A World War I Letter from the "Schmidt Collection" to Commemorate Veteran's Day

A happy Veteran's Day to all our servicemen and women and veterans out there, including my Grandpa Alvin Weigel (WWII, 70th ID, 725th FAB, Battery B), my uncles (Air Force and Army, Vietnam and Cold War), my daughter's boyfriend, John (Marines, Iraq), and everyone else in my family who has served with honor.

Below is an interesting (and even cheeky!) letter from small (but growing!) collection of ephemera, written by an American doughboy on his way across the Atlantic. Enjoy!

(Undated)

(It's hard to put a heading to this letter because we don't stay in the same place - but I'll try)

On a large body of water (Name concealed by camouflage)

Location:

65(degrees) Fahrenheit
20(degrees) Centigrade

Going East

Time: (10 o'clock when I looked but it may be 12 now for all I know the way time flies on this boat. I hope it don;t change at meal time any more!)

Now I calculate it's nigh time to start the letter

Dear Roberta:

Please pardon the junk up above. I am the company censor, not only reading the letters of 250 men, but also my own. So I like to vary them a little to break the monotony. I may be conceited but I really enjoy reading my own letters most.

In fact what I read is mostly my own letters for part of my men can't read or write, you know. Rather fortunate for the censor. Then besides I have cautioned my men so carefully that when they do write they don’t write much. Also fortunate for me. Oh! Fine.

Oh yes! One thing I forgot in the heading - the date. But it is not best for official censors to give dates. I don’t know about making them. I can't talk French anyway. But my acting first sergeant taught it 4 years so I shall use him as my interpreter.

I still have your good letter which I answered from the guard house but I'll answer it again. It's the one with the touching close - the bit of verse about Lizzie. No, your hopes were realized. I had not heard it before.

I wonder if you are still keeping house. I had a hunch that your mother had gone to camp with Zibby and would spend the summer there. I would, had I been in her place. Knowing that the Gilmore family was in such good hands, she need not have worried. Probably by the time this letter reaches you, your mother and Zibby will have returned. I make a guess that this letter reaches you August 20th. See how close I come to it. So if your mother is back by then you will have plenty of time. To get ready for school. You only need a few days anyway. A sophomore needs less preparation anyway. Duck a few freshmen for me this fall, if you please.

Speaking of ducking, we have gotten along very nicely on our trip so far. This finishes our eleventh day. Thanks to the U.S. Navy we have not had to resort to swimming. Some of these perfect days with the sea very clam, I would not mind going for a row in one of these boats we have strung along the upper deck, or take a ride on a raft. But I'd hate to have to get up at midnight and take a dive, all for the sake of some sub captain getting an iron cross. I guess there are more of them getting wooden crosses than iron ones these days. The more the merrier.

When I wrote to Hazel I raved a lot about the wonderful U.S. Navy. I do in all my letters. So I won’t rave about it so much to you. All that I will say is that I am strong for that service. I've seen some mighty impressive things on this trip. There is one feeling that I do get from watching these ships, day by day, forging steady Eastward. That is the feeling that the Huns, with all their system and fiendish methods, can never stop the U.S. It's a confidence that you can't get in the training camps back home. And it's a confidence that will probably be greatly increased after we land in France and see the preparations our country has made and the work they are doing. That's the only time I feel serious, Roberta.

I am enjoying this trip so much that I sometimes find it hard to realize that there is a war ahead. I thought of it tonite while we sat at supper. All the navy officers, from lieutenants to senior grade to boatswain, chatting gayly, and we army officers feeling just as good but sobered a little by some wonderful old pieces that the steward was turning off on the Victrola. It seemed to me then sort of like a dream - until the sailors came in, making their rounds of closing the portholes to shut off all light. Then I came to earth again.

The time was moved up to that of our final destination today and it gave us a long evening. We are now 5 hours ahead of New York time, so the sun was unusually high at 7:30 when the boatswain's mate came swinging down the deck, blowing his queer sounding whistle and in a deep voice announcing - "There will be no more smoking above decks." These sailors, especially the old timers, are a great bunch. Most of the lads here are young and fairly new to the service. They are very optimistic and expect the war to be over very soon. So do the officers, except the captain, by rank a lieutenant commander, who thinks it will be six years. I hope he is far sighted (meant literally).

The time has gone by fast for me on this trip. I sure have enjoyed it. Have had more leisure time than I will have for some time after I land.

