“For 110 years, the numbers stood as gospel: 618,222 men died in the Civil War, 360,222 from the North and 258,000 from the South — by far the greatest toll of any war in American history.
But new research shows that the numbers were far too low.”
The new number, fairly well reasoned, is 750,000.
an article from the NY Times worth reading:
Civil War Toll Up by 20 Percent in New Estimate – NYTimes.com.
One of the writers I am working with on a new book (more on that later) said something profound a while back: “You do not know who you are until you know who your grandparents were.”
I’d actually expand on that a bit. I would say, “You do not know who you are until you know who your great-grandparents were.”
I’ve spent some time off and on over the past ten years doing some genealogical research on my ancestors. It’s been fun and has helped to personalize history. I enjoy telling the stories to my kids. Among other things, I’ve discovered that we’re descended from two of the Mayflower passengers (John Howland & Elizabeth Tilley), as well as from Robert the Bruce and Edward I.
I’ve had the benefit of an active set of Clarkson relatives who’ve done lots of research on the Clarkson clan in SC – Georgetown, Charleston, & Columbia. One of my great-grandfathers has held special interest for me – Henry Mazyck Clarkson. Born in 1835, a med school graduate, he served in the CSA from Dec 1860 through the end of the war – most notably as a surgeon at the battle of Gettysburg. After the war, he practiced medicine, wrote poetry, and was, for a time, superintendent of schools in Prince William Co., VA.
Today, I discovered that another of my great-grandfathers was also an officer in the CSA during the civil war and was a veteran of many of the important battles of 1861 & 1862. I found this out sorting through some of my mother’s genealogical notes. At one point, she had transcribed the grave markers in West View Cemetery in Atlanta GA. I knew the birth & death dates for my great-grandfather, but I was startled to see, in my mothers handwriting, a third line from the tombstone:
Robert H. Atkinson
Oct 16, 1838 – July 17, 1886
Capt. Co. C First Ga. Regulars CSA
I spent some time online researching the First Ga. Regulars and my great-grandfather. Turns out, he was a graduate of the Georgia Military Academy of Marietta, GA in 1862. I’ve written off for his CSA service records, but Co. C was organized in April of 1861. They fought in the Seven Days Battles in Virginia in 1862 (including at Malvern Hill), and then at 2nd Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg.
After Fredericksburg, it seems they were sent home on leave, to recoup, refit, and recruit replacements back in Georgia. In 1863, my great-grandfather married a young lady from Charleston, SC named Cordelia Dessau. He was 25 and she was 20. Of great interest to me is the fact that her family were German Jews. Her father, Abraham Dessau, born in 1802, had emigrated from Hamburg, Germany some time before 1843. I have remembered seeing a faded picture of a couple being married under a Jewish canopy, and I feel sure this must have been Robert Holt Atkinson and Cordelia Dessau – married in the middle of the Civil War.
My other two great-grandfathers (everybody has four!) were too young to have fought. Malcolm Graham Waitt (1854-1932) was only seven when the war broke out. William Hardin Watts (1861-1940) was born just a month before Fort Sumter.
My great-grandfathers:
Henry Mazyck Clarkson (1835-1915) <- Surgeon with the Army of No. VA, CSA
William Hardin Watts (1861-1940)
Malcolm Graham Waitt (1854-1932)
Robert Holt Atkinson (1838-1886) <- Captain, Co. C First Ga Regulars, CSA
Evelyn: A Romance of The War between the States
by Henry Mazyck Clarkson, M.A., M.D.
Charleston, S.C.
Walker, Evans & Cogswell, Printers
Nos. 3 Broad and 109 East Bay Streets
1871
Dr. Henry Mazyck Clarkson of Charleston, SC was my great-grandfather. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee as a surgeon. During the war, he married Jean Irvin Sayre of Alexandria VA. After the war, he settled in Haymarket, VA.
Previously, in Evelyn Parts 1 thru 4, we were introduced to Albert Ashleigh, “a goodly and gallant youth” of South Carolina, and to Evelyn, “beauteous child” of Virginia. They met in Florence Italy, but a budding romance was cut short when Evelyn informed Albert that she was already betrothed by her father to another. Albert fled in despair.
Evelyn returned with her father to their home in Virginia, where she prays for Albert Ashleigh, though she knows not where he is. In the distance the rumbling of the coming war is heard.
