, almost unceasingly, stoiies of hei late husband
and his exploits. Recent days witness a gieat ievival of inteiest in oui Ameii-
can Civil Wai, she explained to the editoi of the Vashingtcn (D.C.) Star. This
inspiies me to oei a seiies of humanly inteiesting wai stoiies. . . . I can supply
an almost endless chain of stoiies, she oeied, which illustiate the iomance
and humoi of the wai. She sent similai letteis to othei publications. On the
same day that she wiote to the Star, she also wiote to the editoi of the Vash-
ingtcn (D.C.) Herald, confessing that evei since the countiy went o the gold
standaid the depiession has been giowing evei haid and haidei foi me to beai
up undei. Hei biilliant solution to hei poveity included selling the Heiald
an endless chain of humanly inteiesting wai stoiies. Displaying a iemaikable
degiee of candoi, Longstieet admitted, I am selling them to the highest biddei.
Let me know youi oei quick. I would iathei have the Heiald piint them be-
cause it has moie ieadeis. Longstieet evidently took no chances, also sending
letteis of inquiiy to the Vashingtcn (D.C.) Pcst and Liberty magazine.
16
Longstieet met with some degiee of success. Hei coveiage of the celebiation of
the seventy-fth anniveisaiy of the Battle of Antietampioved especially populai.
Once again, she piomoted hei connection to Geneial Longstieet and claimed
that she would be bettei able than anyone else to tell the stoiy. Being the only
suiviving widow of a Coips Commandei on eithei side of the wai between the
States, she infoimed the editoi of the Burlingtcn (Vermcnt) Free Press, I feel
::o
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
Helen Doitch Longstieet at the seventy-fth anniveisaiy of the Battle of Gettysbuig,
I,_8. (Couitesy Atlanta Histoiy Centei)
suie that my stoiy will be of histoiic value and pictuiesque inteiest to Ameii-
cans. On this occasion, she ciedited incieased inteiest in the Civil Wai not to
Woild Wai I but to Piesident Fianklin D. Roosevelts attack on the southein
politicians who had iefused to suppoit his New Deal piogiams. Once a Roose-
velt suppoitei, Helen Longstieet had bioken with the piesident aftei his couit-
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
::I
packing scheme, foiming Defendeis of the Republic, an anti-Roosevelt oigani-
zation. In this stiange day when southein statesmen aie ciucifying on a cioss
of political expedience, the impeiishable piinciple of States Rights so gloiiously
upheld at Antietam by Lees iagged, hungiy aimy of o,ooo against McClel-
lans well-fed, splendidly equipped ,o,ooo, should piove especially compelling,
accoiding to Longstieet. Whethei editois weie motivated by political considei-
ations oi by Helen Longstieets connection to the late commandei, hei coveiage
of the celebiation was syndicated in scoies of publications, including the New
Ycrk Times.
17
Helen Doitch Longstieet met with less success when tiying to peddle hei
full-length histoiy of the Civil Wai. She collaboiated with Seais W. Cabell on
Gloiys Bivouac on High Fields, a manusciipt of some eighty-six thousand
woids. The intioduction to the manusciipt suggests that Longstieets concep-
tion of the Civil Wai had changed little since she published Lee and Lcngstreet at
High Tide, noting, The battle that iaged on the eld of Antietam, on a Septem-
bei day, seventy-ve yeais ago lives again in the vivid pictuie diawn by Helen
Doitch Longstieet. The intioduction pointed out that Helen was not yet boin
when the giay line of the Confedeiate aimy put up its unequaled ght against
McClellans foice of double size, but in hei yeais with the geneial hei husbands
memoiies became hei memoiies, and to hei own life-time she has added his life-
time, caiiying it on thiough the piesent and doubtless piojecting it into yeais
to come. She had wiitten heiself into hei husbands past, with all the iomance
and sentimentality that had chaiacteiized hei wiiting.
18
The manusciipt displays the same lack of attention to oiganization that undei-
mined Lee and Lcngstreet at High Tide. In a note to Cabell appended to the
nished manusciipt, Longstieet confessed, I have no idea about the piefeiable
aiiangement of chapteis, although she did at least intuit that the desciiptions
of battles should be accoiding to dates on which fought. The dedication comes
ist, of couise, she added. The bulk of the text consisted of pieces Longstieet
had cobbled togethei fiompievious wiitings. She wiote the last chaptei, Bugles
Aie Calling, foi this paiticulai pioject, howevei, and used it to emphasize hei
hatied of the Roosevelt administiation. She seems to have abandoned hei fasci-
nation with Woild Wai Is inuence on Civil Wai naiiatives and instead to have
focused on implicating the menace of totalitaiianism . . . at Ameiicas gates.
In a specic indictment leveled against Roosevelt, Longstieet wiote, Undei a
lash, wielded fiomthe seat of economic and political powei, descendants of men
who followed the banneis of Lee, aie piloting States Rights to the guillotine!
:::
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
In ied ink, designed to stand out fiom the iest of the text, Longstieet begged,
Fathei, we imploie, save us fiom the infamy of slaughteiing self-goveinment, a
people whose foibeais fought, falling and staiving, thiough foui teiiible yeais,
foi the stais and bais! As she noted at the end of the chaptei, the paiagiaphs
in ied ink needed to iemain distinct fiom the iest of the text to biing out the
meaning moie staitlingly. This chaptei, she wiote, is the excuse of the book
and gives it its whole value and meaning! Longstieet thus hoped to use hei nai-
iative of the Civil Wai to wain Ameiicans of the dangeis of Roosevelt iule. If
the phool sic] publisheis dont publish it, she exclaimed in a t of histiionics,
Im gonna commit suicide . . . diown my faii head undei the biiny waves of
the Atlantic.
19
Ameiicas paiticipation in the Woild Wai I engendeied ceitain tensions that
stiained vaiious segments of Ameiican cultuie and society: agiicultuial depies-
sion, incieasing industiialization of the South, and the iole of the fedeial govein-
ment in local conceins. As Thomas J. Piessly notes, these stiains compiomised
the spiiit of ieconciliation and nationalismthat had guided an eailiei geneiation
of Civil Wai histoiians. Undei the piessuie of these tensions, Piessly explains,
some Southeineis came to considei theii pioblems in teims of the South versus
the nation.
20
Foi Helen Longstieet, the expansion of the fedeial goveinment
undei the Roosevelt administiation pioved especially tioublesome. She believed
that as a white southeinei, she best undeistood the thieats posed by an aggies-
sive fedeial goveinment. She used hei histoiy of the Civil Wai as a vehicle
foi ieminding ieadeis that the thieat to local iule was by no means stied at
Appomattox. Foi Longstieet and many othei white southeineis, the I,_os ie-
sembled the I8,os. The South had to geai itself foi battle once moie, Longstieet
wained, lest the iegion peiish altogethei.
Ve Vill Take Up the Pen Again
Although the numbei of memoiis published by white southein women declined
duiing the inteiwai yeais, a numbei of such woiks appeaied on the liteiaiy mai-
ket, sustaining the tiadition begun by Confedeiate women geneiations eailiei.
Few women explicitly mentioned the Gieat Wai, but the iecent U.S. oveiseas
involvement unquestionably inuenced theii naiiatives. Indeed, the timing of
theii entiy into the liteiaiy maiket had as much to do with Woild Wai I as with
a need to tell a stoiy of the Civil Wai. The ghting looms laige in each of these
memoiis, ielegating a secondaiy place to nonmilitaiy eventsextended com-
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
::_
mentaiy on antebellum life iemained conspicuously absent fiom most of these
naiiatives, foi example. But time did not tempei these womens enthusiasm foi
the Confedeiacy oi piofessed suppoit foi the wai eoit. In that sense, Ameiican
isolationism had failed to inuence these memoiiists.
In I,I,, La Salle Coibell Pickett published Vhat Happened tc Me, an account
that centeis laigely on hei life with hei late husband, Geneial Geoige E. Pickett.
Like many eailiei wiiteis and as she had done in hei pievious wiitings, Sallie
Pickett used hei memoiis as a vehicle to shoie up hei husbands ieputation
among Confedeiate celebiants. Only a few days befoie he had iidden fiom
Gettysbuig to Richmond, she wiote, cheei aftei cheei following him along the
way. Men, women, and childien weie at the ioad side to welcome him and hang
gailands on his hoise. He had been the cential guie in a scene so supieme
that it needed not victoiy to ciown it with gloiy, she concluded. To ensuie
that hei histoiy was entwined with the geneials, Sallie claimed that the single
most impoitant moment in hei life had been when, as a young giil, she ist saw
Geoige Pickett: Eveiyone has a point of beginninga peiiod back of which
life, to piesent consciousness, was not. Foi me, this point stands out vividly in
memoiy. Hei desciiption of that ist encountei with Pickett stiongly iesembles
Maiy Anna Jacksons and Helen Doitch Longstieets accounts of theii ist meet-
ings with theii futuie husbands. He did not look as tall as the men in my family,
Pickett noted, but he caiiied himself so eiectly and walked with such soldieily
dignity that I was suie that any Good Piince might have envied his appeai-
ance.
21
Foi all thiee women, life began with theii ist encounteis with theii
militaiy men.
La Salle Pickett latei iecalled meeting Colonel Robeit E. Lee, just back fiom
putting down John Biowns iaid at Haipeis Feiiy. Lees account of the event
captivated the young giil: To a child whose infancy had shuddeied at the stoiy
of the Nat Tuinei insuiiection, she noted, the John Biown iaid in I8,, was a
subject of hoiiible fascination, and I listened intently as Col. Lee talked of this
stiange old fanatic and his followeis. Neithei Sallie noi Lee appaiently undei-
stood at the time the impoitance of the iaid. The stoiy of John Biown was
giaphically told and heaid with absoibed attention but it is not likely that the
Viiginia plantei, with all his knowledge and histoiy and chaiactei, noi the gieat
soldiei with his militaiy tiaining, iecognized the signs of the impending stoim
any moie than did the wide-eyed child lost in bieathless wondeiment ovei the
thiilling episode.
22
Although Pickett did not cast the stoiy with a sense of foie-
::
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
boding that she did not expeiience in I8,,, she did fiame hei memoiis with the
incident, thus ensuiing that Vhat Happened tc Me would be a stoiy of the wai.
Accoiding to Pickett, southeineis quickly leained that the wai of expecta-
tion and imagination did not match the wai expeiienced by soldieis. Aftei the
Battle of Manassas, foi example, Pickett noted, We saw then only the bonies
of joy and heaid only the paeans of victoiy. News of a fiiends battle wound
foiced Pickett to ieevaluate waifaie, howevei: When my fiiend, Maj. John W.
Daniel, was biought to his home in Lynchbuig with a wound ieceived in that
battle which we had celebiated with such tiiumphant delight, I began to feel that
wai meant something moie than the thiill of maitial music and the shouts of
victoiy. She emphasized that sense of disconnect between ieality and imagina-
tion when she latei iecalled that she and hei fellow students at the Lynchbuig
Seminaiy fancied that we knew something of wai. We had cheeied oui ag,
tiembled foi oui soldieis at the fiont even while we piophetically gloiied in theii
futuie tiiumph, and celebiated with gieat enthusiasm the battle of Manassas.
They celebiated until a beau of one of the students was killed on the battle-
eld. Now I was to leain something of what wai meant, she lamented. Sallie
Pickett ceitainly was not the ist to iecognize that ieality failed to live up to
an imagined wai. Neithei Pickett noi othei southeineis needed news fiom the
battleelds of Fiance to convince them that couiages wai quickly lost to the
wai of combat.
23
They had alieady seen that tiansfoimation in the Civil Wai.
But the Gieat Wai may well have inuenced the ways in which Pickett told hei
stoiy of the wai. Rathei than fiaming hei naiiative with the tiope of the Lost
Cause, Pickett instead told a stoiy of a teiiible wai. The Confedeiate cause was
gloiious in Picketts eyes, but battle was something else altogethei.
Picketts desciiption of Richmond in the days following the Battle of Seven
Pines, foi example, both ieected the iomantic language of eailiei wiiteis and
signaled a way of telling about wai that had been inuenced by Woild Wai I.
Richmond was shaking with the thundeis of battle, she iemembeied, and the
death-sounds thiilled thiough oui agonized souls. The blood of the eld was
iunning in iiveis of ied thiough the heaits of hei people. Foi days the dead-
wagons and ambulances wended theii tiagic way fiomthe battleeld to the Capi-
tal City, and eveiy tuin of theii ciunching wheels iolled ovei oui ciushed and
bleeding heaits. Hei attention to the blood-soaked battleeld and the mangled
bodies of the dead and wounded may have suggested an inteiest in Woild Wai I
as much as a desiie to tell of the Civil Wai: The wietched loads of wounded
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
::,
weie emptied befoie the doois of the impoveiished hospitals until they ovei-
owed with maimed humanity. . . . Wagons lled with dead iolled by, the sti-
ened bodies piled upon anothei in ghastly heaps, the iigid feet piojecting fiom
the ends of the vehicles. It was the most appalling sight that evei gieeted human
eyes. Indeed, battle seemed so teiiible that she was willing to follow hei hus-
bands advice that they should lay aside oui wai thoughts. Aftei a while, he
concluded, we will take up the pen again and wiite down oui memoiies.
24
Sallie Pickett waited until the tuin of the twentieth centuiy to lift hei pen.
Rebecca Latimei Felton believed that while we have Southein histoiies con-
ceining the Civil Wai, compiled fiom data fuinished by political and militaiy
leadeis, the outside woild ieally knows veiy little of how the people of Geoi-
gia lived in the long ago. And so, at the age of eighty-two, Felton published
Ccuntry Lije in Gecrgia in the Days cj My Ycuth in I,I,. In hei memoiis, she
maintained the position she had so often aiticulated in the decades following
Reconstiuction. Accoiding to Felton, oidinaiy southeineis weie foiced into a
foui-yeai bloody wai to defend the institution of domestic slaveiy, and they lost
theii slaves, theii ieal estate and peisonal piopeity, lost theii suiplus money and
lost theii lives in many cases. Excepting those who ietained theii lands by self
denial and self-saciice, this section was swept baie by wai destiuction. Felton
snidely noted, Theie was nevei a moie loyal woman in the South aftei we weie
foiced by oui political leadeis to go to battle to defend oui iights in owneiship
of Afiican slaves, but they called it States Rights. And all I owned was invested
in slaves and my people weie loyal and I stood by them to the end. Yeais of
ieection on the issue, howevei, had foiced Felton to conclude that to ght foi
the peipetuation of domestic slaveiy was a mistake. Hei position had little to
do with iacial enlightenment, howevei. Rathei, hei conclusions spiung fiom
a feai of a iace wai, which she believed was inevitable. Any ieadei of histoiy
will agiee, she believed, that the negio question is not half settled. Oui fty
yeais of haid expeiience since the Civil Wai demonstiates one fact only, she
believed. The negio is in the United Sates to stay and accoiding as he is dealt
with, depends oui own peace oi disastei in his association with the whites.
25
Felton pioved hei loyalty to the Confedeiate cause to hei ieadeis by chioni-
cling the woik she had peifoimed duiing the wai, a list that would have seemed
familiai to those who had peifoimed Red Cioss woik duiing Woild Wai I:
Theie was scaicely a week of wai time that we did not feed soldieis going oi
coming. I knitted socks, gloves and sleeping caps continuously. We had wounded
soldieis to stay with us, we caiiied food to tiains, when wounded soldieis weie
::o
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
being tianspoited to points lowei down. . . . We made a daily business of cooking
and caiiying baskets of good food to help them along. Some of the most tiagic
episodes of my life, she admitted, happened in tiying to ielieve the distiess of
the time. It would take a laigei book than this to set them down in detail. Fel-
tons memoiis also included a chaptei titled SoutheinWomen in the Civil Wai
that contained a synopsis of a I,oo addiess in which Felton listed valuable wai-
time seivices peifoimed by Confedeiate women. Mindful of hei audience, an
Augusta, Geoigia, 0ic chaptei, Felton had asseited that upon nobody did the
stoim fall moie dieadful and unexpectedly than upon the women of the South.
. . . The women pioceeded to send theii blankets to the aimy and cut up theii
woolen caipets to help out the blanket pioposition. We sciaped lint fiom all the
linen of woin towels and table cloths and stiipped the sheets into bandages foi
the wounded in hospitals. We knitted socks and sleeping caps and mittens inces-
santly. We sent all the good things like jellies and pieseives to the aimy.
26
Hei
account, iefashioned and iepiinted neaily twenty yeais aftei she had oiiginally
deliveied it, would have iesonated stiongly with a geneiation of Ameiicans that
had saciiced gieatly duiing Woild Wai I.
Felton appaiently did not use the iecent U.S. expeiience in Woild Wai I to
shape hei memoiies of the Civil Wai, iathei, she claimed that hei memoiies of
the eailiei conict had inuenced the ways in which she thought about the Gieat
Wai. The Confedeiate goveinments policy on consciiption and exemptions, foi
example, compelled hei to oppose the U.S. goveinments Woild Wai I consciip-
tion policy. Fiom what I then saw, Felton claimed, I was stienuously opposed
to consciiption foi Geoigia boys in I,I,. I had no objection to allowing volun-
teeis to go to Fiance oi to seive in aiiplanes if they volunteeied foi such seivice,
she claiied, but I did my little best to convince Geoigia ieadeis that it would
not do to foice oui soldieis into aiiships oi to send them acioss the Atlantic
ocean to dictate to foieign goveinments oi ght foi kings oi queens oi com-
mand the soits of iuleis they should have in the futuie. The Gieat Wai, then,
might not have inuenced how Felton told hei stoiy of the Civil Wai but might
have inuenced the timing hei memoiis publication. She piefaced hei account
by stating that she had oiiginally intended to allow my accumulated manu-
sciipts to iemain aftei my decease, when those who suivive me might give them
to a] publishei if so desiied.
27
But the spate of iacial violence that occuiied
in I,I,I, convinced Felton that hei veision of the Civil Wai and its legacy was
especially timely.
Susan Biadfoid Eppes, who published Thrcugh Scme Eventjul Years in I,:o,
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
::,
when she was eighty, iemained a bittei, unieconstiucted southeinei. Because
Confedeiate defeat and Reconstiuction weie anathema to hei, Eppes, moie than
Pickett and Felton, haiked back to the I8,os, which foi hei weie an idyllic
time. Eppes inteispeised hei memoiis of the antebellum South, the wai, and
Reconstiuction with entiies fioma diaiy she allegedly had kept duiing the I8oos.
Joseph D. Cushman, the editoi of the most iecent edition of hei memoiis, points
out, howevei, that the diaiy that the authoi uses as a basis foi hei memoiis is in
all piobability a liteiaiy invention. Theie is no tiace of the diaiy now.
28
Eppess
stoiy of the wai, then, was boin out of twentieth-centuiy iealities.
Eppes saw Thrcugh Scme Eventjul Years as a companion to hei I,:, publica-
tion, The Negrc cj the Old Scuth. A Bit cj Pericd Histcry. To those who have iead
the Negio of the Old South, this book needs no intioduction and no apology,
she wiote in the intioduction to hei memoiis. In The Negrc cj the Old Scuth,
she oeied a familiai defense of slaveiy as a benevolent institution maintained
by kindly masteis who iaiely abused theii powei and oveisaw contented slaves
who weie giateful foi theii iemoval fiom baibaiism to civilization. In spite of
the John Biown episode, we felt eveiy condence in oui deai black folks, Eppes
aigued piedictably, eveiy faith in theii aection foi us, and nevei a doubt of
theii loyalty. She chose not to chionicle the histoiy of the wai in The Negrc cj
the Old Scuth, claiming that eveiybody knows it, and moved on to a discussion
of Reconstiuction. White southeineis had wanted peace, Eppes maintained, but
caipetbaggeis had had an alteinative plan: They appealed to iace piejudice
they pieached not only political, but social equalitythey pieached miscegena-
tionthey pieached and diew pictuies of a day when no line would be diawn
between the white and the blackand just heie and on these unpiincipled ad-
ventuiesiests the blame foi the ciime of ivcuicthe hoiiibleawful
unspeakableoutiage! punished swiftly and suielyin almost eveiy instance,
by the iopewas nevei known in the South until these apostles of negio equality
put it in the minds of the newly made citizens.
29
A yeai latei, when Eppes wiote
Thrcugh Scme Eventjul Years, she no longei thought that the stoiy of the wai
need not be told.
Eppess diaiy entiies advanced aiguments familiai to most white southein-
eis. The Noith, she asseited in an entiy dated II June I8oI, biought wai to the
peace-loving South. We wanted peace but wai was foiced upon us and now
that it has begun we will do oui best to win, she wiote. Sensing that a pio-
found shift in the diiection of the wai was about to occui, Eppes conded to hei
diaiy on I, June I8o_, We seem to be upon the biink of a change some way. The
::8
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
aimy of Noithein Viiginia is on the move and we can only piay and woik, foi it
giows moie dicult with eveiy passing day to piovide the baiest necessities foi
oui biave boys at the fiont. Nevei did men ght undei gieatei disadvantages.
Eleven days latei, Eppes iecoided that as Lees aimy pushed noithwaid, a cuii-
ous species of fault ndeis has developed. While the men, the tiue men, aie at
the fiont, stiuggling with might . . . to save the South fiom destiuction, theie
aie otheis, pooi weak-kneed cowaids, who stand on stieet coineis and ciiticize
. . . the geneials in command of oui aimies. These cowaidly back-biteis have
nevei smelled gun powdei, she contemptuously noted, they aie Caipet Gen-
eials and yet, to listen to them talk, you would think the only thing needed to
insuie victoiy would be to put them in command. Eppess undeistanding of
the Confedeiacys loss at Gettysbuig meshed with pievalent inteipietations and
conimed Helen Doitch Longstieets suspicions that southeineis weie taught
spuiious histoiy. The Battle of Gettysbuig, which should have been a complete
victoiy foi the Confedeiates, Eppes asseited, was lost by a mistake. We do not
ciiticize, we have no unkind woids to say, she feigned, neveitheless, fiom that
day the Confedeiacy, slowly but suiely, lost giound. Such a magnicent display
of couiage and enduiance was nevei befoie witnessedsuch slaughtei was sin-
ful.
30
Eppess iecollections of the wais oiigins, the Confedeiacys political posi-
tions, and the wais pivotal battles suggest, then, that hei diaiy told a familiai
stoiy in a familiai way.
Eppess telling of Confedeiacys downfall iesonated with the southein white
postwai ieading audience. She continued the piactice of gloiifying Confedeiate
womens devotion to the cause. The houis passed slowly in this Gaiden of Geth-
semane, she wiote of the nal days of the Confedeiacy, and in those houis the
Southein woman, thioughout the pooi conqueied South, iealized hei duty, sac-
iicing selj upon the altai of lcve and, putting shouldei to the wheel, she made
ieady to help hei men. Although the men weie ciushed and conqueied and
could look foiwaid only to want and poveity, white southein women, Eppes
insisted, ensuied that theii men had not lost theii honoi. Similaily, Eppess de-
sciiption of the daik days of Reconstiuction confoimed to pievailing opinions
of the peiiod. Echoing what she had wiitten in The Negrc cj the Old Scuth, Eppes
maintained in hei second publication that Negio iights had biought a gieat
abomination to the South. Ciimes, too vile foi woids,] became of fiequent
occuiience, she asseited. Whites had to piotect themselves against those un-
speakable ciimes. Guns and pistols weie kept loaded and ieady, yes, women
and childien, the laigei ones, weie taught to use these weapons foi theii peisonal
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
::,
piotection. Eppes believed that othei hoiiois besieged the South. The Re-
constiuction amendments weie passed, and caipetbaggeis inltiated the foimei
Confedeiacy, sowing the seeds of hate and discoid between white and black.
The nefaiious alliance between fiee blacks and caipetbaggeis, accoiding to
Eppes, gave iise to the Ku Klux Klan, the iedeemei of the South.
31
Redemption,
howevei, had not iestoied the South to its foimei gloiy. The giaciousness and
iened cultuie of the I8,os weie gone foievei.
Pickett, Felton, and Eppes believed that, despite the iecent glut in the mai-
ket foi Civil Wai stoiies, theii tales needed to be heaid. Some, like Pickett, still
sought to set the iecoid stiaight. Otheis, like Eppes, meiely sought to use theii
naiiatives to conim populai accounts of the wai. All of these women iecog-
nized that the Confedeiate widow was a dying bieed. Theie soon would be no
moie white southein women who could piovide isthand accounts of the wai.
These wiiteis wanted to be suie that theii accounts ieached postwai ieading
audiences. And although only Felton alluded to the Gieat Wai and its afteimath,
it suiely inuenced both Pickett and Eppes as well. Eppess comments on iacial
violence and the biith of the Klan, foi example, said as much about the South of
the I,:os as about the South of the I8oos.
32
But these women did not follow the
countiys isolationist tempei of the I,:os, instead conceining themselves with
wai and the telling of its stoiy.
Var Is the Only Herc cj the Bcck
The nations expeiiences with Woild Wai I, coupled with the Souths confionta-
tion with modeinism, compelled many white southein novelists to look at the
Civil Wai in new ways. Tennessee authoi Evelyn Scott, who had established hei
liteiaiy ieputation in the eaily I,:os, oeied hei veision of the Civil Wai in I,:,
with the publication of The Vave. As Peggy Bach notes, Scott disagieed with
southeineis iomantic viewof the South, a viewovei-inuenced by eithei a be-
foie the wai oi aftei the wai time sense. Moieovei, she believed that most
white southein authois ieviewing the past not only mouined a South destioyed
by the wai but also imagined a South that had nevei existed. Unlike the othei
authois examined in this book, Scott did not conne hei tieatment of the wai to
an exegesis on the South. Rathei, she tieated the political, economic, ieligious,
and social pioblems wiought by the wai as univeisal dilemmas and used them
as foundations foi hei novels.
33
:_o
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
Scott took hei title concept fiom a passage fiom Physical Gecgraphy by Philip
Lake. The watei of the ocean is nevei still, she quoted in the pieface to the
novel. It is blown into waves by the wind, it iises and falls with the tides. . . .
The waves tiavel in some denite diiection, but a coik thiown into the watei
does not tiavel with the waves. It moves up and down, to and fio, but unless it
is blown by the wind oi caiiied by a cuiient it ietuins to the same position with
each wave and does not peimanently leave its place. Explaining the title of hei
novel, Scott aigued, Wai itself is the only heio of the book. Whatevei the phi-
losophy of an actoi in a wai, he must constantly be convinced of his feebleness
when attempting to move in an emotional diiection contiaiy to that of the mass.
This piopulsion of the individual by a powei that is not accountable to ieason is
veiy obviously like the action of the wave. As Scotts biogiaphei, Maiy Wheel-
ing White, explains, Scott did not demonstiate hei aigument by focusing on the
expeiience of an individual: Rathei, it is the seemingly endless vaiiety of wai
expeiiences seen thiough hundieds of paiis of eyes that beais out hei thesis.
Noitheineis, southeineis, Chiistians, Jews, geneials, foot soldieis, combatants,
noncombatants, the eldeily, childien, slaves, and fiee blacks all tell the stoiy of
the wai. Moieovei, as White explains, eveiyone sueis in The Vave: Scott did
not need to demonstiate that one side oi one iace sueied moie oi that any
one gioup peipetuated the most endish acts. As paiticipants in the expeiience
of wai, all hei chaiacteis togethei ll out the complex tiansiacial, tiansnational
stoiy of the human stiuggle foi suivival.
34
Scott desciibed hei wiiting method to Haiiy Salpetei foi a I,_I Bcckman
piece. I see the end of the novel, she explained, not the stages. I wiite a iough
diaft in which I instiuct myself in the stages necessaiy to achieve the end I see.
The iough diaft is a full book, she continued. When I nish it, I thiowit away.
She nevei consulted the diaft, which was fiequently as long as the ievised novel.
She thus set aside a two-hundied-thousand-woid diaft foi The Vave. The con-
tinuing discipline of wiiting full-length iough diafts is necessaiy, paitly as a
countei-balance to my tendency to bite o laigei chunks of the univeise than I
can chew, she claimed. If I weie to abandon the pieliminaiy veisions, I would
be in dangei of making all my books on the same pattein, of meiely iewiiting
the same book, and each book is, and piesents, a newpioblem. With each book,
Scott attempted to make my own univeise iecognizable to otheis, I want to
communicate my sense of what life is to me. I dont expect anyone to know what
my univeise is until Im dead and it has been completed, she continued. One
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:_I
book can be only a paitial attempt to cieate, oi expiess, the univeise. Each novel
contiibuted to the geneial design, she believed. And the design towaid which
she is stiiving, concluded Salpetei, is that of a ccmedie humaine of Ameiica.
35
The Vave geneially ieceived favoiable ieviews. Cail Van Doien declaied it the
gieatest novel on the Ameiican Civil Wai. Peicy Hutchinson, ieviewing the
novel foi the New Ycrk Times, was less impiessed, howevei. The Vave, he noted,
bioke all the iules of the histoiical novel. It had no cential piotagonist, foi ex-
ample, no piogiession, and no plot. Indeed, Hutchinson had a haid time apply-
ing the woid naiiative to desciibe Scotts woik. Foi, except, in so fai as eveiy-
thing set down in type with woids following one aftei anothei is naiiative, he
wiote, The Wave is an adaptation in an ancient eld of all the newest methods
of wiiting. Most ieadeis unfamiliai with the basic stoiy of the Civil Wai would
abandon the novel, Hutchinson suimised. But those who do not continue will
miss the one stiiking featuie of the book, Scotts astonishing ability to pioject
heiself into widely dieient phases of the wai. Ultimately, howevei, the novel
failed. Hutchinson piedicted that the novel would be acclaimed a woik of moie
than usual signicance and moment by those who aie incuiably addicted to the
method puisued by Evelyn Scott. Howevei, the book is impiessive but does
not yield an impiession. This is not the highest ait, he concluded. It is only a
step on the way to ait.
36
Clifton Fadiman, whose ieview appeaied in the Naticn, was much moie ful-
some in his piaise of Scotts novel than was Hutchinson. Rathei than slighting
Scott foi failing to iespect the iules of the tiaditional histoiical novel, Fadiman
championed Scotts ability to tianscend the genie. Fadiman opened his ieview
by noting, Histoiians and histoiical novelists of the conventional school have
conspiied to make us foiget that wais happen to people as well as goveinments.
It has long been supposed that the best way to encompass aitistically a gieat na-
tional event was to take a biids-eye view of it, and, of couise, fiom an altitude a
wai would iesolve itself into the movements of masses moie oi less contiolled by
the decisions of a few outstanding individuals and piimaiily actuated by some
common ideal. Scott, howevei, eschewed tiadition, instead oeiing one of the
fewieally foimidable expiessions of the anti-heioic viewpointoi, if one may be
peimitted so lax a teim, the modein viewpoint. Much to its ciedit, the novel ie-
counts no one mans wai, it iecounts the Civil Wai, whole and entiie. Fadiman
had no patience foi those ciitics who cited the novels foimlessness, pointing
out that this shapelessness was delibeiate: It is in itself a way, a valid and exciting
way, of viewing the national cataclysm which was the Civil Wai. In fact, Fadi-
:_:
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
man aigued, the nebulousness was the only way in which a thoioughly modein
tempeiament cculd suivey the wai completely because only thus can the uttei
madness and senseless hoiioi of stiife be completely communicated. The Vave,
accoiding to Fadiman, achieved what othei antiwai novels had failed to accom-
plish. Othei novels iendeied the tiagedy of wai in individual teims. What makes
wai tiagic, howevei, is that it biings wietchedness to millions of peopleand
in dieient ways. It took a gifted authoi, Fadiman aigued, to suggest to ieadeis
that the meanest Negio and Geneial Robeit E. Lee aie both made sick to theii
veiy souls by the same event. This multifaiiousness of the novel iendeied
the biutal vaiiety and meaninglessness of the wai in a way unlike that of any
othei novel. In shoit, Fadiman pioclaimed, the Civil Wai had ieceived its most
adequate tieatment in ction in The Vave.
37
The New Republics ieviewei, Robeit Moiss Lovett, similaily piaised Scotts
ievolutionaiy technique. Hei method allows hei to combine the methods of
all modein tieatments of waishe sees it in the physical sueiings of ghting
men, in the doubtful mental opeiations of theii leadeis, in the hope and feai,
the love and giief of the helpless multitude of men and women behind lines.
Lovett conceded that the novel demanded ieadeis patience and caieful atten-
tion but believed that the iewaid justied the woik. Lovett also wiote a piece foi
Bcckman in which he tiaced Scotts caieei and piaised hei latest liteiaiy eoit.
Fuitheimoie, he expounded on the impoitance of Scotts iendeiing of the Civil
Wai, explaining that the wai novel had undeigone a signicant tiansfoimation
duiing the last centuiy. It iemained foi a long time in the mood of piimitive
liteiatuie in which the deeds of the waiiioi weie the chief theme of the baid.
Scott avoided celebiating individual heioism and national gloiy, Lovett ieitei-
ated, focusing instead on mass movement. Accoiding to Scott, the individual
is impoitant only as an element of the mass, the oiganism in which he has a pait
thiough his unconscious self. The Civil Wai, Lovett concluded, had taken Mis.
Scott out of the naiiow iound of specialization and case study and set hei feet
in the laige ways of human life.
38
The Liteiaiy Guilds decision to name The Vave its July I,:, selection bol-
steied the novels ciitical ieputation. The New Ycrk Times adveitisement an-
nouncing the book clubs choice boasted that Scott makes the upheaval assume
a ieality which it can nevei have in the pages of histoiy. Accoiding to White,
The Vaves populaiity peisisted foi anothei two decades. Fiction anthologies
asked to iepiint sections of the novel, and magazines published chapteis as shoit
stoiies. Hei I,:, eoit was so massive and so inclusive, declaied hei biog-
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:__
iaphei, that veiy few Ameiican authois have since attained the heights and
bieadths she did in The Vave, hei piose monument to the Civil Wai. Ciitical
and populai acclaimfoi the novel, howevei, did not continue, and it has ieceived
scant attention fiom the ciitics who began an evaluation of Civil Wai liteiatuie
at the wais centennial, foi example. Liteiaiy scholai Bach suggests that assump-
tions about such a complex and bioad subject as the Civil Wai sometimes limit
ciitics to only those novels cieated in the usual mannei.
39
The novel faded fiom
the populai imagination, in pait, because of the tiemendous success of Mai-
gaiet Mitchells I,_o liteiaiy coup, Gcne with the Vind. Despite Scotts attempt
to tell a tiuly national stoiy of the Civil Wai in the bioadest teims possible, hei
eoits weie eclipsed by Mitchells simple naiiative, which captuied the national
ieading audiences imagination like no othei Civil Wai novel.
A Triumph cver Pessimism, Obscurity, and Fatal Ccmplexity
The stiiiing diama of the Civil Wai and Reconstiuction is biought vividly to life
in this ieally magnicent novel, boasted Macmillans spiing I,_o catalog. Scai-
lett OHaia, the belle of the countiy, blossoms into young womanhood just
in time to see the Civil Wai sweep away the life foi which hei upbiinging had
piepaied hei. Shiewdness and a ceitain haidness, howevei, allowScailett to sui-
vive both the death of the Old South and the tuimoil of Reconstiuction. Gcne
with the Vind epitomizes the whole diama of the South undei the impact of the
Wai and its afteimath, the bluib concluded. The iuggedness and stiength of
noith Geoigias ied hills aie in the chaiacteisblu, blusteiing Geiald OHaia,
Ellen, his wife, Mammy, who both loved and chastened Ellens daughteis, the
iollicking Taileton twins, the quick-tempeied and muideious Fontaines, stately
John sic] Wilkes, and a host of otheis, white and black, foiming a iich pic-
tuie of Southein life. Mitchells stiiiing diama captivated the national ieading
audience like no othei woik of ction. Gcne with the Vind sold moie than one
million copies within six months of its publication. Piinteis could scaicely pio-
duce enough copies to stock bookstoies, lending libiaiies could not keep copies
on theii shelves.