Our YMCA secretary on board is an interesting man. He is Prof. Lockwood , a teacher of English Lit. He was at Allegheny College for 15 years and claimed he is familiar with all of western Pennsylvania. Says he has made commencement addresses and prohibition talks and Teddy Roosevelt speeches all thru those counties. Did ever hear of him or hear him?

Have you people been to Pumpkintown yet? I'm wondering if by chance I shall see Clare over here. I had it sort of figured out that Hazel's brother might be somewhere in this convoy but he may have gone last week. Oh it’s a big world. Oh! Fine! Give my best regards to your father and to Hugh and Zibo and Gertrude and Franklin.

Sincerely,

Howard
Censored HZ Brant, 2nd Lt

A Primer on Phrenology in the Civil War - Part I - Origins

Last month, at the Seventeenth Annual Conference on Civil War Medicine sponsored by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, I had the great privilege and pleasure of delivering a lecture entitled, "It's All in Your Head: Phrenology and the American Civil War."

One of the best sources to learn about phrenology and the Civil War is the wartime pages of the American Phrenological Journal. Indeed, phrenology enjoyed its greatest popularity during the Civil War era, and during the war, the Journal published phrenological profiles of the senior members of the Union officer corps as well as leading politicians, commenting on how they manifested (or didn’t) the more than two dozen “organs” of the brain, such as courage, pride, vanity, perseverance, guile, etc.

I have many wartime issues of the Journal in my own collection, and over the next few weeks will be sharing some of these phrenological "readings" here on the blog. In advance of that, though, I thought a quick primer on 19th-century-phrenology would be helpful:

Definitions of Phrenology

Proper = A theory stating that the personality traits of a person can be derived from the shape of the skull; from φρήν, phrēn, "mind“and λόγος, logos, "knowledge."

Humorous = "The science of picking the pocket through the scalp. It consists in locating and exploiting the organ that one is a dupe with." - The Devil’s Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce

Basic Principles of Phrenology

1) The brain is the organ of the mind (just as the ear is the organ of hearing)
2) The mind is not homogenous or a single unit, bur rather, is made up of independent and identifiable “faculties” – i.e. – individual capacities or character traits
3) These faculties lie at certain sites – or organs – of the brain – e.g., the organ for the faculty of “Benevolence” is located in the high frontal area of the brain
4) The degree of development of these organs affects the size and shape of corresponding areas of the skull

Therefore, someone who knows how to “read” the cranium according to these tenets has an instant and intimate knowledge of the person they are examining. The most exciting part of phrenology, though, was that one could “exercise” certain organs to increase or decrease a particular faculty, thereby perfecting oneself – and society.

Origins

Phrenology was the creation of Franz Joseph Gall, a prominent physician and physiologist in Vienna, Austria. In his student days, he began to suspect that correlations existed between certain features of people’s heads and their personalities and abilities.

From his observation, Gall gradually developed the science of phrenology and the basic principles described above. In 1802, the Austrian government condemned Gall’s ideas as atheistic, materialistic, and morally subversive, and forbade him from continuing with his lectures in the country. Thus effectively exiled, Gall embarked on a European lecture tour and gained an international reputation, eventually settling in Paris.

He brought with him a student and fellow lecturer: Johann Gaspar Spurzheim. Gall and Spurzheim began to go in different directions with their thoughts on phrenology. Gall’s view of mankind was rather aristocratic and pessimistic and he saw phrenology as a useful tool of the powerful elite who could learn to use phrenology as a tool to rule others more effectively.

Spurzheim, on the other hand, was more philosophical and saw phrenology as a social philosophy that served as a foundation to empower the entire human race – to perfect itself and its institutions. As such, Spurzheim was a new breed: more than a lecturer – indeed, a missionary, crusader, and apostle.

Spurzheim began his work by going to Scotland and England where he received a polite but not especially enthusiastic reception. However –a young lawyer – George Comb – became a dedicated convert and established a society. He was very dedicated and carried the message of phrenology throughout Europe and America. Indeed, when Spurzheim dies in 1832, Comb took his place as the world’s most prominent theoretical proponent of phrenology. By the late 1820s, many phrenological societies had been formed in various parts of Great Britain and they published widely and prolifically, resulting in a more positive reputation for phrenology in Britain, if not wholeheartedly popular.

One of the problems was that the science – such as it was – remained too theoretical to garner much ground or appeal, and the societies were small and served little function except as upper-class debating societies which matched Gall’s model more than that of Spurzheim. The question then, was how to awaken a more general interest and application to achieve a more widespread and popular base.

The answer to that questions comes soon in Part II - Americanizing Phrenology!

