Several months ago, Chris Wehner contacted me and asked
me to review his book, The 11th
Wisconsin in the Civil War: A Regimental History that was published in
2008. Although this is not a book review site, I was intrigued by the history
of the unit and accepted his offer of a copy of the book from McFarland and
Company. Initially serving in Missouri, the regiment then campaigned in
Arkansas and fought at the battle of Bayou Cache in July 1862. The 11th
Wisconsin marched and fought in the Vicksburg campaign, and then were stationed
near Fort Esperanza, Texas, after the surrender of Vicksburg. The unit’s last
combat duty occurred at Fort Blakely, Alabama. Earlier in the year, I read
Chris’ book and found it to be well organized, readable, and informative. My
first book was a regimental history, and I’ve long had a soft spot for that
genre with its focus on common soldiers and their organizations. Chris (pictured at right) readily
agreed to participate in the following question and answer session. Enjoy!
Johansson:
The 11th Wisconsin is not a well-known regiment. Why did you decide to write a
history of that particular unit?
Wehner: My
grandpa would take me on his lap and read to me. It was always history books;
World War II, Korea, and then sometimes the Civil War. He would take out an old
diary and read to me some of the passages. He always embellished the stories,
of course, as the diary was very bland. I was a little boy and didn't know or
care; I loved a good story. The diary was by William Henry Oettiker, a member
of the 11th Wisconsin and an ancestor on my mother's side. For my Senior Paper
as a history student in college I transcribed and edited the diary, then
promptly put it away and forgot about it. Years later I pulled out the
manuscript and decided to see if there was anything out there about the
regiment. There wasn't anything, so I did some digging and found a treasure
trove of primary documents hidden under dust in archives including letters and
diaries from the soldiers of the regiment. It just evolved from there and
before I knew it I was collecting a lot of research and that led to the natural
process of putting it into a narrative.
Johansson:
Did any other regimental history (or histories) provide a model for your study
of the 11th Wisconsin? If so, how did they help you craft the unit history?
Wehner: I read a
lot and certainly was influenced by other historians and in particular
regimental historians of the time period. A big influence was my ancestor Col.
Charles H. Weygant who wrote an important history of his famed unit, History of the One Hundred Twenty-Fourth
Regiment, New York State Volunteers. That book I read many times as a
teenager. I like to tell stories of the average foot soldier and so I was
always drawn to historical narratives that focused on those small aspects of
life. John D. Billings’ Hard Tack and
Coffee was of course a big influence for me. A.F. Sperry's History of the 33d Iowa Infantry Volunteer
Regiment edited by Gregory J. W. Urwin and Cathy Kunzinger Urwin to me is
one of the best regimental histories. William J. K. Beaudot's The 24th Wisconsin Infantry in the Civil War
was something I was reading while writing my book -- and many others. I have a
mini library in my home as I am sure most historians do. I was greatly
influenced by social historiography and studies such as Bell Irvin Wiley's The Life of Billy Yank, Reid Mitchell's The Vacant Chair: The Northern Soldier
Leaves Home, and James I. Robertson's Soldiers
Blue and Gray. But really James M. McPherson's short study For Cause & Comrades: Why Men fought in
the Civil War, was really influential. I wanted to avoid just writing about
a regiment in the Civil War, yawn. I wanted to write a study about them as men
and soldiers.
Johansson:
Every regiment had some interesting or even unique characteristics. How would
you characterize the 11th?
Wehner: These
were primarily farmers from south central Wisconsin. There was a segment from
Madison. Most soldiers were obviously from farms during the Civil War; it was a
nation or farmers. But the 11th Wisconsin was decidedly made up of farmers
(72%) and that dominated the themes of their letters and their thoughts. When
they described a new place in the South, they did so first by judging the
quality of the farms (and farmland) and then its people to that of Wisconsin.
They were patriotic and competent soldiers, but they had a sense of humor and
there were a few who stand out.
Johansson:
The 11th Wisconsin saw battle action in a wide geographical area. Did they have
any unusual or unique combat experiences?
