Civil War Tragedy

My current reading on the Civil War has taken me into Bruce Catton’s Army of the Potomac Trilogy. Last week I read part one, Mr. Lincoln’s Army. This week I started part two—The Glory Road—which begins with General Burnside’s ill-fated Fredericksburg campaign. I had literally stopped reading just short of the stone wall at the foot of Marye’s Heights when I had to put the book down and think of the tragedy to come. To wit, why would I want to continue to reading a story whose tragic ending I already knew?

Webster’s defines tragedy as “a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror.” In short, tragedy is an art form whose audience derives pleasure from the suffering of its hero. Crass though it may sound, I truly do derive pleasure from the sufferings of who I consider the Civil War’s tragic hero—the Army of the Potomac. The pleasure derived is not because of some schadenfreude on my part. Rather, I believe the pleasure results from a desire to understand the dynamic of an army whose courage and sacrifice were unequal to its leadership for most of its short existence.

The boys of 1861 who answered the nation’s call for volunteers to enlist for “three days or the duration of the war” formed the core of the Army of the Potomac. And it was this band which endured privations I can only imagine 150 years later with the help of their florid descriptions. The Iron Brigade lost almost thirty percent of its manpower to death and illness before its baptism of fire at Second Manassas. At Gettysburg—less than a year later—the brigade sustained over sixty percent casualties. Such losses are unimaginable today. Yet, this army weathered such losses as they would any other storm on a regular basis without fail.

If, prior to becoming a reenactor, one asked me to list military organizations I truly revered I probably would have listed the Continental Army or the Eighth Air Force. Both achieved victory despite the heavy odds stacked against them. But after one short season of reenacting I have come to see the men of the Army of the Potomac in an entirely new light. The simple act of wearing their uniform, carrying their equipment, firing their weapons, and living as much like them as possible has formed a tangible link to men who previously existed to me only in print, engravings, and sepia-toned photographs.

First Manassas, the Peninsula, Second Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg—all began with such high hopes only to end far short of ultimate victory with great loss of life. They are tragedies within an American tragedy—but in my mind I sometimes like to think it is only 11 a.m. The fog has been swept away revealing the Army of the Potomac drawn up in neat, orderly lines along the too wide plain between the stone wall and Fredericksburg. The steel on their rifles gleams in the sun and twinkles of light here and there mark the glistening bayonet points. The officers have affected their best, most disinterested pose as if the pending assault were nothing more than morning parade while the surgeons sit idly by with nothing to do. And to borrow a little more from William Faulkner, maybe this time the men will carry the wall and the flags will sweep over the heights on their way to Richmond….

Sykes Book Review: Mr. Lincoln's Army

Mr. Lincoln’s Army, by Bruce Catton, Doubleday, 363 pgs.

I relish a good book on the American Civil War the way others relish a good meal, a great film, or fine art—they’re something to be digested and appreciated. When that book just happens to be a previously unread classic, then the pleasure derived borders upon the truly fantastic. Mr. Lincoln’s Army, the first of Bruce Catton’s Army of the Potomac Trilogy, is truly a book of this magnitude.

A recurring theme within Catton’s work is the courage, commitment, and idealism of the Army of the Potomac’s volunteers. Before the horrors of Antietam and subsequent battles, the boys in blue fought because they were committed a Union of united states. Before conscription, the Emancipation Proclamation, and war as something other than a romanticized endeavor, there was just a cause and a charismatic young Napoleon in the guise of George McClellan. Before Antietam, the Army of the Potomac belonged to McClellan as much as McClellan did to its men. Catton does not deny this fact. The young Napoleon built the army into an efficient fighting force with the seemingly limitless resources of an entire nation behind it. His men loved him for it. But after Antietam and the proclamation, the army outgrew McClellan.

McClellan stood for a war of limited objectives—objectives far short of the destruction of the South and its peculiar institution. Emancipation called for a hard, destructive war to the hilt. The nation could no longer afford failure at the gates of Richmond, routs like Second Manassas, or draws like Antietam. Everyone, McClellan’s men included, realized this after the carnage of Antietam. The age of innocence and enthusiasm had passed into the night—the war now required the supreme sacrifice of the North’s resources and especially her manpower. This was the reason behind McClellan’s downfall and it is for this reason the nation’s army would ultimately become Mr. Lincoln’s Army.

