Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Books With Staying Power


When I get a new Civil War book, I first look at the endnotes/footnotes so I can see the kinds of sources that the author used. Perhaps this makes me a geek, but I like to see how an author constructed the book. Over the years, I’ve read a fair number of books relating to the trans-Mississippi, and there are certain sources that I see referenced over and over. One of these is the trilogy written by Anne Heloise Abel, a pioneering historian. Published between 1915 and 1925, Abel studied the fate of the slaveholding Indians (the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles) in the Indian Territory from 1830-1866. Most modern historians focus on relatively small slices of history so I am impressed at Abel’s audacity in tackling a large and complex topic.
According to the introduction in the modern reprint of her trilogy, Abel was born in England, but her family emigrated to Kansas when she was a still a youngster. She earned her first degrees at the University of Kansas and then earned a Ph.D. at Yale University. How and why she became interested in the topic of slaveholding Indians during the war is a mystery to me; perhaps it related to her time at the University of Kansas. Several years after earning her Ph.D., she taught at a college in Baltimore and traveled regularly to Washington, D. C. to examine Bureau of Indian Affairs records. Abel was the first historian to study many of these documents.
Admittedly, it took me several years to work up the courage to begin reading her books as I assumed that they were densely written. Much to my surprise they proved to be well organized and quite readable. However, she was fond, quite fond, of footnotes and some pages consist primarily of notes. She had a tendency to include transcriptions of excerpts and even entire documents in her notes. Although this is viewed as quite old-fashioned today, I have actually found her notes to be quite valuable in my latest research project. Another refreshing feature of her books is the almost total absence of typographical errors. One of my pet peeves in recent years has been the great increase in typographical errors in history books. Not too long ago, I had to set aside a book for a few days because I became so irritated at the many typos. But, I digress… A major negative feature of Abel’s trilogy is her outmoded, ethnocentric references to Indians; her wording can be quite jarring. Also, she failed to make use of Indian sources in her study. In spite of these criticisms, though, Abel’s work has stood the test of time. It has been almost 100 years since her trilogy was published and essentially every journal article or book dealing with the Indian Territory references her work. Now, that is staying power!
Bibliographic citations for her books:
Abel, Annie Heloise. The American Indian as Slaveholder and Secessionist. Cleveland: Arthur H. Clarke, 1915; reprint ed., Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992.
Abel, Annie Heloise. The American Indian in the Civil War, 1862-1865. Cleveland: Arthur H. Clarke, 1919; reprint ed., Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992.
Abel, Annie Heloise. The American Indian and the End of the Confederacy, 1863-1866. Cleveland: Arthur H. Clarke, 1925; reprint ed., Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Another Regiment In Need of a Historian: The 42nd Illinois Infantry


My series on regiments that served in the trans-Mississippi from William F. Fox’s list of “Three Hundred Fighting Regiments” is winding down, and I have noticed that only a few of these regiments have been the subject of a full length history. This is a shame. The 42nd Illinois Infantry, for example, saw much combat, and yet has drawn little interest from historians. As for its trans-Mississippi connections, the regiment initially served in Missouri and participated in an expedition to Springfield. For the bulk of the war, these men from Illinois served in the western theater, but they ended their service in the army of occupation in Texas. Fox’s short history of the unit is below, but for other information about the 42nd Illinois see the following links:
Captain William R. Townsend Civil War Diary, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville: website has excerpts from his diary arranged by topic
Civil War Index-short history and a link to the roster of the 42nd Illinois Infantry
“Harker’s Brigade —Newton’s Division--Fourth Corps.
(1) Col. William A. Webb, W. P., R. A. (Died).
(2) Col. George W. Roberts (Killed).
(3) Col. Nathan H. Walworth.
(4) Col. Edgar D. Swain.

Companies.
killed and died of wounds.
died of disease, accidents, in Prison, &c.
Total Enrollment.
Officers.
Men.
Total.
Officers.
Men.
Total.
Field and Staff
5
1
6
1

1
18
Company
A

15
15

17
17
151

B
2
16
18
1
19
20
156

C
1
16
17
1
22
23
160

D

19
19
1
23
24
162

E
1
18
19

15
15
147

F
2
17
19

19
19
168

G
1
12
13

22
22
184

H
1
15
16

21
21
158

I

24
24

25
25
154

K

15
15
1
18
19
164
Totals
13
168
181
5
201
206
1,622

181 killed == 11.1 per cent.
Total of killed and wounded, 654; died in Confederate prisons (previously included), 33.
Battles
K. & M. W.
Farmington, Miss., May 9, 1862
4
Columbia, Tenn., Sept. 9, 1862
1
Stone’s River, Tenn.
35
Chickamauga, Ga.
47
Missionary Ridge, Tenn.
12
Rocky Face Ridge, Ga.
1
Resaca, Ga.
8
Adairsville, Ga.
2
New Hope Church, Ga.
4
Pine Mountain, Ga.
2
Kenesaw Mountain, Ga.
10
Peach Tree Creek, Ga.
2
Siege of Atlanta
6
Jonesboro, Ga.
1
Lovejoy’s Station, Ga.
1
Spring Hill, Tenn.
23
Franklin, Tenn.
13
Nashville, Tenn.
5
Place unknown
4

Present, also, at Island No. 10; New Madrid; Siege of Corinth; Hoover’s Gap; Dandridge.
Notes.--Organized at Chicago, July 22, 1861, and left the State, September 21st, proceeding to St. Louis. It served in Missouri until April, 1862, when it was ordered to Corinth. During the siege of that place it was engaged in the affair at Farmington, losing 2 killed, 12 wounded, and 3 missing. After marching through Mississippi, Northern Alabama, and Tennessee, its next battle occurred at Stone’s River. It was then in Robert’s Illinois Brigade, Sheridan’s (3d) Division, McCook’s Corps; loss, 19 killed, 96 wounded, and 46 missing; Colonel Roberts, who was in command of the brigade, was among the killed. At Chickamauga, Major James Leighton was killed, the loss of the Forty-second in that battle amounting to 28 killed, 128 wounded, and 28 prisoners. (1) In October, 1863, it was placed in Harker’s (3d) Brigade, Sheridan’s (2d) Division, Fourth Corps, in which command it fought at Missionary Ridge; loss, 5 killed and 40 wounded The division was commanded by General John Newton during the Atlanta campaign, and by General Wagner during the Tennessee campaign against Hood. Major D. W. Norton was killed near New Hope Church, Ga., June 3, 1864. The regiment lost at Spring Hill and Franklin, 24 killed, 95 wounded, and 30 missing; at Nashville, 2 killed and 12 wounded. Having reenlisted, it served throughout the war, and at its close accompanied the Fourth Corps to Texas where it was stationed in 1865, as an Army of Occupation.
(1) War Department Records make it 15 killed, 123 wounded, and 5 missing” (Fox, p. 366).