Touch the Elbow Reviews "Lincoln's Labels" and Interviews the Author (Me!)

I want to thank Donald Thompson for posting a very kind (and very interesting!) review of my first book, Lincoln's Labels: America's Best Known Brands and the Civil War, on his popular "Touch the Elbow" blog this week.

Excerpts:

"What is less familiar are the efforts undertaken by privately owned companies to ramp up and quickly meet the needs of Union troops by providing...all that makes an army go. James Schmidt tells that story and tells it well, by focusing on select businesses that not only aided the war effort, added to their own profit margin, but still survive into the twenty-first century...

"I could go on and on, but why spoil the fun and surprises that come from reading a book that is not only interesting, but so chock full of well researched facts and subplots it'll have you begging for a sequel. It'll also have you wondering why no one thought to write this story before. I know I felt that way."

Donald followed up the review with an interview with questions that were insightful and fun! Read the 2-part interview here and here.

Thanks, Donald!

By the way, while you are at "Touch the Elbow," also take time to read his great interview with Tom McGrath, author of Shepherdstown: Last Clash of the Antietam Campaign.

Donald Thompson is also a co-author of Civil War Research Guide: A Guide for Researching Your Civil War Ancestor.

"Small time, but in that small greatly lived This star..."

"Small time, but in that small most greatly lived
This star of England..."

So wrote Shakespeare in his Epilogue of Henry V. The same can be said of Col. Ulric Dahlgren, the subject of Eric Wittenberg's most recent book, Like a Meteor Blazing Brightly: The Short but Controversial Life of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren (Edinborough Press, 2009).

First, as a disclaimer, I'd suggest that it is hard for many people to provide a completely unbiased review of one of Eric Wittenberg's books in that there are many people who have benefited from his advice and scholarship...I happily count myself among that group, having received generous amounts of both. But I'll do my best.

Eric Wittenberg's Like a Meteor... is a tremendous story of natural qualities of daring, leadership, acumen, and other admirable qualities in a very young man: Ulric Dahlgren. He ably charts Dahlgren's life from restless youth to purpose as soldier in defense of the Union during the Civil War. He also describes the unprecedented access that Dahlgren had to the highest levels of political and military power in the country. The narrative drives towards the climax of Dahlgren's death on a raid into Richmond and the subsequent controversy surrounding papers found on his body. It may be that the casual Civil War enthusiast is not already aware of the so-called Kilptarick-Dahlgren raid, but once they are, they'll be compelled to learn more about this interesting story written by Eric Wittenberg and backed by very good research.

Some high points:

1) A good part of Dahlgren's early career as a soldier was under the command of Major General Franz Sigel. Sigel is often derided in the Civil War literature, but I find that Wittenberg treats him quite fairly.

2) The Gettysburg chapter - and Dahlgren's thrilling exploits in the campaign - are worth the price of the book. Wittenberg explains very well the importance of critical enemy intelligence that Dahlgren had a part in securing.

3) The Dahlgren Raid, of course, is well-covered. The loss and recovery of Dahlgren's body is an amazing story and is told very well by Wittenberg.

4) As if the Gettysburg chapter wasn't enough, Wittenberg "closes the deal" by providing a very honest assessment of Dahlgren's achievements, faults, vices, admirable qualities, lost promise, and more in the final chapter.

5) Excerpts from the letters and diaries of the younger and elder Dahlgren's are used to great effect throughout the book.

I have only a few critical comments, though they do not detract from my overall positive assessment of the book and a recommendation to read it:

1) I wish he would have developed a bit more the mistakes in Dahlgren's Fredericksburg Campaign exploits; he hints at them, it seems, but doesn't really develop a case for how detrimental they were.

2) I was somewhat put off by Wittenberg's quoting often from a sermon and memoir written by Dahlgren's minister and father after the death of the young hero as they are by definition hagiographic; that said, it's important to note that both Rev. Sunderland, and of course the elder Dahlgren, had been acquainted with "Ully" since his birth, and when they comment on his younger days, they compliment the text pretty well.

3) I wish the book had a closer touch of a copyeditor's hand...though not intrusive, the typos, etc., (esp. in the last chapters) could become distracting.

Nevertheless, this is a very fitting - and very honest - biography of an important personality and Mr. Wittenberg is to be congratulated.

Medical Department #30 - "Faces" (Civil War Surgical Photography)

Here is another "oldie-but-goodie" from my archive of Civil War News "Medical Department" columns. Enjoy!