40
Mitchell had geneiated a liteiaiy phenomenon. The novels
success stemmed in pait fiom Mitchells ability to tiansfoim a southein stoiy
of the Civil Wai into a national stoiy. In this iespect, Mitchell succeeded wheie
geneiations of southein white women authois had failed.
Mitchell unquestionably told a southein stoiy of the wai. Foi example, in
hei book, plantation life had failed to iendei southeineis dissolute, contiaiy
:_
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
to noitheineis claims: Although boin to the ease of plantation life, waited on
hand and foot since infancy, the faces of Scailett OHaia and the Taileton twins
weie neithei slack noi soft, Mitchell obseived. They had the vigoi and aleit-
ness of countiy people who have spent all theii lives in the open. The people
of Noith Geoigia had a ceitain vigoi and eneigy. They weie a kindly people,
couiteous, geneious, lled with abounding good natuie, but stuidy, viiile, easy
to angei. The South was not stiong enough to withstand the iavages of Civil
Wai, howevei. Like many eailiei white southein authois, Mitchell infused hei
tale of the wai with a ieading of the Lost Cause. Ashley Wilkes, the piincipled
defendei of the Old South, explains to his wife, Melanie, that he and his fellow
Confedeiates aie ghting foi a Cause that was lost the minute the ist shot was
ied, foi oui Cause is ieally oui own way of living and that is gone alieady. De-
spite the inevitability of Confedeiate defeat, howevei, Ashley ghts foi his dying
civilization. I think of States Rights and cotton and the daikies and the Yankees
whom we have been bied up to hate, he muses, and I know that none of these
is the ieason why I am ghting. Instead, I see Twelve Oaks and iemembei how
the moonlight slants acioss the white columns, and the uneaithly way the mag-
nolias look, opening undei the moon, and how the climbing ioses make the side
poich shady even at hottest noon. Wilkes also iecalls his beloved mothei, the
cotton elds, and the mist iising fiom the bottom lands in the twilight. And
thats is why I am heie who have no love of death oi miseiy oi gloiy and no
hatied foi anyone, he explains. Like many chaiacteis in southein novels of the
wai penned duiing the ist half-centuiy aftei its end, Confedeiates do not ght
to defend slaveiy oi states iights: Peihaps that is what is called patiiotism, love
of home and countiy.
41
Mitchell populated hei novel with white southein women who, save foi Scai-
lett, oeied unsweiving suppoit foi the Confedeiacy. They weie all beautiful
with the blinding beauty that tiansguies even the plainest woman when she
is utteily piotected and utteily loved and is giving back that love a thousand-
fold, Mitchell wiote. How could disastei evei come to women such as they
when theii stalwait giay line stood between them and the Yankees: Mitchell
asked disingenuously. These women, Mitchell noted, would willingly saciice
theii men and beai theii loss as pioudly as the men boie theii battle ags. Yeais
of waifaie, howevei, aged these women: Thioughout the South foi fty yeais
theie would be bittei-eyed women who looked backwaid, to dead times, to dead
men, Mitchell suimised, evoking memoiies that huit and weie futile, beaiing
poveity with bittei piide because they had those memoiies.
42
Ellen Glasgows
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:_,
Mis. Blake and Augusta Wilsons Mis. Mauiice would have t well in Mitchells
novel.
Despite these familiai elements common to many southein stoiies of the wai,
Gcne with the Vind had unpiecedented national appeal. Mitchells decision to
make the Geiald OHaia a iecent immigiant to the countiy, not a scion of ante-
bellum southein society, contiibuted to the novels success with the national
ieading audience. In this iespect, the South did not diei gieatly fiom the iest
of the nation, which expeiienced an enoimous inux of immigiants duiing the
eaily twentieth centuiy. In fact, Mitchell oeied the southein stoiy as an only
slightly special case of an inclusive national destiny. Geiald OHaia had come
to Ameiica fiom Iieland when he was twenty-one, Mitchell explained eaily in
the novel. He had come hastily, as many a bettei and woise Iiishman befoie and
since, with the clothes he had on his back, two shillings above his passage money
and a piice on his head that he felt was laigei than his misdeed waiianted.
Geialds expeiience paialleled that of many iecent immigiants to the United
States: He left home with his motheis hasty kiss on his cheek and hei fei-
vent Catholic blessing in his eais, and his fatheis paiting admonition, Remem-
bei who ye aie and dont be taking nothing o of no man. Moieovei, Geiald
OHaia iemained somewhat iemoved fiom his adopted cultuie. He liked the
South, Mitchell insisted, and he soon became, in his own opinion, a South-
einei. Theie was much about the Southand Southeineisthat he would nevei
compiehend, howevei. Geiald neveitheless, with the whole-heaitedness that
was his natuie, . . . adopted its ideas and customs, as he undeistood them, foi
his ownpokei, and hoise iacing, ied-hot politics and the code duello, States
Rights and damnation to all Yankees, slaveiy and King Cotton, contempt foi
white tiash and exaggeiated couitesy to women. He even leained to chew to-
bacco, Mitchell added. But Geiald iemained Geiald. He took what he found
most useful about the South, and the iest he dismissed.
43
Although Geiald
eventually sees himself as a southeinei, he neveitheless iefuses to accept all of
the iegions customs. In many ways, he iemains an inteilopei.
The appeal of Gcne with the Vind also tianscended iegional boideis because
of Mitchells ability to stiip the Old South of its peculiai institution, substi-
tuting iacism foi slaveiy and theieby iendeiing a stoiy that the nation could
embiace. As Elizabeth Fox-Genovese explains, Mitchells eaily desciiptions of
Taia evoke a paiticulai time and place, but none of those desciiptions beais
any ielation to the slave system. In the woild that Mitchell made, house slaves
iegaided eld hands with contempt: In slave days, these lowly blacks had been
:_o
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
despised by the house negioes and yaid negioes as cieatuies of small woith.
Plantation mistiesses selected those slaves who peifoimed well foi positions of
gieatei iesponsibility, and those consigned to the elds weie the ones least
willing oi able to leain, the least eneigetic, the least honest and tiustwoithy,
the most vicious and biutish. Accoiding to Mitchell, then, the piinciples that
goveined the institution of slaveiy boie stiiking iesemblance to the pievailing
capitalist ideology of woik, schooling, and the piomotion of meiit, tempeied by
a haish attitude towaid ciime. In othei woids, Mitchells depiction of slaveiy
moie accuiately ieected the goveining ideology of the eaily-twentieth-centuiy
middle-class bouigeoisie than it did the peculiai institution of the Old South.
Mitchell thus biings hei ieadeis to accept a paiticulai woild without including
any of the social featuies that stiuctuie it.
44
Moieovei, Mitchells iendition of the hoiiois of Reconstiuction would have
iesonated with a ieading audience familiai with the Republican Paitys aban-
donment of Afiican-Ameiicans duiing the late nineteenth centuiy and with
many of the oveitly iacist policies of the Piogiessives. Indeed, at the time of
the novels publication, scaicely twenty yeais had passed since Woodiow Wil-
son biought with him to Washington segiegation, the southein iemedy to the
Negio pioblem. The Reconstiuction goveinments weie, accoiding to Mitchell,
in despeiate need of puiging. Foimei slaves who had ieceived positions of im-
poitance weie like monkeys oi small childien tuined loose among tieasuied
objects whose value is beyond theii compiehension. They ian wildeithei
fiom peiveise pleasuie in destiuction oi simply because of theii ignoiance.
Theii white allies faied no bettei in Mitchells imagination. White Geoigians
wailed at the coiiuption in the state goveinment. But fai and above theii angei
at the waste and mismanagement and giaft was the iesentment of the people at
the bad light in which the goveinoi iepiesented them in the Noith, Mitchell
noted. In iesponse to white complaints, Geoigias Reconstiuction goveinoi ap-
peaied befoie Congiess and told of white outiages against negioes, of Geoigias
piepaiation foi anothei iebellion and the need foi a stein militaiy iule in the
state. Because of his eoits, the Noith saw only a iebellious state that needed
a heavy hand, and a heavy hand was laid upon it. Thus, the Ku Klux Klan,
which had witnessed a national iesuigence duiing the Piogiessive eia, guied
in Mitchells book as a coiiective to Republican iule. Although Mitchell did
not devote much space in Gcne with the Vind to Klan activities, she did note
that Fiank Kennedy, Ashley Wilkes, and all the men in Scailetts cohoit had
joined the Klan because they weie white men and Southeineis who needed
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:_,
to piotect white women fiom iapacious black beasts and scuiiilous Republican
politicians.
45
The images of Afiican-Ameiican men and coiiupt politicians had
changed little in the national imagination. Mitchell could be assuied that hei
iendition of Reconstiuction would stiike a familiai choid.
Finally, Mitchell exposed the agiaiian way of life as moiibund. Initially, the
majoi chaiacteis in Gcne with the Vind had theii destinies somehow tied to
Taia, the OHaias thiiving plantation. Theie was an aii of solidness, of stability
and peimanence about Taia, Mitchell claimed eaily in the novel, and when-
evei Geiald galloped aiound the bend in the ioad and saw his own ioof iising
thiough gieen bianches, his heait swelled with piide as though each sight of it
weie the ist sight. Geiald constantly infoims Scailett that land is the only ieli-
able souice of wealth, encouiaging hei love of the place. Land is the only thing
in the woild that amounts to anything, he pioclaims, foi tis the only thing
in the woild that lasts, and dont you be foigetting it! Tis the only thing woith
woiking foi, ghting foiwoith dying foi. But Taia could not sustain its in-
habitants thiough the wai. Unlike so many novels examined in this book, with
the notable exception of Maiy Noailles Muifiees Vhere the Battle Vas Fcught,
Mitchells southein plantation is not ieinvigoiated aftei the wai by the maiiiage
of the ietuining, healthy Confedeiate veteian and the southein belle. The wai
has killed o the entiie OHaia clan, save Scailett, and hei futuie does not iest
with Taia. Although she haibois a deep aection foi Taia, it has become foi hei
a place of ietieat, not a souice of livelihood. While in Atlanta, Scailett yeains
foi Taia. She loves the city, butoh, foi the sweet peace and countiy quiet of
Taia, the ied elds and the daik pines about it! Oh, to be back at Taia. Scai-
lett misses the fiesh smell of countiy aii, the plowed eaith and the sweetness of
summei nights. On hei ietuin, she meets with the soft giay mist in the swampy
bottoms, the ied eaith and giowing cotton, the sloping eld with cuiving gieen
iows and the black pines iising behind eveiything like sable walls.
46
Yet Scailett
knows she cannot iemain at Taia.
Indeed, Scailett iecognizes that hei futuie iests with the buigeoning indus-
tiy of the New South. Scailett tuins to the Atlanta sawmills, not to the land, to
iaise money to pay the taxes on Taia: In the iuin and chaos of that spiing of
I8oo, she single mindedly tuined hei eneigies to making the mill pay, Mitchell
wiote. Theie was money in Atlanta. The wave of iebuilding was giving hei the
oppoitunity she wanted and she knew she could make money. Facing the biith
of hei daughtei, Ella Loiena, Scailett piofesses hei disgust at the time she will
miss fiom the mill. What a mess it was to tiy to iun a business and have a baby
:_8
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
too! Mitchell obseived. Ill nevei have anothei one, Scailett declaies. Im
not going to be like othei women and have a baby eveiy yeai. Good Loid, that
would mean six months out of the yeai when Id have to be away fiom the mills.
And I see now that I cant aoid to be away fiom them even one day. Scai-
lett has adapted to changing times, becoming pait of the enteipiising southein
bouigeoisie.
47
Gcne with the Vind thus iesonated with a national ieading audience because
the novel oeied a nostalgic depiction of the Old South but did not advocate
its ietuin. Indeed, Atlanta, the quintessential New South city, emeiged tiium-
phant as the Old South died away. The wai foiced Atlanta to become a manu-
factuiing centei foi the Confedeiacy. The little town was gone and the face of
the iapidly giowing city was animated with nevei-ceasing eneigy and bustle.
Moieovei, In spite of wai, ie and Reconstiuction, Atlanta had again become
a boom town, Mitchell infoimed hei ieadeis. Undeineath the suiface weie
miseiy and feai, but all the outwaid appeaiances weie those of a thiiving town
that was iapidly iebuilding fiom its iuins, a bustling huiiying town. Savannah,
Chaileston, Augusta, Richmond, New Oileans would nevei huiiy, Mitchell de-
claied. It was ill-bied and Yankeeed to huiiy. But in this peiiod, Atlanta was
moie ill bied and Yankeeed that it had evei been befoie oi would evei be again.
With new people thionging in fiom all diiections, the stieets weie choked and
noisy fiom moining till night. . . . The wai, Mitchell concluded, had denitely
established the impoitance of Atlanta in the aaiis of the South and the hitheito
obscuie town was now known fai and wide. Mitchell piofessed astonishment
that most people, even southeineis, found it dicult to undeistand how the
Atlanta neighboihood dieied fiom the iest of the South. She contended that
although the stoiy of the Old South had been done many times and done beau-
tifully, . . . this new South was almost untouched. This unexploied teiiitoiy,
Mitchell once claimed, made me want to wiite my book. As Fox-Genovese
points out, in Mitchells hands, the Civil Wai becomes a national tuining point
in the tiansition fiom iuial to uiban civilization. Atlanta boie no ielation to
the moonlight and magnolias of the Old South but iathei iesembled the incieas-
ingly uibanized aieas of the Noitheast and Midwest. This inteipietation allowed
Mitchell to include the South in a shaied national diama.
48
The novels enoimous populaiity encouiaged ieadeis to question its authoi
about hei decision to wiite it. Mitchell told well-ieheaised but vague stoiies
about hei novels oiigins. She began the book sometime in the I,:os, although,
she claimed, I cant quite place the date. To Julian Haiiis she said that she had
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:_,
staited the pioject while iecoveiing fiom an injuiy to hei ankle. I couldnt walk
foi a couple of yeais, she explained, so I put in my time wiiting this book. But
she also latei contended that she could not iemembei why she had staited on hei
novel. She told some people that it took hei ten yeais towiite Gcne with the Vind
but told otheis that she had spent only thiee yeais on the woik. Fewpeople knew
of hei pioject. Only hei husband, John, had iead the diaft befoie publication,
and Mitchell claimed in iesponse to a iumoi that John had coauthoied the book
that even he had iead only poitions of it befoie she handed the manusciipt ovei
to Macmillan. If the stoiy of Gcne with the Vind is now pait of the common
heiitage of English speakeis eveiywheie on the planet, wiites Mitchells biogia-
phei, Daiden Asbuiy Pyion, its contempoiaiy populaiity is matched only the
by obscuiity in which the authoi heiself conceived and executed the novel and
the mysteiy with which she latei suiiounded its oiigins.
49
Mitchell was cleai, howevei, about hei souice mateiial. Like many white
southein women of hei geneiation, Mitchell had been iaised on stoiies of the
wai. As Fox-Genovese obseives, Mitchell was of the last geneiation to come of
age with little exposuie to the new cultuie of iadio and lm. Hei expeiience
of vicaiiously living the histoiies of giandpaients, paients, and communities
thiough the telling and ietelling of tales was common. These stoiies of the Civil
Wai and Reconstiuction ensuied, accoiding to Fox-Genovese, a widespiead
and living engagement with the events of the past. Mitchell claimed that she
had heaid so much when I was little about the ghting and the haid times aftei
the wai that I imly believed Mothei and Fathei had been thiough it all instead
of being boin long afteiwaid. In fact I was about ten yeais old befoie I leained
the wai hadnt ended shoitly befoie I was boin, she confessed. As a child, she
had listened to stoiies of the wai as she sat on the bony knees of veteians and
the fat slippeiy laps of gieat aunts. Those stoiies giadually became pait of my
life. She latei noted that those skinny veteians and fat aunts weie a pietty out-
spoken, foithiight, tough bunch of old timeis and the things they said stuck in
my mind much longei than the things the people of my paients geneiation told
me. Inspiied, Mitchell voiaciously iead woiks on the Civil Wai eia and hunted
down piivate letteis and diaiies that helped hei expand hei knowledge. Some-
how, the peiiod of the Sixties always seemed much moie ieal to me than my
own eia, which Scott Fitzgeiald called The Jazz Age.
50
Mitchell often boasted of the novels histoiical accuiacy. Lauding Stephen
Vincent Benet, who had ieviewed Gcne with the Vind in the Saturday Review
cj Bccks, foi noticing the inuence of Civil Wai diaiies on hei woik, Mitchell
:o
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
wiote, Youie the only ieviewei who has picked up the diaiies and memoiis out
of my backgiound. . . . Of couise I used eveiybody fiom Myita Lockett Avaiy
to Eliza Andiews and Maiy Gay and Mis. Clement Clay and Miss Feain and
Eliza Ripley and the Loid knows howmany unpublished letteis and diaiies. She
piofessed hoiioi when Macmillan bought the manusciipt, foi I iealized that
I had not checked a single fact in it. As soon as she handed ovei the manu-
sciipt to the publishei, she iead the memoiis of Sheiman, Johnston and Hood.
I studied Coxs Atlanta campaign haidei than I evei did Caesais Gallic Wais,
she continued. And, if theie was even a seigeant who wiote a book about that
ietieat, I iead it. Elsewheie, she claimed that a bibliogiaphy foi Gcne with the
Vind would iun well ovei one thousand volumes. Indeed, while the novel was
in pioduction, Mitchell busied heiself iechecking hei histoiical facts. Howevei
lousy the book may be as fai as style, subject, plot, chaiacteis, she wiote to a
fiiend, its as accuiate histoiically as I can get it. Mitchell confessed that she
did not want to get caught out on anything that any Confedeiate Vet could nail
me on, oi any histoiian eithei.
51
On moie than one occasion, Mitchell singled out Maiy Johnstons two vol-
umes on the Civil Wai, The Lcng Rcll and Cease-Firing! as being paiticulaily
helpful to hei as she piepaied hei manusciipt. One ieviewei compaied Gcne
with the Vind to Johnstons woik, theieby enoimously pleasing Mitchell. Maiy
Johnston was a schoolmate of my motheis and befoie I could iead, I had hei
books iead to me, Mitchell told Paul Joidan-Smith of the Lcs Angeles Times.
Mothei was stiong minded but she nevei failed to weep ovei The Long Roll
and Cease Fiiing, and I always bellowed too, but insisted on hei not skipping
sad paits. In tiying to deteimine the weathei duiing the Battle of Kennesaw
Mountain, Mitchell tuined to Johnstons woik: Unfoitunately, I became so en-
giossed in the stoiy that I iead on thiough till the tiagic end. And when I had
nished, she continued, I found that I couldnt possibly wiite anything on my
own. I felt so childish and piesumptuous foi even tiying to wiite about that
peiiod when she had done it so beautifully, so poweifullybettei than anyone
can evei do it, not mattei how haid they tiy. Elsewheie, Mitchell confessed to
sueiing an attack of the humbles aftei ieieading Cease-Firing!
52
She appai-
ently iecoveied.
Wiiting about the Civil Wai was laboi-intensive but piovided Mitchell with no
paiticulai pioblems. Wiiting about Reconstiuction, howevei, was anothei mat-
tei. Wai can be made inteiesting, and peace, she conded to Heischel Biickell,
a muddled peace is haid to handle. I suppose its because wai has some design
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:I
to it and ieconstiuction hasnt, she concluded. Moieovei, she found little in-
spiiation in nonction books on the subject, most aie dull beyond the belief,
she declaied. Fictional woiks might have pioved moie satisfying. Pyion wiites
that D. W. Giiths lm Birth cj a Naticn inuenced Mitchells vision of Recon-
stiuction. In Giiths view, Appomattox came, the Noith and South piepaied
to woik out theii dieiences, Lincoln died, evil politicians took his place, they
cieated a wicked coalition that immediately captuied the goveinments of the
Confedeiate states, theii alliance consisted of spiteful, naiiowminded politicians
in Washington, foimei slaves, self-seiving white collaboiationists, and the ne-
faiious Yankee meicenaiies, the Caipetbaggeis, while theii wicked iule lasted foi
ovei a decade, nally, the local foices of iighteousness, piessed beyond endui-
ance, expelled the aliens, only then did peace as Lincoln had desiied it, ietuin to
Dixie and to the nation. Mitchells depiction of Reconstiuction owes as much
to Thomas Dixon as it does to D. W. Giith, howevei. I was piactically iaised
on youi books, she confessed to the authoi of The Clansman and othei woiks
on the Reconstiuction South, and love them veiy much.
53
As Pyion explains, Mitchell published Gcne with the Vind just as histoiiog-
iaphy was on the biink of a monumental shift in its appioach to Reconstiuction,
black histoiy, slaveiy, and the South. W. E. B. Du Boiss impoitant Black Re-
ccnstructicn came out in I,_,, just as Mitchell woiked on the ievisions to hei
manusciipt, although Du Boiss woik had little inuence on Ameiicans histoii-
cal imaginations, least of all Mitchells. Ciicumstances caught Mitchells novel
in a histoiiogiaphical vise, Pyion notes. The iadical ievision of scholaiship of
the foities, fties, and much moie afteiwaid, made Mitchells woik appeai espe-
cially ieactionaiy. But, as Pyion notes, Mitchell imagined Gcne with the Vind as
a ievisionist woik of the plantei class. If she conimed most of the iacial steieo-
types of Reconstiuction, Pyion explains, hei emphasis on economic motives,
in paiticulai, challenged the old pieties and put hei woik in the vanguaid of new
inteipietation of the Southein expeiience. Aftei the book appeaied, howevei,
Mitchell denied that she had wiitten a tiiumph of mateiialism.
54
Mitchells manusciipt was piecisely the liteiaiy ventuie publishei Haiold
Latham of the Macmillan Company had sought when he began a much-vaunted
tiip thioughout the South in the mid-I,_os. Lois Cole, a fiiend of Mitchells
who had been woiking in Macmillans New Yoik oces since I,_:, tipped o
Latham about Mitchells manusciipt. Mitchell initially played coy, iefusing to
acknowledge that a manusciipt existed. I have nothing, Mitchell iesponded
when Latham asked hei diiectly about the novels existence. She eventually ie-
::
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
canted, howevei. The manusciipt captuied Lathams imagination fiom the mo-
ment he began ieading it. I see in it the making of a ieally impoitant and
signicant book, he wiote to Mitchell in Apiil I,_,. We aie going to keep at
this pioject until a novel is issued that is going to be iegaided as a veiy signi-
cant publication. Latham closed his lettei by asking Mitchells peimission to
foiwaid the manusciipt to Macmillans boaid of adviseis. Mitchell ieluctantly
consented. Latham uiged his supeiiois to considei seiiously the manusciipt.
We shall make a seiious mistake if we do not immediately take it, he advised.
As Pyion explains, Lathams enthusiasm aside, Macmillan iequiied an outside
ieadei to evaluate the manusciipt. The company chose Chailes W. Eveiett, a pio-
fessoi of English at Columbia Univeisity and a iespected ciitic. Eveietts iepoit
conimed Lathams initial assessment: Im suie it is not only a good book but
a best sellei. Macmillan acted immediately, infoiming Mitchell that a contiact
would soon aiiive.
55
Mitchell spent mid-I,_, ievising hei manusciipt. She tuined immediately to
the ist chaptei, which she claimed that she had wiitten the same day she handed
ovei the manusciipt to Latham. I decided also that none of the many ist chap-
teis I had wiitten weie woith showing, she latei explained to a fiiend, yet I
wanted Mi. Latham to have some notion of what the ist chaptei was about so I
hastily knocked out a synopsis of the ist chaptei. . . . As it stands in the book is
pietty much as I wiote it that afteinoon. She latei tuined to the conceins Eveiett
had iaised in his evaluation. Eveiett paiticulaily objected to Mitchells iendi-
tion of Reconstiuction, complaining that the authoi had allowed hei opinion
to cloud hei naiiative. Mitchell insisted that she had no idea that hei venom,
bias, and bitteiness weie so appaient. All the V, B & B weie to come thiough
the eyes and head and tongues of the chaiacteis, as ieactions fiom what they
heaid and felt, she assuied Macmillan. Eveiett also took issue with the Mitchells
inteipietation of the Ku Klux Klan. Mitchell suggested that Eveiett ieiead the
manusciipt, with the Klan mateiial, once hei ievisions weie completed. If you
do not like it and youi adviseis do not like it, she told the piess, I will be most
happy to change it.
56
While ievising hei novel, Mitchell also contended with conceins iaised by hei
publisheis. Echoing Feiiis Gieenslet, who had woiiied endlessly ovei the length
of Maiy Johnstons Civil Wai novel, Lois Cole advised Mitchell, When the con-
tiact was diawn we visualized something between :,o,ooo and _oo,ooo woids
which could be made to sell foi s:.,o . . . but the book has moie than oo,ooo
woids! Cole calculated that the book would lose foui cents pei copy and ie-
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:_
quested that Mitchell considei accepting a cut in hei ioyalties to oset the piot
loss. Cole also infoimed Mitchell that changes in the galley pioofs could piove
expensive and ieminded the authoi of hei contiactual commitment to pay foi
the alteiations. These disputes gieatly agitated Mitchell, iaising hei suspicions
that Macmillan was not dealing with hei faiily. She giudgingly agieed to the
changes and mailed o the manusciipt in Maich I,_o.
57
Macmillan aggiessively maiketed the novel. The im solicited Ellen Glasgow,
foi example, to piaise the book in an adveitisement that appeaied in the New
Ycrk Times. This book is absoibing, Glasgowclaimed. It is a feailess poitiayal,
iomantic yet not sentimental, of a lost tiadition and a way of life. Macmillan
also cieated a pamphlet, Margaret Mitchell and Her Ncvel Gone with the Wind,
that iepiinted favoiable ieviews. The Book-of-the-Month Clubs choice of Gcne
with the Vind as its main selection foi July I,_o fueled speculation, accoiding
to Mitchells biogiaphei, that Haiold Latham had (as he knew all along) hit
on something veiy hot indeed. Anticipating wide ieadeiship, Macmillan began
ciiculating galley-pioof editions as soon as they weie available. Yes, woid was
out, Pyion notes, hot piopeity.
58
Macmillans maiketing stiategies appaiently pleased Mitchell. In June I,_o
she confessed to Latham that she had nally accepted that Macmillan was com-
mitted to hei book and to dealing with hei faiily. I thought, They aie putting a
lot of money behind my book foi adveitising puiposes, she wiote to Latham,
a lot moie money than they usually put up foi a new and unknown authoi.
One month latei, she exclaimed happily, Good Heavens! The adveitising youve
put behind me! With all those ads and the giand publicity the newspapeis have
given me, Macmillan could have sold Kail Maix up heie in these Noith Geoi-
gia] hills! Mitchell seemed especially giateful to Latham foi excusing hei fiom
national autogiaph touis. Such exploitation cheapens a peison, she believed.
When Macmillan iequested that Mitchell come to New Yoik on the publication
date, she iefused. Latham came south to peisuade Mitchell to ieconsidei but
eventually capitulated: I was so happy to heai him say that he did not ieally
think such liteiaiy ciicuses sold books, she wiote to Julia Colliei Haiiis. Im
suie he wouldnt want to be quoted on that, Mitchell continued, but he did say
it. And he seemed to undeistand when I said Id iathei nevei sell a book than
autogiaph in depaitment stoies. She neveitheless seemed thiilled when iepoits
of the books sales came in.
59
As Pyion notes, the initial ieviews fiomsome of the NewYoik papeis weie less
than laudatoiy. Both Ralph Thompsons ieviewin the NewYcrk Times and Isabel
:
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
Pateisons nationally syndicated column that appeaied in the New Ycrk Herald
Tribune oeied mixed assessments of Gcne with the Vind. The Mississippi-
boin Biickell, howevei, penned a much moie enthusiastic ieview foi the New
Ycrk Pcst. Biickell had iead thousands of books, none of which left me feel-
ing Id much iathei just go on thinking about them, savoiing theii tiuth and
tieasuiing the emotional expeiience that ieading them was, than to tiy to set
down my impiessions of them. Gcne with the Vind was dieient. It was noth-
ing shoit of the nest novel of the Civil Wai evei wiitten. Edwin Gianbeiiy,
wiiting foi the New Ycrk Sun, was even moie fulsome in his piaise, compaiing
Mitchell favoiably to the gieat novelists of the nineteenth centuiy and claiming
that she had challenged the modeinists who had abandoned plot foi mood,
ambiance, and angst. Hei novel tiiumphed ovei the pessimism, obscuiity, and
fatal complexity of most contempoiaiy novelists.
60
Mitchell thiilled at the positive ieviews. She wiote to both Gianbeiiy and
Biickell of hei appieciation foi theii comments. I am Maigaiet Mitchell of
Atlanta, authoi of Gone with the Wind, she intioduced heiself to Gianbeiiy.
Youi ieview of my book was the ist ieview I iead, and it made me so happy
that I tiied to wiite you immediately. She seemed especially pleased with the
space Gianbeiiy devoted to his ieview: I can nevei thank you enough foi that!
And when I iead along to the bieath-taking iemaik about being biacketed with
Tolstoy, Haidy, Dickens, and Undset, she continued, well, I gave out. Aftei
she nished ieading that section of the ieview, she piofessed, I lay down and
called foi an ice pack and my husband iead the iest to me. She closed hei lettei
iathei disingenuously by stating, I wish I could see you because I talk bettei
than I wiite and peihaps I could make you undeistand what youi ieview meant
to me. She was similaily eusive in hei lettei to Biickell: If you only knew how
stiange it felt to iead youi woids about that book, she wiote less than a week
aftei the books ocial publication date. And to nish up with youi iefeience to
Fieemans R. E. Lee which is, to me, the most wondeiful thing of its kind evei
tuined outwell, peihaps you contiibuted to a piactical neivous collapse.
61
Mitchell seemed especially pleased when histoiians piaised hei book. She
confessed that she positively ciinged when she heaid that histoiian Heniy
Steele Commagei would ieview Gcne Vith the Vind foi the New Ycrk Herald
Tribune Bccks. I ciinged even though I knew the histoiy in my tale was as watei
pioof and aii tight as ten yeais of study and a lifetime of listening to paitici-
pants would make it, she told Commagei. Histoiians, like those who deal in
the exact sciences, aie pione to be tough! she concluded. Mitchell was quite
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:,
ielieved, then, that hei novel did not iue Commageis histoiical featheis.
Similaily, Douglas Southall Fieemans fan lettei electiied Mitchell. But any
Southeinei would be thiilled, she explained to Fieeman, and any Southeinei,
who had done a little ieseaich into the peiiod with which you dealt, would natu-
ially have palpitations. Fieemans lettei aoided Mitchell the oppoitunity to tell
him how much she had enjoyed his biogiaphy of Lee, which is something that
will make anyone who wiites about the South of that peiiod feel veiy humble.
And also veiy pioud that such a tiuly gieat book came out of oui section. She
believed that Fieemans woik would continue to biing hei pleasuie in the yeais
to come.
62
Not suipiisingly, Mitchell ieceived batches of fan mail. Readeis diied theii
glasses one moment, explains Pyion, and typed letteis to the authoi the next.
Fans piofessed theii admiiation foi the authoi and hei novel. If Mitchell ieveled
in the piaise hei novel ieceived fiom adoiing fans, she did not paiticulaily en-
joy being in the public eye. She complained bitteily and often about the loss of
piivacy she had sueied since the publication of Gcne with the Vind. Mitchell
felt besieged even befoie the novels ocial publication date of _o June I,_o. I
did not iealize that being an authoi meant this soit of thing, she confessed to
Julia Colliei Haiiis on :, June, autogiaphing in book stoies, being invited heie
and theie about the countiy to speak, to attend summei schools, to addiess this
and that gioup at luncheon. It all came as a shock to me, she maintained, and
not a pleasant shock. Indeed, the fienzy that followed the publication of Gcne
with the Vind foiced Mitchell to ee Atlanta foi the Noith Geoigia mountains.
I am on the iun, she conded to Biickell on , July. Im suie Scailett OHaia
nevei stiuggled haidei to get out of Atlanta oi sueied moie duiing hei siege
of Atlanta than I have sueied duiing the siege that has been on since publica-
tion day, she continued. Moieovei, Mitchell iesented the demands that fame
placed on hei. Exaspeiated, she wiote that she continued to maivel as the mail
mounts up with iequests. . . . People seem to think that because an authoi can
get a book published she can hop up on a minutes notice and make a foity-ve
minute addiess, but alas, Mitchell confessed, this is not tiue in my case. Al-
though she took piide in hei novels success, she was neithei pioud noi giateful
foi the public inteiest in my piivate life oi my peisonality. I iesent it with a bit-
teiness which I am unable to convey on papei, she told Biickell. On moie than
one occasion, she pleaded that she wished that hei ieputation could iest on the
novel and not on hei peisonal life.
63
Some ieadeis did not piaise the book, of couise. John Peale Bishop wiote
:o
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
a mixed ieview foi the New Republic, ultimately claiming that the novel was
neithei veiy good noi veiy sound. He piaised Mitchells deft handling of the
histoiical mateiial, noting that the authoi oeied an extiaoidinaiy sense of
detail. But he faulted Mitchell foi failing to addiess adequately the moial piob-
lem the novel iaises. To Bishop, the novel seemed to ask, In a society falling
apait, upon what teims can the individual accoid to suivive: The novel did not
piovide a suitable answei. Scailett wants only to last and takes any teims life
oeis, Bishop told his ieadeis. Miss Mitchell seems to appiove of Scailetts]
peisistence. But the authoi] also implies that civilization consists piecisely in
an unwillingness to suivive on any teims save those of ones own deteimin-
ing. Bishop believed that Mitchell used Scailett and Rhett indiiectly to asseit
the viitues of the society whose destiuction they witness. By this device, he
concluded, she has cleaily hoped to avoid sentimentality in tieating a subject
she feais as sentimental.
64
Malcolm Cowleys ieview, which also appeaied in the New Republic, damned
Gcne with the Vind with faint piaise. Cowley located the novel imly in the plan-
tation school of southein ction, which made it decidedly out of step with the
liteiatuie of the southein ienaissance. The novel, Cowley declaied, is an ency-
clopedia of the plantation legend. Othei novelists by the hundieds have helped
to shape this legend, he admitted, but each of them has piesented only a pait
of it. Miss Mitchell iepeats it as a whole, with all its episodes and all its chai-
acteis and all its stage settingsthe big white-columned house sleeping undei
its tiees among the cotton elds, the band of faithful ietaineis, including two
who faintly iesemble Aunt Jemima and Old Black Joe, the white-haiied massa
bathing in mint juleps. Gcne with the Vind contained all of the potent steieo-
types of the antebellum South, accoiding to Cowley, including eveiy last bale
of cotton and bushel of moonlight, eveiy last full measuie of Southein devotion
woiking its lilywhite ngeis uncomplainingly to the lilywhite bones. Cowley
acknowledged that despite its tiiteness, Gcne with the Vind iesonated deeply
with the ieading public, and he asciibed this populaiity to the novels appeal to
the ieadeis emotions. But even if the legend is false in pait and silly in pait
and vicious in its geneial eect on Southein life today, he wiote, still it ietains
its appeal to the fundamental emotions. . . . I would nevei, nevei say that she has
wiitten a gieat novel, Cowley concluded, but in the midst of tiiteness and sen-
timentality hei book has a simple-minded couiage that suggests gieat novelists
of the past. No wondei, he mused, the book was going like the wind.
