While composing this work, I had the pleasure of visiting numerous museums, archives, libraries, and battle sites. Amid them all, one stop stands out in my memory. At a battlefield park, while walking toward a row of cannon, I happened upon a family taking in the surroundings. Their young son, not more than ten years of age, scanned the particulars of the engagement from a bronze plaque. After reading a calculation of dead and wounded, the youth said out loud to himself, “Well, at least we got as many of them as they got of us.”
Of all unions, one is indissoluble: the bond between present and past. We hold this truth to be self-evident in the case of the United States and its Civil War. More has been written about this conflict than any other event in the country’s history. Debates continue over battlefield preservation and reparations to descendants of slaves. In the national capital, the Lincoln Memorial receives ten times the number of visitors than either the Jefferson Memorial or the Washington Monument. Albeit with malice toward none, a small boy can read of Americans fighting Americans and mentally picture it as “us versus them.” Like the CSS Hunley and the turret of the USS Monitor, the war resurfaces and resides everlasting within the public culture.
Concerning my own connections, my great-great-great grandfather, Andrew Jackson Cook, served as a private during William Tecumseh Sherman’s legendary March to the Sea. A distant uncle of mine died at the head of his regiment at the 1862 battle of Corinth, Mississippi. When my great uncle was a boy, he knew a handful of aged veterans, one of whom spoke infrequently and unhappily about his experiences in the infantry, and those stories were passed on to me.
Personally, I focused my early academic attentions on the history of modern Europe, primarily diplomatic and ethnic relations. Over the years, however, I began to delve deeper into the specter of the War Between the States. Along with my increasing involvement, I was struck by the sincere desire from pupils and the general public to learn more about the subject. In spite of their curiosity, many communicated a frustration with the sheer volume of available material. Indeed, there are more than fifty thousand texts on the war alone, plus countless articles and dissertations.
I could at least advise not to begin with the popular treatment of the topic. In novels, films, and prevailing assumptions, the Civil War is often portrayed as a nationwide demonstration of unmatchable courage and honor, where all involved were ultimately victorious. Although noble, such sentiments hinder perspective. Field generals become faultless icons. Battles take on reputations far beyond their actual effect. From statesmen to widows, everyday people seem capable of nothing but grandiose acts of pure valor.
Concurrently, the mountains of literature can be just as muddling. Works are often too light and trivial to be of substance, or they are too narrow in scope or presentation to provide a solid sense of the big picture. The war appears simultaneously as a historical crossroads and a confounding tangle of cross-connections. The overriding question emerges: Where in the world to begin?
To clear the powder smoke, I sought to create a work of substantive launching points for new Civil War readers that would also furnish usable information and conversation fodder for aficionados. I found that one of the best ways to achieve these ends was to describe the people, places, and events of the war through lists. After three years of research, confirmations, consultations, and analysis, the end result is this bound volume.
Every list overtures with background information and criteria for the respective topic. Where appropriate, names and words appear in SMALL CAPS to indicate a subject appearing in another list. This collection is by no means a total account, since the number of potential lists is as infinite as the breadth of the war itself. Topics have been chosen for their respective capacity to illustrate the war’s fundamental aspects in the most succinct way practicable. Some lists appear in chronological sequence to demonstrate progression. Others are ranked according to quality and quantity, placing the more renowned aspects of the war in their proper context.
The ultimate aim of the text is to furnish perspective on topics often maligned, misunderstood, or overlooked. This book is not intended to be the last word on the Civil War. Hopefully, it is an inaugural word, an accepted invitation to further explore one of the most pivotal and enduring chapters in American history.
This work never would have come to fruition without the better angels of my nature. Among this legion of the exceedingly tolerant and supportive are mentors Dr. Gladys Daly of Mount Mercy College and Dr. Marion “Buddy” Gray of Western Michigan University and my family and friends. Chief creative consultants are Michael Bryant of the U.S. Department of Education, Dr. Glenn Janus of Coe College, and the Prairiewoods Writers’ Group of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Karl Green of Cedar Rapids deserves the title of morale officer as well as editor. Much of my perspective on national parks and veterans issues comes from the wisdom of Edward Portz of Andrew, Iowa. The direction and professionalism of Ron Pitkin and Ed Curtis of Cumberland House Publishing in Nashville, Tennessee, have been most helpful. Ann and Tom Winner of Las Vegas, Nevada, provided considerable legal instruction; Frank Safranek of Omaha, Nebraska, assisted in archival work; and Mary Elworth of Chicago, Illinois, issued much-needed lessons in marketing. I am dependent on many archives and libraries for their assistance, particularly the Iowa State Historical Society, the University of Texas, the University of Iowa, Coe College, and the Durham Western Heritage Museum of Omaha. Lastly, my eternal gratitude goes to the history departments of Loras College and Kansas State University for guiding me in the discipline.
