Suggested Readings

Don’t worry, not everything is required. Actually, none of it is. However, if you really want to get inside the part and get to know the real Co. H this is the way to do it. Many of the books here have condensed versions in either scholarly journals or in magazines such as North & South. If you want to cover more ground efficiently and have access to back issues, then that’s the way to go. Others, well, you’re just out of luck and will have to read the whole thing.

An “*” indicates a particularly valuable source. Highly reccomended

An “@” indicates a publication that is available electronically (J-STOR, etc.). I will gladly send you the file if you so desire. I have others not listed here. Feel free to ask about specific subjects if you wish.

The First Tennessee in Its Own Words

Memoirs

* Watkins, Sam R. “Co. Aytch” Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment or, A Side Show of the Big Show. 1882.

Where to start, where to start? You all know this one. As far as editions go, there are a ton out there. Most interesting is the newest one that contains some editions and expansions that Watkins was planning to put in for a new edition. (Franklin, TN: Providence House Publishers, 2007). Other than that, I like the Broadfoot reprint for its inclusion of original letters, photos, and typeplates. (Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing, 1994). But you really can’t go wrong with any of them. Aside from the new one, they all say the same thing.

Toney, Marcus Breckinridge. Privations of a Private: Campaigning with the First Tennessee, C.S.A. and Life Thereafter. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2005.

Nothing really groundbreaking here. Toney left the 1^st after Chattanooga to serve with his cousin in Virginia. From a prominent Nashville family and a member of the Rock City Guards. Later became a judge. Perhaps most useful for his up-front handling of race, acknowledging his love of the “good old days,” and open admission of being in the Ku Klux Klan. Also see his Veteran’s Questionnaire for more of Mr. Toney’s opinions. Quite enlightening.

Questionnaires

Dyer, Gustavus et al. Tennessee Veteran’s Questionnaires. 5 vols. Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1985.

In 1915, Gustavus Dyer, director of the Tennessee Department of Archives and History developed a questionnaire that was sent to the aging veterans of the state. The project continued through the early 1920s under his successor, John Moore. The questionnaires asked the veterans questions relating to their prewar lives, focusing on occupations, housing, and social relationships between whites and blacks as well as questions concerning the material and social experience of military life. In all, they received 1,648 responses. Some of the 1^st Tennessee got rounded up in that number.

Specifically see:

Adkisson, George Lafayette; Batey, Benjamin Blanks; Craig, W.D.; Daniel, Wiley Butler; Dodson, Raleigh P.; Kittrell, R.H.; Lewis, Samuel J.; Moss, W.M.; Pickard, J.A.; Pollard, William Mebane; Reagan, John R.; Roberts, Deering J.; Toney, M.B.; Webster, A.B.

I have photocopies of the above and if anyone is interested in any particular one I would consider transcribing. If not, I will send a sampling of some useful quotes compiled from the men of the First before the event.

The Army of Tennessee and the Chickamauga Campaign

Connelly, Thomas L. Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862-1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971.

The big history of the Army of Tennessee. More command level than anything, but a starting point. If you want bickering generals, this is the place to go.

* Daniel, Larry J. Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee: A Portrait of Life in a Confederate Army. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991.

The standard “social” history of the Army of Tennessee. Done in Bell Wiley style with chapters on just about every subject. Of particular use will be Ch. 4 “I Am Hearty as a Pig on Half Rations” and Ch. 6 “I Will Have My Fun.” That’s the stuff you can’t get anywhere else. Of course, Sam Watkins would want you to read Ch. 7 “I Saw 14 Men Tied to Postes and Shot” and Ch. 8 “The Army of Tennessee Is the Army of the Lord,” but you can make that call yourself.

Cozzens, Peter. This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992.

Encyclopedic treatment of the battle. Includes a ton of soldier’s firsthand accounts virtually unedited. A bit unwieldy (and thick) to be an introduction to the battle, it is better used to study a particular part of the action in-depth. Still, highly recommended and widely available.

* Woodworth, Steven E. Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998.

A short treatment of the actions from Middle Tennessee through Chattanooga. This is the place to start for overview. Read this one first, get to know the players and the movements, and then dive into Cozzens for detail if you want more.

* http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12466

A thread on the A-C where Lee White and co. posted a ton of soldiers’ quotes about the fighting at Chickamauga. Read through these to get an idea of what our tactical demos will be like. (Hint: bring your double-quicking shoes and get ready to fight on your belly) This thread is also the shortest thing on this list, too. Huzzah!

Combat, General

* Hess, Earl J. The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1997.

What? Union soldiers? Forget that he is only talking about Feds and you’ve got a fantastic and useful book. It applies to anyone who stepped on a Civil War battlefield. Hess built on Linderman (see below) and broadened his analysis. Fantastic discussions of the psychological effects of combat, tactics, and the behavior of veteran troops. It even carries the story off of the battlefield and looks at specifically how soldiers wrote about their combat experience immediately after and in later memoirs.

Linderman, Gerald. Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War. New York: Free Press, 1987.

A (relatively) old classic on fighting the Civil War. Argues that societal values of courage and manliness were challenged by the stress of the war experience. Soldiers struggled to embody these values throughout the many difficult situations they faced. Laid the foundation for study of the combat experience.

* Noseworthy, Brent. The Bloody Crucible of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience of the Civil War. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2003.