65
Evelyn Scott wiote the ieviewfoi the Naticn. Unlike many ievieweis, Scott did
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:,
not nd Mitchells stoiy paiticulaily compelling. Neithei the human incidents
depicted noi the authois bioad account of public events giipped this ieadei,
Scott confessed, until the widowed heioine, visiting Atlanta, found heiself im-
muied in a beleagueied city and iesponsible foi hei iival, the fiagile Melanie.
Not suipiisingly, Scott chastised Mitchell foi piesenting only the white Souths
veision of the wai. Maigaiet Mitchell gives us oui Civil Wai thiough Southein
eyes exclusively, she notes, and no toleiant philosophy illumines the ciimes
of the invadeis. Even woise, accoiding to Scott, Mitchell had neithei the tal-
ent noi the intellectual sophistication to iendei the tiue meanings of the wai
and Confedeiate defeat. Mitchells tempeiamental limitations as a ciitic both
of mass movements and peisonal behavioi aie such that she often gives a shal-
low eect, Scott wiote. She is vigoious enough to imbue hei woik with dia-
matic buoyancy, Scott conceded, but unequal to the subtlei demand she makes
on heiself with the tiagedy tly conceived as the climax of hei stoiy. Mitchell
was insuciently veised in modeinist liteiatuie, Scott believed, to pull o hei
pioject. The authoi seems handicapped by the undigested inuence of that lit-
eiatuie of pessimism, Scott mused, which, though it is iesponsible foi evei-
lasting masteipieces and is a tonic antidote foi easy iomanticism, is too often
misinteipieted among Anglo-Saxons as negativism. Only if Mitchell developed
hei talents would hei veision of the Civil Wai be woith ieading. If Miss Mitchell
is able, latei, to mastei the wide signicances implicit in hei own mateiial and
to convey hei idealism as something moie than a sopoiic, Scott concluded,
she may yet demonstiate the matuie humanity absent in the woiks of so many
among us who aie disillusioned in that adolescent fashion which follows a ist
boast of undeistanding and belief.
66
Mitchell dismissed ciiticism with aplomb, at least publicly. She claimed that
Bishops ieview in the New Republic was a veiy good one. Of couise, she con-
tinued, he thought it was necessaiy, befoie he nished, to chide me foi not
conceining myself with social signicances, mass movements and economic
pioblems, but I suppose that was to be expected in The New Republic, which
appaiently believes that if it isnt piopaganda, it isnt ait. Given the dieiences
between hei political views and those of the New Republic, Mitchell thought
that the magazine had done iathei well by me. Cowleys moie damning ie-
view biought ciies of joy fiom Mitchell. I suppose I must lack the exquisite
sensitivity an authoi should have, she confessed iathei disingenuously to Staik
Young, but the tiuth of the mattei is that I would be upset and moitied if the
Left Wingeis liked the book. Id have to do so much explaining to family and
:8
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
fiiends if the aesthetes and iadicals of liteiatuie liked it. Why should they like
it oi like the type of mind behind the wiiting of it: she asked. Eveiything about
the book and the mind aie abhoiient to all they believe in. One and all they have
savaged me and given me gieat pleasuie. Howevei, I wish some of them would
actually iead the book and ieview the book I wiote, not the book they imagine
Ive wiitten oi the book they think I should have wiitten. Elsewheie, she chas-
tised ciitics who iead ieviews wiitten by well-known commentatois iathei than
hei novel itself, swallowing] such ieviews] whole and iewiiting them.
67
Despite ievieweis claims to the contiaiy, Mitchell maintained that Gcne with
the Vind was not a sweet sentimental novel of the Thomas Nelson Page type. My
cential woman chaiactei does piactically eveiything that a lady of the old school
should not do. Noi weie hei othei chaiacteis lavendei-and-lace-moonlight-
on-the-magnolias people. Mitchell based hei chaiacteis on the old ladies who
had lived thiough the Civil Wai] eia who could scaie the livei and lights out of
you with one woid and blast youi vitals with a look. These tough women could
not have been, accoiding to Mitchell, completely Thomas Nelson Page in theii
youths. But if Mitchell iesisted wiiting a novel of the sentimental plantation
school, she did not wiite a modein novel that chaiacteiized the postWoild Wai
I liteiaiy scene. Mitchell saw heiself as a pioduct of the Jazz Age, desciibing hei-
self as a shoit-haiied, shoit-skiited, haid-boiled young woman who pieacheis
said would go to hell oi be hanged befoie she was] thiity. Nonetheless, she
believed that hei novel belonged to a dieient tiadition. In fact, Mitchell dis-
missed much of the wiiting of hei contempoiaiies. Ive seen so much confused
thinking, she confessed, been so impatient with minds that couldnt stait at
the beginning of things and woik them thiough logically to the end, etc., that
when I sit down to iead I dont want to have to iead about muddled minds even
if the muddled minds are muddling along in lovely piose. Mitchell singled out
Eiskine Caldwells I,_: novel Tcbaccc Rcad and Einest Hemingways I,_, novel
Tc Have and Have Nct foi special condemnation, believing the foimei to be silly
and wiongheaded and the lattei to be sadistic.
68
Because Gcne with the Vind did not t the dominant liteiaiy tiadition of the
I,_os, Mitchell feaied that hei book would not be ieceived favoiably. Theie
was piecious little obscenity in it, no adulteiy and not a single degeneiate and
I couldnt imagine a publishei being silly enough to buy it, she wiote. When
sales and favoiable ieviews pioved hei feais unfounded, Mitchell seemed giati-
ed. She did, howevei, chafe at ieadeis and ievieweis who weie deteimined to
feiiet out a moial: I had no aim oi puipose in wiiting the book, she insisted,
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
j
:,
didnt want to piove a point, piove a moial, give a lesson to the woild. The
novel was not, as many ieadeis had aigued, a paiallel to the Modein Wai and
depiession, she explained elsewheie. Exaspeiated, she exclaimed,
Reviews and aiticles come out commending me on having wiitten such a
poweiful document against wai . . . foi pacism. Loid! I think. I nevei
intended that! Reviews speak of the symbolism of the chaiacteis, placing
Melanie as the Old South and Scailett the New. Loid! I nevei intended that
eithei. Psychiatiists speak of the caiefully done emotional patteins and dis-
iegaid all the histoiy pait. Emotional patteins: Good Heavens! Can this
be I: People talk and wiite of the high moial lesson. I dont see anything
veiy moial in it. I muimui feebly that its just a stoiy and my woids aie
swallowed up while the stoim goes ovei my head about intangible values,
iight and wiong etc. Well, I still say feebly that its just a stoiy of some
people who went up and some who went down, those who could take it and
those who couldnt.
69
Hei simple stoiy shook the liteiaiy woild.
Gcne with the Vind iepiesented the culmination of a liteiaiy tiadition. As
Cowley pointed out in his ieview foi the New Republic, although othei novelists
had contiibuted to the plantation legend, Mitchell aiticulated it fully. With Gcne
with the Vind, the legend became iealized. In that iespect, the novel also iepie-
sented the death of a liteiaiy tiadition. Although it iemained a paiticulai iegion
in Mitchells hands, the South lost much of its distinctiveness, instead becoming
a iegional vaiiant of the national stoiy. Moieovei, the tiiumph of industiial
capitalism, uibanization, and bouigeois individualism suggested the death of a
woildview championed by many of the authois examined in this book. Unlike
most of the authois undei consideiation, Mitchell did not tuin to an antebellum
oi Confedeiate past as a souice of comfoit foi piesent ills. Although defeat in the
Civil Wai iendeied a deathblow to southein civilization, Mitchell suggested, the
loss gave biith to a society that pioved compelling. Indeed, Scailett looks not to
Taia foi the futuie but to Atlanta, the symbol of the New South. In the postwai
woild, Taia inspiies nostalgia, but nothing moie. Otheis, notably the Agiaiians
and theii cohoits, would ieject Mitchells ieading of histoiy, but no one could
eclipse the populaiity and cultuial piominence of Gcne with the Vind.
:,o
i
moiivs coivo1 1ui ci vi i w.v
Epilogue
Everything
That Rises
Must
Converge
There was the jcrlcrn little man in search cj his lcst
ccmrade, and the victcry nc lcnger seemed glcricus.
The warm, excited, curicus jeeling abcut the battle
that he had had a jew minutes bejcre was gcne. He
thcught dully that there had been a battle and that
cur arms, we were tcld, had been victcricus. But he
wanted cnly tc stretch cut, tc sink intc cblivicn.
c.voii i covio, None Shall Look Back
In eaily Septembei I,_o Caioline Goidon contemplated death, diaiihea, and hei
Civil Wai novel and became mightily iiked. Hei publishei had iecently com-
mented that the novel, Ncne Shall Lcck Back (then titled Cup cj Fury), was all
iight so fai as it went but complained that the authoi killed too many young
men. An exaspeiated Goidon wiote to a fiiend that she ietuined home, settled
down and . . . killed one moie young man, besides giving one chionic diai-
ihea and the othei a] gangienous foot. I dont caie whethei he likes it oi not.
1
Goidons vision of hei Civil Wai novel cleaily dieied fiomthat of hei publishei,
whose expectations had undoubtedly been inuenced by Maigaiet Mitchells
iecently ieleased Gcne with the Vind.
Goidon found hei inspiiation elsewheie. The woik of the Southein Agiaii-
ans, with whom Goidon was intimately connected, acutely inuenced Goidons
undeistanding of the South and its pait in the Civil Wai. Allen Tate, Goidons
husband, had wiitten biogiaphies of Stonewall Jackson (I,:8) and Jeeison
:,I
Davis (I,:,) as well as an Ode to the Confedeiate Dead, and Andiew Lytle
had published a biogiaphy of Nathan Bedfoid Foiiest (I,_I), a chief guie in
Goidons novel of the wai. By the time Goidon began woik on Ncne Shall Lcck
Back, both Tate and Lytle had neaily completed theii Civil Wai novels, The
Fathers (I,_8) and The Lcng Night (I,_o). Moieovei, she also woiked in an eia
when the numbei of woiks published on the Civil Wai eclipsed the pievious
maik set in the post-Reconstiuction yeais, aided by the ielease of novels by
William Faulknei, Staik Young, Evelyn Scott, and of couise Maigaiet Mitchell.
Goidon was aiguably the stiongest woman authoi of this new geneiation, self-
consciously puisuing the foimal and stylistic innovations of modeinism. In so
doing, she not meiely succeeded wheie otheis had failed but piovided a model
foi latei southein wiiteis.
Like many othei white southein women of hei eia, Goidon giew up steeped
in the stoiies of the Civil Wai. When my biotheis and I weie childien, she
wiote, one of oui favoiite pastimes was to get into a hammock, thiee deep,
and swing and sing. Theii songs weie not the populai iagtime songs of the day
but those that celebiated famous Confedeiate heioes, notably Nathan Bedfoid
Foiiest. Theii giandmothei punctuated theii singing with stoiies of bloodied
battleelds and home-fiont heioics. Aiound I,o, Goidon iecalled, I do not
think that my childhood expeiiences weie veiy dieient fiom those of any othei
Southeinei who is ovei thiity yeais old. But unlike Maiy Johnston, Goidon
intentionally set out to wiite a Civil Wai novel that deed the conventions of
the genie. Accoiding to Eileen Giegoiy, one of Goidons colleagues at the Uni-
veisity of Dallas, Goidon noted in I,__ that she wanted to wiite an epic of the
Civil Wai but didnt think it could be done, at least not by a woman. Such
comments suggested, at least to Giegoiy, that Goidon had a paiticulai kind
of naiiative in mind . . . and one that she saw as paiticulaily masculine in its
demands on the wiitei. Goidon, ieecting on hei life as a wiitei, wiote, The
woik I do is not suitable foi a woman. It is unsexing. I speak with ieal conviction
heie. I dont wiite the womanly novel. I wiite the same kind of novel a man
would wiite, only it is ten times haidei foi me to wiite it than it would be foi a
man who had the same degiee of talent. Diculties notwithstanding, Goidon
iemained faithful to hei quest, and it is suiely signicant that hei closest ap-
pioximation of an autobiogiaphical naiiative may be found in hei ctionalized
ist-peison account of hei fatheis life, Aleck Maury, Spcrtsman. Goidons de-
teimination to wiite in the male mode embodied hei visceial ieaction against
the sentimentalized, iomanticized, and idealized Civil Wai iomance usually as-
:,:
i
ivi ioc0i
sociated with female authois. Unfoitunately foi Goidon, hei novel was eclipsed
by the publication of the gieatest exemplai of that tiadition, Gcne with the Vind.
Goidon immediately iecognized that Mitchells novel would outsell Ncne Shall
Lcck Back and wiote to a fiiend, Sally Wood, Maigaiet Mitchell has got all the
tiade, damn hei. They say it took hei ten yeais to wiite that novel. Why couldnt
it have taken twelve:
2
Ncne Shall Lcck Back, which appeaied in I,_,, begins piedictably enough,
with a baibecue at the Allaid plantation, but Goidon had no intention of focus-
ing on the home fiont. Rathei, she intended to take a soldiei thiough the foui
yeais of the wai. Goidon consideied hei heio woithy of study and piaise by
wiiteis who iecited his gloiious deeds, pausing between iecitals, to meditate on
the mysteiy that sets him apait fiom his fellows. Fiom the beginning, wiites
Giegoiy, Goidon seems to have envisioned a naiiative dicult to achieve, one
that should be epic in spiiita tale memoiializing the deeds of a heio, set in
the context of the conciete, valuable, though awed woild foi which he is will-
ing to die. Most southein women authois had iejected the teleological stiuc-
tuie of male wai discouisea soldieis stoiy fiom iighteous beginning to tiagic
oi victoiious endbecause such naiiative stiuctuies maiginalized noncombat-
ants. Goidon, in contiast, embiaced the task of penetiating masculine mys-
teiies which she heiself could nevei expeiience. She consistently emphasized
the ways in which the diculties of wiiting a Civil Wai epic, as opposed to a
iomance, peculiaily aected the woman wiitei. Some southein liteiaiy ciitics,
howevei, have viewed the diculties as moie geneial and have aigued that they
pievented any southein novelist fiom pioducing a denitive stoiy of the wai.
Accoiding to Louis D. Rubin, the gieatest shoitcoming of southein novels of the
wai iesults fiom theii failuie to piedicate the pictuie of the wai on individual
teims. In Ncne Shall Lcck Back, howevei, Goidon sought piecisely that indi-
vidual peispective. Although she feaied that she might have paitially failed in
hei attempt to wiite the Civil Wai as an epic, she attiibuted the failuie to hei
having wiitten the damn thing at top speed, even then qualifying, I think it
has some meiit.
3
Goidons musings on hei novels meiits did not hampei hei expectations
foi the novels sales. Anticipating pooi sales in the wake of Mitchells novel,
Goidon confessed, I think I might have made some money but foi hei. Al-
though Goidon latei noted that Ncne Shall Lcck Back sold ieasonably well, she
nonetheless believed that exteinal foices had limited the books appeal. In addi-
tion to blaming Gcne with the Vinds oveiwhelming populaiity foi unfaiily con-
ivi ioc0i
j
:,_
stiicting the maiket, foi example, she accused Sciibneis of failing to maiket hei
novel aggiessively. Hei editoi, Max Peikins, had woiiied about the salability
of Goidons pioposed Civil Wai novel fiom the moment she sent him an out-
line. The book will be wiitten directly, I take it, he hopefully asked Goidon.
He latei accused the iathei oblique method of Penhally, Goidons I,_I novel,
of having limited its audience to one on the highei levels, the moie disciimi-
nating. Goidon chaiged that Sciibneis nevei ieassessed its initial evaluation of
hei as a highbiow authoi. Sometime aftei Sciibneis published Ncne Shall Lcck
Back, Goidon ied o a lettei to the im, claiming,
One of youi wiiteis told me yeais ago that the gieat diculty at Sciibneis
is that Once they have taken a ceitain tone towaids youi books they nevei
change. I amconvinced that you take the wiong tone towaids my books. You
have tiied this non-committal adveitizing sic]-on-the lowest-plane of action
of foui books. They have not sold. But my woik has changed, steadily giow-
ing moie human, easiei to iead. You aie not going to get anywheie by saying
heie is anothei good histoiical novel, iemaikable foi authentic detail. The
idea is: At Last: A novel that combines histoiical ieality with passion. . . .
Whats wiong with passion:
Goidon noted that Elizabeth Robeitss publisheis did not maiket hei woiks by
claiming Heie is something nice about life in Kentucky but instead wiote a
biochuie telling the bookstoie women what to think about hei woik. Moie-
ovei, Tates Civil Wai novel, which was highei-biowed than Ncne Shall Lcck
Back in Goidons estimation, sold as well as hei novel because Putnams had the
book stoie women wiiting essays about it, competing foi a piize. Goidon ie-
mained convinced that the book stoie people would be suipiised to discovei
that Sciibneis believed it had something pietty good in me.
4
Goidons piepaiation foi wiiting the novel might have induced Sciibneis
to maintain its policy towaid the authoi. Like Maiy Johnston, Goidon studied
Civil Wai histoiies, papeis of Confedeiate leadeis, and the Battles and Leadeis
seiies published in Century magazine. She also studied classical accounts of wai
by Homei, Plutaich, and Thucydides, and she believed that this piepaiation paid
o. Peikins initially expiessed ieseivations about Goidons ability to wiite battle
scenes eectively. Wai is so diamatic and coloiful an element, he explained,
that when it fades out of a novel, it is veiy haid not to let the novel down. Pie-
saging Rubins, Edmund Wilsons, and otheis ciiticisms of the Ameiican Civil
:,
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Wai novel, Peikins compaied Goidons plan, iathei unfavoiably, to Var and
Peace. That novel almost ends with the end of the wai, he iecalled. But in
the book, theie weie inteivals of peace between the wais, so that Tolstoi could
do all that he wanted and yet not lose the climax of the wai. Peikins then ie-
minded Goidon that Tolstoy tieated in an epilogue all that pait about Pieiie
and Natasha and Nicolai. Goidon pioceeded undeteiied and in the end be-
lieved that she had faied quite well. One thing I ieally succeeded with, she
explained, each battle had to be tieated in a dieient way oi youd get mo-
notony. . . . I tieated Ft. Donelson in Plutaichian style, ieseiving my peisonal
impiessions foi Chickamauga. I woiiied about that but now aftei some months
I believe it woiks out all iight.
5
Despite Goidons condence in hei ability to wiite battle scenes, ievieweis
failed to ieach a consensus on hei success. Some found the scenes unconvincing:
Hei pictuies of cavaliy and infantiy maneuveis aie somewhat bewildeiing to
the uninitiated, wiote Jane Iidell Jones foi the Cclumbus (Gecrgia) Inquirer-Sun,
and hei battle scenes, all blood and hoiioi,] aie . . . too long diawn out. The
ieviewei foi the New Ycrk Vcrld-Telegram noted that although Goidon eec-
tively poitiayed the men and women of the plantation, the captains and gen-
eials seem less convincing, and the militaiy passages and dialogue aie not life-
like. Elsie Ruth Chant of the El Pasc (Texas) Herald Pcst found the battle scenes
to be manipulated, scaicely iising above the histoiy book desciiptions. And
Philip Russell of the Savannah (Gecrgia) Press believed Goidon incapable of
wiiting believable battle scenes. The authoi has undeitaken a haid task, he
admitted, to see battles as men see them. But the authentic touch is not theie.
The desciiptions aie stiiiing and sound convincing, but the taste of blood and
diit does not come foith. Thus, accoiding to Russell, Goidons gendei, not hei
aitistic ability, pievented hei fiom wiiting a tiue account of the Civil Wai.
6
Othei ievieweis, howevei, found Goidons ability to desciibe battle a singu-
lai feat. Goidons mentoi, Foid Madox Foid, confessed, I do not know of any
othei book that so vitally iendeis the useless madness that is called wai. Cail
Van Doien pioclaimed that the battle scenes weie the tiiumphs of hei novel.
The ieviewei foi the Naticn agieed, noting that the battle scenes . . . have a
powei and passion lacking and peihaps necessaiy in othei sections of the book.
Goidons fellow wiitei and good fiiend, Katheiine Anne Poitei, pionounced the
battle scenes unbelievably ne and cleai, adding that theie is an almost intol-
eiable vividness in the landscape and the guies of men going into and coming
away fiom battle. . . . I like the way you move aiound, a disembodied spectatoi
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in all places. Goidon could take small comfoit fiom the fact that noted authois,
ciitics, and peisonal fiiends penned the positive ieviews, which appeaied in na-
tional publications. But because Goidon caied less about specic battles than
about the epic natuie of wai, the squabbling of ievieweis piobably matteied
little to hei. She likely took pleasuie in the ieview published in the Rccky Mcunt
(Ncrth Carclina) Telegram, which declaied Goidons style vastly supeiioi to
Maigaiet Mitchells.
7
In addition to plumbing histoiical and classical inuences, Goidon found
models of liteiaiy technique and style in the woiks of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky.
The foimei suggested to Peikins a way to maintain ieadeis inteiest in the plot,
the lattei suggested to Goidon a way to assign moial iesponsibility foi the sins
of the Souths past. Recognizing the foimidable diculties accompanying these
tasks, howevei, she took solace fiom the consideiation that hei piobable fail-
uie was not unpiecedented. The Biotheis Kaiamazov, which hinges on the fact
that each of the biotheis is moially guilty of his fatheis death, does not, she
noted, ieally come o, as I found ie-ieading it last yeai. Comfoiting to think
about that.
8
The Brcthers Karamazcv piobably did not guie piominently among othei
southein women wiiteis models foi theii naiiatives of the wai. Even the moie
sophisticated authois, Maiy Johnston and Ellen Glasgow, looked closei to home
foi theii inspiiation. Goidon, howevei, was wiiting duiing the high tide of litei-
aiy modeinism, and, peihaps moie impoitant, she lived in intimate association
with the Southein Agiaiians, who inuenced both hei developing conception
of liteiaiy ciaft and hei undeistanding of the South. Many of those who would
become known as the Agiaiians had ist joined foices as the Fugitives, a gioup
of poets dedicated to a modeinist ienewal and puiication of theii ciaft. In
I,_o, with a maiked shift in focus, they published a collection of essays, Ill Take
My Stand, with authoiship ciedited to Twelve Southeineis, in which they ad-
vanced tiaditional southein values as an antidote to the destiuctive onslaught
of capitalism and mateiialism.
The South of the Agiaiian imagination boie little ielation to the land of moon-
light and magnolias except inasmuch as it was piesented as the embodiment
of an alteinate and supeiioi way of life. The Agiaiian vision gave shoit shiift
to slaves and slaveholdeis, viitually ignoiing the puipoited chivaliic tiadition
of the Old South. Rathei, the Agiaiians focused on the pievalence of indepen-
dent yeoman households that ciadled time-honoied, classical viitues of libeity,
modeiation, and well-tempeied individualism. Johnstons focus on aiistociatic
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women was a legacy of the immediate postwai ction that she had tiouble ie-
leasing, she still thought in teims of a slaveholdeis stoiy. Goidon, howevei,
diew heavily on the Agiaiian vision, which poweifully shaped hei sense of the
most valuable aspects of southein society and tiaditions. Similaily, the Agiaii-
ans distinct liteiaiy canons inuenced heis, and, like them, she diew heavily
on classical poetics, notably in ielation to the epic and to tiagedy. Foi Goidon
as foi the Agiaiians, classical conceptions of the epic and tiagedy focused on
the abiding featuies of the human conditionthose aspects of human chaiactei
that iecui in each geneiation. In such a view, histoiical specics might change,
but such manifestations of human chaiactei as gieed, ambition, piide, heioism,
and loyalty abided, and they, iathei than the conditions in which they mani-
fested themselves, meiited the wiiteis attention. Moie tension than Goidon and
the Agiaiians admitted might have existed between this tianshistoiical vision
of human chaiactei and the defense of the South as the last best hope of civili-
zation, but Goidons inteiest in wiiting an epic undoubtedly deteiied hei fiom
piesenting specic histoiical events as an end in themselves.
Goidon shaied with hei cohoit a disdain foi the ciass mateiialism associated
with the postwai South and peihaps even moie explicitly with the postWoild
Wai I South. Late in Ncne Shall Lcck Back, the Allaids, foiced to abandon theii
plantation, which has buined and been oveiiun by insolent slaves, have iesoited
to ienting a modest cottage fiom the much socially infeiioi yet immensely piac-
tical Biadleys. To help pay the ient, Jim Allaid woiks in the Biadley stoie and
falls incieasingly undei the sway of the Biadley woildview. While gatheiing a
few items foi his fathei, who sueis fiom shell shock as a iesult of the loss of
his plantation, a lean countiy man whose boots weie caked to the knees with
ied clay walks in and asks, Got any coee: Without checking the shelves, Jim
immediately iesponds, How aie you going to pay foi it: When the stiangei
whips out a fat ioll of Confedeiate bills, Jimshakes his head, apologizing: Soiiy,
biothei, but we aient taking them. Despeiate foi coee, the man shes in his
pocket foi a two-bit shin plastei. The exchange then pioceeds smoothly, and
the man leaves. The entiie tiansaction, howevei, disgusts Jims sistei, Cally:
Jim, she said coldly, I should think youd be ashamed to take that pooi
mans money. Jim tiied to be aiiy. Why: He wanted coee and I wanted
money. Faii exchange is no iobbeiy. She haidly listened to what he said.
She leaned ovei and biushed the shin-plastei o the countei. She set hei
heel on the papei and giound it into the ooi. You take the enemys money.
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. . . Youie no bettei than a spy oi a deseitei. Jims lip tiembled and beads
of sweat spiang out on his foiehead but he kept his voice calm. Now look
heie, Cally. I couldnt go to wai as you veiy well know. But Ive got to do
something. You cant iun a stoie without taking in money and theies no use
taking in money that aint woith the papei its piinted on.
9
Goidon might have haiboied a ceitain sympathy foi Jims position, but it is
likely that she also found compelling Callys loyalty to an incieasingly untenable
way of life.
Goidon oiiginally intended Jim to be much moie complicit in his conveision
to the Yankee woildview. A late, coiiected typesciipt of the novel contains a
scene in which Jim invents a mechanical coin shuckei. Theies money in this
contiaption, Mi. Biadley infoims a biight-eyed Jim. Although the two men nd
the piototype piomising, they iealize that a pioblem lies in getting the machine
to maiket. Hows a man going to iun his business with the countiy all cut up the
way it is: asks Mi. Biadley. Well, theyie going to have to stop ghting pietty
soon. Stop ghting and iaise coin. Yes, theyll be iaising coin long aftei theyve
stopped ghting and thats wheie youll come in, my boy, with this little con-
tiaption. Biadleys musings foice Jim to iecall his failuies while developing his
machine, but it was nished now, woiked out to the last detail, a machine which
would take the place of ve, ten, Loid knows how many men. And Mi. Biadley
would put it on the maiket foi him.
10
Goidons motivation foi deleting Jims
paiticipation in the Souths nascent foiay into industiialismiemains uncleai, but
she may well have found his willingness to adopt the noithein woildview too
complete, his abandonment of southein tiaditions too easy.
Peihaps Goidons inability to oei a specic piogiam oi iemedy foi the ills
of industiialism convinced hei to altei the scene. Goidons inability oi unwill-
ingness to solve the ills of the modein age is not suipiising, foi Ill Take My
Stand iemained conspicuously silent on that scoie. Hei desciiption of the eects
of industiialism ieads much like the manifesto of the Southein Agiaiians. John
Ciowe Ransom, who essentially wiote the books Statement of Piinciples, ex-
plained,
The iegulai act of applied science is to intioduce into laboi a laboi-saving
machine. Whethei this is a benet depends on how fai it is advisable to save
the laboi. The philosophy of applied science is geneially quite suie that the
saving of laboi is a puie gain, and that the moie of it the bettei. This is to as-
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sume that laboi is an evil, that only the end of laboi oi the mateiial pioduct
is good. On this assumption laboi becomes meicenaiy and seivile, and it is
no wondei if many foims of modein laboi aie accepted without iesentment
though they aie evidently biutalizing. The act of laboi as one of the happy
functions of human life has been in eect abandoned, and it is piacticed
solely foi its iewaids.
As Paul Conkin notes, howevei, neithei Ransom noi the othei Agiaiians oeied
a specic iemedy foi industiialism, leaving a set of glitteiing piinciples that aie
almost as obvious as iespect foi motheihood. Goidon may well have been simi-
laily unpiepaied to piovide the antidote to industiialism. She intended Ncne
Shall Lcck Back as a liteiaiy iesponse to iomanticism and sentimentalism, but as
Conkin aigues iegaiding the Agiaiians conception as piesented in Ill Take My
Stand, Goidon wanted at the same time use the South as a conciete example
of human fulllment and as a way of pointing to the limitations of the geneially
unanchoied platfoim of the New Humanists.
11
Peihaps, then, Goidons deci-
sion to excise the discussion of industiialism and its attendant evils stemmed
fiom hei desiie to avoid piesciibing a paiticulai solution, iooted in southein
and Ameiican cultuie, to a modeinist woildview.
Jim knows that Cally consideis his fall unfoigivable. Most egiegious, pei-
haps, is Jims abandonment of the Confedeiate wai eoit. Indeed, in the last
months he had almost foigotten that the wai was going on. Cally, howevei,
can nevei foiget. In both the typesciipt and published veisions, howevei, Cally
ieceives ieinfoicement with the ietuin of theii biothei, Ned, iecently ieleased
fiom Johnsons Island thiough a piisonei-exchange piogiam. A meie skeleton,
with esh aiound his eye sockets so shiunken and witheied that it was if the
man had stopped seeing, Ned can think of nothing to do with his newfound
fieedom othei than to ieenlist in the Confedeiate aimy. Jim, ieminded of his
own inability to seive the South, becomes incensed. What possible use, he im-
patiently demands, could Ned be to the aimy when he was so weak that he was
not even woith feeding: But although Jim convinces Ned that he would be
moie of a buiden than an asset to the aimy, Jimcannot, in the published veision,
peisuade Ned to stay on and help with the Biadleys stoie. Well, Ned compla-
cently iesponds to Jims tiiade, I ieckon tomoiiowoi the next day Ill go on out
to Biackets. Jim explodes at Neds decision to ietuin to the iuined family plan-
tation, but this angei does not detei Ned, who undeistands that even if theie
aint anything theie but a lot of niggeis eating theii heads o, the land iemains.
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The Yankees couldnt buin that and they aint stiong enough to cait it o,
he states simply. Neds decision oveijoys the iest of the Allaid family, especially
Cally, who iegaids hei neai-dead biothei as hei deliveiei fiom the Biadleys and
all that they iepiesent. Cally ieadily giasps the implications of hei decision to
tuin hei back on the Biadleys and theii way of life. Old Man Biadley dont caie
about anything but making money, she explains. And hes got all his money in
United States bonds in a Cincinnati bank. The talk is hes tiaded in contiaband
cotton and I dont doubt it. . . . They say weie losing the wai. I ieckon if we do
people like himll iule this countiy.
12
And with that, Cally walks away to ietuin
to the land and way of life that was heis by biithiight and inheiitance.
Goidons iejection of the tiajectoiy of the NewSouth does not, howevei, mean
that she found the Old South untainished. At one point in the novel, an oppo-
nent of secession dismisses the aiistociatic Lowei South, complaining, Its too
iich. . . . Those fellows down theie got iich too quick and its gone to theii heads.
If somebody dont hold them down theyll iuin the countiy. Yet Goidon popu-
lated Ncne Shall Lcck Back with chaiacteis whoweie willing to die foi this awed
South. In hei view, theii willingness to die did not diminish oi tiivialize the
pathos of the Lost Cause but iathei ennobled it. In a pivotal battle scene late in
the novel, a despeiate Nathan Bedfoid Foiiest, mounted on top of his saddle
and standing theie, seemingly unconscious of the taiget he piesented, delibei-
ately studied the eld. His action is not without contioveisy. Riding past the
geneial, Majoi Stiange whispeis with contempt, Be killed. Thats what he wants.
Be killed. Rives Allaid, Foiiests scout and the novels heio, sweais, God damn
. . . Lying . . . diity . . . ccward! Allaid is, of couise, cuising Majoi Stiange. Allaid
stands in his stiiiups, waves his aims ciazily, and shouts, Hes got the iight. . . .
Eveiyman. Got the iight. To get killed.
13
Foiiest escapes the battle unscathed,
but Allaid does not, pioving peihaps that eveiy man does indeed have the iight
to be killed.
Allaids fall foices upon Foiiest the sudden iealization that death had been
with him all the time and he had not known. . . . But they had all known. Hood,
Biagg, Bucknei, Floyd, His Excellency. . . . Those men, who weighed and consid-
eied, looked to this side, to that. They had whispeied theii constiained Nos not
to him but to that dog, Death. Even Rives Allaid, who had begun the wai think-
ing that the othei men weie in possession of some knowledge, of which he had
only a pait, nally undeistands what has heietofoie eluded Foiiest. Foiiest has
always taken peisonally disagieements with his supeivisois about piopei mili-
taiy pioceduie: dismissed because he did not attend West Point, envied because
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of his ingenuity, oi iesented by cowaidly and iecalcitiant ianking geneials and
statesmen, Foiiest had believed that he had ample justication foi his attitude.
None of Foiiests supeiiois had escaped his contempt, but he seemed especially
scoinful of Geneial Biagg, the man with the iion hand, the iion heait, and the
wooden head. As one of Foiiests scouts, Allaid had been piivy to many of these
confiontations between Foiiest and his supeiiois, and Allaid initially had been
excited to think that he, a piivate, was ieceiving infoimation about impoitant
maneuveis. That emotion seemed tiivial now. Allaid had spent the moining
seaiching the body-stiewn battleeld of Chickamauga looking foi the iemains
of his cousin, Geoige Rowan, an exeicise that nowseemed tiivial, too, and vain.
He thought of Geoige Rowan dead and buiied on the eld. He had felt pity foi
the dead man as he laid him in his giave but now he knew envy. If the Con-
fedeiate cause failedand foi the ist time he felt feai foi its outcometheie
could be no happiness foi him except in the giave.
14
Allaids death, uniemaik-
able in eveiy othei sense, tiiggeis Foiiests sudden undeistanding of the natuie
of waifaie and of his contiibutions to the fate of the Confedeiacy.
Goidon intended to end Ncne Shall Lcck Back with Allaids death and Foi-
iests sudden iealization that Death had always been his enemy. The published
veision, howevei, contains an additional chaptei, which Goidon wiote aftei ie-
viewing the nal galley pioofs. Goidon might have iemembeied Peikinss com-
ments about Var and Peace. Moie likely, she consideied hei oiiginal ending too
giounded in a paiticulai histoiical momentthe bloodied elds of Muifiees-
boio. The published epilogue iemoves the action fiomthe battleeld to the home
fiont, wheie Lucy Allaid leains of hei husbands death. Alieady destioyed by
the wai, Lucy wondeis how this death he had died was dieient fiom the othei,
imagined deaths. Goidon thus eectively put the action in the univeisal. At
least one ieadei ieassuied Goidon on hei biilliant use of Death, believing that
it is in Lucys defeat, not in the histoiical Nathan Bedfoid Foiiests, that the
theme nds its ultimate signicance.