When war breaks out, Albert enlists in the Confederate Army. He fights and is wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg. His men take him to a nearby house which turns out to be Glen Arvon, Evelyn’s home.
Albert recovers and woos Evelyn. He is suddenly summoned back to the army in May of 1863, to fight at Chancellorsville. While he is away, a party of union raiders, commanded by Andrew Hunter, Evelyn’s cousin, appear at Glen Arvon. When Evelyn and her father defy them, they burn Glen Arvon to the ground. Albert returns in the nick of time. Andrew Hunter flees, and Albert and Evelyn are married.
Part 5 opens in March of 1865. Evelyn has moved to Albert’s home in SC, but Sherman’s army is approaching.
Listen, to hear the rest of the story. . .
Evelyn, Part 5 of 5 from Rob Shearer on Vimeo.
Evelyn: A Romance of The War between the States
by Henry Mazyck Clarkson, M.A., M.D.
Charleston, S.C.
Walker, Evans & Cogswell, Printers
Nos. 3 Broad and 109 East Bay Streets
1871
Dr. Henry Mazyck Clarkson of Charleston, SC was my great-grandfather. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee as a surgeon. During the war, he married Jean Irvin Sayre of Alexandria VA. After the war, he settled in Haymarket, VA.
Previously, in Evelyn Parts 1, 2 & 3, we were introduced to Albert Ashleigh, “a goodly and gallant youth” of South Carolina, and to Evelyn, “beauteous child” of Virginia. They met in Florence Italy, but a budding romance was cut short when Evelyn informed Albert that she was already betrothed by her father to another. Albert fled in despair.
Evelyn returned with her father to their home in Virginia, where she prays for Albert Ashleigh, though she knows not where he is. In the distance the rumbling of the coming war is heard.
Part 3 showed us three scenes. Scene one was the outbreak of the war as SC seceded in December, 1860. Scene two – the Battle of Fredericksburg in December, 1862. In scene three we saw Albert, wounded in the battle, carried to Glen Arvon, where he is cared for by Evelyn
Part 4 opens several months later, in the Spring of 1863. Albert has recovered and is wooing Evelyn. He is then suddenly recalled to his unit. And then the evil nemesis of them both, Andrew Hunter, traitor to Virginia, makes a sudden appearance. Listen, to hear what happens. . .
Evelyn, Part 4 from Rob Shearer on Vimeo.
Continuing with part 3 of Evelyn: A Romance of the War Between the States by Henry Mazyck Clarkson.
Dr. Clarkson was born in 1835 and enlisted in the SC militia in December of 1860 when he was 25 years old. He served in an artillery battery in Charleston, then in Boykin’s Mounted Rangers (aka the 2nd South Carolina Calvary Regiment). He wrote this lengthy poem just after the war. It was published in 1871.
Previously, in Evelyn, parts 1 & 2. . .
. . . we were introduced to Albert Ashleigh, “a goodly and gallant youth” of South Carolina, and to Evelyn, “beauteous child” of Virginia. They met in Florence Italy, but a budding romance was cut short when Evelyn informed Albert that she was already betrothed by her father to another. Albert fled in despair.
Evelyn returned with her father to their home in Virginia, where she prays for Albert Ashleigh, though she knows not where he is. In the distance the rumbling of the coming war is heard.
Part 3 has three scenes. Scene one is the outbreak of the war as SC secedes in December, 1860. Scene two is the Battle of Fredericksburg in December, 1862. Scene three is at Glen Arvon, the home of Evelyn, not far from the battlefield of Fredericksburg.
Evelyn, Part 3 from Rob Shearer on Vimeo.
Previously, in Evelyn, part 1. . .
. . . we were introduced to Albert Ashleigh, “a goodly and gallant youth” of South Carolina, and to Evelyn, “beauteous child” of Virginia. They met, somewhat surprisingly in Florence Italy.
How do these two young people come to be in Italy (I hear you asking)? Evelyn’s mother was Lucia, from Florence, Italy. She had married Evelyn’s father and moved to Virginia. Left behind is her childhood friend, Leonardo Vecchio, a painter who had loved her. When she became ill with consumption, she returned to her native Italy, where she died.
