Stories Of The Civil War

"This fascinating book will make the Civil War come alive with thoughts and feelings of real people." The Midwest Book Review The Civil WAR You Never Knew... Behind the bloody battles, strategic marches, and decorated generals lie more than 100 intensely personal, true stories you haven't heard before. In Best Little Stories from the Civil War, soldiers describe their first experiences in battle, women observe the advances and retreats of armies, spies recount their methods, and leaders reveal the reasoning behind many of their public actions. Fascinating characters come to life, including: Former U.S. Senator Robert Toombs of Georgia, who warned the Confederate cabinet not to fall for Lincoln's trap by firing on reinforcements, thereby allowing Lincoln to claim the South had fired the first shots of the war at Fort Sumter. Brig. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut, who disbanded the 13th Independent Battery, Ohio Light Artillery, scattered its men, gave its guns to other units, and ordered its officers home, accusing all of cowardly performance in battle. Thomas N. Conrad, a Confederate spy operating in Washington, who warned Richmond of both the looming Federal Peninsula campaign in the spring of 1863 and the attack at Fredericksburg later that year. Private Franklin Thomson of Michigan, born as Sarah Emma Edmonds, who fought in uniform for the Union during the war and later was the only female member of the postwar Union Grand Army of the Republic.

El Salvador's civil war began in 1980 and ended twelve bloody years later. It saw extreme violence on both sides, including the terrorizing and targeting of civilians by death squads, recruitment of child soldiers, and the death and disappearance of more than 75,000 people. Examining El Salvador's vibrant life-story literature written in the aftermath of this terrible conflict--including memoirs and testimonials--Erik Ching seeks to understand how the war has come to be remembered and rebattled by Salvadorans and what that means for their society today. Ching identifies four memory communities that dominate national postwar views: civilian elites, military officers, guerrilla commanders, and working class and poor testimonialists. Pushing distinct and divergent stories, these groups are today engaged in what Ching terms a "narrative battle" for control over the memory of the war. Their ongoing publications in the marketplace of ideas tend to direct Salvadorans' attempts to negotiate the war's meaning and legacy, and Ching suggests that a more open, coordinated reconciliation process is needed in this postconflict society. In the meantime, El Salvador, fractured by conflicting interpretations of its national trauma, is hindered in dealing with the immediate problems posed by the nexus of neoliberalism, gang violence, and outmigration.

Presents a series of historical anecdotes about little-known, miscellaneous events and personal experiences of the American Civil War.

Recounts the story of Fanny Kemble and her two daughters, one of whom lived with her mother in the North, while the other remained with their father in the South.

Sixteen dark and vivid tales by great satirist: "A Horseman in the Sky," "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," "Chicakamauga," "A Son of the Gods," "What I Saw of Shiloh," more. Note.

This “layered, nuanced, and focused study” of Civil War era writings reveals a popular sense of patriotism and hope in the midst of loss (Journal of American History). The American Civil War is often seen as the first modern war, not least because of the immense suffering it inflicted. Yet unlike later conflicts, it did not produce an outpouring of disillusionment or cynicism in public or private discourse. In fact, most people portrayed the war in highly sentimental and patriotic terms. While scholars typically dismiss this everyday writing as simplistic or naïve, Frances M. Clarke argues that we need to reconsider the letters, diaries, songs, and journalism penned by Union soldiers and their caregivers to fully understand the war’s impact and meaning. In War Stories, Clarke revisits the most common stories that average Northerners told in hopes of redeeming their suffering and hardship—stories that enabled people to express their beliefs about religion, community, and personal character. From tales of Union soldiers who died heroically to stories of tireless volunteers who exemplified the Republic’s virtues, War Stories sheds new light on this transitional moment in the history of war, emotional culture, and American civic life.

In December 1860, South Carolina became the first Southern state to secede from the United States. There followed over four years of continuous fighting between the Union North and Confederate South, in what remains one of the cruelest conflicts in history. The Civil War tore families apart, pitted friends against one another, and left an estimated 200,000 women widowed. Some three percent of the total population of America perished. Civil War Love Stories tells the stories of 14 of the couples behind these statistics. Lovers' heart-wrenching correspondence is recounted here, offering unforgettably poignant glimpses into the relationships that held fast despite the huge strains imposed by the war. The love stories include: Confederate general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a brilliant military tactician, who longed to win the war so he could return home to his loving wife, Mary Anna, and their new baby daughter, Julia Laura. David Demus, who swiftly joined the Union cause after the formation of the first African American regiment, but relived the perils of fighting for their freedom in somber letters to his wife, Mary. Malinda Blalock, who couldn't bear to be parted from her husband, Keith, and so joined the Confederate army disguised as his brother, "Sam." Down-and-out Charles Tenney, who enlisted with the Union cause to earn the good favor of his family, but instead earned the love of his close friend's sister, Adelaide Case.