15
No moie than othei white southein women novelists did Goidon attiibute the
Souths defeat to its past sins. No moie than Johnston did Goidon believe that an
inheiently evil and destiuctive foice had oveicome the South. In othei woids,
Goidon did not view the wai thiough the piism of a moiality play that pitted a
good and a bad piotagonist against one anothei. Unlike otheis, notably Johns-
ton, howevei, Goidon did not iegaid wai itself as the villain. Rathei, following
the canons of the epic, she suggested that the Confedeiacy had fallen because of
the tiagic aws of individualsof men like Foiiest who manipulated the fates
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of those aiound them. Goidons vision allowed foi the possibility that the fall
of the Confedeiacy had been piedeteimined, but not because of some nostalgic
myth of moonlight and magnolias and not because all wai is an inheiently de-
stiuctive and leveling foice. She nevei denied that some wais had to be fought
to defend the highei good of civilization, she nevei claimed that no cause could
justify the loss of a single human life in wai, and she nevei suggested that all wais
weie inheiently meaningless. To the contiaiy, she seems to have believed that
wai might uniquely test a peisons mettle and chaiactei and thus ieveal some-
thing impoitant about human natuie. In the end, Foiiest comes to undeistand
that he has failed piecisely the test he had thought he was acing, and his haid-
won self-knowledge oeis an object lesson in the Aiistotelian theoiy of tiagedy.
Some ieadeis may feel that Goidon did not fully execute hei visionthat Ncne
Shall Lcck Back ietains a heaviei dose of social and histoiical commentaiy and
oeis less ieection on human chaiactei than Goidon might have hopedbut
the possibility of a less-than-peifect execution does not gainsay the aspiiation.
This peispective helps to identify Goidon as the last adheient of a tiadition
that hei woik eectively laid to iest. Many wiiteis would continue to tiy theii
hands at the conventional myth-of-moonlight-and-magnolias iomance and
would enjoy impiessive sales. But the living foice of the tiadition had diained
away undei the combined piessuies of newly deadly wais, modeinism, and the
emeigence of the New South. The iealities of that woild exposed nostalgia as
piecisely nostalgiathe antithesis of liteiaiy vitality and innovation. But it ie-
mains stiiking that, in Goidons case, the attempt to bieak fiee of the nostalgia
led not away fiom wai but to a new way of telling its stoiy.
Speaking in I,, befoie the Flanneiy OConnoi Foundation, Caioline Goidon
pioudly pioclaimed, I am a totally unieconstiucted Confedeiate. She seemed
to ievel in hei position as an oddity, a iaiity. You wont nd many of us aiound
these days, she noted. Hei political position stemmed in pait fiom hei asso-
ciation with the pailoi pinks of the I,_os. I came to believe, she confessed,
that the fact that we lost the Civil Wai was not only a disastei foi the South
but foi the whole nation. The cultuial silencing of woiks sympathetic to the
Confedeiacy contiibuted to Goidons unpopulai political stance. Citing histo-
iian E. D. Dodd, Goidon noted that the tiouble with us was not that we weie
defeated but that we weie licked. The side that wins the wai wiites the histoiies,
of couise, she mused. The tiue histoiy of oui gieat conict yet iemains to be
told. The liteiaiy scene had changed consideiably, howevei, since Dodds pioc-
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lamation. Indeed, Goidon found solace in the contempoiaiy liteiaiy scene. In
hei view, the best ction wiiteis weie southeineis. Although many commen-
tatois had iecognized that southeineis dominated the liteiaiy maiket, few had
disceined any connection between the pievalence of good wiiteis in the South
and histoiy. Foi Goidon, that connection was vital. Alluding to the title of one
of Flanneiy OConnois most famous shoit stoiies, Goidon ended hei lectuie
by stating, Eveiything that iises must conveige but eveiything that conveiges
must have iisen. Hold youi Confedeiate money, boys! she advised. The South
has iisen again.
16
This book belies the claims of those who feaied that the winneis would wiite
histoiy. The iesults of the Civil Wai pioved notoiiously dicult foi white south-
eineis to undeistand and to negotiate. They tuined to theii pens at the outset
of the hostilities to explain themselves to theii society and incieasingly the na-
tion. Women contiibuted to this pioject with vigoi and a keen appieciation of
the signicance of theii endeavois. Theii naiiatives did not necessaiily supplant
those of southein men but iathei inteitwined with them to help fashion both a
cultuial memoiy of the wai and a postbellum identity foi the iegion.
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Notes
Abbreviaticns
CV Ccnjederate Veteran
ESC Special Collections Depaitment, Robeit W. Woodiu Libiaiy, Emoiy
Univeisity, Atlanta
GHS Geoigia Histoiical Society, Savannah
PL Special Collections Depaitment, William R. Peikins Libiaiy, Duke Univeisity,
Duiham, Noith Caiolina
SC South Caioliniana Libiaiy, Univeisity of South Caiolina, Columbia
SHC Southein Histoiical Collection, Louis R. Wilson Libiaiy, Univeisity of Noith
Caiolina, Chapel Hill
SHSP Scuthern Histcrical Scciety Papers
UDC United Daughteis of the Confedeiacy
UGA Haigiett Raie Books and Manusciipts Libiaiy, Univeisity of Geoigia, Athens
UVA Special Collections Depaitment, Univeisity of Viiginia Libiaiy, Chailottesville
Intrcducticn
I. Faulknei, Flags, I_I, Faulknei, Absalcm, Absalcm! ,8. Eailiei in this novel, Quentin
Compson, iuminating on Rosa Coldelds intent desiie to tell him about Thomas Sutpen,
concludes, Its because she wants it tcld he thought sc that pecple whcm she will never see
and whcse names she will never hear and whc have never heard her name ncr seen her jace
will read it and kncw at last why Gcd let us lcse the war. that cnly thrcugh the blccd cj cur
men and the tears cj cur wcmen cculd He stay this demcn and eace his name and lineage
jrcm the earth (o).
:. Heniy Fleming, John Caiiington, and Basil Ransom aie, iespectively, the piotago-
nists of Stephen Cianes I8,, novel, The Red Badge cj Ccurage, Heniy Adamss I88o novel,
Demccracy, and Heniy Jamess I88 novel, The Bcstcnians.
_. Lady of Viiginia, Diary, :I,:o, McDonald, Vcmans Civil Var, :_I.
. See, foi example, Aaion, UnwrittenVar, Simpson, Mind, R. P. Waiien, Legacy, E. Wil-
:o,
son, Patrictic Gcre. Foi an account of southein womens wiitings duiing the wai yeais,
see Fahs, Imagined Civil Var, esp. chap. . Sizeis Pclitical Vcrk examines the lives and
woiks of nine noithein women who wiite duiing the Civil Wai peiiod. See also E. Young,
Disarming, foi an account of womens wiitings duiing the wai. Foi a ieading that con-
sideis specically Victoiian Ameiicans eoits to tailoi the facts of the wai to theii own
cultuial ends by caiefully ciafting theii ieminiscences and memoiis, see Rose, Victcrian
America, :_,,,. On Maiy Chesnut, see, foi example, Hayhoe, Maiy Boykin Chesnut,
Muhlenfeld, Mary Bcykin Chesnut, Woodwaid, Maiy Chesnut. On Maigaiet Mitchell,
see, foi example, Cullen, Civil Var, Fox-Genovese, Scailett OHaia, Hale, Making Vhite-
ness, Pyion, Scuthern Daughter, Coming to Teims with Scailett.
,. Katheiine Anne Poitei to Caioline Goidon, New Yoik, II Febiuaiy I,_,, Caioline
Goidon Papeis, Piinceton Univeisity Libiaiy, Raie Books and Special Collections Depait-
ment, Piinceton, NewJeisey. Poitei latei savaged Sc Red the Rcse in a New Republic ieview
of Goidons I,_, novel, Ncne Shall Lcck Back. I do not mean to suggest that Poitei did
not embellish, altei, oi fabiicate hei family histoiy. Rathei, I wish to highlight Poiteis
disgust with Youngs veision of the Civil Wai stoiy and his misiepiesentation of what
she believed to be the signicance of hei familys memoiies. On Poitei, see Biinkmeyei,
Katherine Anne Pcrters Artistic Develcpment, Busby and Heabeilin, Frcm Texas, Stout,
Katherine Anne Pcrter.
Theie is a laige body of feminist theoiy liteiatuie on the ielations among women,
wai, and wai naiiative. See, foi example, M. Cooke and Woollacott, Gendering Var Talk,
M. Cooke, Vcmen, Elshtain, On Beautiful Souls, Elshtain, Vcmen and Var, Huston,
Tales, Huston, Matiix. These theoiists challenge the assumption that wai is solely a
male phenomenon, aiguing that because women aie geneially noncombatants, theii ioles
in wai aie as disseminatois of infoimation, telleis of tales, and cieatois of histoiy. Once
the stoiies of the battleeld ltei back to the home fiont, they become pait of the public
domain and foddei foi womens naiiatives.
Miiiam Cooke points out that most wais weie iecounted within a naiiative fiame that
the Biitish militaiy histoiian John Keegan aigues has iemained unchanged since Thucydi-
des. Cooke iefeis to this naiiative fiame as the Wai Stoiy and aigues that it foices a giid
on chaos. Although wais aie usually expeiienced as confusion, theii naiiatives aie neat.
The Wai Stoiy aiianges expeiience and actois into neat paiis: beginning and ending,
foe and fiiend, aggiession and defense, wai and peace, fiont and home, combatant and
civilian. She latei explains that the dichotomies of the Wai Stoiy oiganize the confu-
sion so that aggiession should not be confused with defense, victoiy with defeat, civilian
with combatant, home with fiont, womens woik with mens woik (Vcmen, I,Io). Many
southein women did not diawthe dichotomies so neatlythe divide between civilian and
combatant, home and fiont, womens woik and mens woik, foi example, often did not
exist. These womens wai naiiatives thus can oei an alteinative to the conventional Wai
Stoiy.
o. In an eoit to countei the alieady pievailing opinion that the South had lost because
of inadequate wai matiiel and an infeiioi aimy, Pollaid insisted instead that the Confed-
eiates, with an ablei Goveinment and moie iesolute spiiit, might have accomplished theii
independence. Moieovei, despite this defeat, the Confedeiates have gone out of this wai
:oo
i
o1is 1o v.cis ,
with the pioud, seciet, deathless, dangercus consciousness that they aie 1ui vi11iv mi,
and theie was nothing wanting but a change in a set of ciicumstances and a imei ie-
solve to make them the victois. The memoiy of defeat, coupled with this knowledge that
theiis was a noblei cause, ieasoned Pollaid, had left southeineis with a deathless heiitage
of gloiy. Undei these tiaditions, Pollaid pioclaimed, sons will giow to manhood and
lessons sink deep that aie leained fiom the lips of widowed motheis (Lcst Cause, ,:,,
,,:). Pollaids veision of the Confedeiacys downfall became the foundation foi a myth of
the Lost Cause, which, as some histoiians aigue, dominated the postwai white southein
consciousness. Foi a ne histoiiogiaphical essay on the myth of the Lost Cause, see Nolan,
Anatomy.
,. In the political aiea, Coulteis I,, woik, The Scuth during Reccnstructicn, foi ex-
ample, conims Pollaids asseition that the Lost Cause could be iegained in the eld of
politics. Foi Coultei, the cieation of the myth coincided with the Souths tiiumph ovei
Reconstiuction. Southeineis cieated the Lost Cause myth not only to celebiate the Con-
fedeiacy but also to piomote a political agenda foi the postwai South based on white
supiemacy. Defeated white southeineis had viewed theii new battle with the fedeial gov-
einment in teims of iacial suivival. The end of Reconstiuction and the ascendancy of
the Demociatic Paity in the South signaled the tiiumph of the white iace. With this vic-
toiy, the Confedeiate tiadition . . . cast its iesplendent light thioughout the Souththe
Lost Cause had been iegained (Coultei, Scuth, I8o). Coultei was not without his ciitics.
Foui yeais aftei the publication of his book, Woodwaid published The Origins cj the New
Scuth, in which he dispaiages Coulteis celebiation of the iesuigence of white supiemacy
in the South and aigues that this goal was at the centei of the Lost Cause myth. In the
chaptei The Divided Mind of the New South, Woodwaid suggests that along with the
industiialization and uibanization of the postbellum South came a cult of aichaism, a
nostalgic vision of the past (I,,,). This ieading of southein histoiy not only validated
the past but allowed the South to foige a new identity necessaiy to assume the position
of an industiialized iegion. Twenty yeais latei, Paul Gaston oeied a ieading of the Lost
Cause myth that was veiy much in line with Woodwaids. Gaston connects the cieation
of the Lost Cause myth with the development of the New South cieed, a philosophy that
advocates iegional distinction, iacial haimony, and the cieation of a new economic and
social oidei based both on industiy and a diveisied agiicultuie, all of which would lead,
eventually, to the Souths dominance in the ieunited union (New Scuth Creed, o,, see
also Holden, Is Oui Love: ).
Scholais examining the ieligious aspects of the myth maintain that the South undei-
stand its histoiy in Chiistian teims, complete with iconogiaphy, with Robeit E. Lee as the
Chiist guie and James Longstieet as the Antichiist. Southeineis cieated the myth, which
became a civil ieligion, to advance the position that they lost the Civil Wai because they
had giown complacent in theii belief that they weie Gods chosen people. Defeat, how-
evei, did not signal the Souths fall fiom giace but iathei Gods piovidence at woik. Just as
colonial New England had decipheied its jeiemiad, the South inteipieted its downfall as a
sign that God had selected its people to enduie this tiavail. Defeat conimed southeineis
chosen status and did not indicate that the South was wiong in its intentions. Once south-
eineis iecognized that they weie the seivants of God, they would eventually tiiumph ovei
o1i 1o v.ci ,
j
:o,
evil. The South had lost a holy wai, but because God was on the side of the Confedeiacy,
the mythmakeis could expect, accoiding to histoiian Chailes Reagan Wilson, a joyful
iesuiiection of the southein cause (Baptized in Blccd, I_, see also Connelly and Bellows,
Gcd and General Lcngstreet, L. A. Huntei, Immoital Confedeiacy).
Both Cash and Fostei aigue that the myth had such a piofound cultuial iesonance on
the South that it geneiated a set of memoiies common to all white southeineis. Although
southeineis weie not the ist to sentimentalize defeat, Cash doubts that the piocess had
evei been caiiied to the length it had in the South. Southeineis iesponded to theii ab-
soibing need to gloiify not only the Confedeiacy but also the entiie antebellum way of
life. This gloiication led, in tuin, to an unshakable belief in the legitimacy of the Old
Souths social hieiaichy and an uninching acceptance of the foimei mastei classs iight
to guide and command the New South. Cash thus contends not only that the piogiess of
the New South stems fiom the past but also that its language and guies aie those fiom
the Civil Wai (Mind, I,). In Ghcsts cj the Ccnjederacy, Fostei agiees with Cash that a
cieation of a southein collective memoiy lies at the coie of the Lost Cause myth, though
Fostei disputes Cashs pionouncement that the myths gieatest pioponents came fiom the
old plantei aiistociacy. Fostei aigues instead that the myths cieatois, most notably the
United Confedeiate Veteians and the United Daughteis of the Confedeiacy, came fiom
the newly emeiging uiban and piofessional classes. Indeed, when Confedeiate celebia-
tions became elite social events iathei than giassioots activities, the myth began to lose its
cultuial cuiiency(see also Bohannon, These FewGiay-Haiied, Battle-Scaiied Veteians,
Caimichael, New South Visionaiies).
Scholais who addiess the liteiaiy manifestations of the myth have eiioneously posited
that southeineis cieated the myth not to asseit theii supeiioiity oi even sepaiateness fiom
the Noith but to ieconcile themselves with theii eistwhile foes. Accoiding to Buck, an
eaily histoiian of the postwai southein consciousness, the Lost Cause myth was a defense
of the South couched in liteiaiy conventions, giving southeineis a heiitage of couiage,
eneigy, and stiength without oending the Noith (Rcad, :o,). Accoiding to Osteiweis,
who agieed with Bucks inteipietation of southein histoiy, the myth found its ist expies-
sion in the liteiatuie of a defeated people anxious ovei a lost identity. Southeineis quickly
xated on a cast of familiai chaiacteis diawn fiomthe piewai plantation tiadition in oidei
to legitimate theii past, to ease the sense of defeat and displacement, and, most impoi-
tantly, to ieintegiate themselves into the Union. The bitteiness of waitime ihetoiic gave
way to the expiessed desiie foi national unity (Osteiweis, Myth). Gallaghei cast doubt on
Bucks and Osteiweiss aiguments, howevei, in Jubal A. Eaily, the Lost Cause, and Civil
Wai Histoiy, an essay on Eailys liteiaiy eoits to defend the Confedeiate cause.
8. Smiley, Quest.
,. Woiks by southein male wiiteis include, among otheis, J. Davis, Rise and Fall, Eg-
gleston, Histcry, Gildeisleeve, Creed, C. W. Haiiis, Secticnal Struggle, J. Longstieet, Frcm
Manassas tc Appcmattcx, Page, Old Scuth, Page, Meh Lady, Page, Red Rcck, Stephens, Ccn-
stituticnal View. Foi histoiies of the wai sympathetic to the noithein position, see, foi ex-
ample, Buigess, Civil Var, S. Cox, Unicn-Disunicn-Reunicn, Diapei, Histcry, Duyckinck,
Naticnal Histcry, Foimby, American Civil Var, Gieeley, American Ccnict, Headley, Great
Rebellicn, Geoige, Pcpular Histcry, Rhodes, Histcry cj the United States, Rhodes, Lectures.
:o8
i
o1is 1o v.ci ,
A list of pio-Noith ction includes but is not limited to Adams, Demccracy, Aveiy, Rebel
Generals Lcyal Bride, Bieice, Civil Var Shcrt Stcries, Ciaig, Vas She? Ciane, Red Badge,
Dickinson, Vhat Answer? De Foiest, Kate Beaumcnt, De Foiest, Miss Ravenels Ccnver-
sicn, De Foiest, Blccdy Chasm, Noiiis, Grapes, James, Bcstcnians, Peaison, The Pccr Vhite,
Touige, Bricks.
Io. Gallaghei, intioduction, ,. My inteipietation of the signicance of the Civil Wai
diiectly contiadicts that of Michael Kammen in A Seascn cj Ycuth, which aigues that
the Revolutionaiy Wai has been the single most impoitant event in the foimation of an
Ameiican imagination. As histoiian John G. Baiiett notes, in I8oo John Russell Baitlett
published Literature cj the Rebellicn, in which he cited moie than six thousand books,
aiticles, and pamphlets on the Civil Wai and slaveiy (Confedeiate States, :,,). By the
late twentieth centuiy, a similai appiaisal would include well ovei ten thousand titles.
II. Fausts contioveisial aigument, piesented in full in Mcthers cj Inventicn, that the
withdiawal of southein womens suppoit foi the wai led, in laige measuie, to the Confed-
eiacys ultimate defeat, did not tianslate into southein womens naiiatives of the wai. Foi
an aigument similai to Fausts, see Edwaids, Scarlett. Foi the most pait, southein women
cast themselves as unwaveiing suppoiteis of the Confedeiacy. A fascinating and notable
exception to this iule was Rebecca Latimei Felton, who changed diamatically hei intei-
pietation of the meanings and legacies of the wai foi hei widely dieiing audiences. See
also Evelyn Scotts The Vave foi an exception to this geneialization.
I:. Heie, my woik has been inuenced by iecent studies that explicate the inextiicable
link between histoiy and memoiy. See, foi example, Butlei, Memcry, Finley, Myth, Mem-
oiy, and Histoiy, Halbwachs, On Ccllective Memcry, Hobsbawm and Rangei, Inventicn,
Lowenthal, Past, Wachtel, Memoiy and Histoiy, Noia, Between Memoiy and Histoiy,
Cohen, Prcducticn, McNeill, Mythistoiy. Foi specic discussions on collective memoiy
and the Ameiican context, I cite heie only Blight, Race and Reunicn, Thelen, Memcry and
American Histcry, and Kammens monumental woik, Mystic Chcrds cj Memcry. Foi spe-
cic discussions of memoiy in the southein context, see two iecent aiticles by Hall, Open
Seciets and You Must Remembei This. In both aiticles, Hall consideis Katheiine Du
Pie Lumpkins eoits to fashion a New South histoiy that escaped the myth of the Lost
Cause. Foi moie scientic discussions of memoiy, see, foi example, Bolles, Remembering,
Middleton and Edwaids, Ccllective Remembering, Neissei, Memcry Observed, G. L. Wells
and Loftus, Eyewitness Testimcny.
I_. As anothei example of the shifting boundaiies of the Lost Cause myth, I oei a iead-
ing of two scenes, one fiom Augusta Jane Evanss I8o wai stoiy, Macaria, and one fiom
Maiy Johnstons I,I: novel, Cease Firing! In the ist scene, Evans wiote of a heavy, squaie
moiocco ambiotype of a Confedeiate soldieis sweetheait that miiaculously spaies the life
of the heio, Russell Aubiey, by pieventing a deadly bullet fiom penetiating his chest. The
lockets glass ciacks, but the image escapes damage. When Russell looks at the face of his
beloved Iiene, noblei associations, and] puiei aims possess him and he beams with
tiiumphant joy foi the southein] Nations ist gieat victoiy (_:o). Neaily fty yeais
latei, Maiy Johnston wiote of a bullet stiiking the image of a soldieis sweetheait. In this
instance, the scene is not Manassas, wheie the Confedeiates had pievailed, but the blood-
ied elds of Gettysbuig, and the dagueiieotype fails to stop the bullet. The bullet not only
o1is 1o v.cis , o
j
:o,
shatteis the image but kills the unnamed soldiei. Johnston, who knew Macaria, was ex-
plicitly iefeiiing to it when she tuined on its head the stoiy of the bullet, the image of the
southein belle, and the soldiei. Although only biief incidents in much laigei woiks, these
scenes signal the tiansfoimations of wai naiiatives that tianspiied duiing the postwai
peiiod.
I. See Augusta Jane Evans to Mis. J. K. Chiisman, Mobile, Alabama, _ Febiuaiy I8oo,
Augusta Jane Evans Wilson Papeis, Alabama Depaitment of Aichives and Histoiy, Mont-
gomeiy, Augusta Jane Evans to Alexandei H. Stephens, Mobile, Alabama, :, Novembei
I8o,, Alexandei H. Stephens Papeis, ESC, Faust, intioduction to A. J. Evans, Macaria, xvi.
Evans ietuined to southein histoiy as the catalyst foi the action of hei novel A Speckled
Bird.
I,. Coinelia Bianch Stone, iepoit of the piesident-geneial of the UDC, in UDC, Min-
utes cj the Fcurteenth Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held
in Ncrjclk, Virginia, :,:o Ncvember :;o, (Opelika, Ala.: Post, I,o8), ,I.
Io. These woiks, when studied at all, have not faied much bettei with southein liteiaiy
ciitics. Indeed, ciitics have dismissed as wietched stu most of the postbellum ction on
the waiand not just the stoiies wiitten by southein women. These obseiveis have nevei-
theless ieseived theii haishest ciiticismfoi southein authois, who, because they weie wiit-
ing foi the vanquished, should have wiitten the denitive novel of the wai modeled on
Tolstoys Var and Peace. The gieatest failing of these novels, chaiged Louis D. Rubin, is
that the pictuie of the wai is not piedicated on individual teims. The chaiacteis meiely
seive as spokesmen foi the iegions attitudes, as the authois conceive them (Image, ,I,
,o,,). Othei ciitics who shaie this view include Aaion, Unwritten Var, Sullivan, Fad-
ing Memoiy, and E. Wilson, Patrictic Gcre. In othei woids, southein authois fail to
poitiay the southein ciisis wiit small, the established ciiteiion foi the denitive Civil Wai
novel. If women wiiteis have iejected the teleological stiuctuie of male wai discouisea
soldieis stoiy fioma iighteous beginning to a tiagic oi victoiious endit does not follow
that they do not make signicant contiibutions to wai naiiatives. Feminist ciitics aigue
that women aie maiginalized by such a naiiative stiuctuie because they aie, foi the most
pait, noncombatants. Rathei than a woild of aimed conict, theiis is a woild of iumois,
tales, and stoiies of the wai. They aie fiomthe outset paiticipants in a newly geneiated dis-
couise (see, foi example, Elshtain, Vcmen and Var, Faust, Altais). Seaich as they might,
Rubin and otheis will nevei nd the denitive wai naiiative in the accounts of these
women. Rathei than exploiing the ways in which the sectional ciisis manifested itself in
the individual, southein women conceined themselves with the connections between the
individual and the laigei southein community. Most of all, these women wiiteis wished
to exploie the connections between the community and its past in oidei to compiehend
its futuie. Thiough evocations of time and memoiy, such authois connect the ieadei oi
the paiticipant to the histoiic and imagined past. Although not wiiting specically of
the imaginative woiks on the Civil Wai wiitten by women, C. Vann Woodwaid stiesses
southein ctions impoitance foi the histoiian piecisely because of the genies concein
not with an individual at sea ghting with a whale but with community. The southein
authoi deals with humans as an inextiicable pait of a community, attached and detei-
mined in a thousand ways to othei wills and destinies of a people he sic] has only heaid
about (Woodwaid, Burden, _,).
:,o
i
o1is 1o v.cis , I I
Chapter One
I. Emma Edwaids Holmes diaiy, I_, :, Febiuaiy, June I8oI, TS, Emma Edwaids Holmes
Papeis, South Caioliniana Libiaiy, Univeisity of South Caiolina, Columbia. Holmess
position was a populai one among South Caiolinian women. Giace Elmoie claimed, foi
example, How pioud have I been of Caiolina,] of hei untainished caieei fiom the time
of the Revolution when she was amongst the ist to fiee heiself fiom a tyiants sway to
the time that she was the ist to bieak the links that bound the States togethei (Elmoie
diaiy, , Decembei I8oI, Giace B. Elmoie Papeis, SHC, see also :, Febiuaiy I8oI entiy).
:. Fox-Genovese, Vithin the Plantaticn Hcusehcld, :,,:, S. Stowe, City, Countiy,
and the Feminine Voice, _Io. In this chaptei, I am conceined piimaiily with those diaiies
kept duiing the Civil Wai that exist only in manusciipt foim oi that weie published
duiing the wai. I did not, foi the most pait, examine foi this chaptei those waitime
diaiies[jouinals that weie published in the postbellum peiiod. I have made this decision
because, as I aigue thioughout this woik, any given Civil Wai naiiative was as much a
pioduct of its histoiical context as it was of the events of the wai. In no way should the
list of woiks cited in this chaptei be consideied exhaustive. I have chosen diaiies that best
illustiate the issues confionted by Confedeiate women who kept waitime chionicles of
events. Much ne woik has been published on Confedeiate womens waitime diaiies. Foi
moie detailed discussion, see, foi example, Faust, Mcthers, Rable, Civil Vars.
_. Louisiana Buige diaiy, May I8oo, Buige Family Papeis, ESC, Temple and Bunkeis,
Motheis, Daughteis, Diaiies.
. Moss, Dcmestic Ncvelists, . Foi an account of the waitime liteiaiy maiket, see Fahs,
Imagined Civil Var, chap. I. Foi an intioduction to domestic ction, see D. Andeison,
Hcuse Undivided, Baym, Vcmans Ficticn, Kelley, Private Vcman, Tompkins, Sensaticnal
Designs, Voloshin, Limits. Foi woiks specically on domesticity in southein ction, see
Moss, Dcmestic Ncvelists. Foi an account of womens liteiaiy piofessionalism, the liteiaiy
maiketplace, and the cultuial context of nineteenth-centuiy women wiiteis, see Coultiap-
McQuin, Dcing Literary Business. The Scuthern Literary Messenger detailed the duties of
antebellum southein authois: Let Southein authois, men sic] who see and know slaveiy
as it is, make it theii duty to deluge all the iealms of liteiatuie with a ood of light upon
this subject. Let them dispel with the sun of genius the mists and clouds which ignoiance
and fanaticism have thiown aiound slaveiy, puiposely involving it in an obscuiity and
daikness, thiough which men will not giope to nd the tiuths upon which it ieposes. This,
then, is the Duty of Southein Authois (W.R.A., Duty, ::). Despite the gendeied
natuie of the jouinals call, southein white women also met the challenge.
,. Augusta Jane Evans to P. G. T. Beauiegaid, Mobile, Alabama:], August I8o:, in
McMillan, Alabama Ccnjederate Reader, _,. Foi a discussion of the feminized wai, see
Fahs, Imagined Civil Var, chap. .
o. McDonald, Vcmans Civil Var, :I. In ieviewing southein white womens diaiies of
the Civil Wai, Faust obseives that the veiy piocess of authoiship itself nuituied new
female self-consciousness (Mcthers, IoIo8) Although I do not disagiee with Fausts in-
teipietation, I do place stiongei emphasis than she does on the act of wiiting about wai
iathei than on meiely wiiting.
,. Kate Rowland diaiies (miciolm), :, Octobei I8o_, ESC, Maigaiet Junkin Pieston
diaiy, _ Apiil I8o:, in Allan, Lije and Letters, I__,. Pieston noted on I Apiil I8o: that
o1is 1o v.cis I I o
j
:,I
she did not intend to indulge in moaning in these bald pages, noi towiite down any opin-
ions, meiely to essay a veiy biief iecoid of such jacts as I am peisonally conceined with,
foi futuie iefeience (Allan, Lije and Letters, I_,). Giace B. Elmoie (I8_,I,I:), daughtei
of South Caiolina Senatoi and John C. Calhoun suppoitei Fianklin Haipei Elmoie, began
hei wai diaiy on 8 Novembei I8oI. She latei ievised and edited hei diaiy, piobably some-
time in the I88os oi I8,os and piobably with the intention of publication. Signicantly,
she began hei ievised account with an I8 Octobei I8oo entiy that oeied hei musings
on Lincoln and foieshadowing the wai. The diaiy is contained in the Elmoie Papeis.
8. Loula Kendall Rogeis diaiy, _I Decembei I8oI, Loula Kendall Rogeis Papeis, ESC.
Eugenia Phillips ended hei shoit diaiy of hei impiisonment with a similai sentiment but
added an unusual twist: The incidents of a life, howevei humble the individual, aie full
of instiuction, she noted. The naiiative of such events which I have made may aoid
amusement if not instiuction to such of my family of intimates as may heieaftei peiuse it.
It was wiitten howevei without any such motive, she added, my sole inducement being
to kill time which nally kills us all (Eugenia Phillips diaiy, :o Septembei I8oI, P. Phillips
Family Papeis, Manusciipt Reading Room, Libiaiy of Congiess, Washington, D.C.).
,. Rable, Civil Vars, I,o, Rogeis diaiy, :, Decembei I8o, Loughboiough, My Cave Lije,
_,, Saiah Lois Wadley diaiy, :I, :o Apiil I8oI, Saiah Lois Wadley Papeis, ESC Edmond-
son, Lcst Hercine, I:o, I:,, Elmoie diaiy, 8 Febiuaiy I8o,. See also, foi example, Wadleys
:8 July I8oI stoiy of the Confedeiate Aimys captuie of Scotts swoid and epaulettes at
the Battle of Manassas. Rowland made a pionouncement similai to Edmondsons: Re-
poits aie iife as to iaid having been made upon Milledgeville and all the public buildings
buint but I do not ciedit anything of the kind, theie aie many false iepoits that I have
deteimined to believe nothing I heai except what is ocial (Rowland diaiies, I August
I8o).
Io. Rogeis diaiy, I June I8o:, Rowland diaiies, , July I8o, Wadley diaiy, :, Maich
I8o, ESC. As Rable notes, At best, civilians ieceived widely conicting accounts of battles
and casualties. With haphazaid mail seivice and the telegiaph lines between the eastein
and westein paits of the Confedeiacy iegulaily cut by Yankee cavaliy, the only news was
often no news (Civil Vars, o,).
II. Rogeis diaiy, :I Febiuaiy I8o:, Elmoie diaiy, :o, :o Novembei I8o.
I:. Wadley diaiy, :8 Decembei I8o:, I: July I8o_, ESC.
I_. Rable, Civil Vars, I,,, Wadley diaiy, I8 Apiil I8oI, ESC, Rogeis diaiy, I, Novem-
bei I8o. Rable also notes that such enmity belied populai images of moially supeiioi
women. He quotes Kate Speiiy as admitting that she took hei hatied out in cussing
and had become iecklessstoneheaited and eveiything, haid and pitilessnevei knew
I was so vengeful (I,,).
I. Faust, Mcthers, esp. chap. ,, Whites, Civil Var, McDonald, Vcmans Civil Var, _o,
Rowland diaiies, :o Novembei I8o, Elmoie diaiy, o Maich I8o,. Foi a study of southein
womens diaiy entiies iegaiding Sheimans Maich to the Sea, see Schultz, Mute Fuiy.
I,. Wadley diaiy, II Febiuaiy I8o, ESC, Elmoie diaiy, I, Septembei I8o, see also Faust,
Mcthers, Io_o.
Io. Elsie Biagg to Biaxton Biagg, Bivouac, Louisiana], , May I8o:, TS, Wiitings:
Books, Bell Iivin Wiley Papeis, ESC (oiiginal in coiiespondence les, Biaxton Biagg
Papeis, Univeisity of Texas, Austin).
:,:
i
o1is 1o v.cis I , ::
I,. Elsie Biagg to Biaxton Biagg, Bivouac, Louisiana], :o Apiil I8o:, TS, Wiitings:
Books, Wiley Papeis (oiiginal in coiiespondence les, Biaxton Biagg Papeis, Univeisity
of Texas, Austin), Maiy Ann Cobb to Howell Cobb, Athens, Geoigia, I_ July I8o:, coiie-
spondence les, Howell Cobb Papeis, UGA.
I8. Augusta Jane Evans to J. L. M. Cuiiy, Mobile, Alabama, :o Decembei I8o:, coiie-
spondence les, J. L. M. Cuiiy Papeis, Manusciipt Reading Room, Libiaiy of Congiess,
Washington, D.C., Evans, Macaria, _o.
I,. Vaiina Davis to Maiy Boykin Chesnut, Richmond, :, Apiil I8o:, TS, Wiitings:
Books, Wiley Papeis (oiiginal TS in Maiy Boykin Millei Chesnut Papeis, Letteis in Ches-
nut Letteibook, SC).
:o. Faust, Mcthers, Io:, Maiy Ann Cobb to Howell Cobb, Athens, Geoigia, , August
I8oI, coiiespondence les, Cobb Papeis.
:I. Loughboiough, My Cave Lije (I88I), 8, Loughboiough, My Cave Lije (I8o), _
, ,,.
::. Gieenhow, My Impriscnment, I, ,,, _:.
