The Source By Michael K. Shaffer
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War
Reflecting back on the September installment of this column, readers will recall coverage of The Southern Bivouac. In closing out publication of Bivouac, the new owners, the Century Company, promised to fill all remaining subscriptions with a copy of Century Magazine, to include the "…forthcoming volumes, entitled, ‘Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.'" This month, we will explore a vital resource for researchers, the four-volume Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. First, a brief review of how this excellent collection came into existence. Robert Underwood Johnson and Clarence Clough Buel, writers with Century, took heed of reader re-
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War cover.
October 2016
Civil War News
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sponse to an earlier article on John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry. Johnson and Buel believed a brief series on various Civil War battles, from the pens of noted participants, would stimulate reader interest. Convincing their managing editor to signoff on the series proved easy when compared to the job of soliciting contributors! Certainly, for the series to have merit, they needed the likes of Grant, Sherman, Johnston, Longstreet, Davis, and other notables. When Johnson and Buel approached each former officer or elected official, all of them maintained a degree of skepticism and declined to participate. Finally, after suffering tough financial times, Grant agreed, and his willingness prompted others to tell their stories. Holding to strict editorial standards, the editors insured each article would avoid political issues, and instead, focus exclusively on the strategies and tactics of individual battles. They hoped to offer opposing views of the same action; they accomplished this and more, as several officers who had served together directed, on paper, greater wrath toward friend than they ever displayed toward a combatant. Among the more famous ‘feuds' in the series, Joe Johnston taking literary shots at Jefferson Davis, and James Longstreet versus anyone/everyone who sought to blame him for the defeat at Gettysburg. The first articles appeared in the November 1884 edition of Century,
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and the response greatly exceeded the magazine's expectations. So, what started as a planned run of a few issues, lasted three years before ending in November 1887. Over the course of the series, 99 articles graced Century's pages, and readership exceeded two million per copy. All good things come to an end, and the same held true for the ‘Battles and Leaders' series. However, Johnson and Buel possessed a year's worth of articles awaiting publication, along with other submissions not previously passing the mustard for one reason or another. What to do? Demonstrating a degree of resiliency, the editors decided to publish, in book format, their entire collection. The resultant four-volume set, distributed in 1888, included 388 articles from 226 authors. Writers who had not previously participated in Century's monthly series contributed accounts. Civil War News columnist and book review editor Steve Davis suggests, "Significantly, and a point overlooked by most students, is that only a fourth of these [articles] had appeared in some form as part of the original ‘Battles and Leaders' series of the Century." The editors solicited assistance from former Federal and Confederate generals, including James B. Fry and Marcus J. Wright in vetting each article. Colonel Robert Scott, the editor of the Official Records, also helped. Johnson and Buel, striving to 'dress-up' the books, hired noted artists of the period – Forbes, Homer, Waud, and others – to create illustrations of various officers (see the example of Hancock). Also, they produced maps, like the one shown of Cedar Creek. In total, almost 1500 illustrations graced the pages of the four volumes. Volume one, entitled ‘The Opening Battles,' covers the firing on Fort Sumter to the Battle of Hampton Roads. The second – ‘The Struggle Intensifies' – opens with the fall of Fort Pulaski, and concludes with various accounts of the fighting at Iuka and Corinth. Volume three traces the action from Perryville to Chattanooga, and carries the subtitle ‘The Tide Shifts.' The final volume, ‘Retreat With Honor,' begins with the continuing defense of Charleston and concludes in the fall of Richmond, Appomattox, and final operations. In 1894, the editors compiled the best of the illustrations and produced a one-volume version under the title Century War Book: People's Pictorial Edition. Century Magazine resumed publication of monthly articles on the war after the release of their four volumes. In fact, they continued to print accounts from officers and soldiers for another 30 years. Thanks to the compilation of historian Peter Cozzens, researchers can access these articles, along with stories gleaned from other publications, in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Volume 5, and Volume 6. These recent titles, from 2002 and 2004, along with various reprints of the 1888 original four-volume set remain readily available to researchers. Check WorldCat http://www.worldcat.org/ for help in finding them in your local library. One can easily purchase reprints of the set, and also download e-book versions to their
Map of Cedar Creek battlefield favorite reading devices. Researchers with access to ProQuest can view Century Magazine's original series articles online. Closing this month's column, a few words from Robert Underwood Johnson, which illustrate the importance of the Battles and Leaders collection. "Little did I think as a boy during the Civil War…I should some day come into close personal relations with many of the commanders on both sides whose names were household words to us. The work is of such a character that it simply cannot be ignored in any consideration of the Civil War…." Well stated Mr. Johnson, very well stated! Next month, we will continue to examine other primary source
materials, and please keep suggestions for future ‘The Source' columns coming! Send them to the e-mail address shown below. Good luck in your research! Michael K. Shaffer: a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, and instructor, remains a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, and the Georgia Association of Historians. Readers may contact him at mkscdr11@gmail.com, or request speaking engagements via his website www.civilwarhistorian.net. Follow Michael on Facebook www. facebook.com/michael.k.shaffer and on Twitter @michaelkshaffer.
Major General W.S. Hancock illustration.