Albert Ashleigh of South Carolina is in Florence as a pupil to the painter Leonardo. He had been dispatched by Leonardo to find Lucia when he heard that she had returned to Italy. Sadly, Albert brings news of Lucia’s death in Milan to Leonardo – but recognizes the face of Lucia in the portrait that Leonardo has painted.
The last scene in part 1 was the funeral of Lucia in Milan. Leonardo and Albert attend and Albert first sees and is captivated by Evelyn, mourning her mother and comforting her father.
Evelyn, Part 2 from Rob Shearer on Vimeo.
Evelyn: A Romance of The War between the States
by Henry Mazyck Clarkson, M.A., M.D.
Charleston, S.C.
Walker, Evans & Cogswell, Printers
Nos. 3 Broad and 109 East Bay Streets
1871
Dr. Henry Mazyck Clarkson of Charleston, SC was my great-grandfather. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee as a surgeon. During the war, he married Jean Irvin Sayre of Alexandria VA. After the war, he settled in Haymarket, VA.
Henry Mazyck Clarkson was my great-grandfather. He was born in 1835 in Charleston, SC; graduated from the University of SC in 1855 and from the medical school of the University of PA in 1859.
During the War between the States, he served as a surgeon with the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee. During the war, he married Jean Irwin Sayre of Alexandria. After the war, they settled in Haymarket, VA where he practiced medicine – and wrote poetry.
Evelyn was published in 1871, when he was 36 years old.
In 1885, When he was 50, his tenth and last child, a son named Lee Massey Clarkson was born. Lee Massey was my grandfather. He married a bit later in life, at 34 in 1919. In 1920, my mother, Elizabeth Lee Clarkson, was born. She died in 2008.
One of her prize posessions was a small volume of her grandfather, Henry Mazyck Clarkson’s poems. I have my mother’s copy, but was surprised to discover that it was not the first volume my great-grandfather had written. Just this year, I acquired a reprint of his first published poetry, from 1871.
Below is a video of me reading Part I of Evelyn: A Romance of the War between the States.
Evelyn, Part 1 from Rob Shearer on Vimeo.
Just published – The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War! This is a worthy addition to the Politically Incorrect Guides. I’ve previously reviewed the Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization, and the Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature.
First, a few caveats. Neither the book (nor this post) is an apology for or a defense of slavery. I believe slavery to have been a great moral evil – and I wish it had been ended in this country earlier and with less bloodshed. But there is much more to the Civil War than simply the question of whether slavery was evil and should be abolished.
Crocker deals directly with the topic of slavery early in the book in a 12-page essay in answer to the question, “Was the war really all about slavery?”
The first sentence of his answer is, “In the sense that the South was defined by slavery, yes.” He then proceeds to qualify that answer and show that the issue is far more complex than the politically correct answer.
As an example, he quotes a famous letter from Abraham Lincoln to Horace Greely in August 1862, in which he stated: “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others also I would also do that.”
As Mr. Crocker observes, “. . . the stated aim of the Lincoln administration in 1861 was not the abolition of slavery; it was the forcible reunification of the Union.”
Both Jefferson Davis (President of the Confederate States) and Robert E. Lee believed that the abolition of slavery was something that would happen peaceably in due course. Lee’s opinion was that “emancipation will sooner result from the mild and melting influence of Christianity than from the storms and contests of fiery controversy.”
Crocker’s summarizes the conflict as a clash of cultures:
“The South considered the North an unprincipled money-grubbing, self-righteously intolerant leviathan, and thought of itself as a liberty-loving agricultural Sparta of gracious gentlemen, classical culture, and feudal order.
The North considered the South a backward land of hot-tempered planter-aristocrats who kept a booted heel and a master’s whip on the backs of slaves, tainted the Union with its “peculiar institution,” and dragged it into wars against Mexico only to expand its hateful “slave power.” The North, in its own view, was enlightened, practical and business-like, and consequently wealthy, forward-looking, and the obvious moral superior to a region that kept imported Africans in bondage.”
As Crocker shows, each side tended to caricature the other – which only underscores that the conflict (although it involved slavery as a central issue) was about much more than slavery. Crocker argues, convincingly, that the war was fought, not to free the slaves (though in the end, it resulted in their freedom), but to forcibly prevent the Southern states from peaceably seceding.