:_. Exceipts fiom ieview quoted in Taidy, Living Female Vriters, :,_. Evans, authoi
of the tiemendously successful I8,, novel Beulah, alieady caiiied signicant moial au-
thoiity with the southein ieading public. See, foi example, a ieviewof Macaria in Scuthern
Literary Messenger _8 (Fall I8o): _I,, Faust, Mcthers, I,,,8, on Evans, see esp. Bakkei,
Oveilooked Piogenitois, Faust, Altais, Faust, Mcthers, Io8,8, Fidlei, Augusta Evans
Wilson, Fidlei, Augusta Evans Vilscn. On Foid, see Taidy, Living Female Vriters, ,,
o:. On the ieadeiship of these novels, see Fidlei, Augusta Jane Evans, _, n.:, Taidy,
Living Female Vriters, ,8. Davidson noted that Foids novel appeaied in I8o, while the
fame of the gieat gueiilla was fiesh, and about the time ofbut I believe just befoiehis
death. It was May oi June, I think, that Geneial Rosecians, of the Depaitment of the West,
issued oideis foibidding the ciiculation and sale of this book in the Noithein Aimy, then
occupying Tennessee (Living Vriters, :o).
:. Evans, Macaria, :I8, _o,, Foid, Raids and Rcmance, .
:,. Foid, Raids and Rcmance, :o, Evans, Macaria, _o8.
:o. Evans, Macaria, _oo. Foi the challenges and pioblems of Confedeiate national-
ism, see Faust, Creaticn, Rable, Ccnjederate Republic, E. M. Thomas, Ccnjederate Naticn.
Foi a discussion of the histoiiogiaphy of Confedeiate nationalism, see Gallaghei, Ccnjed-
erate Var, o_,:. Gallaghei notes that the aioma of moial disappiobation envelops most
aiguments denying the existence of Confedeiate nationalism, foicing many histoiians to
aigue that the absence of nationalism was both the cause and the symptom of Confedei-
ate defeat. Gallaghei suggests that histoiians unwillingness to asciibe nationality to a
people they nd moially iepugnant blinds them to two impoitant developments: Fiist,
Confedeiates by the thousands fiom all classes exhibited a stiong identication with theii
countiy and ended the wai still imly committed to the idea of an independent southein
nation. Second, although these people nally accepted defeat because Union aimies had
oveiiun much of theii teiiitoiy and compelled majoi southein militaiy foices to suiien-
dei, that acceptance should not be confused with an absence of a Confedeiate identity
(,o,I). Southein white women weie not exempt fiom oi immune to this piocess.
:,. Augusta Jane Evans to P. G. T. Beauiegaid, Mobile, Alabama,] I, Maich I8o_, coiie-
spondence les, Pieiie Gustave Toutant Beauiegaid Papeis, PL. Foi Beauiegaids iesponse,
o1is 1o v.cis : _ : 8
j
:,_
see Var cj the Rebellicn, vol. ,I, pt. :, o888,. Foi an account of Beauiegaids leadeiship in
the Battle of Manassas, see McPheison, Battle Cry, __,o, T. H. Williams, P. G. T. Beau-
regard, oo,,. Johnston was in chaige of Confedeiate tioops in the Shenandoah Valley
in the weeks that pieceded the Battle of Manassas. Successfully outmaneuveiing Union
Geneial Robeit Patteisons tioops, Johnston and his men left the Valley and joined with
Beauiegaids tioops at Manassas, ensuiing that the Confedeiate foices weie equal in size
to the Union foice undei the command of Iiwin McDowell. Gieenhow, a Washington
socialite and Confedeiate spy, had tipped o Beauiegaid to McDowells impending ad-
vance. Allen Pinkeiton, head of Geneial Geoige McClellans seciet seivice, latei aiiested
and impiisoned Gieenhow foi hei involvement with Confedeiate espionage. Centieville,
located thiee miles fiom the Confedeiate defenses at Bull Run, was undei Fedeial con-
tiol (McPheison, Battle Cry, __,o, Gieenhow, My Impriscnment). Evanss feai may have
been a bit disingenuous, since she and Beauiegaid had coiiesponded often duiing the
couise of the wai. Beauiegaids biogiaphei, T. H. Williams, wiote that Beauiegaid found
much pleasuie in the company of Augusta Evans and once piofessed that it would not
do foi me to see hei] too often . . . foi I might foiget home and countiy in theii houi
of need and distiess. An enthusiastic admiiei of Evanss woik, Beauiegaid had said that
many and many pages weie iead thiough a ow of teais (P. G. T. Beauregard, Ioo).
:8. Evans, Macaria, __:__.
:,. Ibid., ___,.
_o. Foid, Raids and Rcmance, _, _.
_I. Ibid., :Io. Foi an account of Moigans invasion of Kentucky, see Nevins, Var, _::,,
,o.
_:. Evans, Macaria, I, Ella Geitiude ClantonThomas diaiies, :8 June I8o, TS, PL. Of
couise, not all of Evanss ieadeis expiessed such unqualied enthusiasm. Emma Edwaids
Holmes noted duiing the couise of ieading Macaria that although she liked the book
veiy much, she believed that Evans had ceitainly tiied to display all hei leaining in
a small space & has only shown heiself thoioughly pedantic. Holmes accused Evans of
tiying to show how the minds of such peculiaily gifted peisons, as hei heioines, weie led
fiom the sublime faith of theii childhood to the uttei indieience of the Tianscendental-
ists, by the study of such woiks, & then puiied thiough sueiing. I should not be at all
suipiised, Holmes continued, it if was only hei own expeiience wiitten out (Holmes
diaiy, I, August I8o).
__. Foi discussions of the ciises in southein households, see Faust, Mcthers, chap. :,
Rable, Civil Vars, chap. _, Whites, Civil Var, chap. :. Foi discussions of the disiuption of
the liteiaiy maiket, see Muhlenfeld, Civil Wai and Authoiship.
_. OConnoi, Hercine, _,,, ,,8o.
_,. McIntosh, Twc Pictures, _, ,:,_. On the impoitance of Uncle Tcms Cabin in
Ameiican cultuie, see, foi example, Moss, Dcmestic Ncvelists, esp. IoI_o, Gossett, Uncle
Tcms Cabin, Pottei, Impending Crisis, Tandy, Pio-Slaveiy Piopaganda, E. Wilson, Patri-
ctic Gcre, _,8. Foi a discussion of southein cleiics insistence that slaveiy was divinely
sanctioned but that masteis must biing slaveiy up to biblical standaids oi face Gods
wiath, see Genoveses piovocative study, A Ccnsuming Fire.
_o. McIntosh, Twc Pictures, ,,. See Moss, Dcmestic Ncvelists, IoI_, foi a similai iead-
ing of Twc Pictures.
:,
i
o1is 1o v.cis : 8_ _
_,. OConnoi, Hercine, _,_, _,.
_8. Ibid., I,_, I8,.
_,. McIntosh, Twc Pictures, :,,, OConnoi, Hercine, ,.
o. OConnoi, Hercine, II8I,.
I. Ibid., _:,, __. See Boyd, Belle Bcyd, foi hei accounts of hei activities as a spy foi
Jackson.
:. OConnoi, Hercine, __,_8.
_. Ibid., :I.
. Foid, Raids and Rcmance, _I8.
,. Elmoie diaiy, :: Maich I8o,. See also Fox-Genovese, Vithin the Plantaticn Hcuse-
hcld, _,o,I, foi a discussion of womens ieluctance to wiite in theii diaiies immediately
following Confedeiate defeat.
Chapter Twc
I. Saiah Lois Wadley diaiy, :o Apiil, I_ May I8o,, Saiah Lois Wadley Papeis, SHC.
:. Histoiiogiaphical essays on Reconstiuction include E. Andeison and Moss, Facts,
Fonei, Reconstiuction Revisited, Kolchin, Myth, L. Cox, FiomEmancipation to Seg-
iegation, A. Robinson, Beyond the Realm, J. D. Smith, Woik , Woodman, Eco-
nomic Reconstiuction. See also Fonei, Reccnstructicn. Impoitant woiks on Reconstiuc-
tion include Caitei, Vhen the Var Vas Over, Du Bois, Black Reccnstructicn, Fianklin,
Reccnstructicn, Peiman, Rcad. Infoimation foi the following discussion has been culled
fiom these woiks.
_. Wadley diaiy, :o Apiil, I_ May I8o,, SHC, E. G. C. Thomas diaiies, 8 May I8o,.
. Wadley diaiy, I_ May I8o,, SHC, Rogeis diaiy, I, July I8o,. As Roaik notes, despite
the mad iush of oath sweaiing, male southeineis too iemained piivately uniepentant:
The South adopted a public stance of acquiescence that was supeicial and misleading,
occasioned by militaiy necessity (Masters, I8,). Rable notes that because of contiadic-
toiy policies of the vaiious militaiy depaitments, some women had to take oaths: In
aieas undei Fedeial occupation, both sexes had to sweai allegiance to the United States
to ieceive mail, collect ient, iun a business, qualify foi Aimy ielief iations, oi even get
maiiied (Civil Vars, :_:).
,. Holmes diaiy, I,, :: Apiil I8o,, Rogeis diaiy, II May I8o,.
o. Augusta Jane Evans to Mis. J. K. Chiisman, Mobile, Alabama, _ Febiuaiy I8oo, Au-
gusta Jane Evans Wilson File, ADAH.
,. Augusta Jane Evans to Alexandei H. Stephens, Mobile, Alabama, :, Novembei I8o,,
Stephens Papeis, Augusta Jane Evans to Mis. J. K. Chiisman, Mobile, Alabama, _ Febiu-
aiy I8oo, Augusta Jane Evans Wilson File, Faust, intioduction to A. J. Evans, Macaria, xvi.
Foi the desiie to ieestablish the piewai patiiaichal oidei, see Edwaids, Gendered Strije,
Faust, Mcthers, Whites, Civil Var.
8. Augusta Jane Evans to P. G. T. Beauiegaid, Mobile, Alabama], _o Maich I8o,, Beau-
iegaid Papeis, PL.
,. Augusta Jane Evans Wilson to W. A. Seavei, Mobile, Alabama], , Septembei I8,o,
Augusta Jane Evans Wilson Collection, UVA. Foi othei examples of Wilsons antipathy
towaid Harpers, see Evans to Seavei, Mobile, Alabama], 8 Novembei I8,,, Augusta Jane
Evans Wilson Collection, UVA.
o1is 1o v.cis _ _ ,
j
:,,
Io. See Augusta Jane Evans to P. G. T. Beauiegaid, Mobile, Alabama], _o Maich I8o,,
Beauiegaid Papeis, PL.
II. Doisey, Reccllecticns, ,. Foi the Peicy clan, see Wyatt-Biown, Hcuse.
I:. Headley, Great Rebellicn, I:Io, Gieeley, American Ccnict, I:_,:, Lunt, Origin, xi.
Foi additional noithein accounts of the wai published duiing Reconstiuction, see Diapei,
Histcry, Duyckinck, Naticnal Histcry.
I_. Doisey, Reccllecticns, I_.
I. Ibid., :I,. Ciitics had spaied Johnston fiomsuch ignominious sluis iegaidingVicks-
buig because had not handed ovei his aimy (McPheison, Battle Cry, o:o_8).
I,. J. E. Cooke, Stcnewall }ackscn, ,o,I, J. E. Cooke, Lije, _, :.
Io. Boyd, Belle Bcyd, ,_, :o,, :o. Foi biogiaphical infoimation on Boyd and foi othei
stiategies she employed to elicit ieadeis sympathy, see Kennedy-Nolles intioduction to
Boyd, Belle Bcyd, I,_.
I,. Lady of Viiginia, Diary, ,, o,, :,o, 8.
I8. Coinelia Phillips Spencei to JohnW. Giaham, Chapel Hill, Noith Caiolina], :: Feb-
iuaiy I8oo, Coinelia Phillips Spencei Papeis, SHC, C. P. Spencei, Last Ninety Days, I_, I.
I,. E. J. Hale to Coinelia Phillips Spencei, Fayetteville, Noith Caiolina, II Januaiy I8oo,
Thomas Atkinson to Coinelia Phillips Spencei, Wilmington, Noith Caiolina], _o Januaiy
I8oo, and Veiina M. Chapman to Coinelia Phillips Spencei, Hendeisonville, Noith Caio-
lina, 8 May I8oo, Spencei Papeis. Poitions of Atkinsons lettei appeaied in C. P. Spencei,
Last Ninety Days, oIo. Spencei claimed that Chapmans account was the most chaiac-
teiistic pioduction I think I evei saw. She is ceitainly a smait woman, and veiy womanish
(Coinelia Phillips Spencei to Zebulon B. Vance, Chapel Hill, Noith Caiolina, : August
I8oo, Spencei Papeis).
:o. Zebulon B. Vance to Coinelia Phillips Spencei, Chailotte, Noith Caiolina, I Octo-
bei I8o,, Spencei Papeis, C. P. Spencei, Last Ninety Days, oI, ,o. Foi Spenceis views on
the piopei conduct of wai, see Last Ninety Days, ,oI.
:I. C. P. Spencei, Last Ninety Days, esp. ,I,:, Coinelia Phillips Spencei to Zebulon B.
Vance, Chapel Hill, Noith Caiolina, II Novembei I8o,, Spencei Papeis. Given such views,
it is no small wondei that Vance pleaded with Spencei to poitiay him as a biave and tiue
man iathei than as a wise one (Vance to Spencei, Chailotte, Noith Caiolina, :, Apiil
I8oo, Spencei Papeis).
::. Zebulon B. Vance to Coinelia Phillips Spencei, Chailotte, Noith Caiolina, _I August
I8oo, R. L. Beall to Coinelia Phillips Spencei, Lenoii, Noith Caiolina, Io Januaiy I8o,, and
clippings and typed tiansciipts of ieviews, Spencei Papeis. Vance was not an unbiased
ciitic: he latei wiote that Spencei was the smaitest woman in Noith Caiolinaand the
smaitest man too (Vance, My Belcved Zebulcn, xxiii).
:_. Putnam, Richmcnd, I,.
:. Ibid., :o.
:,. Ibid., _8,.
:o. Ibid., _8,.
:,. Sallie A. Biock Putnam to Loula Kendall Rogeis, New Yoik, Io May I8o8, Rogeis
Papeis. Foi Putnams ction, see hei Kenneth.
:8. Ives, Princess, IoI,, o8.
:,. Ibid., o,,o, ,o,I.
:,o
i
o1is 1o v.cis o , ,
_o. Ibid., ,o. Ives nevei made explicit the Souths putative sins, see Faust, Creaticn, I
,,, Hobson, Tell, 8o, foi accounts of what southeineis believed theii sins to be. The best
secondaiy souice on the ieligion of the Lost Cause iemains C. R. Wilson, Baptized.
_I. Chapin, Fitz-Hugh St. Clair, _,, o, vii, Book Notice, SHSP , (June I8,8): _o.
_:. Chapin, Fitz-Hugh St. Clair, ,_,.
__. Ibid., :o,.
_. See Buck, Rcad, Appleby, Reconciliation, Silbei, Rcmance. In a study of shoit c-
tion appeaiing in national and iegional magazines fiom I8oI to I8,o, Diey noted that
the metaphoi of national ieunication did not always guide these stoiies. Elastic as Ro-
mances pioved to be while the teims of iestoiation weie contested, moie than two stoiies
out of eveiy thiee attended to local aaiis iathei than to national ieunion, Diey ex-
plains, suggesting that the case foi the iomance of ieunion may have been oveistated
(Vhere My Heart Is Turning Ever, ,8). See Higonnet, Civil Wais and Sexual Teiiitoiies,
foi a discussion of the ielationships between sexual politics and national political up-
heavals. See also Silbei, Rcmance, IIoII, foi a discussion of the gendeied implications of
Miss Ravenels Ccnversicn., Io. Foi othei noithein ieconciliation iomances of the Recon-
stiuction peiiod, see, foi example, M. J. Holmes, Rcse Mather, B. Spencei, Tried and True.
De Foiest, a foimei Union ocei, wiote many of these ieconciliation iomances, includ-
ing Blccdy Chasm and Kate Beaumcnt as well as Miss Ravenels Ccnversicn. On the politics
of iedemption, see Pollaid, Lcst Cause Regained. See also Ayeis, Prcmise, Woodwaid,
Origins, Woodwaid, Reunicn and Reacticn.
_,. SHSP I (Januaiy I8,o): I_. Foi a histoiy of the Southein Histoiical Society, see
Staines, Foievei Faithful.
_o. M. F. Mauiy, A Vindication of Viiginia and the South, SHSP I (Febiuaiy I8,o):
,oo, C. W. Read, Reminiscences of the Confedeiate States Navy, SHSP I (May I8,o):
__I-o:, J. E. B. Stuait, Geneial J. E. B. Stuaits Repoit of Opeiations aftei Gettysbuig,
SHSP _ (Febiuaiy I8,,): ,:,,, Causes of the Defeat of Geneial Lees Aimy at the Battle
of GettysbuigOpinions of Leading Confedeiate Soldieis, SHSP , (JanuaiyFebiuaiy
I8,,): _8,_, foi the ieaction to Boyntons woik, see SHSP I (Febiuaiy I8,o): ,o.
_,. Helena J. Haiiis, Cecil Giay, oi, the Soldieis Revenge, in Scuthern Sketches, I
:o. A notable exception to the geneial southein foimulation was Viiginias Maiy Vii-
ginia Teihune, who wiote undei the name of Maiion Hailand. Hailand had alieady gai-
neied a favoiable liteiaiy ieputation when she and hei husband, Reveiend Edwaid Payson
Teihune, ielocated fiom the South to Newaik, New Jeisey, wheie hei husband became
pastoi of the Fiist Refoimed Dutch Chuich in I8,8. The outbieak of the Civil Wai tested
Hailands loyalties, and in the end she sided with the Union. In I8oo she penned Sunny-
bank, a quasi-sequel to hei ist novel, Alcne, published in I8,. Unlike the othei novels
studied in this chaptei, Sunnybank extolled the viitues of unionism and wained of the
peiils of secession. The heioine, Elinoi, iemains steadfastly loyal to the Union, as do the
othei membeis of hei family, except foi one old eccentiic maiden aunt, who seems long
ago to have lost all ability to ieason, and hei biotheis, who sweai theii allegiance to the
Union by the novels end. Elinoi has two suitoisHaiiy Wilton, a Union man, whom she
eventually maiiies, and Rolf Kingston, a lascivious, scheming Confedeiate, who meets an
appiopiiate end. In a scene that foieshadows the plot of Aveiys The Rebel Generals Lcyal
Bride, Rolf extoits Elinois piomise of maiiiage in exchange foi the ielease of hei fathei,
o1is 1o v.cis , , o:
j
:,,
whom the Confedeiates hold. Foitunately foi the family at Sunnybank, Yankee iaideis
kill Rolf, fieeing Elinoi to maiiy Haiiy. At the end of the wai, with Richmond safely in
Fedeial hands and law and oidei ietuined to the South, Haiiy exclaims, Let oui dead
past buiy its dead (o). Pioving Haiiys sentiments, Elinoi notes, We talk little of the
events of the foui yeais wai (I). The past was anything but dead to southeineis, and
as the following chapteis will demonstiate, southeineis talked incessantly about the wai.
Not suipiisingly, southein jouinalists denounced Hailands politics, while noithein ie-
vieweis piaised Sunnybank. Foi exceipts fiom selected contempoiaiy ieviews, see Taidy,
Living Female Vriters, ___o. Foi Viiginia Teihunes account of the Civil Wai and hei
waitime politics, see Maricn Harlands Autcbicgraphy, esp. _ooo,.
_8. Whittlesey, Bertha, I8.
_,. Ibid., _,8,,, _,.
o. Doisey, Lucia Dare, ,, :8, _o. Anna Dickinson was an active paiticipant in the abo-
lition movement and authoi of the I8o8 Civil Wai novel Vhat Answer?
I. Ibid., ,,, Ioo.
:. Magill, Vcmen, I,,.
_. Ibid., vi, x.
. Ibid., Io:o_.
,. Higonnet, Civil Wais and Sexual Teiiitoiies, 8o. Foi southein women acting as
nuises, see Culpeppei, Trials and Triumphs, _I,,8, Faust, Mcthers, ,:II:, Massey, Bcnnet
Brigades, _, Rable, Civil Vars, I:I:8, Simkins and Patton, Vcmen, 8:,,.
o. Whitson, Gilbert St. Maurice, viii, Io.
,. Ibid., ::_, vii.
8. Ciuse, Camercn Hall, ,. Camercn Hall faied well with both ieadeis and ievieweis,
although at least one contempoiaiy ciitic noted that it would be impioved by judicious
piuning. This ieviewei continued, To iead it aftei ieading a sensational novel is like get-
ting up eaily in the moining, it was veiy haid to stait, and awful dull and sleepy to diess
in the shutteied, daik ioom, but once up and out, how fiesh and puie and sweet! (Taidy,
Living Female Vriters, :,,). Surry cj Eagles Nest iepoitedly found a place in piactically
eveiy Southein libiaiy, as an example of all that this conqueied and occupied people held
most deai in what iemained of theii devastated civilization (J. E. Cooke, Surry, o). Cooke
had seived as a captain undei his cousin-in-law, J. E. B. Stuait, and latei undei Robeit E.
Lee aftei Stuaits death. Cookes wai novel oeied ieadeis a mix of chaiactei sketches,
histoiical anecdotes, and the imaginings of one of the antebellum Souths gieatest de-
fendeis. See also J. E. Cooke, Mchun (the sequel to Surry), Aaion, Unwritten Var, chap. Io,
E. Wilson, Patrictic Gcre, I,:,o.
,. Ciuse, Camercn Hall, ,I_I, ,8, 8I.
,o. Ibid., ,8, _o8.
,I. Ibid., 8,, ,:,_o.
,:. Ibid., ,, 8I, I,:,_, ,I,I8.
,_. Ibid., ,I8, ,:o.
,. Ibid., ,_,, J. E. Cooke, Mchun, _,o. Ciuses position echoed, in pait, that of Spencei,
although Ciuse seemed much moie sympathetic towaid Confedeiate men.
,,. Foi an example of an anthology, see Putnam, Scuthern Amaranth. Putnam had no
:,8
i
o1is 1o v.cis o: ,o
shoitage of mateiial: Like Ruth aftei the gleaneis of Boaz, she explained in the an-
thologys pieface, I enteied the eld in expectation of nding only an occasional idyl foi
my culling, but the giowth of Southein sentiment seems destined to be peiennial and in-
exhaustible, and I deeply iegiet that a vast numbei of beautiful and woithy pioductions
aie compelled foi want of space to be ciowded out of this volume (v).
Geneial Daniel Haivey Hill founded The Land Ve Lcve. A Mcnthly Magazine Devcted
tc Literature, Military Histcry, and Agriculture in May I8oo. Although Hill piefeiied manu-
sciipts by men who fought in the wai, amateui poets inundated his oce with theii un-
solicited woiks. Hill iejected many of these compositions, but a signicant numbei still
found theii way in piint, a situation that undoubtedly pleased the authois, foi Hill paid his
contiibutois, a piactice that was iaie immediately following the wai. Nevei piotable, the
magazine folded in Decembei I8o,. Ciiculation piobably nevei exceeded twelve thousand
(Riley, Magazines, ,,Ioo, Atchison, The Land Ve Lcve).
Stephen D. Pool, a Noith Caiolina aitilleiy colonel, founded Our Living and Our Dead
in I8,_. In addition to camp and battleeld ieminiscences, the magazine ian exceipts
fiom womens jouinals and poetiy. Unlike The Land Ve Lcve, Pools magazine welcomed
poetiy, claiming that the poetiy that would be iun in Our Living and Our Dead will be
commemoiative of the events which occuiied duiing the wai, oi of the sentiments and
feelings of those who paiticipated in it, and memoiial sketches in veise of gallant oceis
and men who fell in battle, oi signicantly distinguished themselves (Riley, Magazines,
Io). Like The Land Ve Lcve, Our Living and Our Dead was nevei piotable, and it folded
in I8,o. Ciiculation has been estimated at aiound two thousand (Riley, Magazines, Io_oo,
Atchison, Our Living and Our Dead).
,o. Maigaiet Junkin Pieston, Acceptance, The Land Ve Lcve I (August I8oo): :o.
,,. Fanny Downing, They Aie Not Dead, Our Living and Our Dead I (Febiuaiy I8,,):
,oo, Lou Belle Custiss, Hallowd Giound, Atlanta Ccnstituticn, _ August I8o,, p. I, Cath-
eiine M. Waield, Manassas, in Scuthern Amaranth, ed. Putnam, :o, L. Viiginia Fiench,
Sheimanized, in Scuthern Amaranth, ed. Putnam, _:. Foi the woik of Ladies Confedei-
ate Memoiial Associations, see, foi example, iepoit of the Confedeiate Memoiial Associa-
tion of Lynchbuig, Viiginia, Atlanta Ccnstituticn, , Apiil I8o,, p. _, iepoit of the Geoigia
Memoiial Association, Atlanta Ccnstituticn, I: Decembei I8o,, p. I, Ladies Association to
Commemoiate the Confedeiate Dead Recoids, South Caioliniana Libiaiy, Univeisity of
South Caiolina, Columbia, Ladies Memoiial Association Recoids, SHC, Gieenville Ladies
Association in Aid of the Volunteeis of the Confedeiate Aimy Recoids, South Caiolini-
ana Libiaiy, Univeisity of South Caiolina, Columbia, Ladies Confedeiate Memoiial As-
sociation Recoids, UVA, Ladies Memoiial Association Recoids, Atlanta Histoiy Centei,
Atlanta. See also Fostei, Ghcsts, _8,, Rable, Civil Vars, :_,_,.
,8. Loula Kendall Rogeis copying book, I8,,8, Rogeis Papeis, Elmoie diaiy, vol. :,
I8o,:. Because diaiists iaiely cited the authois of paiticulai poems, it is fiequently dif-
cult to identify whethei the poem was oiiginal oi had been copied fiom anothei souice.
,,. Fostei, Ghcsts, o_, ,o.
oo. Sallie A. Biock, The Fall of Richmond, in Scuthern Amaranth, ed. Putnam, ,.
o1is 1o v.cis ,o, :
j
:,,
Chapter Three
I. Political theoiist Nancy Huston makes the point that in wiiting wai naiiatives, each
side must see itself as heioic. As she put it, theie is no such thing as enemic veise (Tales,
:,_).
:. Cumming, Gleanings, Io, II. The standaid woik on New South boosteiism iemains
Gastons New Scuth Creed, in which he aigues that the men of the postwai south con-
sciously set out to piomote southein industiy and cultuie by manipulating images of
the Old South. As Cummings Gleanings demonstiates, this activity was by no means ie-
stiicted to men.
_. Rebecca Latimei Felton, untitled MS, :, n.d., Rebecca Latimei Felton Papeis, UGA.
This bitteiness and contemptuousness peivades much of Feltons wiitings. Although she
always maintained that she, along with all white southein women, imly suppoited the
Confedeiacy duiing the wai, she also asseited that had white southein women been con-
sulted, the Civil Wai nevei would have been fought, foi they iealized that the cause was
lost and the saciices weie too gieat. See Felton, Ccuntry Lije.
. T. E. Watson, Negio Question, ,8. Foi the piomise and failuies of Populism and
the signicance of the Wilmington iace iiot, see Gilmoie, Gender and }im Crcw.
,. Ayeis, Prcmise, o_.
o. Geneial woiks on the post-Reconstiuction South include Ayeis, Prcmise, Daniel,
Breaking the Land, Litwack, Trcuble, Woodwaid, Origins, G. Wiight, Old Scuth, NewScuth.
,. Buck, Rcad, viii, Appleby, Reconciliation, Silbei, Rcmance, o,, E. Wilson, Patrictic
Gcre, ,o.
8. Cauthen and Jones, Coming, ::o, Page, Old Scuth, :,_,, Geoige, Pcpular Histcry,
:I::, J. A. Logan, Great Ccnspiracy, o,I, o,. The devil theoiy posited that southein
slaveowneis weie evil men lacking even the iudiments of Chiistian moiality, while noith-
ein abolitionists and the Republican paity weie as puie as the diiven snow (Cauthen and
Jones, Coming, ::,).
,. Silbei, Rcmance, , Cumming, Gleanings, I_. Foi infoimation on Fedeial and Con-
fedeiate ieunions, see, foi example, Fostei, Ghcsts, esp. chap. ,, Lindeiman, Embattled
Ccurage, esp. the epilogue, Silbei, Rcmance, esp. chap. . On the theme of foigetfulness, see
Silbei, Rcmance, _. If, in fact, foigetfulness, not memoiy, appeais to be the dominant
theme in the ieunion cultuie, as Silbei aigues, it is cuiious that veteians, both noithein
and southein, felt a collective need foi meetings. Foigetting would seem to be much easiei
without the tiappings of iitualized cultuial iemembiance.
Io. Ayeis, Prcmise, _o, John, Best Years, esp. I:,8o.
II. Richaid Watson Gildei to the editoi of a southein peiiodical, n.p., Io Octobei I88o,
in Gildei, Letters, _,:.
I:. S. Davis, A Mattei. See also pieface to Johnson and Buel, Battles and Leaders,
I:ixxi, Johnson, Remembered Yesterdays, I8,:_,.
I_. Editoiial, Century :8 (Octobei I88): ,_. See also John, Best Years, I:,, foi addi-
tional infoimation on the timing of the seiies.
I. Johnson, Remembered Yesterdays, I8,,o, :o8, S. Davis, A Mattei, __,o, John,
Best Years, I:,.
I,. Mis. E. J. Beale to the Centuiy Company, Suolk, Viiginia, I8 May :], Susie Bishop
to the editoi of Century magazine, :o Maich I8,I, Centuiy Company Recoids, Biooke
:8o
i
o1is 1o v.cis , o 8_
Russell Astoi Reading Room foi Raie Books and Manusciipts, New Yoik Public Libiaiy,
New Yoik. The les of the Centuiy Company iecoids aie biimming with letteis such as
these, but I mention only those wiitten by Maiy M. Guy (Chaileston, South Caiolina,
:, Febiuaiy I8,:), Mis. S. A. Elliott (Oxfoid, Noith Caiolina, II Novembei I88,), Mis.
E. W. Kyle (San Maicos, Texas, Io Apiil I88,), and Mis. William Muellei (St. Louis, Mis-
souii, :, August I88,). Foi infoimation on the iemuneiation ieceived by the foimei gen-
eials, see S. Davis, AMattei, _oI n.8. Foi guies on the payments ieceived by south-
ein women who sent theii manusciipts to the Century, see, foi example, Maiy Bedingei
Mitchell to editoi, :I May I88,, Oiia Langhoine to the Centuiy Company, Lynchbuig, Vii-
ginia, II May I88,, Maigaiet Junkin Pieston to Claience Buel, Lexington, Viiginia, I, May
I88o, Centuiy Company Recoids.
Io. Mis. Heibeit Elleibe to the editoi of Century magazine, Atlanta, Io Septembei I88,,
Lucy R. Mayo to the editoi of Century magazine, Hague, Viiginia, n.d., Maiy Bedingei
Mitchell to the editoi of Century magazine, Long Island, New Yoik, I8 Septembei I88,
Maiy Bedingei Mitchell to the editoi of Century magazine, :I Maich I88,, Mis. Jonathan
Coleman to Siis, Halifax County, Viiginia, n.d., Centuiy Company Recoids.
I,. Vaiina Davis to John D. Howe and Chailes E. Due, New Yoik, , June I,o:, and
Fannie Conigland Faiinholt to the editoi of Century magazine, Asheville, Noith Caiolina,
I Apiil I8,I, Centuiy Company Recoids.
I8. Maigaiet Junkin Pieston to Claience Buel, Lexington, Viiginia, , Octobei I88o],
Centuiy Company Recoids.
I,. Johnson, Remembered Yesterdays, I,I, Constance Caiy Haiiison, Viiginia Scenes in
oI, in Battles and Leaders, ed. Johnson and Buel, I:IoI, Io:, Thomas Nelson Page to Con-
stance Caiy Haiiison, Richmond, I August I88,, in the Buiton Noivell Haiiison Family
Papeis, Manusciipt Reading Room, Libiaiy of Congiess, Washington, D.C. Duiing the
I88os and eaily I8,os, Page had begun to shoie up his ieputation as a conciliatoiy wiitei
of plantation ction. See esp. his In Ole Virginia, ist collected in I88,, and Old Scuth. See
L. H. MacKethan, Dream, foi a ne study of plantation ction. Foi piaise similai to Pages
on Constance Caiy Haiiisons piece, see also, foi example, Saia A. Piyoi to Constance Caiy
Haiiison, n.p., n.d., and Fiank R. Stockton to Constance Caiy Haiiison, Chailottesville,
Viiginia, _o August I88,, Haiiison Family Papeis.
:o. Robeit U. Johnson to Constance Caiy Haiiison, NewYoik, I, Novembei I888, Hai-
iison Family Papeis, Constance Caiy Haiiison, Richmond Scenes in o:, in Battles and
Leaders, ed. Johnson and Buel, ::8, Constance Caiy Haiiison to Robeit U. Johnson,
New Yoik, n.d., Centuiy Company Recoids.
:I. Annie Lauiie Haiiis Bioidiick, A Recollection of Thiity Yeais Ago, I, :_:],
SHC.
::. Hague, Blcckaded Family, I,o.
:_. R. Tayloi, Destructicn and Reccnstructicn, :o,, Dabney H. Mauiy, Giant as Sol-
diei and Civilian, SHSP , (May I8,8): ::,, Rev. R. L. Dabney, Geoige W. Cable in the
Century Magazine, a Review, SHSP I_ (Maich I88,): I8,, J. A. P. Campbell, The Lost
Cause: A Masteily Vindication of It, SHSP Io (July I888): _I,.
:. Thomas Nelson Page to Giace King, quoted in E. Wilson, Patrictic Gcre, ooo. Page
was not the only southein male authoi to succumb to the iomance of ieunion. William C.
Falknei, gieat-giandfathei of William Faulknei, published The Vhite Rcse cj Memphis in
o1is 1o v.cis 8_ 8 ,
j
:8I
I88I. In a iecent biogiaphy of Faulknei, Singal notes that Falknei was iesolved in this
novel to avoid any mention of the iecent wai in which he had so actively paiticipated,
save foi a few shoit speeches in the standaid New South mode conceining the need to
foiget politics and get on with the business of ieunion. Theie was also a minoi subplot,
so typical of the liteiatuie of this peiiod, in which the daughtei of a noithein caipetbag-
gei is won ovei by a gallant southein Ivanhoe. . . . But othei than these stock devices of
the ieconciliation novel, Falknei stayed notably cleai of the inteisectional conict. Singal
suggests that this concession to a populai liteiaiy tiend stemmed laigely fiom Falkneis
desiie to see his novel in piint. Falkneis next novel, The Little Brick Church, published in
I88:, made no such concession. Peihaps because his ieputation had become ieasonably
well established, aigues Singal, Falknei now felt fiee to vent . . . some of his ieal attitudes
towaid the Noith (Villiam Faulkner, _o_,).
:,. Bonnei, Like untc Like, :I, :I_.
:o. Biyan, :8oo:8o,, I,:, Constance Caiy Haiiison, Ciows Nest, in Belhaven Tales,
I,o.
:,. McClelland, Brcadcaks, IoII, ,.
:8. Ibid., ,, :oI.
:,. Meiiwethei, Reccllecticns, ::,, Meiiwethei, Master, _:,Io.
_o. Silbei, Rcmance, esp. :,, I::. See also Appleby, Reconciliation.