It’s thick, it’s scary, it’s comprehensive, it’s fantastic. A complete overhaul of previous Civil War tactical studies. Covers a ton of ground, but for this, focus on his discussion of evolving infantry tactics, the actual effectiveness of the rifle musket in combat, and the unique nature of the war in the West. North & South did a 3-part condensed version that sums things up nicely if you can get hold of them. “Small Arms and the Battlefield” (6 no. 6 September 2003), “Where Have All the Bullets Gone?” (6 no. 7 November 2003), and “The Rifle Musket and Associated Tactics” (7 no. 1 January 2004).

Prewar and Wartime Context, General

Carmichael, Peter S. The Last Generation: Young Virginians in Peace, War, and Reunion. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005

Alright, not too much to do with Tennessee, but this is one of my favorite books. About the young generation of elite young men who made up the junior officer class of Lee’s army. Take out all the stuff about Virginia, and apply the same lessons to Tennessee and we can draw some interesting parallels to the men of Co. H. A fun read if you have time, and one you should seriously consider reading anyway if you haven’t. Condensed versions appear in North & South “Confederate Crusaders: Virginia’s Last Generation Fights the Civil War” (8 no. 5 September 2005) and in Civil War Times “Students and Secession in the Old Dominion” (May 2006).

* Levine, Bruce. Confederate Emancipation: Southern Plans to Free and Arm Slaves During the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

A crushing blow to those who still claim the existence of thousands of black Confederate soldiers. Should be the end to such arguments, but, then again, such arguments aren’t rooted in history so we’ll see what happens. Anyhow, see the two-part condensed version in North & South “Thinking about the Unthinkable: ‘Confederate Emancipation’ and its Meaning” (8 no. 6 November 2005) and the knockout punch “Myth & Reality: Black Confederates” (10 no. 2 July 2007).

* Manning, Chandra. What This Cruel War Was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and the Civil War. New York: Knopf, 2007.

If one Civil War book survives the apocalypse, please let it be this one. Examines soldier’s attitude towards slavery on both sides of the fence through period sources, not memoirs etc. It’s thick, but great. There is a condensed version in North & South “Our Liberties and Institutions: What Union and Confederate Soldiers Thought the Civil War was About” (7 no. 6 October 2004).

Prewar Context, 1^st Tennessee Specific

@ Bailey, Fred Arthur. Class and Tennessee’s Confederate Generation. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987.

There is a condensed essay version in the Journal of Southern History 51 (1985) which I will send out. Class-based interpretation of the TN Veteran’s Questionnaires. Explores division between rich and poor whites in antebellum Tennessee. A good read even if he beats you over the head with the economic analysis.

@ Luskey, Brian P. “Jumping Counters in White Collars: Manliness, Respectability, and Work in the Antebellum City” Journal of the Early Republic 26 (Summer 2006); 173-219.

About the lives and social position of store clerks in the antebellum city. Deals mostly with New York, but the information gives valuable insight into the lives of the 1^st Tennessee’s compliment of young urban professionals. Remember, Watkins himself was a store clerk so this should be of particular interest.

* Tolbert, Lisa L. Constructing Townscapes: Space and Society in Antebellum Tennessee. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1999.

The book about Middle Tennessee that we all should read. If you read one book for this event, please, make it this one. Most college/university libraries will have a copy or can get you one. Discusses life in the county seat towns of Columbia, Franklin, and Murfreesboro. Social relations between young and old, male and female, black and white. The young “semidependant” store clerks and law students in this book were the stuff of Co. H (and Companies A, B, C, D, I, and K for that matter). Unfortunately, no condensed version exists (which is a shame). If pressed for time, at least read Ch. 5 “Store Clerks and Serenaders” and Ch. 6 “Small Town Slaves.” Ch. 3 “Complete Renovation, 1850-1861” is also quite interesting and gives context to the other two.

1^st Tennessee Postwar, Continuing the Fight

Blight, David W. Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001).

The big thing going in Civil War memory right now. A massive work of synthesis (did I emphasize massive?). I honestly don’t expect anyone to tackle all of this, but you will be glad you did. Any Civil War bibliography from now through the foreseeable future is incomplete without this book.

* Foster, Gaines M. Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause, and the Emergence of the New South. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

The classic book on the emergence of the Lost Cause movement in the South. Traces the development of the Lost Cause from 1865 through the establishment of the Dunning School of scholarship in the early 20^th century. Notice that urban middle-class and professional men were the most eager of the veterans to form organizations such as the United Confederate Veterans. Guess who the boys of the 1^st grew up to be?

* @ Harcourt, John Edward. “Who Were the Pale Faces? New Perspectives on the Tennessee Ku Klux” Civil War History LI no. 1 (2005); 23-66.

The Palefaces were a Kuklux-like group that formed in Columbia in the years following the war. They were originally thought to be a social club, on the lines of the Masons or Odd Fellows. However, Harcourt has found that instead they were active in suppressing freedmen’s rights and combating the Reconstruction government. Specifically see pp. 45-66 for a discussion of who the Palefaces were. Compare that section to the names on your company rosters. Co. H had a big part in this organization.

* Severance, Ben H. Tennessee’s Radical Army: The State Guard and Its Role in Reconstruction, 1867-1869. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2005.

The other side of the coin from Harcourt’s essay. Governor Brownlow raised a militia consisting mainly of former Unionists and freedmen to combat the Kuklux and ensure that African Americans could exercise their civil rights. Good info on what sort of activities the Kukluxers and Palefaces engaged in.

Miscellany

Feel free as you start to read some of this to send your thoughts to me and we can start up some sort of discussion of these works. I know at least a few of you have read some of this already, so start talking about what we should be aware of.

Also, there is doubtless an entire shelf of books that I didn’t put on here or have simply forgotten about that would fit this impression perfectly. If you think of some, make up for my oversight and let the group know.