The majority of the book is not about why the war was fought, but devoted to retelling the course of the war from the Southern perspective. There are two chapters which tell The History of the War in Sixteen Battles You Should Know. These are well worth the read.
This is followed by nine chapters which are admirable biographies of the leading generals on both sides. Southern generals sketched are Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Stonewall Jackson, and A.P. Hill. But there are also chapter length biographies of the Union generals George H. Thomas (introduced with the wry comment that “some of the best Union generals were southerners”), William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, and George McClellan.
Part IV of the book is a fascinating study of cavalry officers Wade Hampton, Philip Sheridan, J.E.B. Stuart and George Armstrong Custer.
Part V, titled Beating Retreat is an extended essay on the topic, What If the South Had Won? Crocker composes a remarkable speech that Lincoln might have given, but tragically didn’t, that begins:
We part as friends. We hope to reunite as friends. There will be no coercion of the Southern states by the people of the North. No state shall be kept in the Union against its will . . . but we ask the Southern states, to which we are bound by mystic chords of memory and affection, that they reconsider their action., If not now, then later, when the heat of anger has subsided, when they have seen the actions of this administration work only for the good of the whole and not for the partisan designs of a few; when this administration shows by word and deed that it is happy to live within the confines of the Constitution, that we will admit of no interference in the stabled institutions of the several states. I trust that by our demeanor, by our character, by our actions, by our prosperity and our progress we will prove to our separated brethren that we should again be more than neighbors, we should be more than friends, we should in fact be united states, for a house united is far stronger, will be far more prosperous, and will be far happier than a house divided, a house rent asunder by rancor, a house that undermines its very foundations by separation.
To the people of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, and Arkansas, I have a special message. I tell you that this government will raise no arms against the states of the Southern Confederacy. We will wage no war of subjugation against these states. And I confirm, yet again, that I have neither the right, nor the power, nor the desire to abolish slavery within these states or any other where it is lawfully established. What I do desire, as do all Northern states, is that we be once again a nation united in peace, amity, and common government. Let us through prayer and good graces work to achieve that end. I ask that all good men of the United States, and those now separated from us, work peaceably to achieve the reconciliation that is our destiny and our hope. Four score years ago we created a new nation, united in principle. I pray that sharing the same God, the same continent, and the same destiny, we might unite again in common principle and common government.”
If Lincoln had not gone to war to keep the Southern states from seceding, would they have one day returned and reunited with the Union peaceably? We will never know. We do know what waging war to prevent secession cost – and it was far more than Lincoln, or anyone else, expected.
Included as an Afterword to this volume is an essay by Jefferson Davis which he composed for his own history of the Confederacy. It is worth reading if one wants to understand what motivated the Southern states to secede and to fight for their independence.
The Politically Incorrect Guides are intended for college students as a balance and useful corrective to the usual bill of fare in politically correct textbooks, but they could be profitably read by high school students who are studying this important period of history. This Guide will also serve as a thought-provoking read for parents and all those interested in better understanding what is still one of the central facts of the history of the United States, the Civil War.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War is a paperback, 370 pages. Like all of the Politically Incorrect Guides, it sells for $19.95 and may be ordered directly from Greenleaf Press by clicking on the links in this message.
– Rob Shearer
Publisher, Greenleaf Press
Director, Schaeffer Study Center
There are a number of other Politically Incorrect Guides. They are well-written, well-researched, and well documented. Each serves as a useful corrective to the overwhelming cultural bias that our current textbooks suffer from. We’ve decided at Greenleaf to carry them all. Here are all 15 of the titles:
Or you can order the Complete Politically Correct Library – all 15 titles – for $250 – a 16% discount (that’s like getting two books free!)
Sometimes, simply reading a book’s title opens doors and helps us make connections and understand things better. Who knew that some 240 Yale graduates fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War? Professor Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes, Jr., eminent Civil War historian, aims to illuminate that overlooked detail. In October of this year, The University of Tennessee Press will publish his book, Yale’s Confederates: A Biographical Dictionary. They didn’t all come from the South, but they did pay a terrible price. Almost 70% of them were killed in the war. The Yale Library web site reports that the names of the Confederate dead were inscribed in marble along with alumni who fought for the Union in the 1915 Woolsey Rotunda. Another fascinating tidbit from that site is that in the 1870’s, barely ten years after the war’s end, ivy from Robert E. Lee’s house at Washington College in Virginia was planted on the Yale campus to symbolize reconciliation of the Confederacy with the rest of the nation.