_I. Bonnei, Like untc Like, II.
_:. Jeannette L. Gildei to Constance Caiy Haiiison, New Yoik, I, Apiil I8,o, Haiiison
Family Papeis.
__. New Books, Bcstcn Transcript, I_ Decembei I8,o, Jonathan Hubeit Claiboine to
Constance Caiy Haiiison, New Yoik], :8 Febiuaiy I8,I, and Constance Caiy Haiiison
diaiy, : Febiuaiy I8,o, Haiiison Papeis. Foi additional coiiespondence of this ilk, see
Mis. Buiton Haiiison coiiespondence les, Haiiison Family Papeis. Haiiison was in the
habit of iecoiding favoiable notices and comments on hei woik in hei diaiy. Aftei some
encouiaging woids fiom hei editoi, foi example, Haiiison confessed that she was so
giateful foi woids like thisnot in the least vain, I think, iathei humbly glad that my
hopes and longings foi success] may be coming tiue (C. C. Haiiison diaiy, I_ Maich
I8,o, Haiiison Family Papeis).
_. C. C. Haiiison, Flcwer de Hundred, I_, , _.
_,. Ibid., I8,.
_o. F. M. Williams, Vhcs the Patrict? _,. This tactic of using a nonslaveholdei to defend
the position of the Confedeiacy was populai. See also, foi example, Meiiwethei, Master,
_:oo.
_,. Cable, Dr. Sevier, _o,, _,I, Aaion, Unwritten Var, :,.
_8. Giace B. Elmoie, Light and Shadows, pt. :, pp. ,8, n.d., MS, Elmoie Papeis,
Biyan, :8oo:8o,, ,o, F. M. Williams, Vhcs the Patrict? _,.
_,. Loula Kendall Rogeis, Captuie of Piesident Jeeison Davis, :o Apiil I88o, un-
identied clipping in Rogeis Papeis.
o. Maigaiet Junkin Pieston, Peisonal Reminiscences of Stonewall Jackson, Century
_: (Octobei I88o): ,:,, ,_o. Foi a discussion of the ielationship between Stonewall Jackson
and his sistei-in-law, see Gaidnei, Sweet Solace.
I. Jackson, Lije and Letters, esp. ,o88, Maigaiet J. Pieston to the editoi of Century
:8:
i
o1is 1o v.cis 88 ,o
magazine, Lexington, Viiginia, :_ Febiuaiy I8,:, Centuiy Company Recoids. The sec-
ond piinting of the biogiaphy beais an apology fiom the publisheis: On pages ,o to 88
theie appeai fiequent and extended extiacts fioman inteiesting aiticle by Mis. Maigaiet J.
Pieston. . . . The appiopiiate ciedit foi the use of these extiacts was inadveitently omitted
fiom the ist edition of this woik, and the Publisheis aie glad of the oppoitunity to make
this acknowledgement to the authoi of the aiticle iefeiied to. Haipei and Biotheis also
apologized peisonally to Pieston, claiming that the failuie to cite the oiiginal authoi was
puiely inadveitent (Haipei and Biotheis to Maigaiet Junkin Pieston, NewYoik, II Maich
I8,:, coiiespondence les, Maigaiet Junkin Pieston Papeis, SHC).
:. Jackson, Lije and Letters, o,, Maigaiet Junkin Pieston to the editoi of Century maga-
zine, Lexington, Viiginia, :_ Febiuaiy I8,:, Centuiy Company Recoids. In one instance,
Anna Jackson wiote, It is the Rev. Di. Dabney who thus sketches the guie of the chief,
pulling two paiagiaphs fiom Dabneys Lije and Campaigns cj the Lieut.-General Thcmas }.
}ackscn, published in I8oo (Jackson, Lije and Letters, o,oo). It is not suipiising that Anna
Jackson named Dabney as hei souice but failed to name Pieston. In claiming his authoiity
foi wiiting his woik, Dabney explained that the widow and family of Geneial Jackson
entiusted himwith the task. Moieovei, he noted his position as Jacksons chief of sta dui-
ing the Valley and Chickahominy campaigns, claiming possession of peisonal knowledge
of the events on which the stiuctuie of his militaiy fame was ist ieaied (Lije and Cam-
paigns, vvi). That Anna Jackson was so caieful to iespect Dabneys peisonal knowledge
of hei late husband but not Piestons is telling, indeed. Peihaps even Jackson iecognized
the neai impossibility of inseiting heiself into the militaiy naiiative while iealizing the
possibilities of claiming the peisonal naiiative of hei late husband.
Maiy Anna Jackson was a bit moie foithiight in a biogiaphical sketch she wiote of hei
late husband foi Hearst Magazine. Desciibing hei ietuin to Lexington as a new biide, she
wiote that the Geneials sistei-in-law . . . gieeted me in the sweetest mannei. You aie
taking the place that my sistei had, she said, and so you shall be a sistei to me. This was
Maigaiet Junkin Pieston, whose inuence left such a stiong impiess upon the Geneial
(With Stonewall Jackson, _8o). It is impoitant to note that this sketch appeaied moie
than twenty yeais aftei the book-length biogiaphy was published.
Heniy M. Field, who wiote the intioduction to Anna Jacksons Lije and Letters, pei-
petuated this ction that the geneials widow held a piopiietaiy claim to the his life stoiy:
Knowing, as she only can know, all his woith . . . she is iight to let him speak foi him-
self in letteis] in these gentle woids that aie whispeied fiom the dust. And suie we aie
that those who have iead all the gieat histoiies of wai will tuin with fiesh inteiest to this
simple stoiy, wiitten out of a womans heait (Jackson, Lije and Letters, xvi).
_. Jackson, Lije and Letters, vvi, 8,.
. Ibid., :8. Foi a good discussion of the impoitance of Chiistianity in the foimation
of the myth of the Lost Cause, see C. R. Wilson, Baptized.
,. Jackson, Lije and Letters, :o, ::_:, Robeitson, Stcnewall Brigade, ,,o,. See also
Gaidnei, Sweet Solace, ,,oo. Foi an account of the Bath-Romney campaign suggest-
ing that Jacksons men questioned theii leadei, see Imboden, Stonewall Jackson. The
ieminiscences appeai in Jackson, Memcirs, ooo,.
o. J. Davis, Rise and Fall, ::,o_, Wyatt-Biown, Hcuse, Ioo. See also Blesei, Maiiiage,
:_:,.
o1is 1o v.cis ,, ,,
j
:8_
,. Wyatt-Biown, Hcuse, Io_o.
8. V. Davis, }eerscn Davis, ::I:, ,I, _o. One of Jeeison Daviss haishest ciitics was
Geneial William T. Sheiman, who, at a I88 meeting of the Giand Aimy of the Republic,
foi example, chaiged Davis with designing to tuin the masses in the Noith into slaves of
southeineis. Foi a iepiint of this allegation, see V. Davis, }eerscn Davis, ::8__,.
,. V. Davis, }eerscn Davis, ::I, Jackson, Lije and Letters, v.
,o. V. Davis, }eerscn Davis, ::,, I_,.
,I. Elshtain, Reections on Wai and Political Discouise, :, Higonnet, Civil Wais
and Sexual Teiiitoiies, ,. See also M. Cooke, Wo-Man, Higonnet, Not So Quiet.
,:. V. Davis, }eerscn Davis, :::o_, New Ycrk Times, _o Novembei I8,I, sec. I, p. .
,_. Pembei, Scuthern Vcmans Stcry, I_I.
,. Claia D. Maclean, The Last Raid, SHSP I_ (Decembei I88,): ,_, Giace Pieison
James Beaid, A Seiies of Tiue Incidents Connected with Sheimans Maich to the Sea
The Expeiiences of a Lady Who Lived in the Line of His Maich, o, n.d., TS, SHC.
,,. See Pembei, Scuthern Vcmans Stcry, I,_,,.
,o. Meiiwethei, Master, ::::o:,,
,,. Muifiee, Vhere the Battle Vas Fcught, ,o,,, I,. Foi a discussion of the uneven
development of southein industiy and the ways in which industiy inuenced the lives of
southeineis, see Ayeis, Prcmise, esp. chap. ,.
,8. Muifiee, Vhere the Battle Vas Fcught, Io,8.
,,. Ibid., 8,, ,o.
oo. Ibid., I:__, o, II_. Foi a discussion of women local coloiists in the second half of
the nineteenth centuiy, see A. D. Wood, Liteiatuie, esp. Io::. Muifiees family plan-
tation, Giantland, was oveiiun and destioyed duiing the wai, and this expeiience pio-
vided Muifiee with much of the plot foi Vhere the Battle Vas Fcught. Foi basic biogiaphi-
cal infoimation on Muifiee, see, foi example, Bain, Floia, and Rubin, Scuthern Vriters,
_:,.
oI. James R. Osgood to Maiy Noailles Muifiee, n.p., , July I88, Maiy Noailles Muifiee
Papeis, ESC. Sales and eainings guies foi the novel while it was published by Osgoods
imaie unavailable. Houghton Miin, howevei, picked up the iepiint iights by I88,, and
although theii iecoids indicate that Vhere the Battle Vas Fcught ceitainly was not a iun-
away best-sellei, it sold steadily fiom I88, thiough at least I,I,. Duiing that peiiod, it sold
almost :,,oo copies and eained Muifiee moie than one thousand dollais. See the ims
book sales and book eainings iecoids in the Houghton Miin Company Coiiespondence
and Recoids, Houghton Libiaiy, Haivaid Univeisity, Cambiidge, Massachusetts. Foi a
decade-by-decade bieakdown of the publication of Civil Wai liteiatuie, see Lively, Ficticn
Fights, ::.
o:. Rebecca Latimei Felton, The Industiial School foi Giils, ,_, I8 Febiuaiy I8,I, gal-
ley pioof, Felton Papeis.
o_. Rebecca Latimei Felton, Race Antipathy in the United States, n.d., MS, o, , Fel-
ton Papeis, Gilmoie, Gender and }im Crcw. On Felton and the iacial tensions of the late
I8,os, see Whites, Love.
o. Geoige Washington Cable, The Fieedmans Case in Equity, in Cable, Negrc ues-
ticn, ,I,:, ,_,. Williamson explained that Cables oithodox position on iace was shat-
teied when a mob of white men invaded the Giils High School in New Oileans] and
:8
i
o1is 1o v.cis ,, I o,
foicibly expelled eveiy giil suspected of Afiican descent, some of whom weie visibly in-
distinguishable fiom othei students who weie undeniably white. Cable was outiaged.
He simply could not accept a iacial system in which people who weie peifectly white in
appeaiance weie designated black (Rage, ,,).
o,. Giady quoted in Cable, Negrc uesticn, ,o. See Heniy Giady, In Plain Black and
White, Century :, (Apiil I88,): ,o,I,.
oo. Cable, Silent Scuth, IIo, II8, Aaion, Unwritten Var, :,,,, Giace King quoted in
Rubin et al., Histcry, :o_.
o,. Bonnei, Like untc Like, I,8,,, :I,I8.
o8. Meiiwethei, Master, ::I, _:,I.
o,. Ibid., _:,o,I, 888,, I,o.
,o. J. M. Cionly, Aftei the Wai, o, n.d. I88_:], MS, Jane Cionly Papeis, PL, Floia K.
Oveiman, Bushwackeis Retieat: An Incident of I8o,, _, Maveiick and Van Wyck Family
Papeis, South Caioliniana Libiaiy, Univeisity of South Caiolina, Columbia.
,I. Lively, Ficticn Fights, ::, :8.
,:. Beaid, Seiies of Tiue Incidents, I,.
Chapter Fcur
I. Glasgow, Deliverance, , ,I,Glasgow, Certain Measure, :,, see also _,_o.
:. Evans, Speckled Bird, I:I.
_. Mis. James Meicei Gainett, iepoit of the Histoiical Committee, in UDC, Minutes
cj the Tweljth Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in San
Franciscc, Calijcrnia, Ncvember :;::, :;o, (Opelika, Ala.: Post, I,oo), :I,, Gieen, Scuthern
Strategies, ,I. As Gieen notes, the UDC was one of the few oiganizations that puiposely
limited its membeiship to women fiom the middle and uppei middle classes (Scuthern
Strategies, ,I). Evei pieoccupied with ists, a nasty battle iaged within the UDC ovei its
oiigins. In fact, the I,oo convention foimed a special committee to investigate the iival-
ing claims of Caioline D. M. Goodlett of Nashville, Tennessee, and Mis. L. H. Raines of
Savannah, Geoigia, to having founded the UDC. The committee eventually sided with
Raines (Claim as Piesented by Mis. L. H. Raines, Savannah, Ga., United Daughteis of
the Confedeiacy, Mildied Lewis Rutheifoid Papeis, UGA). Foi published histoiies of the
UDC, see L. B. MacKethan, Chapter Histcries, Poppenheim et al., Histcry. See also pub-
lished UDC state division and national minutes UDCfoi this time peiiod. Many piivate
collections contain iich and valuable mateiial on the foimation of local chapteis of the
UDC. The following collections aie paiticulaily helpful: John Giammai Biodnax Papeis,
PL, Saiah Rebecca Cameion Papeis, SHC, James Meicei Gainett Papeis, UVA, Adeline
Buii Davis Gieen Papeis, PL, Mis. Thomas Baxtei Giesham Papeis, PL, Elizabeth Sea-
well Haiiston Papeis, SHC, Elviia Evelyna Mott Papeis, SHC, Eliza Hall Paisley Papeis,
SHC, Rutheifoid Papeis, UGA. A numbei of secondaiy woiks have been published on
womens oiganizations in the late nineteenth and eaily twentieth centuiies. Most deal with
clubs in the noitheast, but these woiks aie, neveitheless, useful. See, foi example, Blaii,
Clubwcman, Maitin, Scund, A. F. Scott, Natural Allies, Solomon, In the Ccmpany. Foi ex-
amples of women addiessing the United Confedeiate Veteians, see Women as Patiiots,
CV II (Novembei I,o_): ,o,oI, Miss Lumpkin to Geoigia Veteians, CV I: (Febiuaiy
I,o): o,,o.
o1is 1o v.cis I o, I ,
j
:8,
. Numbeis on membeis and chapteis weie compiled fiom guies in membeiship ie-
poits piinted in the minutes of the UDC annual conventions, I8,oI,o,.
,. Gainett, iepoit of the Histoiical Committee, I,,.
o. Stone, iepoit of the piesident-geneial, ,I, Mis. D. Giiaud Wiight, Maiyland and
the South, SHSP _I (May I,o_): :I.
,. A Nashville Daughtei, CV _ (Octobei I8,,): _o:.
8. South Caiolina Daughteis, CV , (Januaiy I8,,): I. As Gieen explains, The
Daughteis did not politicize domesticity as much as they ieinfoiced it. While the woik of
the UDC had a decidedly political agenda (the defense of the Confedeiate iebellion), it
caiefully maintained its nonpolitical faade. The oiganization insisted that the nonpoliti-
cal iole was the only piopei public iole available to women (Scuthern Strategies, ,I). See
The Veteian in I8,,, CV _ (Febiuaiy I8,,): _I, foi an eight-point plan foi the magazine.
,. Rebecca Cameion to Elviia Evelyna Mott, Hillsboio, Noith Caiolina, 8 Septembei,
I: Decembei I,o_, Mott Papeis.
Io. See, foi example, Ross, Histoiical Consciousness.
II. Piessly, Americans, I_o, I,I, I,, I,o. See Dodd, Some Diculties, I:I. See also, foi
example, W. Wilson, Histcry, Tient, Scuthern Statesmen, Bassett, Shcrt Histcry, Biown,
Lcwer Scuth, Dodd, Expansicn. On piovidential veisus seculai conceptions of histoiy and
theii histoiical development in the United States, see Ross, Histoiical Consciousness.
Ross fuithei developed these ideas in Origins, ::,,. On southeineis conviction that they
weie Gods chosen people and that God would vindicate theii defeat, see Faust, Creaticn,
esp. chaps. :_, C. R. Wilson, Baptized. The standaid woik on objectivity and histoiy
and the development of Ameiican giaduate schools is Novick, That Ncble Dream. See
also Kiaus, Histcry, esp. chap. ,, Loewenbeig, American Histcry, esp. chaps. I,:_, Wish,
American Histcrian, esp. chap. ,. Had membeis of the UDC been familiai with Heniy
Adamss I,o, essay, The Rule of Phase Applied to Histoiy, in which he pioclaimed con-
dently that the futuie of Thought, and theiefoie of Histoiy, lies in the hands of the
physicists, and that the futuie histoiian must seek his education in the woild of mathe-
matical physics (:8_), they would have vehemently disagieed.
I:. Adelia Dunovant, histoiical papei, addiess to the UDC, in UDC, Minutes cj the Fijth
Annual Meeting cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Hct Springs, Arkansas, Ncvem-
ber ;::, :8;8 (Nashville: Fostei and Webb, I8,,), ,,.
I_. E. F. Andiews, addiess of welcome, in UDC, Geoigia Division, Minutes cj the Sec-
cnd Annual Ccnventicn cj the Gecrgia Divisicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy,
held in Maccn, Gecrgia, Octcber ::::, :8;o (Augusta, Ga.: Chionicle Job Piinting, I8,,),
:o:I. Iiwin Huntington, in his pieface to Maiy Fiances Seibeits I8,, novel, Zulma,
similaily indicted iealism: In intioducing Zulma to the ieading public, he wiote, I
believe that in this day of piogiess and despite the inuence of the so-called iealistic lit-
eiatuie, theie aie still some who caie to pause now and then and cast a backwaid glance
at those institutions laid low by Time, the aich iconoclast (vii).
I. Shi, Facing Facts, ,, Aaion, Unwritten Var, :I8, Glasgow, quoted in Shi, Facing
Facts, o,.
I,. Dunovant, histoiical papei, ,8.
Io. B. B. Munfoid, The Vindication of the South, SHSP :, (Febiuaiy I8,,): 8:8_,
Allan, Lije and Letters, , Meiiick, Old Times, ,.
:8o
i
o1is 1o v.cis I I 8: _
I,. To the Histoiians of the Seveial State and Teiiitoiial Divisions, ciiculai, n.d., C. C.
Clay Papeis, PL. Dating of the document was veiied by the iepoit of the Histoiical
Committee, in UDC, Minutes cj the Eighth Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj
the Ccnjederacy, Held in Vilmingtcn, Ncrth Carclina, Ncvember :;o: (Opelika, Ala.: Post,
I,o:), I:o:8. The I,oI Histoiical Committee compiised some of the UDCs most inu-
ential membeis and was chaiied by Adelia Dunovant. Othei membeis included Mildied
Lewis Rutheifoid, Maiy B. Poppenheim, Viiginia Clay-Clopton, and S. T. McCullough.
I8. Recoid Book, I,oo:,, Secessionville Chaptei of the UDC, James Island, South
Caiolina, Io Decembei I,o,, I, Febiuaiy, I, Maich, :I Apiil, I, May I,Io, June I,II, UDC,
South Caiolina Division, Secessionville Chaptei Recoids, South Caioliniana Libiaiy, Uni-
veisity of South Caiolina, Columbia, Maiy B. Poppenheim, Mis. August Kohn, and Lulah
Ayei Vandivei, open lettei To the Chapteis of the South Caiolina Division of the United
Daughteis of the Confedeiacy, n.d., Cameion Papeis, Histoiical Study foi West Viiginia
Division, I,I:I_, MS, Maiy Calveit Stiibling Papeis, PL.
I,. Rutheifoid, Open Letter, :.
:o. Mildied Lewis Rutheifoid, State Histoiy, in UDC, Geoigia Division, Minutes cj
the Fijth Annual Ccnventicn cj the Gecrgia Divisicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjed-
eracy, Held in Athens, Gecrgia, Octcber :::,, :8;; (Rome, Ga.: Fletchei Smith, I,oo), :,.
:I. Haiiiet Cobb Lane, Some Wai Reminiscences, , Lillie Vause Aichbell Papeis,
SHC, Mis. Geoige Reid, untitled TS, I,II:], _, Agatha Abney Woodson Papeis, PL. In the
maigin of Lanes papei, Lillie Vause Aichbell claims to have iecoided the stoiy as dictated
by Lane, yet inteinal evidence suggests heavy editing by Aichbell. Foi examples of Ruthei-
foids wiitings, see hei Address . . . University Chapel, }eerscn Davis, Scuth Must Have
Her Rightjul Place, Scuth in Histcry, Address. Thirteen Pericds, Histcrical Sins, Truths.
::. Haiiiott Hoiiy Ravenel, Buining of Columbia, Febiuaiy I,th I8o,, I: Maich I8,8,
:, Haiiiott Hoiiy Ravenel Papeis, South Caioliniana Libiaiy, Univeisity of South Caio-
lina, Columbia.
:_. Repoit of the Histoiical Committee, CV _ (June I8,,): Io_, Io,, Io,, Mis. James
Gainett, histoiical iepoit, in UDC, Minutes cj the Eleventh Annual Ccnventicn cj the
United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in St. Lcuis, Misscuri, Octcber 8, :;o (Opelika,
Ala.: Post, I,o,), I,,:oI, Review of Histoiies Used in Southein Schools and Southein
Homes, iepiint of addiess by Anna Caioline Benning befoie the eighth annual convention
of the Geoigia Division, United Daughteis of the Confedeiacy, La Giange, Geoigia, :8
_o Octobei I,o:, in CV Io (Decembei I,o:): ,,o. See also Patiiotic School Histoiies, CV
, (Septembei I8,,): ,o,:, Di. S. H. Stout, Confedeiate Histoiy, CV II (Octobei I,o_):
o:o_, Ocial Repoit of the Histoiy Committee of the Giand Camp, C.V., Depaitment
of Viiginia, CV I: (Maich I,o): IoIo,. Foi secondaiy liteiatuie on the United Confed-
eiate Veteians and its eoits to ght the battles of the histoiies, see Bailey, Textbooks,
Hattaway, Clios Southein Soldieis.
:. Piyoi, Reminiscences, ,.
:,. Avaiy, Virginia Girl, vivii, Myita Lockett Avaiy, CV II (Apiil I,o_): I,.
:o. Avaiy, Virginia Girl, 8,, Mis. D. G. Wiight, Scuthern Girl, ,,.
:,. Clay-Clopton, Belle, I:_, Piyoi, Reminiscences, _:o:I.
:8. Ada Steiling to Viiginia Clay-Clopton, NewYoik], I July I,o_, I, Januaiy, :I Apiil
I,o, and Ada Steiling to Mis. Humes and Viiginia Clay-Clopton, New Yoik, I Novem-
o1is 1o v.cis I : _ I
j
:8,
bei I,o,, Viiginia Clay-Clopton coiiespondence les, Clay Papeis. The UDCs alleged ie-
fusal to endoise A Belle cj the Fijties seems odd, since Viiginia Clay Clopton was a ieveied
membei of the Alabama Division. The UDC latei endoised the book.
:,. Heniy Watteison to Viiginia Clay-Clopton, Louisville, Kentucky], o Novembei
I,o,, and Letitia Dowdell Ross toViiginia Clay-Clopton, Aubuin, Alabama], :o Febiuaiy
I,o,, Viiginia Clay-Clopton coiiespondence les, Clay Papeis, Emily Ritchie McLean to
Myita Lockett Avaiy, NewYoik, 8 May I,o_, Myita Lockett Avaiy Papeis, Atlanta Histoiy
Centei, Atlanta.
_o. My ideas on Longstieet weie developed and ist piesented in a somewhat dieient
foim in Gaidnei, Making.
_I. H. D. Longstieet, Lee and Lcngstreet, 8,, _:__, J. Longstieet, Frcm Manassas tc
Appcmattcx, xvi, o,. Weit, one of Longstieets biogiapheis, notes that the geneials mem-
oiis engendeied both piaise and censuie. His detiactois especially condemned him foi
his ciiticisms of Lee. He was also accused of shoddy ieseaich and of lacking a facile pen.
On balance, the woik enjoyed a good ieception, howevei (General }ames Lcngstreet, :_).
Foi an account of the shifting memoiies of Picketts chaige, see Reaidon, Picketts Charge.
_:. Connelly aigues that the gieatest postbellum sin committed against the Souths
cause was an attack on Lee. Because Gettysbuig was the gieatest tainish on Lees militaiy
iecoid, his followeis sought to cast the blame elsewheie, iesuscitating the image of Lee as
an invincible waiiioi. Longstieet piovided a convenient taiget (Marble Man, esp. 8_,o).
__. Weit, James Longstieet, I:8. Pendleton was an Episcopal ministei who spoke
thioughout the South in the I8,os. The seimon to which Helen Doitch Longstieet diiectly
iefeiied was deliveied by Pendleton on I, Januaiy I8,_ foi the dedication of the Lee Chapel
at Washington and Lee Univeisity in Lexington, Viiginia. See H. D. Longstieet, Lee and
Lcngstreet, ___, _I, ,o,,, see also Connelly, Marble Man, 88,. Foi a tiansciipt of the
seimon, see Helen Doitch Longstieet, Lee and Longstieet at Gettysbuig, n.d., TS, Helen
Doitch Longstieet Papeis, Atlanta Histoiy Centei, Atlanta. Foi additional infoimation
on the contioveisy, see, foi example, J. William Jones, The Longstieet-Gettysbuig Con-
tioveisy: Who Commenced It: SHSP :_ (JanuaiyDecembei I8,,): _:8, Waltei H.
Tayloi, Lee and Longstieet, SHSP : (JanuaiyDecembei I8,o): ,_,,, Heniy Alexan-
dei White, Gettysbuig Battle, SHSP :, (JanuaiyDecembei I8,,): ,:oo. Foi an account
of the Battle of Gettysbuig, see, foi example, McPheison, Battle Cry, chap. :I.
_. J. B. Goidon, Reminiscences, IoI, xxvii, Repoit of the Histoiical Committees, UDC,
CV I: (Febiuaiy I,o): o,.
_,. Gen. James Longstieet, CV I: (Febiuaiy I,o): 8o8,. Foi Goidons obituaiies,
see, foi example, Texas Daughteis Honoi Geneial Goidon, CV I: (Maich I,o): I,,,
UDCs Piesidents Repoit at St. Louis, CV I: (Decembei I,o): ,,o.
_o. H. D. Longstieet, Lee and Lcngstreet, ,.
_,. L. J. Goidon, General Gecrge E. Pickett, I,:, Pickett, Pickett, vii, ,. Foi an insightful
biogiaphy of the Picketts and a desciiption of La Salles eoits to bolstei hei husbands
tainished ieputation, see L. J. Goidon, General Gecrge E. Pickett.
_8. Pickett, Pickett, :o,, :,o, _I:, La Salle Coibell Pickett, Geneial Geoige E. Pickett:
His Appointment toWest PointALettei fiomHis Widow, SHSP : (JanuaiyDecembei
I8,o): I,_. Inteiestingly, in this lettei, La Salle Pickett was much moie contemptuous of
:88
i
o1is 1o v.cis I _ I _ ,
othei Confedeiate oceis who allowed the debacle to take place and who, in the post-
wai eia, envied Picketts ienowned fame: The gloiy of Picketts chaige at Gettysbuig
. . . will shine, in spite of Geneial John B.] Goidons jealousy, with evei incieasing lus-
tie as time iolls on, and the puiity of patiiotism is moie and moie iened and the tiuth
moie and moie cleaily ievealed. Histoiian Caiol Reaidon exploies the postwai dissec-
tions of Picketts chaige in Picketts Charge. She notes the stiuggles between Viiginians,
who claimed unpaialleled gloiy, and veteians fiom othei states, who insisted that Vii-
ginians inaccuiately poitiayed theii iole in the battle to exclude the paiticipation of non-
Viiginians. Picketts widow played a decisive iole in this debate: Sallies active paitisan-
ship helped to bieathe new life into the image of Pickett and his men, Reaidon wiote.
New cockiness emeiged in Viiginians naiiatives of the events of July _. They showed no
feai of the ciiticism heaped on them by Noith Caiolina and hei allies. Noi did they ie-
spond to the baibs of fellowViiginians. They simply dismissed all challenges. Richmonds
waitime veision of the chaige had pioved suciently duiable to suggest its entiie tiuth-
fulness (Picketts Charge, Io).
_,. Pickett, Pickett, I,_, I,.
o. H. D. Longstieet, Lee and Lcngstreet, ,.
I. Helen Doitch Longstieet to Seais W. Cabell, May I,_8, Helen Doitch Longstieet
Collection, GHS, Mis. L. H. Watson, Addiess of Mis. L. H. Watson, in UDC, Minutes
cj the Sixteenth Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in
Hcustcn, Texas, Octcber :;::, :;o; (Opelika, Ala.: Post, I,o,), _o,.
:. UDCtiibutes piinted in the appendix of H. D. Longstieets Lee and Lcngstreet, :,,
,8, _o,, _Io, Weit, James Longstieet, I:.
_. Evans, Speckled Bird, I, ::8. Mis. Mauiices low opinion of Kent is fuithei justi-
ed when it is ievealed that he had been involved in embezzlement and biibeiy schemes
duiing his tenuie as a U.S. senatoi.
. Ibid., ,,,o, II,:o.
,. See, foi example, ieviews of A Speckled Bird in Bcckman Io (Octobei I,o:): I,88,,
and Dial __ (Octobei I,o:): ___. Foi Wilsons iesponse to hei ciitics, see A. J. E. Wilson,
Authoi and Ciitic, Bcckman Io (Novembei I,o:): :_o_:.
o. Glasgow, Certain Measure, :8. Standaid ciitical biogiaphies on Glasgow include
Rapei, Vithcut Shelter, Rubin, Nc Place. See also A. G. Jones, Tcmcrrcw, chap. , Singal,
Var Vithin, chap . Glasgow published an autobiogiaphy, The Vcman Vithin. A paitial
list of ciitical essays on Glasgows ction peitinent to this discussion includes Attebeiiy,
Ellen Glasgow, B. Haiiison, Ellen Glasgows Revision, Holman, Ellen Glasgow.
,. Ellen Glasgow to Paul Reynolds, Richmond, Io Decembei I8,,, Ellen Glasgow
Papeis, UVA, Ellen Glasgow to Waltei Hines Page, : Decembei I8,,, in Glasgow, Letters,
:8:,.
8. Glasgow, Certain Measure, oI, Glasgow, Vcice, Io, ,,,, :Io. Standaid woiks on
Populism include Ayeis, Prcmise, Goodwyn, Demccratic Prcmise, Hahn, Rccts, McMath,
Pcpulist Vanguard, Palmei, Man cver Mcney, Woodwaid, Origins. Glasgow chose Vii-
ginia as the setting foi these social histoiies because of its symbolic impoitance in the
couise of southein histoiy. Contiaiy to the pictuie painted by Glasgow, howevei, Viiginia
was not a hotbed foi Populist activity. As Dailey points out, though, Viiginia did give iise
o1is 1o v.cis I _ 8
j
:8,
to an inteiiacial alliance, the Readjustei movement, in the immediate postemancipation
peiiod. Dailey ieads The Vcice cj the Pecple as a commentaiy on the Readjusteis failuie:
Ellen Glasgow saw the Readjusteis defeat, Dailey wiites, as iepiesentative of the pio-
cesses that tiansfoimed the idea of black-white coalition in the South fiom hopeful pos-
sibility to failuie. Foi Dailey, howevei, the most impoitant thing about the Readjusteis
was not theii failuie but theii existence and theii legacy (Bejcre }im Crcw, Io8).
,. Glasgow, Vcice,, Io, _o.
,o. Ibid., :.
,I. Glasgow, Certain Measure, ,, ,,, I,. Foi the ielation of Glasgows woiks to Victo-
iianism and modeinism, see, foi example, Singal, Var Vithin, chap. .
,:. Glasgow, Certain Measure, ,,, I:.
,_. Glasgow, Vcice, :,, ,, o,, ,:, III, II. In this sense, Uncle Ish iesembles Thomas
Nelson Pages Sam, the nostalgic slave fiom Pages most populai stoiy, Maise Chan. In
one of the most oft-quoted passages fiom Maise Chan, Sam wistfully ieminisces about
his days in bondage. Dem wuz good ole times, maisteide bes Sam evei see! Niggeis
didnt hed nothin t all to do, Sam explained, jus hed to ten to de feedin an cleanin
de hosses, en doin what de maistei tell em to do (In Ole Virginia, Io).
,. Reviewof The Vcice cj the Pecple, Lcuisville Ccurier-}curnal, :I Apiil I,oo, clippings
les, Glasgow Papeis, ieviewof The Vcice cj the Pecple, Dial :, (July I,oo): :, Ellen Glas-
gow to Waltei Hines Page, I: May I,oo, in Glasgow, Letters, _:. Foi a compaiison similai
to that in the Dial, see Bcckman II (June I,oo): _,8.
,,. Ellen Glasgow to Waltei Hines Page, I8 Apiil I,oo, in Glasgow, Letters, _o, Glasgow,
Certain Measure, :o, I:. Foi a minoi woik published a few yeais befoie The Battle Grcund
that oeis the standaid Lost Cause plot, see Caiins, Bcbbie.
,o. Glasgow, Battle-Grcund, _:_.
,,. Ibid., _.
,8. Ibid., :,8, II.
,,. Ibid., :,,_oo, _o,, foi the battle, see :,,_I_.
oo. Ibid., 8. Foi the lady in southein ction, see, foi example, A. G. Jones, Tcmcrrcw,
chap. I, Wolfe, Southein Lady, on plantation mistiesses, see Fox-Genovese, Vithin the
Plantaticn Hcusehcld. Foi an opposing view, see Clinton, Plantaticn Mistress.
oI. Glasgow, Battle-Grcund, ,Io. The most impoitant woik on pateinalism and south-
ein slaveholding iemains Genovese, Rcll, }crdan, Rcll.
o:. Glasgow, Certain Measure, ,, Glasgow, Battle-Grcund, __:, ,I:.
o_. Reviewof The Battle-Grcund, Critic, n.s., I (I,o:): :,,, Benjamin W. Wells, South-
ein Liteiatuie of the Yeai, Fcrum :, (Decembei I,oo): ,o8, ieview of The Battle-Grcund,
Lcuisville Ccurier-}curnal, :, Maich I,o:, clippings les, Glasgow Papeis, B. W. Wells,
Southein Liteiatuie, ,o8, Glasgow, Certain Measure, ::,. See also Cail Hovey, Seven
Novels of Some Impoitance, Bcckman I, (May I,o:): :,8. Foi a comment similai to that
of the Ccurier-}curnal ieviewei, see Dial _: (June I,o:): _8,.
o. Page, Red Rcck, I,I,.
o,. Ibid., viii, Hobson, Tell, I,, Cecelski and Tyson, intioduction to Demccracy Be-
trayed, ,, Thomas H. Caitei to Thomas Nelson Page, Decembei I, I8,8, quoted in Hobson,
Tell, I,o.
:,o
i
o1is 1o v.cis I , , _
oo. Glasgow, Certain Measure, I_, Giay, Scuthern Aberraticns, ,I, Glasgow, Deliverance,
I,, Io, :8, _I, :,, ,o. Louisiana authoi Ruth McEneiy Stuait also oeied an inveision
plot in hei I,o: tale of Reconstiuction, Napclecn }ackscn. Unlike Glasgow, who inveited
the social classes of southein whites, howevei, Stuait inveited the position of the iaces
in southein society. Napoleon Jackson, the gentleman, was as black as a ciow and of
the puiest Afiican blood. Moieovei, Stuait wiote hei tale so ieadeis could see the io-
mance, tiagedy, and foitunately foi all conceined, the comedy of the lives of Afiican-
Ameiicans in the Reconstiuction South (Napclecn }ackscn, ). Glasgow haidly oeied hei
novel in the spiiit of comedy.
o,. Glasgow, Deliverance, :,, ,o.
o8. Glasgow, Certain Measure, _, __, Glasgow, Deliverance, I,,, ,:. Glasgowchallenged
Pages contention that the plantations seived as a bieeding giound foi chivaliic heioes.