Paradigm shift aside, Mr. Lincoln’s Army remains first and foremost a tribute to the Army of the Potomac. Bruce Catton was born in 1899 when the “Greatest Generation” was made up of men who fought to preserve the Union. Today, it is all too easy to fall for the nattiness of Johnny Reb, the chivalrous Southern gentleman-turned officer, the bold cavalier, the mythic Robert E. Lee, or the heroic Army of Northern Virginia. Americans today love a good underdog. And what better underdog story than one with characters like Lee, Jackson, and Stuart fighting against all odds. But therein lies the true shame. Although the Army of the Potomac’s officer corps bloomed much later in the war, her men were no less valiant than those of the South. They proved this at Antietam and subsequent fields of both greater and lesser renown. Their pedigree would lack masterpieces like Chancellorsville. They seldom had to “make do” or go without—theirs was an army of plenty. But to Catton, the Army of the Potomac was an “army of legend, with a great name that clangs when you touch it.” (pg. 14) They lacked the élan of the Army of Northern Virginia. But in Catton’s mind they made up for this with the cocky realization that their cause was right and that no other army could survive what they had and still remain a viable fighting force. They never gave up on themselves even while others gave up on them and their succession of generals.

Though originally published in 1951, Mr. Lincoln’s Army ranks among the pantheon of Civil War scholarship because of its simple yet highly literary approach to the nascent Army of the Potomac. Catton tells the story of an army whose courage, commitment, and idealism transcended the humiliation of First Bull Run to become the Republic’s best great hope to end the rebellion between the spring and summer of 1862. And despite George B. McClellan’s important role during this period, the nation’s army remains the star in this piece as it well should. It is a shame their star has dimmed while that of their opponent remains ascendant. The North moved on while the South created the scholarship of the Lost Cause. But that is another story.

"Are those uniforms hot?": The American public interacts with the Living Historian.

Recently I asked some of my fellow Regulars to share the craziest questions they have been asked at an event. The answers I received to this innocent question mortified, stupefied and terrified me—sometimes all at once.

First off, let me begin by cutting the general public—those who elect not to join us on the field of honor—a little bit of slack. Not everyone is as “into” history as we are. And as my fellow Regular, Private Grogan points out, it would be a little bit conceited of us to expect as much. But I like to think a majority Americans have at least some sense of the gist of American History and the whole space-time continuum thing. However, as these responses ranked and categorized by originality will show, there exists a happy few who for whatever reason just have no idea.

The Unbelievable:

1. "These monuments don't have any bullet holes. When did they repair them after the battle?" –This zinger from Ed C. took the cake in my book.

2. Overheard a conversation once where someone said "Hm, Gettysburg was fought on the 1, 2, and 3 of July. That must be why we celebrate the 4th of July!" –This original from First Sergeant McConnell really makes you wonder. I put it second in the hope that it was uttered by a recent immigrant who hadn’t gotten to that part of the citizenship exam study guide yet.

3. "Why were so many Civil War battles fought on National Parks?" –Another space-time issue from our First Sgt., but I’m sure it came before Ken Burns’ National Parks epic came out so I’ll cut them a little slack.

The puzzlers from Camp:

1. "What side are you on?" —Mind you, Fred G. was wearing blue from head to toe at the time. I was also asked this same question at Governor’s Island in the middle of New York Harbor last year. And sadly, it seems to be a somewhat common question.

2. “Are you going to eat that?” and "Did you sleep out here last night?" —In our modern age, it’s understandable that men living and eating outdoors is a novel concept. But these two questions asked of First Sgt. McConnell do make you wonder.

3. "What state is your regiment." - "We're regulars, the national army." - "Yeah, but what STATE?" —Maybe Ed C. and the viewing public do speak different languages. You decide.

Jim R.’s honorary “kids say the darndest things category”:

1. I was given a presentation to some 4th graders and Genl's Kearny and Ewell came up which prompted one youngster to ask if a one-armed Union general fought a one-legged Confederate general, who would win? —I should not have been eating when I read this one because the contents of my mouth actually passed through my nose. It was painful. But I think Gen. Kearny could deliver the better roundhouse kick of the pair.

2. I once took a Ghosts of Gettysburg walking tour during which a youngster asked the tour guide "if a Confederate ghost fought Frankenstein, who would win?" I walked off in amazement before hearing the tour guide's reply. —This one’s a true poser. American ingenuity versus German engineering. But since we beat them twice I would take the cornfed over the lurching brute.

So there you have it. I know the brotherhood of the Living Historian is a fringe element of people who read a little bit too much history and like to wear wool uniforms. A majority of Americans did not grow up in a military family or serve in the military. Likewise, most Americans have not picked up a history book since leaving school or received an advanced degree in history. But regardless of your level of understanding of our history, you have to admit these are some real winners.

My thanks to Fred, Jason, Ed, and Jim for sharing their best with me.

And although I wouldn’t say it at an event, those uniforms are #@%$^!* hot.