Wehner: They saw
some hard fighting during Grant's Vicksburg Campaign where they endured their
greatest percentage of casualties during the war. But what probably stands out
the most for both its uniqueness and absurdity was their late afternoon assault
on April 9th, 1865 at Fort Blakely, Alabama. It was the last significant land
assault of the war (I believe). Obviously it took place on the same day Lee
surrendered. It was also I think a needless assault. The general in charge
(Canby) was trying to save face for some embarrassing outcomes before and
during this campaign. Grant was going to fire him for how slowly he organized
and moved the months prior to the campaign, and then he allowed Spanish Fort to
be evacuated by the Confederates from under his nose. It was obvious the
Confederates were on the retreat, were outnumbered, and were going to
surrender... eventually. The assault cost quite a few lives and was needless.
Also, the attack involved the largest single gathering (Hawkins U.S.C.T. 1st
Div) of African American soldiers seen during the war in an assault. Some 5,000
black soldiers led the charge, really, and did the hardest fighting that day.
After the fight there was (and is) some controversy concerning the surrendering
of Confederate soldiers and some atrocities that probably took place. I will
say to a man, all the letters I read from the white Union soldiers praised
their black counterparts on their performance at Blakely.
Johansson:
You used a rather large number of primary accounts written by members of the
11th Wisconsin. What were your most useful sources?
Wehner: The
letters and diaries of the soldiers was always the focus of my narrative.
Newspapers were also huge and none more so than E.B. Quiner's incredible
collection. He faithfully collected, cut, gathered and organized every
newspaper article pertaining to each Wisconsin regiment and kept them in
massive journals. Simply the most incredible document I ever stumbled on. It's
all online now and is a great resource. The newspaper clippings also include
soldier's correspondences and letters (my main focus and reason for using them)
that were reproduced by newspapers. It's a treasure trove of primary documents.
The Wisconsin Historical Society's archive has a very nice digital archive that
wasn't all online when I started, but it was getting there. I had to take
several trips from my home in Colorado to Madison, Wisconsin, and visit the
archive.
One cool experience I had. I was given the Daily Returns
for the 11th Wisconsin. These are fairly big ledgers I guess is the best way to
explain them. Anyway, every day the officer of the day or whoever, would
document numerous things: those present for duty, where the regiment was
camped, how long, where they had traveled, how far, etc. Well, when I opened it
for the first time I could smell the camp fire. Here was this piece of history
that hadn't been touched in over 130 years, and I was experiencing the morning
campfire. It's one of those experiences as a historian I will never forget. To
me, you're not a historian unless you are working with these primary documents
and holding them in your hands and experiencing them, not just reading them.
Johansson:
While reading primary accounts, sometimes a historian becomes particularly
intrigued by an individual. Were there soldiers in the 11th Wisconsin that you
wished you had known personally?
Wehner: All of
them. In the final chapter I chronicle a little of what happened to the
soldiers after the war, and to write it was very difficult. I'm not too proud
to admit I shed a couple tears as I finished. It was the end of a journey where
I got to know these men and experienced their journey as much as a historian
can. The main character of the regiment for me was Samuel Kirkpatrick. His
letters that survived (over 100) were the main influence for why I wrote the
book. They contained pages of not just the weather and where the regiment was
like you find in so many diaries. He was recording for his brothers and sisters
back home his journey and he faithfully -- and in great detail -- described
everything from the farms and houses, to the food and people he encountered. He
was taking them on the journey as well; when you read the letters you can
visualize the terrain and the environment. He wanted his family back home to
experience it as well.
Johansson:
What advice do you have for readers that would like to write a Civil War unit
history?
Wehner: Be
passionate about the men and women (I found a neat narrative between two
brothers and their sister) and their experiences as much as the military
campaigns and their role as a fighting force. I did not ignore that and
faithfully described their involvements. The war parts are fun and easy to
write. Get to know the men (the characters of the story) and tell their
narrative concurrently with the actions of the whole regiment is what makes a
really powerful regimental study in my opinion.
I have a site dedicated to the regiment:
Along with my online digital archive:
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