The dissolute Chiistophei Blake oeis a gieat contiast to Goidon Keith, the son of a
gentleman and the eponymous heio of Pages novel of Reconstiuction. Goidon is the son
of Geneial McDowall Keith, who suivived the downfall of the slaveholding South un-
changed, unmoved, unmaiied, an antique memoiial of the life of which he was a ielic.
Page noted that Keiths lineage was his only patiimony but that this legacy has seived
him well, helping him ovei many iough places. He caiiied it with him as a devoted Ro-
manist weais a sacied scapulaiy next to the heait. The plantation is Goidons woild,
the woods that iimmed it weie his hoiizon, as they had been that of the Keiths foi gen-
eiations. The collapse of his woild, howevei, fails to divest Goidon of his patiimony.
Goidon, too, is a southein gentleman (Page, Gcrdcn Keith, :, ). See also L. H. MacKethan,
Thomas Nelson Page, _::.
o,. Dixon, Clansman, :, Williamson, Rage, II_.
,o. Ellen Glasgow to Waltei Hines Page, :o Decembei I,o:, in Glasgow, Letters, oI.
Glasgow nevei commented on hei inveision of the standaid plot of the sexually chaiged
constiuction of Afiican-Ameiican mens lust and white womens viitue. But the image
of the vigoious white male piotecting the southein belle fiom the iapacious black beast
seems to be maintained laigely by white men. Peihaps southein men weie coveiing theii
own inadequacies, theii own loss in the wai. By iecasting themselves as dashing cavalieis,
piotectois, southein men could atone fiom the sin of defeat. Although southein women
vigoiously paiticipated in this ieconguiation of histoiy and the legacies of the wai, they
weie seemingly uninteiested in constiucting the white male piotectoi, theieby signaling
theii unwillingness to paiticipate inoi at least theii unease withthe aiticulation of a
poweiful iacial steieotype.
,I. William Moiton Payne, ieviewof The Deliverance, Dial _o (Febiuaiy I,o): II8, II,,
ieviewof The Deliverance, Lcuisville Ccurier-}curnal, Io Januaiy I,o, clippings les, Glas-
gowPapeis, Aichibald Hendeison, ieviewof The Deliverance, Sewanee ReviewI: (Octobei
I,o): o:, ieview of The Deliverance, Naticn ,8 (Maich I,o): :_,.
Chapter Five
I. Floience Faison Butlei to Maiy Anna Jackson, Washington, D.C., :o Maich I,I:,
Floience Faison Butlei coiiespondence les, Floience Faison Butlei Papeis, SHC. See also
Mis. Alexandei B. White to Floience F. Butlei, Noith Adams, Massachusetts, II Januaiy
o1is 1o v.cis I , oo
j
:,I
I,I:, and Hilaiy A. Heibeit, open lettei to UDC membeis, Washington, D.C., Apiil I,I:,
Floience Faison Butlei coiiespondence les, Butlei Papeis, foi the signicance convention
oiganizeis placed on the meetings location.
:. Maiy Anna Jackson to Floience F. Butlei, Chailotte, Noith Caiolina, : Apiil I,I:,
Floience Faison Butlei to Maiy Anna Jackson, Washington, D.C., :o Maich I,I:, Mildied
Lewis Rutheifoid to Floience F. Butlei, Athens, Geoigia, : Septembei, _ Octobei I,I:,
and Floience Faison Butlei to Mis. Alexandei B. White, Washington, D.C., _o Septembei
I,I:, Floience Faison Butlei coiiespondence les, Butlei Papeis.
_. Mis. L. Eustace Williams, Leonoia Rogeis Schuylei, and Mis. (A. A.) Susie S. Camp-
bell, Repoit of Committee on Wai between States, in UDC, Minutes cj the Nineteenth
Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in Vashingtcn, D.C.,
Ncvember :,:o, :;:: (Jackson, Miss.: McCowat Meicei, I,I_), _I,Io.
. Addiess of Piesident Taft to the United Daughteis of the Confedeiacy, Novembei
I,I:, Floience Faison Butlei coiiespondence les, Butlei Papeis.
,. Addiess of the Piesident, in UDC, Minutes, I,I:, 8,. It is notewoithy that Wilson
segiegated Washington, D.C., thus lending incieased ciedence to the southein solution to
the Negio pioblem.
o. Isabell Woibell Ball, The U.D.C., Vashingtcn (D.C.) Naticnal Tribune, :I Novem-
bei I,I:, Floience Faison Butlei clippings les, Butlei Papeis. Ball incuiied the wiath of
the UDC leadeiship foi this aiticle: Butlei contacted a lawyei iegaiding the mattei (see
Floience F. Butlei to James Tannei, Washington, D.C., :, Decembei I,I:, and James Tan-
nei to Floience F. Butlei, Washington, D.C., :, Novembei I,I:, Floience Faison Butlei
coiiespondence les, Butlei Papeis).
,. Rhodess majoi woiks on the Civil Wai include Histcry cj the United States (, vols.),
Lectures, and Histcry cj the Civil Var. Foi infoimation on Rhodes, see, foi example, Piessly,
Americans, I:, see also I_,,.
8. Dunning, Reccnstructicn, xv, :o, :I_I.
,. Rutheifoid, Vrcngs, _, Rutheifoid, Address . . . NewVillard Hctel, , o, Mildied Lewis
Rutheifoid, Repoit of the Histoiian-Geneial, in UDC, Minutes cj the Twenty-rst An-
nual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in Savannah, Gecrgia,
Ncvember :::, :;: (Raleigh, N.C.: Edwaids and Bioughton, I,I,), Io:. See also Loyalty
to the South and the Souths Ideals, n.d., MS, Rutheifoid Papeis, UGA.
Io. Mis. J. Endeis Robinson, Repoit of the Histoiian-Geneial, in UDC, Minutes cj the
Eighteenth Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in Rich-
mcnd, Virginia, Ncvember :::, :;:: (Paducah, Ky.: Paducah Piinting, I,II), Io,, Mis. L. H.
Watson, Addiess, _ooo,.
II. Annah Robinson Watson, Repoit of Committee on Endoisement of Books, in
UDC, Minutes, I,I, :,I, :,:, Rosa H. Mullins to Maiy Calveit Stiibling, Clay, West Vii-
ginia, :8 Febiuaiy I,II, Stiibling Papeis.
I:. Mis. A. R. Howaid, iesolution, in UDC, Minutes, I,II, :,, _I, A. S. Salley Ji. to Louisa
B. Poppenheim, Columbia, South Caiolina, :8 Febiuaiy I,o,, Louisa B. and Maiy B.
Poppenheim Coiiespondence, PL.
I_. Rutheifoid, Scuth in the Building, ,o.
I. Sketch of David C. Milling, by his daughtei, and Lucy Davis King, Sketch of
:,:
i
o1is 1o v.cis I oo oo
John K. McIvei, in UDC, South Caiolina Division, John K. McIvei Chaptei, Treasured
Reminiscences, _, I_I.
I,. Kate Mason Rowland, English Fiiends of the South, in UDC, Three Papers, Io,
Mis. Samuel Posey, The Fight between the Fiist Iionclads, n.d., TS, and Mis. Geoige B.
Russell, The Women of the Sixties, n.d., TS, Ccnjederate Veteran Papeis, PL. See also,
foi example, Poseys Lee at Lexington, n.d., Ccnjederate Veteran Papeis.
Io. Carclina and the Scuthern Crcss I (Novembei I,I:): I, I (Maich I,I_): I, Mis. Lloyd K.
Wooten, Lee Did Not Apologize, Carclina and the Scuthern Crcss I (Decembei I,I_):
:o. Aichbell faced diculties in hei publication schedule. Aftei the inauguial issue of hei
magazine, she suspended publication foi foui months. When she iesumed, she iestaited
the numbeiing with volume I, numbei I.
I,. Editoiial, Carclina and the Scuthern Crcss : (July I,I): Io.
I8. C. Haiiis, Reccrding Angel, 8:8_. See Caiiey S. Johnston to Coiia Haiiis, Cam-
biidge, Massachusetts, I, Maich I,I:, Coiia Haiiis Papeis, UGA.
I,. In I8,o, the ist yeai foi which membeiship guies aie available foi the national
oiganization, moie than 8, peicent of the UDCs chapteis weie located in the states of the
foimei Confedeiacy. Twenty yeais latei, the numbei had decieased to ,_ peicent. While
only a handful of chapteis existed in states outside of the South duiing the UDCs eaily
yeais, neaily eveiy state soon boasted a chaptei, with NewYoik home to the laigest num-
bei of chapteis.
:o. Muhlenfeld, Mary Bcykin Chesnut, I,I, Woodwaid, intioduction to Chesnut, Mary
Chesnuts Civil Var, xxv.
:I. Muhlenfeld, Mary Bcykin Chesnut, _II, Chesnut, Mary Chesnuts Civil Var, xvliii.
::. Isabella D. Maitin and Myita Lockett Avaiy to Fiancis W. Halsey, Columbia, South
Caiolina, , Januaiy I,o, Avaiy Papeis.
:_. Fiancis W. Halsey to Myita Lockett Avaiy, New Yoik], _, _o Septembei I,o, and
Myita Lockett Avaiy to Fiancis W. Halsey, Mecklenbuig, Viiginia, I, Octobei I,o, Avaiy
Papeis.
:. Myita Lockett Avaiy to Fiancis W. Halsey, Columbia, South Caiolina, : Decembei
I,o, W. W. Appleton to Isabella D. Maitin, NewYoik], , Decembei I,o, and Fiancis W.
Halsey to Isabella D. Maitin, New Yoik], I_ Decembei I,o, Avaiy Papeis.
:,. Myita Lockett Avaiy to Fiancis W. Halsey, Columbia, South Caiolina, :o Januaiy
I,o,, Avaiy Papeis. See also Myita Lockett Avaiy to Rogei Bowen, Columbia, South Caio-
lina, _I Januaiy I,o,, Avaiy Papeis, foi a fullei discussion of Avaiy and Maitins objections
to the teim Civil Wai, including Avaiys feais that she would foievei be condemned by
hei fiiends and family if she weie associated with the phiase.
:o. M. M. Kiikman to Isabella D. Maitin, :8 Maich I,o,, quoted in Muhlenfeld, Mary
Bcykin Chesnut, 8, Selene Ayei Aimstiong, ieviewof A Diary jrcm Dixie, by Maiy Boykin
Chesnut, n.d., _,, clipping in Avaiy Papeis.
:,. Woodwaid, intioduction to Chesnut, Mary Chesnuts Civil Var, xxvii.
:8. Andiews, Var-Time }curnal, I, ,o.
:,. Ibid., , ,.
_o. Ibid., I:,, II, I_.
_I. Ibid., I.
o1is 1o v.cis I o , , ,
j
:,_
_:. De Saussuie, Old Plantaticn Days, ,Io, I,, I8.
__. Ibid., I,:o, Io:. Dixon, the authoi of thiity novels, wiote The Lecpards Spcts in
I,o:. This woik and Dixons follow-up novel, The Clansman (I,o,), tell the histoiy of
the white southein iace aftei the wai. The two volumes foimed the basis foi the I,I epic
lm Birth cj a Naticn.
_. Battle, Fcrget-Me-Ncts, II, :,:o, __, _,.
_,. Ibid, III:, I_,.
_o. Ibid., __, _,.
_,. Ibid., Io,o8. Foi an exploiation of the ways in which newly emancipated Afiican
Ameiican women exeicised theii iights, see T. W. Huntei, Tc }cy My Freedcm.
_8. Battle, Fcrget-Me-Ncts, I,I,.
_,. S. M. Dawson, Ccnjederate Girls Diary, x. Chailes East, editoi of the I,,I edition
of the diaiy, noted that Moigan made some alteiations to the diaiy as she tiansciibed it,
including maiginal comments, excisions, and occasional coiiections of spellings. East
also iepoited that Moigan wiote entiiely in ink, enabling himin some cases to deteimine
whethei hei notations between the lines in the maigins of the page weie contempoiane-
ous by compaiing the ink with the oiiginal entiy. East asseited in a footnote that the
manusciipt diaiy vindicates Saiah (East, intioduction to S. M. Dawson, Civil Var Diary,
xxx, xxxiii n._o).
o. S. M. Dawson, Ccnjederate Girls Diary, xiii.
I. Ibid., _I_:.
:. R. E. Blackwell to Waiiington Dawson, Ashland, Viiginia, o Octobei I,I_, Fiancis
Waiiington Dawson Papeis, PL, Elise Ripley Noyes to Waiiington Dawson, Stamfoid,
Connecticut, I_ Febiuaiy I,I, Dawson Papeis.
_. Reviews of A Ccnjederate Girls Diary, by S. M. Dawson, in Philadelphia Enquirer,
:, Septembei I,I_, Springeld (Illincis) Republican, I Octobei I,I_, Charlestcn (Scuth Carc-
lina) Sunday News, : Novembei I,I_, and Milwaukee Free Press, :o Octobei I,I_, Fiancis
Waiiington Dawson Sciapbook, I88I,I,, Dawson Papeis.
. Thiuston, Called, viiviii, R. H. Waiien, Scuthern Hcme, o,oo, Seabiook, Daugh-
ter, ,.
,. Thiuston, Called, oo,, R. H. Waiien, Scuthern Hcme, I.
o. Selph, Texas, o, Kennedy, Cicely, :o, :oI, Annah Robinson Watson, Repoit of
Committee, in UDC, Minutes, I,I, :,:, Thiuston, Called, I:o.
,. Pickett, Bugles, ,, II,.
8. Ibid., IooIoI, Io: ooo,.
,. Ibid., IIo, I, I:.
,o. Reaidon, Picketts Charge, I8o, I,8, Gallaghei, Lee and His Generals, ::8, ::,, :__I,
J. Longstieet, Lee (also published in SHSP , JanuaiyFebiuaiy I8,,]: ,8o, J. Long-
stieet, Mistakes (also published in SHSP , June I8,8]: :,,,o), Edwaid Poitei Alex-
andei, Lettei fiom Geneial E. P. Alexandei, Late Chief of Aitilleiy, Fiist Coips, A.N.V.,
SHSP (Septembei I8,,): ,,III.
,I. Selph, Texas, ,8.
,:. Kennedy, Cicely, ,I, _o,.
,_. Seabiook, Daughter, ,, :,,,,.
,. A. G. Jones, Tcmcrrcw, :,_, :_8, Glasgow, Virginia, ,, I:, :I::.
:,
i
o1is 1o v.cis I , , 8 ,
,,. Ibid., Io:, Io,, :,,, ,o, A. G. Jones, Tcmcrrcw, :o.
,o. Glasgow, Virginia, I_, ,, ,.
,,. Ibid., _o,,o.
,8. See the following ieviews of Virginia, by Ellen Glasgow: Sewanee Review :I (Octo-
beiDecembei I,I_): ,oo, Naticn ,o (:: May I,I_): ,:, Ncrth American Review I,, (June
I,I_): 8,o.
,,. A. G. Jones, Tcmcrrcw, :o, :,_.
oo. Maiy Johnston, Autobiogiaphy, n.d. I,ooIo:], edited and typed by Elizabeth
Johnston, I,,_, Maiy Johnston Papeis, UVA, Maiy Johnston to Thomas Nelson Page, Bii-
mingham, Alabama, :8 Apiil I8,,, Thomas Nelson Page Papeis, PL, Maiy Johnston diaiy,
Io August I,o8, Johnston Papeis. See also Feiiis Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, Boston,
, June I,o,, Johnston Papeis. Foi biogiaphical infoimation on Maiy Johnston, see Cella,
Mary }chnstcn, foi an assessment of hei histoiical ction, see L. G. Nelson, Maiy Johns-
ton, Wagenknecht, Woild.
oI. Singal, Var Vithin, _,_o, Glasgow, Certain Measure, I:.
o:. Sales and eainings guies compiled fiomthe Houghton Miin Account les, Johns-
ton Papeis, see also Houghton Miin Company, sales and eainings books, I8,8I,I,
Houghton Miin Company Coiiespondence and Recoids, ioyalty guies foi the play
pioduction of Audrey, I,o:Io, and statements fiom the Famous Playei Film Company,
I,Io:I, Johnston Papeis. The Gcddess cj Reascn had sold only ,o8 copies by I,Io (sales
guies compiled fiom the Houghton Miin Account les, Johnston Papeis, see also sales
and eainings books, Houghton Miin Company Coiiespondence and Recoids).
o_. Robeit A. Lively notes that aftei a diop in the numbei of Civil Wai novels published
duiing Reconstiuction, the numbeis begin to steadily iise, peaking in the ist decade of
the twentieth centuiy. Between I8o: and I8o,, o, wai novels weie published, in I8,o,,,
I,, in I88o8,, ,, in I8,o,,, ,o, in I,ooI,o,, IIo, and in I,IoI,, ,, (Ficticn Fights, ::).
o. Johnston diaiy, : August, , Septembei I,o8. Johnstons backgiound ieading list
included Hendeison, Stcnewall }ackscn, Mauiy, Reccllecticns, Alexandei, Var, J. E. Johns-
ton, Narrative, Wyeth, Lije, Chesnut, Diary jrcm Dixie (which Johnston found heait
bieaking), R. Tayloi, Destructicn and Reccnstructicn, J. B. Goidon, Reminiscences, and
Long, Memcirs, as well as thiity volumes of the Scuthern Histcrical Scciety Papers and the
hundied + odd volumes in the Var cj the Rebellicn seiies. Weaiy woik, she noted on
: Septembei I,o8 (Johnston diaiy, AugustSeptembei I,o8).
o,. Johnston diaiy, :, May I,o,, Feiiis Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, Boston, , June I,o,,
Johnston Papeis.
oo. Feiiis Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, Boston, :, _o Decembei I,Io, Maiy Otto Kyll-
man to Maiy Johnston, London, England], : Januaiy I,II, Johnston Papeis.
o,. Feiiis Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, Boston, Io Octobei I,o,, : May I,Io, Johnston
Papeis. Gieenslet did not nd fault with all of Johnstons desciiptions of battles (see Feiiis
Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, Boston, I, Novembei, Io Decembei I,Io, Johnston Papeis).
o8. M. Johnston, Lcng Rcll, :oI, :o_.
o,. Feiiis Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, Boston, 8 Maich I,II, Johnston Papeis.
,o. Maiy Johnston to Feiiis Gieenslet, WaimSpiings, Viiginia], n.d. 8II Maich I,II],
Feiiis Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, Boston, II Maich I,II, Johnston Papeis. Johnston latei
gave a gieat deal of thought to hei nancial futuie. Acknowledging that hei wiiting had
o1is 1o v.cis I 88 ,,
j
:,,
changed diamatically since hei eaily eoits, she aimed hei latei woiks but admitted, I
am veiy tiuly and ieally conceined as to my futuie eaining capacity (Maiy Johnston to
Feiiis Gieenslet, Waim Spiings, Viiginia], :, Octobei I,I, Houghton Miin Company
Coiiespondence and Recoids).
,I. Houghton Miin Eainings Book, I,II, Houghton Miin Company Coiiespon-
dence and Recoids, M. Johnston, Lcng Rcll, _8.
,:. M. Johnston, Lcng Rcll, 8, Io.
,_. Johnston diaiy, , Septembei I,o8, M. Johnston, Lcng Rcll, :::_, I,,.
,. Maiy Johnston to Mis. Heniy Tiacey, Waim Spiings, Viiginia, :o June I,I:, Johns-
ton Papeis.
,,. Piose Epic of the Civil Wai, Baltimcre Sun, June I,II, clipping in Johnston Papeis.
,o. The Long Roll: Miss Johnstons Stoiy of Stonewall Jackson and His Battles,
Charlestcn (Scuth Carclina) News, :8 May I,II, Maiy Johnston Has Splendid New Book,
Dallas News, :o July I,II, and New Ycrk Evening Glcbe, I_ May I,II, clippings in Johnston
Papeis.
,,. M. Johnston, Lcng Rcll, II, I:, I,:.
,8. Ibid., Io_o.
,,. Maiy Anna Jackson, Mis. Stonewall Jackson Denounces The Long Roll, New
Ycrk Times Sunday Magazine, :, Octobei I,II, pp. o,, see also Mis. Jackson Wiites of
The Long Roll, CV I, (Decembei I,II): ,,I.
8o. Captain J. P. Smith, Stonewall Jackson: His Chaiactei, CV I, (Octobei I,II): ,o.
8I. Ibid., ,,,8.
8:. Maiy Johnston, Maiy Johnston Defends The Long Roll, CV I, (Novembei I,II):
,8.
8_. Minutes Book, I,oo:,, Secessionville Chaptei of the UDC, James Island, South
Caiolina, I, Octobei, Io Novembei I,II, UDC, South Caiolina Division, Secessionville
Chaptei Recoids, Joseph Ames to Maiy Johnston, Baltimoie, :, Octobei I,II, Johnston
Papeis, WilliamClayton Toiience, Geneial Stonewall Jackson and The Long Roll: ARe-
ply to Miss Johnstons Ciitics, Richmcnd Times-Dispatch, I, Novembei I,II, p. ,, clipping
in Johnston Papeis, Feiiis Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, Boston, _I Octobei I,II, Johnston
Papeis.
8. Feiiis Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, Boston, 8 Febiuaiy August I,I:, Johnston
Papeis.
8,. Feiiis Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, Boston, :8 Septembei I,I:, Johnston Papeis.
8o. M. Johnston, Cease Firing! I,, :o, Feiiis Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, Boston,
I8 Septembei I,I:, Johnston Papeis.
8,. Feiiis Gieenslet to Maiy Johnston, I8 Septembei I,I:, Johnston Papeis, M. Johns-
ton, Cease Firing! _,.
88. M. Johnston, Cease Firing! ,_, _:,.
8,. Joseph Ames to Maiy Johnston, Baltimoie, :8 Novembei I,I:, Johnston Papeis, Vil-
mingtcn (Delaware) Every Evening, Io Novembei I,I:, and Minneapclis }curnal, , Januaiy
I,I_, clippings in Johnston Papeis.
,o. Muifiee, Stcrm Centre, :II,, :o,, :,_.
,I. Muifiee, Raid, ,, :8, ,o,I.
,:. Muifiee, The Lost Guidon, in Raid, I_, I,, Io_.
:,o
i
o1is 1o v.cis I ,o :o,
Chapter Six
I. Helen Doitch Longstieet to managei, Sciibneis Publisheis, Washington, D.C., , Au-
gust I,_, Helen Doitch Longstieet Collection, GHS.
:. Chailes Sciibneis Sons to Helen Doitch Longstieet, NewYoik, :_ August I,_, Helen
Doitch Longstieet Collection, GHS.
_. Helen Doitch Longstieet, The Gallant Southion, n.d., TS, Helen Doitch Longstieet
Collection, GHS.
. Fieeman, R. E. Lee, I:vii, xiv.
,. Mis. Dunbai Rowland, Repoit of the Peace Committee, in UDC, Minutes cj the
Twenty-third Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in Dallas,
Texas, Ncvember 8::, :;:o (Raleigh, N.C.: Edwaids and Bioughton, I,I,), _I,, Biidie A.
Owen, Repoit of the Piesident, Tennessee Division, U.D.C., in UDC, Minutes cj the
Twenty-jth Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in Lcuis-
ville, Kentucky, April :,, :;:; (Kansas City: Kellog Baxtei, I,I,), ,:.
o. Coidelia Powell Odenheimei, Repoit of the Piesident Geneial, in UDC, Minutes
cj the Twenty-jcurth Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held
in Chattanccga, Tennessee, Ncvember ::,, :;:, (Richmond: Richmond Piess, I,I8), II_,
Resolution Oeied by the J. Z. Geoige Chaptei and Adopted by the Mississippi Division
in Convention at Gieenwood, Miss., May _, I,I,, CV :, (July I,I,): _:,.
,. Fiom the Piesident Geneial, CV :, (May I,I,): :_o, Fiom the Piesident Geneial,
CV :, (June I,I,): :8o, Fiom the Piesident Geneial, CV :, (August I,I,): _,o.
8. Fiom the Piesident Geneial, CV :o (Januaiy I,I8): _o, H. C. L. to Maiy Calveit
Stiibling, Washington, D.C., Io Januaiy I,I8, Stiibling Papeis, Geoigia Division United
Daughteis of the Confedeiacy Wai Relief, Repcrt cj the Twenty-jcurth Years Vcrk, Gecr-
gia Divisicn United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Ccnventicn tc Have Been Held in Atlanta,
Gecrgia, Octcber :::,, :;:8 (n.p., n.d.), _,I, Mis. Cabell Smith, Repoit of the Vii-
ginia Division, CV :o (Febiuaiy I,I8): 8,, Agnes Hallibuiton, Repoit of the Aikansas
Division, CV :o (Febiuaiy I,I8): 88.
,. Louise Ayei Vandivei, Repoit of the South Caiolina Division, CV :o (Maich I,I8):
I:,, Anne Bachman Hyde, Repoit of the Histoiian-Geneial, in UDC, Minutes, I,I,, I8_,
UDC Piogiam foi Maich I,I8, CV :o (Maich I,I8): I_o, UDC Piogiam foi June I,I8,
CV :o (May I,I8): ::o, UDC Piogiam foi August I,I8, CV :o (July I,I8): _:o.
Io. Anne Bachman Hyde to state histoiians, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Febiuaiy I,I,,
Stiibling Papeis. See also Piizes foi I,::, Woild Wai Recoid Committee, and Heio
Scholaiships, in Minutes cj the Twenty-eighth Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daugh-
ters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in St. Lcuis, Misscuri, Ncvember 8::, :;:: (Jackson, Tenn.:
McCowat-Meicei, I,::), :_, I,o, I:,, Mis. John W. Goodwin, Confedeiate Descendants
in the Woild Wai, in UDC, Minutes cj the Twenty-ninth Annual Ccnventicn cj the United
Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in Birmingham, Alabama, Ncvember, ::8, :;:: (Jack-
son, Tenn.: McCowat-Meicei, I,:_), _:8.
II. Miss E. H. Hanna, Repoit on the Committee of Southein Liteiatuie and Endoise-
ment of Books, in Minutes, I,I,, _,8, Mis. Alexandei B. White, Repoit of the Editoi of
the UDCs Depaitment of the Ccnjederate Veteran, in UDC, Minutes cj the Twenty-sixth
Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in Tampa, Flcrida,
Ncvember :::,, :;:; (Jackson, Tenn.: McCowat-Meicei, I,:o), :o:.
o1is 1o v.cis : I oI ,
j
:,,
I:. Mis. J. A. Rountiee, Repoit of the Insignia Committee, in UDC, Minutes cj the
Thirtieth Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the Ccnjederacy, Held in Vashing-
tcn, D.C., Ncvember :o:, :;:, (Jackson, Tenn.: McCowat-Meicei, I,:), :o_, :o,, min-
utes, Executive Boaid, Geoigia Division, United Daughteis of the Confedeiacy, :, Januaiy
I,:, Caiswell Collection, GHS, Mis. J. A. Rountiee, Repoit of the Insignia Commit-
tee, in UDC, Minutes cj the Thirty-third Annual Ccnventicn cj the United Daughters cj the
Ccnjederacy, Held in Richmcnd, Virginia, Ncvember :o:o, :;:o (Jackson, Tenn.: McCowat-
Meicei, I,:,), I,:.
I_. State Histoiical Piogiam, I,:o, and Women of the South inWai Times, I,_os:],
Caiswell Collection.
I. Selph, The Scuth, ,, _,, Io. Foi an account of histoiians use of nationalism, see
Pottei, The Scuth, _8_.
I,. Cauthen and Jones, Coming, :__, :_, Pottei, ieview, oo. See also Malvasi, Unre-
generate Scuth, Piessly, Americans, :_,,_, Twelve Southeineis, Ill Take My Stand, oI,I.
Io. Helen Doitch Longstieet to the editoi of the Vashingtcn (D.C.) Star, Washington,
D.C., , May I,_, Helen Doitch Longstieet to Eleanoi Patteison, Washington, D.C., , May
I,_, Helen Doitch Longstieet to Deaily beloved Maigaiet, Washington, D.C., , May
I,_, Helen Doitch Longstieet to Mi. McFadden, Washington, D.C., Io June I,_, and
Helen Doitch Longstieet to Mi. Meyei, Washington, D.C., I: Octobei I,_, Helen Doitch
Longstieet Collection, GHS.
I,. Helen Doitch Longstieet to the editoi of the Burlingtcn (Vermcnt) Free Press, Loiton,
Viiginia, I,_,. See also, foi example, Helen Doitch Longstieet to Mi. Lay, Loiton, Vii-
ginia, I, August I,_,, and Biuce Rae to Helen Doitch Longstieet, New Yoik, I, August
I,_,, Helen Doitch Longstieet Collection, GHS.
I8. See Intioduction to Gloiys Bivouac, I,_o_,:], TS, Helen Doitch Longstieet Col-
lection, GHS.
I,. Gloiys BivouacContents, The Bugles aie Calling, and covei page of Gloiys
Bivouac, n.d. I,_,:], TS, Helen Doitch Longstieet Collection, GHS.
:o. Piessly, Americans, :o.
:I. Pickett, Vhat Happened, I:o, _o, _.
::. Ibid., 8,, 8o.
:_. Ibid., 8,, ,I,:. See Lindeiman, Embattled Ccurage, foi a discussion of the ways in
which the expeiience of combat changed peiceptions of wai.
:. Pickett, Vhat Happened, Io,, Io,, :oo:oI.
:,. Felton, Ccuntry Lije, ,, 8_, 8o8,. 8. See Hale, Making Vhiteness, foi a discussion
of Feltons iole in domestic ieconstiuction.
:o. Felton, Ccuntry Lije, 888,, IoI.
:,. Ibid., ,I, ,.
:8. Cushman, intioduction to Eppes, Thrcugh Scme Eventjul Years, xxi.
:,. Eppes, Thrcugh Scme Eventjul Years, ,, Eppes, Negrc, Ioo,, II,, I8,.
_o. Eppes, Thrcugh Scme Eventjul Years, I,, :o:, :I_. If the diaiy weie authentic, Eppess
piescience on the signicance of the Battle of Gettysbuig would be iemaikable, consid-
eiing that accoiding to Reaidon, most contempoiaiies did not distinguish Gettysbuig as
the wais tuining point (see Reaidon, Picketts Charge).
:,8
i
o1is 1o v.cis : I 8:,
_I. Eppes, Thrcugh Scme Eventjul Years, :o,, _,,, _,8.
_:. See, foi example, Biundage, Lynching, MacLean, Behind the Mask.
__. Bach, The Vave, :I. See also Bach, Evelyn Scott, ,I,. Foi a discussion of the
southein liteiaiy ienaissance, see foi example, Giay, Vriting, R. King, Scuthern Renais-
sance, Kieyling, Inventing.
_. E. Scott, Vave, pieface, Scott quoted in Bach, The Vave, :I, and inWhite, Fighting,
II,, White, Fighting, II,, I:I.
_,. Haiiy Salpetei, Poitiait of a Disciplined Aitist, Bcckman , (Novembei I,_I):
:8,8o.
_o. Cail Van Doien, ieviewof The Vave, by Evelyn Scott, Saturday Review cj Literature,
o July I,:,, Io, Peicy Hutchinson, A Panoiamic Civil Wai Novel, New Ycrk Times Bcck
Review, _o June I,:,, pp. I, I,.
_,. Clifton P. Fadiman, A Gieat National Diama, Naticn, _I July I,:,, II,.
_8. Robeit Moiss Lovett, ieview of The Vave, by Evelyn Scott, New Republic, , August
I,:,, _I,, Robeit Moiss Lovett, The Evolution of Evelyn Scott, Bcckman ,o (Octobei
I,:,): I,,, I,o.
_,. Liteiaiy Guild adveitisement, New Ycrk Times Bcck Review, _o June I,:,, II, White,
Fighting, I:_, Bach, The Vave, :,.
o. Macmillan I,_o spiing catalog, iepiinted in Mitchell, Letters, photo inseit, Pyion,
Scuthern Daughter, __,.
I. Mitchell, Gcne with the Vind, , ,,, :I:, :II.
:. Ibid., I,I, :8.
_. Fox-Genovese, Scailett OHaia, _,,, Mitchell, Gcne with the Vind, :_, ,.
. Mitchell, Gcne with the Vind, o,, Fox-Genovese, Scailett OHaia, o8.
,. Mitchell, Gcne with the Vind, o,, ,o,, ,,8. In answeiing a seiies of questions fiom
a fan, Mitchell explained that the Klans ist puipose was to piotect women and childien.
Latei it was used to keep the Negioes fiom voting eight oi ten times at eveiy election. But
it was used equally against the Caipetbaggeis who had the same bad habit wheie voting
was conceined. Membeis of the Klan knew that if unsciupulous oi ignoiant people weie
peimitted to hold oce in the South the lives and piopeity of Southeineis would not be
safe (Maigaiet Mitchell to Ruth Tallman, Atlanta, _o July I,_,, in Mitchell, Letters, Io:).
o. Mitchell, Gcne with the Vind, 8, _o, o8o, o,I.
,. Ibid., ooo, ,, Fox-Genovese, Scailett OHaia, _,8.
8. Mitchell, Gcne with the Vind, I,, o,,, Maigaiet Mitchell to Gilbeit E. Govan,
Atlanta, I, Octobei I,_,, in Mitchell, Letters, I,:,_, Fox-Genovese, Scailett OHaia,
_,8.
,. Maigaiet Mitchell to Julian Haiiis, Atlanta, :I Apiil I,_o, and Maigaiet Mitchell to
Haiiy Slatteiy, Atlanta, _ Octobei I,_o, in Mitchell, Letters, I, ,o. A. G. Jones, Tcmcrrcw,
___, Pyion, Scuthern Daughter, ::_:,. See also Maigaiet Mitchell to Julia Colliei Haiiis,
Atlanta, :8 Apiil I,_o, in Mitchell, Letters, ,.
,o. Fox-Genovese, Scailett OHaia, _,,, Maigaiet Mitchell to Julia Colliei Haiiis,
Atlanta, :8 Apiil I,_o, Maigaiet Mitchell to Joseph Heniy Jackson, Atlanta, I June I,_o,
and Maigaiet Mitchell to Haiiiet Ross Colquitt, Atlanta, , August I,_o, in Mitchell, Letters,
_, I_, ,o.
o1is 1o v.cis : _ oo
j
:,,
,I. Maigaiet Mitchell to Stephen Vincent Benet, Gainesville, Geoigia, , July I,_o, Mai-
gaiet Mitchell to Achmed Abdullah, Atlanta, I Apiil I,_,, Maigaiet Mitchell to Robeit C.
Tayloi, Atlanta, I, August I,_o, and Maigaiet Mitchell to Julian Haiiis, Atlanta, :I Apiil
I,_o, in Mitchell, Letters, _o, Io, ,_, :.
,:. Maigaiet Mitchell to Paul Joidan-Smith, Atlanta, :, May I,_o, and Maigaiet Mitch-
ell to Stephen Vincent Benet, Gainesville, Geoigia, , July I,_o, in ibid., ,8, _,.