"FACES"
by James M. Schmidt
The Civil War News
“Medical Department” – May 2001

In Josephine Tey’s classic novel, The Daughter of Time, detective Alan Grant solicited his visitors for opinions on the portrait of King Richard III that rested by his hospital bed. One thought it the face of a saint, another a judge. Of all the opinions, Grant felt that the hospital matron came nearest the truth: a face "full of the most dreadful suffering."

Blair Rogers, M.D., gives a rare glimpse into the faces and suffering of the Civil War’s wounded soldiers in his recent article, "Reed B. Bontecou, M.D. - His Role in Civil War Surgery and Medical Photography" (Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 2000, Vol. 24, pp. 114-129).

In the article, Dr. Rogers (once managing editor of the journal and now deceased), describes the career of Bontecou, a New York surgeon who contributed greatly to the use of photography to document Civil War casualties. The most interesting, and emotive, part of the article is the inclusion of more than forty photographs of wounded soldiers taken by Bontecou and his staff.

Reed Bontecou was born April 22, 1824, in Troy, New York. During his schooling, he demonstrated an exceptional aptitude for the natural sciences. His work was so expertly done that he was often entrusted with the teaching of botany and zoology, even though a student himself.

In 1842, Bontecou began the study of medicine under the tutelage of several prominent Troy physicians and surgeons, and from 1844 to 1845, he attended lectures at the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York. He finished his studies in Vermont at Castleton Medical College, receiving his M.D. in 1847.

When the Civil War broke out, Bontecou was commissioned a surgeon with one of the Union infantry regiments supplied by the Troy area, and performed his first field operations after the Battle of Big Bethel in June 1861. He was present at the famous battle between the Monitor and the Virginia, the capture of Yorktown, and was placed in charge of hospitals at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and Beaufort, South Carolina.

In late 1863, Bontecou was ordered to Washington, DC, to take charge of the Harewood General Hospital, and was on duty there until it was disbanded in 1866. It was during his tenure at Harewood that he made his most important contribution: he is credited with being the largest contributor to the Army Medical Museum. The thousands of specimens and hundreds of photographs that Bontecou contributed became a major foundation of the museum, which subsequently developed into the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM), in Washington, DC.

Bontecou’s photographs, however, had a more immediate impact than the museum’s mission. Dr. Rogers credits him with being the first to apply photography for clinical purposes, showing the condition of the wounded when the soldiers were first admitted to the hospital, and many times when they were discharged. Indeed, the photographs were invaluable in qualifying disabled veterans for pension payments.

Forty of the photographs taken under Bontecou’s direction are reproduced in the article; four per page over ten pages. Each is identified with the name of the subject, their state, and the nature of the wound. The photographs are divided almost equally among injuries to the head and face, the arms, the abdomen, and the hip or legs.

Dr. Rogers offers little comment on the individual photographs, even though they make up the bulk of the article. Instead, he invites the reader to study them carefully and reflect on the emotions they elicit. What is most immediate is a sense of the personal tragedy facing these men: going home blind, crippled, or deformed.

The article is actually the third in a series describing the earliest results of mid-19th century reconstructive surgery performed by pioneering surgeons, especially on wounded Civil War soldiers. The first was "The First Pre- and Post-Operative Photographs of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: Contributions of Gurdon Buck (1807-1877)" (Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 1991, Vol. 15, pp. 19-33). In it he describes the contributions of Buck, a New York City surgeon, and a pioneer in reconstructive surgery. The article includes more than thirty "before and after" photographs showing the results of these early attempts to improve the appearance of patients with severe injuries or birth defects. A few of the photographs are of wounded soldiers.

The second article, "The First Civil War Photographs of Soldiers with Facial Wounds" (Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 1995, Vol. 19, pp. 269-283), includes photographs of nearly forty wounded soldiers, all with scalp or facial injuries, many of which had not been published since the Civil War. All three articles are superbly documented, offering opportunities for further research and study.

What did you see the last time you studied a photograph of a Civil War soldier (or citizen)? Bravery? Fear? Or just a face "full of the most dreadful suffering?"

A New Book Project...and a New Blog!

I'm pleased to announce that I have signed a contract with The History Press (Charleston SC) for a book on the interesting and important role that the University of Notre Dame played in the American Civil War! Tentatively titled: Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory, the book is scheduled to be published in late 2010!

You'll be able to follow along with my research and writing (and maybe even help me!) by following my new blog, Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory! Add it to your blogrolls and tell your friends (especially if they are Notre Dame fans!).