Professors and practitioners of history will tell you that the only way to really understand historical events or historical figures is to read original sources. If you want to know about Luther or Lincoln, your best course of action is to read what they wrote – unfiltered if possible, in the original editions if you can, and in their own handwriting best of all.
Part of my lifelong fascination with Martin Luther came from the marvelous year I spent poking around in the archives of the State of Hesse in Germany, where many of Luther’s letters are preserved. Holding in my hands a stack of letters written by Luther made the Reformation real in a way that nothing else ever could.
Two unique books appeared this year which skillfully incorporate the benefits of tangible, original documents. The first is Lincoln: The Presidential Archives. The second is David McCullough’s 1776: The Illustrated Edition.
The new Lincoln book is the one that came to my attention first. It was published in September of this year. Chuck Wills is an accomplished author and he does an excellent job outlining Lincoln’s life and political career in nine chapters. The text is interspersed with hundreds of photographs and shots of newspaper headlines and front pages. But what really sets this book apart is the inclusion of facsimile reproductions of original documents. About a dozen are included, each 
on a tinted separate heavy-stock sheet slipped into a translucent pocket at the appropriate place in the books narrative. With the chapter discussing Lincoln’s boyhood and education, there is a reproduction of a page from his “sum book.” In the chapter on his marriage and young family, there is a reproduction of his marriage license to Mary Todd. In each case, holding an original document (even it is only a well-crafted facsimile) makes the historical account richer, nearer, more tangible and provokes a more visceral, emotional response. It makes Lincoln much more real, much less abstract. The text is written on an adult level (though certainly not too advanced for high school students), and many students will need some help in absorbing and understanding the historical documents, but I can’t think of a better way to introduce students to the raw materials of history and historical research. For anyone with a historical sense of who Lincoln was (and the text and photographs will give it to you), seeing a flyer for a play at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865 and then seeing the “wanted” poster issued in the manhunt for Lincoln’s assassins produces a profound effect. For anyone with an interest in Lincoln, I highly recommend this book – especially if your students have an interest in understanding how historians conduct their research. Note: 2008 will be the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth. I know its a cliche to study Lincoln around President’s Day, but 2008 will be a special year. Here’s a list of the historical, facsimile documents included in the book:
Click on the books title, Lincoln: The Presidential Archives, here or in the text above to order directly from Greenleaf Press. The price is $40.
The second book of this type is 1776: The Illustrated Edition by David McCullough, just released from the publisher this October. I LOVED this book when it first came out. The narrative focuses on a single year and takes us month by month, week by week, often day by day through the events of the remarkable year. McCullough has won two Pulitzer Prizes and a National Book Award. He’s a brilliant writer and historian. His historical books read almost like novels and are perfect examples of the importance of the maxim, “above all, tell a good story.” With a new introduction by David McCullough, 1776: The Illustrated Edition brings 140 powerful images and 37 removable replicas of source documents to this remarkable drama.
In 1776, David McCullough told the story of the greatest defeats, providential fortune, and courageous triumphs of George Washington and his bedraggled army. In 1776: The Illustrated Edition, the efforts of the Continental Army are made even more personal, as an excerpted version of the original book is paired with letters, maps, and seminal artwork. More than three dozen source documents — including a personal letter George Washington penned to Martha about his commission, a note informing the mother of a Continental soldier that her son has been taken prisoner, and a petition signed by Loyalists pledging their allegiance to the King — are re-created in uniquely designed envelopes throughout the book and secured with the congressional seal.
Both a distinctive art book and a collectible archive, 1776: The Illustrated Edition combines a treasury of eighteenth-century paintings, sketches, documents, and maps with storytelling by our nation’s preeminent historian. Like the Lincoln book, the inclusion of facsimile originals makes everything much more real. For your students, the original sources are a way to help them understand the rich reality of the past. For any history buffs among your family and friends, this would make an excellent gift. The hardcover, slipcased edition with source documents is $65, but worth every penny. Click the title anywhere in the review to order direct from Greenleaf.
– Rob Shearer
Director, Schaeffer Study Center
Publisher, Greenleaf Press