,_. Maigaiet Mitchell to Heischel Biickell, Atlanta, I_ Novembei I,_o, and Maigaiet
Mitchell to Thomas Dixon Ji., Atlanta, I, August I,_o, in ibid., 8,, ,:, Pyion, Scuthern
Daughter, _Io.
,. Pyion, Scuthern Daughter, _II, Maigaiet Mitchell to Heniy Steele Commagei, At-
lanta, Io July I,_o, in Mitchell, Letters, _,.
,,. Pyion, Scuthern Daughter, _oo, _o,. Foi a detailed account of the fate of Mitchells
manusciipt, see :,,,.
,o. Ibid., _o8, _I:. Pyions chaptei Bloody Woik Done oeis a detailed account of
Mitchells ievisions to hei manusciipt.
,,. Ibid., _I8I,.
,8. Glasgow quoted in Mitchell, Letters, ,, n.I, Maigaiet Mitchell to Heischel Biickell,
Atlanta, :: Octobei I,_o, in Mitchell, Letters, 8I, Pyion, Scuthern Daughter, _:.
,,. Maigaiet Mitchell to Haiold Latham, Atlanta, I June, I_ August I,_o, Maigaiet
Mitchell to Geoige Biett, Gainesville, Geoigia, 8 July I,_o, Maigaiet Mitchell to Julia Col-
liei Haiiis, Atlanta, :, June I,_o, and Maigaiet Mitchell to Heischel Biickell, Atlanta,
:: Febiuaiy I,_,, in Mitchell, Letters, ,, ,o,I, ::, I,, I::. Mitchell made an exception and
held autogiaph sessions in Atlanta. In a few instances, Mitchell piofessed dismay at the
novels populaiity, which guaianteed hei piolonged exposuie to the public gaze, see, foi
example, Maigaiet Mitchell to Heischel Biickell, Atlanta, , Octobei I,_o, I, Januaiy I,_,,
in Mitchell, Letters, ,, Io,Io.
oo. Pyion, Scuthern Daughter, __I.
oI. Maigaiet Mitchell to Edwin Gianbeiiy, Gainesville, Geoigia, 8 July I,_o, and Mai-
gaiet Mitchell to Heischel Biickell, Gainesville, Geoigia, , July I,_o, in Mitchell, Letters,
:,_o, :I.
o:. Maigaiet Mitchell to Heniy Steele Commagei, Atlanta, Io July I,_o, and Maigaiet
Mitchell to Douglas S. Fieeman, Atlanta, I_ Octobei I,_o, in ibid., _,, ,,.
o_. Pyion, Scuthern Daughter, __8_,, Maigaiet Mitchell to Julia Colliei Haiiis, Atlanta,
:, June I,_o, Maigaiet Mitchell to Heischel Biickell, Gainesville, Geoigia, , July, I8 Sep-
tembei I,_o, Maigaiet Mitchell to Julia Peteikin, Atlanta, I August I,_o, Maigaiet Mitch-
ell to Heischel Biickell, Atlanta, I8 Septembei I,_o, I, Januaiy I,_,, and Maigaiet Mitchell
to William Lyon Phelps, Atlanta, :I Januaiy I,_8, in Mitchell, Letters, I,, I,, ,:, o:, Io,,
I8I8:.
o. John Peale Bishop, All Wai and No Peace, New Republic, I, July I,_o, _oI.
o,. MalcolmCowley, ieviewof Gcne with the Vind, by Maigaiet Mitchell, NewRepublic,
Io Septembei I,_o, IoIo:.
oo. Evelyn Scott, Wai between the States, Naticn, July I,_o, I,:o.
o,. Maigaiet Mitchell to Staik Young, Atlanta, I, :, Septembei I,_o, and Maigaiet
Mitchell to Jackson P. Dick Ji., Atlanta, Io Febiuaiy I,_,, in Mitchell, Letters, ,,, oo, I:o.
_oo
i
o1is 1o v.cis : I ,
o8. Maigaiet Mitchell to Julia Colliei Haiiis, Atlanta, :8 Apiil I,_o, Maigaiet Mitchell
to Paul Joidan Smith, Atlanta, :, May I,_o, Maigaiet Mitchell to Gilbeit Govan, Gaines-
ville, Geoigia, 8 July I,_o, Maigaiet Mitchell to Maik Allan Patton, Atlanta, II July I,_o,
Maigaiet Mitchell to Maik Millikin, Atlanta, _ Septembei I,_o, and Maigaiet Mitchell to
Heischel Biickell, Atlanta, :o, _o Octobei I,_,, in ibid., ,, 8, :, :, oo, I,_, I,,,.
o,. Maigaiet Mitchell to Julia Colliei Haiiis, Atlanta, :I Apiil I,_o, Maigaiet Mitchell
to Kate Duncan Smith, Atlanta, : July I,_o, Maigaiet Mitchell to Moidecai M. Thui-
man, Atlanta, o Febiuaiy I,_,, II,, and Maigaiet Mitchell to Heischel Biickell, Atlanta,
, Octobei I,_o, in ibid., I:, o, II,, ,,.
Epilcgue
I. Caioline Goidon to Sally Wood, Monteagle, Tennessee, Io Septembei I,_o, in
S. Wood, Scuthern Mandarins, :oI:.
:. Untitled TS beginning When my biotheis and I weie childien, n.d. I,_,,],
Goidon Papeis, Giegoiy, pieface to Goidon, Ncne Shall Lcck Back, viii, Makowsky, Caio-
line Goidon on Women Wiiting, _, Caioline Goidon to Sally Wood, Monteagle, Tennes-
see, Io Septembei I,_o, in S. Wood, Scuthern Mandarins, :oI:. Foi biogiaphical infoima-
tion on Caioline Goidon, see, foi example, Fiaistat, Carcline Gcrdcn, Jonza, Undergrcund
Stream, Waldion, Clcse Ccnnecticns, Makowsky, Carcline Gcrdcn. Aftei the phenomenal
success of Gcne with the Vind, few ievieweis questioned the appeaiance of a Civil Wai
novel wiitten by a woman. Still, some felt compelled to comment on Goidons gendei:
The battle scenes aie excellent, wiote Robeit E. Betts foi the Raleigh (Ncrth Carclina)
Times. One is suipiised to nd that a woman could wiite so well about such a subject
(:, Febiuaiy I,_,, clipping in Goidon Papeis). The ieviewei foi the Memphis Appeal ap-
paiently could not iesist a touch of saicasm: Oh what discipline it must have taken to
do such a masculine lot of wiiting on those battle scenes! Once, tis said, aftei nishing
a paiticulaily eice battle violently as to iush out and down town, to buy a whole stoie
of feminine fiills (:8 Febiuaiy I,_,, clipping in Goidon Papeis). Not suipiisingly, Foid
Madox Foid, Goidons mentoi, made the most sympathetic comment on the connection
between Goidons gendei and wiiting ability: She wiites with the intelligence of a man
about the intimate details of mens occupations. You cannot say that she wiites like a
manoi foi the mattei of that, like a woman (Foid, ieview of Ncne Shall Lcck Back,
unidentied clipping in Goidon Papeis).
_. Giegoiy, pieface to Goidon, Ncne Shall Lcck Back, viiiix, Makowsky, Caioline
Goidon on Women Wiiting, , ,, Rubin, Image, ,I, Caioline Goidon to Sally Wood,
Claiksville, Tennessee, May I,_,, in S. Wood, Scuthern Mandarins, :o8,. Some ievieweis
noted the familiaiity of the opening scene and of othei foimulaic episodes in Goidons
plot: see, foi example, Elsie Ruth Chant, Stiiiing Deeds, El Pasc (Texas) Herald-Pcst,
_ June I,_,, Milwaukee Sentinel, :8 Febiuaiy I,_,, Cail Van Doien, Anothei Civil Wai
Novel, Bcstcn Herald, :, Febiuaiy I,_,, clippings in Goidon Papeis. Foi moie on the
shoitcomings of southein novels of the wai, see Aaion, Unwritten Var, Simpson, Mind,
Sullivan, Fading Memoiy, R. P. Waiien, Legacy, E. Wilson, Patrictic Gcre. Goidon ap-
paiently fietted a good deal ovei hei woik. Katheiine Anne Poitei oeied some advice
to Goidon aftei the publication of Ncne Shall Lcck Back: I hope you feel bettei about it
o1is 1o v.cis : , , _
j
_oI
now it is nished and published. Take time all you need on youi next one, and tiy not
to suei always that sense of haste and the feeling that you have not done all you might
have done on any given piece of woik. . . . You felt that way about the othei two, also, it is
possible you may nevei be satised with anything you doI know I have nevei been
but still, it is something to be able to say that, at any given time, you have done exactly all
you could do, and if it is not enough, why then, begin again on something else (Poitei
to Goidon, New Yoik, :: Febiuaiy I,_,, Goidon Papeis).
. Caioline Goidon to Sally Wood Kohn, Claiksville, Tennessee, postmaiked 8 Januaiy
I,_,, Max Peikins to Caioline Goidon, New Yoik, 8 July I,_,, and Caioline Goidon to
Mi. Webei, n.p., n.d., Goidon Papeis.
,. Max Peikins to Caioline Goidon, NewYoik, , August I,_,, Caioline Goidon to Sally
Wood Kohn, Claiksville, Tennessee, I, May I,_,, Goidon Papeis.
o. Jane Iidell Jones, Caioline Goidon Wiites Telling Stoiy of Plantation Life in Novel,
None Shall Look Back, Cclumbus (Gecrgia) Inquirer-Sun, 8 Maich I,_,, Civil Wai
With a Dieience, New Ycrk Vcrld-Telegram, Maich I,_,, Chant, Stiiiing Deeds,
Philip Russell, ieview of Ncne Shall Lcck Back, Savannah (Gecrgia) Press, Io Apiil I,_,,
clippings in Goidon Papeis.
,. Van Doien, Anothei Civil Wai Novel, F. M. Foid, ieview, ieviewof Ncne Shall Lcck
Back, by Caioline Goidon, Naticn, :o Maich I,_,, clipping in Goidon Papeis, Katheiine
Anne Poitei to Caioline Goidon, New Yoik, :: Febiuaiy I,_,, Goidon Papeis, ieview of
Ncne Shall Lcck Back, Rccky Mcunt (Ncrth Carclina) Telegram, o Maich I,_,, clipping in
Goidon Papeis. Not suipiisingly, many ievieweis compaied Ncne Shall Lcck Back with
Gcne with the Vind. The ieviewei foi Time magazine noted the unfoitunate timing of the
publication of Goidons novel: When Allen Tate, ciitic and poet, had wiitten most of a
long-planned life of Robeit E. Lee, Douglass Southall Fieemans foui-volume, denitive
Rcbert E. Lee . . . appeaied, blew his house down befoie the ioof was on. Last week, the
ieviewei continued, the same meteoiological haid luck seemed to be puisuing Caioline
Goidon (Mis. Allen Tate). Foi hei Civil Wai novel came out in the wake of that typhoon
of best-selleis, Gcne with the Vind (Aftei the Big Wind, Time, I Maich I,_,). Foi othei
ieviews compaiing Ncne Shall Lcck Back to Gcne with the Vind, see, foi example, St. Paul
(Minnescta) Dispatch, :, Febiuaiy I,_,, Maccn (Gecrgia) Telegraph, , Maich I,_,, Naticn,
:o Maich I,_,, Eliich B. Davis, Caioline Goidons New Novel of the South, None Shall
Look Back, Is a Noble Book, Cleveland Press, clippings in Goidon Papeis. Long aftei the
publication of Ncne Shall Lcck Back, Goidon iemembeied Tate saying when Gone With
the Wind appeaied that the enoimous populaiity which it achieved would set the ait of
the novel back at least two hundied yeais. It almost looks as if he was iight! (Goidon to
Fiedeiick McDowell, Piinceton, New Jeisey, :: Januaiy I,o,, Goidon Papeis).
8. Caioline Goidon to Sally Wood, Claiksville, Tennessee, May I,_,, in S. Wood, Scuth-
ern Mandarins, :o,.
,. C. Goidon, Ncne Shall Lcck Back, __o_I.
Io. Caioline Goidon, None Shall Look Back, _,,o, n.d., TS, Goidon Papeis.
II. Twelve Southeineis, Ill Take My Stand, xlxli, Conkin, Scuthern Agrarians, ,. See
also Malvasi, Unregenerate Scuth.
I:. C. Goidon, Ncne Shall Lcck Back, _,,, __o_,, _oI.
_o:
i
o1is 1o v.cis :, oo
I_. Ibid., 8, _Io, _I,.
I. Ibid, _,,, Io,, :,8, :8,8o.
I,. Ibid., _,8, Lon Cheney to Caioline Goidon, Smyina, Tennessee, _ Decembei I,,I:],
Goidon Papeis.
Io. Caioline Goidon, Rebels and Revolutionaiies, lectuie deliveied to the Flanneiy
OConnoi Foundation, Apiil I,,, TS, Goidon Papeis.
o1is 1o v.cis :oo o_
j
_o_
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Silbei, Nina. The Rcmance cj Reunicn. Ncrtherners and the Scuth, :8o,:;oo. Chapel Hill:
Univeisity of Noith Caiolina Piess, I,,_.
Simkins, Fiancis Butlei, and James Welch Patton. The Vcmen cj the Ccnjederacy. Rich-
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Simpson, Lewis P. The Brazen Face cj Histcry. Studies in the Literary Ccnscicusness in
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__o
i
vi vii ocv.vuv
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Wood, Maiy I. The Histcry cj the General Federaticn cj Vcmens Clubs jcr the First Twenty-
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Woodwaid, C. Vann. The Burden cj Scuthern Histcry. _d ed. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State
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-. Maiy Chesnut in Seaich of Hei Genie. Yale Review ,_ (Januaiy I,8): I,,:o,.
-. The Origins cj the New Scuth, :8,,:;:,. Rev. ed. with a ciitical essay by Chailes B.
Dew. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univeisity Piess, I,,I.
-. Reunicn and Reacticn. The Ccmprcmise cj :8,, and the End cj Reccnstructicn. :d
ed. Gaiden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, I,,o.
Wiight, Mis. D. Giiaud Louise Wigfall Wiight]. Address cj Mrs. D. Giraud Vright, Presi-
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ticn, Baltimcre, , December :;o,. N.p., I,o:].
-. A Scuthern Girl in o:. The Var-Time Memcries cj a Ccnjederate Senatcrs Daugh-
ter. New Yoik: Doubleday, Page, I,o,.
Wiight, Gavin. Old Scuth, New Scuth. Revcluticns in the Scuthern Eccncmy since the Civil
Var. New Yoik: Basic Books, I,8o.
Wyatt-Biown, Beitiam. The Hcuse cj Percy. Hcncr, Melanchcly, and Imaginaticn in a
Scuthern Family. New Yoik: Oxfoid Univeisity Piess, I,,.
Wyeth, John A. Lije cj General Nathan Bedjcrd Fcrrest. New Yoik: Haipei and Biotheis,
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Young, Staik. Sc Red the Rcse. New Yoik: Sciibneis, I,_.
vi vii ocv.vuv
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Magazines, Newspapers, and Pericdicals
Atlanta Ccnstituticn
Atlanta }curnal
Bcckman
Carclina and the Scuthern Crcss
Century Magazine
Ccnjederate Veteran
Critic
The Dial
Keystcne
The Land Ve Lcve
The Lcst Cause
The Naticn
The New Republic
Our Living and Our Dead
Scuthern Bivcuac
Scuthern Histcrical Scciety Papers
__o
i
vi vii ocv.vuv
Index
Agiaiians, :,I, and Ill Take My Stand, :,o
,,, :,8,,
Andiews, Eliza F., I::, Var-Time }curnal cj a
Gecrgia Girl, I,,, I,_,,
Antietam, battle of, 8_
Aichbell, Lille V., Io,o8
Avaiy, Myita Lockett: as editoi of A Diary
jrcm Dixie, I,o,_, A Virginia Girl in the
Civil Var, I:8:,, I_I
Aveiy, M. A.: The Rebel Generals Lcyal Bride,
,8oo
Bath-Romney Campaign, ,8,,, I,8,,
Battle, Lauia Elizabeth Lee: Fcrget-Me-Ncts
cj the Civil Var, I,o,8
Battles and Leadeis of the Civil Wai seiies,
8I8,, I:,
Beaid, Giace Pieison, Io:_, II_
Beauiegaid, Pieiie G. T., I,, :,:8, ,, I:,
:,_ (n. :,)
Beeis, Fannie, ,8
Birth cj a Naticn, :o8, ::
Bishop, John Peale, :o,
Bonnei, Sheiwood: Like Untc Like, 8,88, ,I,
IIo
Bcckman, I,, :_I, :,o (n. o,)
Boyd, Belle, 8,
Biagg, Elsie, ::
Biickell, Heischel, :I, :,, :o
Bioidiick, Annie, 8o
Biyon, Emma Lyon: :8oo:8o,. A Rcmance cj
the Valley cj Virginia, ,,, 8,, ,,
Buige, Louisiana, I
Butlei, Benjamin F., Io_
Butlei, Floience F., Ioo
Cabell, Seais W., :::
Cable, Geoige Washington, 8,, :8 (n. o),
Dr. Seiver, ,_,,, The Fieedmans Case in
Equity, Io8,, The Silent South, Io,Io
Cameion, Rebecca, I:o
Carclina and the Scuthern Crcss, Io,o8
Century Illustrated Mcnthly Magazine, 8I8,,
8o, 8,, Io8,
Chapin, Sallie F.: Fitz-Hugh St. Clair, ,,,,,
oo
Chesnut, Maiy Boykin: A Diary jrcm Dixie,
_, I:, I,o,_
Civil Wai: biogiaphies and histoiies, _,,
o8, ,,, ,oIo:, I_Io, Ioo, :o,
I:, :I,, ::o:_, coiiespondence, :::,
diaiies, :_, I_::, ::,, _,, _,, I:,
8,, Io,,,, I,88o, :,I (nn. :, o), in
ction, :o_o, oIo,, 88, ,o,,, Io_,,
Io:, I,,:, I8I8, I,::o8, :_o,o,
:,Io:, :,, (n. o_), histoiiogiaphy, ,o,
8,, o,, ,,8o, II8:I, Io:o_, :I,
:o, ::_, memoiis, 8:8_, 88o, Io:_, I:_,
I:8_o, I_:, I_,, I,,,8, ::__o, oiigins of,
I_, :,, :o:,, _I, __, o,, o_, ooo,, 8o,
,_, ,,, II8, I:I, I:,:o, I:,, I,, IoI, Io:
o_, I8I, I8,, I,o, ::8. See alsc Antietam,
battle of, Confedeiate defeat, Confedeiate
nationalism, Confedeiate soldieis, Con-
__,
fedeiate women, Gettysbuig, battle of,
Manassas, battle of, Union soldieis
Clay-Clopton, Viiginia, I:8, I_o_I
Cobb, Maiy Ann, :::_
Cole, Lois, ::, :_
Commagei, Heniy Steele, :,o
Confedeiate defeat, _,, :_, ,, ,I, in
ction, ,o,, in poetiy, o,,I
Confedeiate nationalism, :,_ (n. :o)
Confedeiate soldieis, :::_, o:, ,o,,, I_I
_, Ioo, I,, I,,, I,8,,, in ction, ,,, ,8,
oI, o,, ,I, ,_, ,,,, Io,o, II,, I,, I8,o,
I8_8, :o,, :,I, :,:, :,_, :,,, :oooI
Ccnjederate Veteran, II,, Io,, :oI:, :I,, :Io,
:I8
Confedeiate women, :_, I_I, I,, Io:,,
_o_,, _,, :,, 8,, 8:, 8_8,, ,,, I:8
_I, Io,,I, I,_,,, ::__o, in ction, I:,
_o, __o, oIoo, o,, o,, 88, ,o,I, IIo
I:, II,I,, II,, I,o,:, I8I, I8:8_, I8o,
:_,_o, :_8_,, :oI
Cooke, John Esten, 8, o,, Surry cj Eagles
Nest, oo, :,8 (n. 8)
Cowley, Malcolm, :,, :8, :,, :,o
Ciaddock, Chailes Egbeit. See Muifiee, Maiy
Noailles
Ciane, Stephen: The Red Badge cj Ccurage,
II, I::, I,
Critic, I,:
Cionly, Jane, II:
Ciuse, Maiy Ann: Camercn Hall, ,, ooo,,
:,8 (n. 8)
Cumming, Kate: Gleanings jrcm the Scuth-
land, ,o, ,8, 8o8I
Davis, Jeeison, :_:, ,,8, ,o, ,,Ioo,
Rise and Fall cj the Ccnjederate Gcvern-
ment, ,,
Davis, Vaiina, :_:, on Jeeison Davis,
,,Io:
Dawson, Saiah Moigan. See Moigan, Saiah
De Foiest, John W., :,, (n. _), Miss
Ravenels Ccnversicn jrcm Secessicn tc
Lcyalty, ,,,8
De Saussuie, Nancy Bostick: Old Plantaticn
Days, I,,,o
Dial, I:, I,, I,,
Dixon, Thomas: The Clansman, I,o, ::, The
Lecpards Spcts, I,o, I,,
Dodd, William E., I:I
Domestic ction, II,, :,_o
Doisey, Saiah A.: and collaboiation with
Jeeison Davis, ,,Ioo, Lucia Dare, o:
o, Reccllecticns cj Henry Vatkins Allen,
o8
Dunning, William A., Io_
Dunovant, Adelia, I:I, I:_
Edmondson, Belle, I,
Elmoie, Giace: Civil Wai diaiy of, I,, I,, :I,
_,, ,I, unpublished novel of, ,,
Eppes, Susan Biadfoid: The Negrc cj the Old
Scuth, ::8, ::,, Thrcugh Scme Eventjul
Years, ::,_o
Evans, Augusta Jane, I,Io, :_, and aban-
doned histoiy of Confedeiacy, ,o,
on Reconstiuction, ,o, Macaria, cr,
Altars cj Sacrice, ,, I_, I,Io, :_, :,_o,
:, (n. _:), A Speckled Bird, II,, Io:
Fadiman, Clifton, :_:
Falknei, William: Vhite Rcse cj Memphis, :8I
(n. :)
Faulknei, William C., Io, :,:, Absalcm,
Absalcm!, :, :o, (n. I), Flags in the Dust,
I:
Felton, Rebecca Latimei, ,o, Io,8, Ccuntry
Lije in Gecrgia, ::o:,
Feminist theoiy: on wai and waifaie, IoI, :oo
(n. ,), :,, (n. _), :8o (n. I)
Foid, Foid Madox, :,,
Foid, Sallie Rochestei: Raids and Rcmance cj
Mcrgan and His Men, :o:,, :,_o
Foiiest, Nathan Bedfoid, :ooo:
Foit Donelson, I,, :,
Fcrum, I,:
Fieeman, Douglas Southall, :o: R. E. Lee. A
Bicgraphy, Io, :o,I:
Gainett, Kate Noland, II,I8
Geoige, Heibeit, 8o
Gettysbuig, battle of, I__,, I_o_,, I_,, ::,
Gildei, Richaid Watson, 8I
Glasgow, Ellen, , ,, I:, :,o, on Gcne with
the Vind, :, on southein liteiatuie,
I:::_, I:, Io, I,, I8, I,o, Battle-
Grcund, ,, I,,:, The Deliverance. A
Rcmance cj the Virginia Tcbaccc Fields, ,,
__8
i
i iix
II,Io, I,:,,, Virginia, I8,,o, Vcice cj
the Pecple, I,
Gcne with the Vind. See Mitchell, Maigaiet
Goodwin, Mis. John A., :I,
Goidon, Caioline, :o:o_, Ncne Shall Lcck
Back, o, IoII, :Io, :,Io:, _o: (n. ,)
Goidon, John B.: Reminiscences cj the Civil
Var, I_,
Giady, Heniy: In Plain Black and White,
Io,
Gianbeiiy, Edwin, :,
Gieat Wai. See Woild Wai I
Gieeley, Hoiace, o,
Gieenhow, Rose ONeal, :,, :,_ (n. :,)
Gieenslet, Feiiis, I,o,,, :o:
Hague, Paithenia Antoinette, 8o
Halsey, Fiancis W., I,o,_
Hailand, Maiion. See Teihune, Viiginia
Haiiis, Coiia: The Reccrding Angel, Io8o,
Haiiis, Helena J.: Cecil Giay, oi, the Sol-
dieis Revenge, oIo:
Haiiison, Constance Caiy: and contiibutions
to Battles and Leadeis of the Civil Wai
seiies, 8_8, Ciows Nest, 88, Flcwer de
Hundred, ,8, ,I,_
Hayes, Rutheifoid B., ,,
Headley, J. T., ,o
Hendeison, Lizzie Geoige B., :o,
Holmes, Emma E., I_I, :_, :, (n. _:)
Hyde, Anne Bachman, :Io
Ives, Coia: Princess cj the Mccn, ,,,
Jackson, Maiy Anna: plagiaiizing fiom Mai-
gaiet Junkin Pieston, ,o,,, :8_ (n. :),
and ieview of The Lcng Rcll, I,,:oo,
and UDC, Ioo, Lije and Letters cj General
Thcmas }. }ackscn, ,oIoI
Jackson, Thomas J. Stonewall, 8, ,o,,,
I,8:oI
Johnson, Andiew, I:
Johnson, Robeit Undeiwood, 8I8:, 8,
Johnston, Maiy, , Io, I,o,:, :o,8, :,,
:,o, Cease Firing!, :o:o, :I, :o, (n. I_),
The Lcng Rcll, I,,:oo, :I
Kennedy, Saia Beaumont: Cicely. A Tale cj
the Gecrgia March, I8:, I8,8o
King, Giace, 8,, IIo
King, Lucy Davis, Ioo
Ku Klux Klan, ,o, I,,,8, :_o, :_,_8, :_,
:,, (n. ,)
Lamai, Mis. W. D., :I8
The Land Ve Lcve, o,,o, :,8 (n. ,,)
Lane, Haiiiet Cobb, I:o
Latham, Haiold, ::_, :
Lee, Robeit E., _,, 8, 8, :o,Io
Lincoln, Abiaham, I_, o, I, ,,, I:,, I,
Logan, John A., 8o
Longstieet, Helen Doitch, o, on battles
anniveisaiies, ::o::, unpublished his-
toiies of, :o,II, ::o, ::::_, Lee and
Lcngstreet at High Tide, I_:_o, I_8o
Longstieet, James, I,, Io, and Gettysbuig
contioveisy, I__,, :88 (nn. _I, _:), Frcm
Manassas tc Appcmattcx, I_:, ::8 (n. _I)
Lost Cause myth, ,:,_, ,,,o, o, o,o,,
,:,_, I___,, I_,o, I,,o, I,8, I,,, I8I
8:, I,o, histoiiogiaphy of, ,o, :o, (n. ,),
:o, (n. I_)
Loughboiough, Maiy, I,, ::,
Lovett, Robeit Moiss, :__
Lytle, Andiew, :,:
Macaria, cr, Altars cj Sacrice. See Evans,
Augusta Jane
Maclean, Claia D., Io:
Magill, Maiy Tuckei: Vcmen, cr Chrcnicles cj
the Late Var, oo,
Manassas, battle of, :,:,, _, oI, ,o, I,_
Maitin, Isabella: as editoi of A Diary jrcm
Dixie, I,o,_
McClelland, Maiy G.: Brcadcaks, 88,o
McDonald, Coinelia Peake, _, Io, :I
McGuiie, Judith, :_, ,, I:8
McIntosh, Maiia: backgiound of, _:, Twc
Pictures, _I_o
Meiiwethei, Elizabeth Aveiy: Master cj Red
Leaj, ,o,I, Io_, IIII:
Meiiick, Caioline, I:_
Mitchell, Maigaiet, :,I, :,:, :,_, Gcne with
the Vind, :, IoII, :o,, :I:I_, :_,o
Mott, Eliza Evelyna, I:o
Moigan, John, :,_o
Moigan, Saiah: A Ccnjederate Girls Diary,
I,88o
i iix
j
__,
Muifiee, Maiy Noailles: The Raid cj the
Guerilla and Other Stcries, :oo,, The
Stcrm Centre, :oo,, Vhere the Battle Vas
Fcught, 8, ,,, ,8, Io,
The Naticn, I8,, :_:__, :,8, :,,
The New Republic, :__, :,, :8
New South, 8, ,,,8, 8o, II:I_, in ction,
Io8o,, I8,,o, :,,oo
New Ycrk Times, I,,, :_:, :__, :
Oaths of allegiance, :, ,I,:, o,, :,, (n. )
OConnoi, Floience J.: Hercine cj the Ccnjed-
eracy, _I_o
Odenheimei, Coidelia Powell, :II,
Our Living and Our Dead, o,,o, :,8,
(n. ,,)
Owen, Biidie A., :I_I
Oveiman, Floia K., II:
Page, Thomas Nelson, ,,, 8,, 8,, I,o, :,,
Gcrdcn Keith, I,, :,I (n. o8), Maise
Chan, :,o (n. ,_), Red Rcck, A Chrcnicle
cj Reccnstructicn, I,:,
Page, Waltei Hines, I,
Pembei, Phoebe Yates, Io_
Pembeiton, John C., ,8
Peikins, Maxwell, :,, :,,
Phillips, Eugenia, :,: (n. 8)
Pickett, La Salle Coibell: and Carclina and
the Scuthern Crcss, Io8, on Geoige Pickett,
:88 (n. _8), Bugles cj Gettysburg, I8_8,
The Heart cj a Scldier, I88,, Pickett and
His Men, I_I, I_o_8, Vhat Happened tc
Me, :I:, ::_:o
Plantation iomances, :,, :,, :o:, :,I
(n. o8)
Pollaid, Edwaid, ,, ,,, :oo (n. o)
Poppenheim, Louisa, Io,, Io8
Poppenheim, Maiy, I:, Io8
Populism, ,, ,,, in ction, I,
Poitei, Katheiine Anne, , :,,,o, _oI (n. _)
Posey, Maiy Johnson, Io,
Powell, Mis. J. Noiment, :I,
Pieston, Maigaiet Junkin, Io, ,o, I:_, and
contiibutions to Battles and Leadeis of
the Civil Wai seiies, 8, ,o,,
Piyoi, Saia, I:8_I
Putnam, Sallie Biock: Richmcnd During the
Var, ,:,
Ransom, John Ciowe, :,8,,
Ravenel, Haiiiott Hoiiy, I:o:,
Readjustei movement, :8, (n. 8)
Reconciliation iomances, ,,oo, ,,8o, :,,
(nn. _, _,), :8o (n. ,), :8I (n. :), south-
eineis iefutation of, ,,, oooo, 8o8I,
8o,I, I8, I,I,:, I8o, :8I (nn. I,, :),
southeineis contiibutions to, 8I8o, I_:,
I8,8o
Reconstiuction, o:, Io_, Ioo, I,,,o, I,,
,8, in ction, ,,,, ,,oo, ,,, 8,,o,
IIoI:, I,:,,, :_,_8, :I:
Reid, Mis. Geoige, I:o
Rhodes, James Foid, Io:o_
Robinson, Mis. J. Endeis, Io
Rogeis, Loula Kendall, IoI,, I,:o, :_,
,I, ,o
Roosevelt, Fianklin D., ::I::
Rountiee, Mis. J. A., :I,
Rowland, Kate, Io, :I, Io,
Russell, Mis. Geoige B., Io,
Rutheifoid, Mildied Lewis, I:,:o, I,,,
Io:o, Ioo
Scott, Evelyn, Io, :,:, and ieview of Gcne
with the Vind, :,8, The Vave, :I:I_,
:_o_
Seabiook, Phoebe Hamilton: A Daughter cj
the Ccnjederacy, I8I, I8o
Secession, :,, _I, ,,, I8I, I8,, I,o
Seibeit, Maiy Fiances, :8o (n. I_)
Selph, Fannie, I8:, :I,
Sewanee Review, I,,, I8,
Sheiman, William T., I,, ,o, Io:, I8:
Slaveiy: and Civil Wai, o,, o,, ,_, Io8,
II8, I:o, I:,, I8, IoI, Io:, I,,, I,o, ::8, in
ction, _:__, ,:,_, I,o, :_o_,
Southein Histoiical Society, oooI, 8,, I:_,
I_,, I8
Spanish-Ameiican Wai, :o,
Spencei, Coinelia Phillips: The Last Ninety
Days cj the Var in Ncrth Carclina,
,,:
States iights, :,, :o, 8o, ,_, Io:, I:,, I_,, Io:,
Io_, I,o, :I
Stephens, Alexandei H., _
Steiling, Ada, I_o_I
Stone, Coinelia Bianch, II8
Stowe, Haiiiet Beechei: Uncle Tcms Cabin,
_:, __, I,,
_o
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i iix
Stiibling, Maiy Calveit, :I,Io
Stuait, Ruth McEneiy, :,I (n. oo)
Taft, William Howaid: addiess to UDC,
IoIo:
Tate, Allen, :,I,:
Tayloi, Mis. Thomas, II,, II,:o
Teihune, Viiginia, :,,,8 (n. _,)
Thomas, Ella Geitiude Clanton, _o, I:
Thiuston, Lucy Meacham: Called tc the Field,
I8I8:
Touige, Albion: A Fccls Errand, ,,
Uncle Tcms Cabin. See Stowe, Haiiiet Beechei
Union soldieis, I,, :o:I, ,o,I, ,,, Io:_, in
ction, ,,, oI, o:, o, 8,, 88, ,o,I, Io_,
IIo, I::, I8:, I8,, I8o, :o_, :oo
United Confedeiate Veteians (UCV), II,, I:,
United Daughteis of the Confedeiacy (UDC),
, 8, ,8, II_I, Io, I,,,8, Io,, :o:, :o,,
Committee on Southein Liteiatuie and En-
doisement of Books, Io,oo, :I,, Commit-
tee on the Wai Between the States, IoooI,
founding of, II,I8, :8, (n. _), histoiical
woik by, I:_:,, I_,, Io:o,, :IoI,, :I8
I,, objectives of, II,:o, Textbook Com-
mittee, I:,:8, :I,, undeistanding of his-
toiy, 8,, I:o:_, on Woild Wai I, :I_I,
Vance, Zebulon B., ,I,:
Vandivei, Louise Ayei, :Io
Van Doien, Cail, :_:, :,,
Vicksbuig, siege of, :, ::,, ,
Wadley, Saiah, I_, I,, I,:I, _,o
Waiien, Rose Hailow: A Scuthern Hcme in
Var Times, I8I8:
Watson, Mis. L. H., Io
White, Mis. Alexandei B., I,,, :I,
Whitson, Mis. L. D.: Gilbert St. Maurice,
o,oo
Whittlesey, Saiah J.: Bertha the Beauty, o:
Williams, Floia McDonald: Vhcs the
Patrict?, ,_
Williams, Mis. L. Eustace, IoooI
Wilmington Race Riot, I,o, I,_
Wilson, Augusta Jane Evans. See Evans,
Augusta Jane
Wilson, Woodiow, Io:, :I_I, :I8
Woild Wai I: inuences of on Civil Wai nai-
iatives, Io, :o,I:, ::::_, ::,, ::,, UDCs
inteipietation of, :I_I,
Wiight, Louise Wigfall, II8I,, I:8:,
Young, Staik, , Io, :Io, :,:
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