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June 2019 loved ones at war, perhaps even a bad image served better than none. As a note to researchers, use caution, as the value of Leslie’s work rests more strongly on the illustrations than with the narrative. Borrowing from his mentor Barnum, Leslie encouraged sensationalism among his writers.
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper A name without a face, a battlefield absent terrain features, or accounts of pivotal events, all created confusion when reading printed stories. Frank Leslie solved each of these dilemmas. Born Henry Carter in England, as a young man, he gained valuable experience working with the London Illustrated News. Fearing his father would not approve of the son’s newfound livelihood, Carter wrote under the pseudonym, Frank Leslie. After immigrating to the United States in 1848, and officially changing his name to Frank
Frank Leslie
(Left) a reproduction of his 1895 Frank Leslie’s Illustrated History of the Civil War; (Right) a 2006 Smithsonian/HarperCollins title – Witness to the Civil War. Leslie, he created illustrations or photographs onto blocks of for the famous showman P.T. wood, which enabled quicker reBarnum. In 1855, Leslie launched production on the printed page. his weekly illustrated newspaper, (During the war, the technology which continued publication un- to print photos in newspapers did til 1922. For this story, we focus not yet exist.) Focusing on June (the cover on the war years and the coverage the Illustrated News provided date of this edition of Civil War a growing subscriber base. Folks News), a few of Leslie’s examples possessed such eagerness to covering June events during the “see” the people and places of the war seems in order. First up, the war, Leslie’s circulation doubled Battle of Kennesaw Mountain; after the first year of the conflict. usually spelled as ‘Kenesaw’ Operating under Leslie’s motto, during the war. The illustra“Never shoot over the heads of tion of Major General William the people,”—the newspaper’s T. Sherman’s troops attacking proprietor hired many writers to above, while not depicting the create stories to accompany the terrain very accurately, certainvarious illustrations. Leslie also ly provided readers with a menpioneered a new, faster technique tal picture of the battle. For those for carving artist’s drawings on the homefront concerned over
Illustration of the Battle of Kolb’s Farm, Marietta, Ga.
Illustration of U.S. Grant.
The adage of ‘making a mountain out of a molehill’ perhaps served as their style guide. Amid the desire to excite readers, inaccuracies, or less than ideal descriptions occurred. Note the caption above actually refers to the Battle of Kolb’s Farm fought on June 22, 1864. Another section recounting
June 2019
Cold Harbor , Va., illustration.
Illustrations of Joe Johnston. the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain lists Sherman’s casualties as 1,000 (actual app. 3,000) and General Joseph E. Johnston’s as unknown (actual app. 1,000); the narrative also states the Federals
Civil War News
turned Johnston’s flank during the battle…untrue. Leslie’s work covered both the Eastern and Western Theaters. The illustration below of Cold Harbor serves as one example from the east. Note this illustration came from the sketchbook of noted artist Edwin Forbes. Placing faces with names - sometimes fairly accurate, on other occasions not so much—Leslie offered readers a glimpse at the military leaders of the war. This illustration of General Joseph E. Johnston gives a reasonable likeness; the image of Major General Ulysses S. Grant less so. Researchers can benefit from digitized pages at https://archive.org/details/franklesliesilluv1112lesl or via the searchable database at https://www.accessible-archives.com/collections/
17 frank-leslies-weekly/. One will need a subscription to use the second; however, many local libraries have subscriptions allowing access. Readers can locate, and purchase copies of the two books pictured at the beginning of this column—Frank Leslie’s Illustrated History of the Civil War (ISBN 9780764339967) and Witness to the Civil War (ISBN 9780060891503) – at various online bookstores. Remember to check WorldCat http://www. worldcat.org/ for help in finding either of these sources in a local library. Conduct a search using the ISBNs provided above. Next month, we will explore another
primary source. Until then, continued good luck in researching the Civil War! Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, instructor, and a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, the Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, the Georgia Association of Historians, and the Georgia Writers Association. Readers may contact him at mkscdr11@ gmail.com, or to request speaking engagements, via his website www.civilwarhistorian.net. Follow Michael on Facebook www.facebook.com/michael.k.shaffer and Twitter @michaelkshaffer.