Here is a synopsis:

Even the casual Civil War enthusiast can probably point to one or more colleges or universities that played a role in the American Civil War; a few that come to mind are the graduates of West Point and the Naval Academy who fought on both sides; the 20th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, also known as the “Harvard Regiment,” as it was largely under the leadership of young Harvard grads; and Company A of the 11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, also known as the “University Greys,” composed entirely of students from Ole Miss at Oxford.

Few institutions of higher education, though, can boast of the sacrifices made by the University of Notre Dame (UND). Over the course of four years, Notre Dame gave freely of its faculty and students as soldiers, sent its priests to the camps and battlefields as chaplains, and its sisters to hospitals as nurses. Though far from the battlefields itself, the war was still ever-present on campus, as Notre Dame witnessed fisticuffs among the student body, provided a home to the children of a famous general, responded to political harassment, and tried to keep at least some of its community out of the fray. When the war was over, a proud Notre Dame welcomed back several bona fide war heroes, mourned the loss of some who made the ultimate sacrifice, and became home to a unique veteran's organization.

While sketches of UND’s role in the Civil War have appeared in published school histories, memoirs, and/or biographies, they are usually brief or limited to one personality or aspect of the experience. Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory will be the first book to incorporate this interesting story into a comprehensive and unified narrative.

A number of personalities will be introduced and their roles discussed, but a few deserve special mention:Fr. Edward Sorin, the founder of UND, who shepherded the school through its wartime crises; Orville T. Chamberlain, a UND student who rose through the ranks of the 74th Indiana – from private to captain - and earned the Medal of Honor for bravery under fire at Chickamauga; Frs. William Corby and Peter Cooney, two UND priests who served with special distinction as chaplains in the war, one in the east and one in the west; the family of William T. Sherman, whose children attended UND during the war; and Schuyler Colfax, an Indiana Congressman seeking re-election during the war, who put political pressure on UND.

At the same time, larger issues – anti-Catholic prejudice, the draft, regional politics, the general experience of institutions of higher education in the period, etc. – will be addressed.

In addition to memoirs, school histories, biographies, and period newspapers, the book will rely heavily on material – much of it unexplored and unpublished - in the UND archives.

Civil War Medicine Conference Wrap-Up!

This past weekend (Oct 2-4, 2009), I had the great pleasure and privilege of attending the 17th Annual Conference on Civil War Medicine organized by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and held in Towson, MD. I had a terrific time and thought I would provide a summary of the weekend in this post.

It was all the more special for me as I got to see old friends, meet some new ones, give one of the lectures, and launch a new book!

On Friday afternoon, there were two very good lectures on prison conditions and medicine practiced in the prisons, with one speaker concentrating especially on Fort Delaware; a terrific lecture about John Allan Wyeth, M.D., a Confederate soldier who had a very distinguished post-war career in medicine. The last lecture was by C. Craig Caba, Chief Curator of the outstanding "J. Howard Wert Gettysburg collection." He brought with him a wonderful selection of Revolutionary War- era and Civil War-era medical artifacts, some of which are shown in the photographs here.

Friday evening's social hour was a special event as co-editor Guy Hasegawa, Pharm.D., and I were able to launch our new book, Years of Change and Suffering: Modern Perspectives on Civil War Medicine! It wasliterally "hot off the press" having shipped from the printer just the night before! I also signed copies of my first book, Lincoln's Labels: America's Best known Brands and the Civil War, now available in softcover!

On Saturday, Dr. Stephen Goldman gave an amazing lecture on post-traumatic stress syndrome in Civil War veterans, made some excellent points about the mental health challenges beings faced by soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen in Iraq and Afghanistan (they are not the same challenges in the two countries or among the various services), and - most important - discussed the ethical responsibilities of psychiatrists-as-historians (and vice versa). I followed with a well-received (thankfully!) talk on phrenology and the Civil War. The final lectures were on Civil War hospitals in "Mountain Maryland" and artificial eyes in the Civil War era, given byMike Hughes, one of a small group of practicing ocularists in the United States, that is - people who specialize in making and fitting artificial eyes!

Saturday afternoon was spent on a bus tour taking us to the National Museum of Dentistry in downtown Baltimore and then a short visit to Federal Hill, overlooking Baltimore Harbor.

Sunday saw three more lectures: a wonderful talk give by Bonnie Brice Dewhart about the medical education of her relative, Walter Brice, M.D., who served as asurgeon with 9th Tennessee Infantry, CSA...My good friend and collaborator Guy Hasegawa, Pharm D., gave an excellent presentation on "Preparation and Dispensing of Civil War Prescriptions" which included photographs from items in his collection and excellent advice for some of the living historians in the audience. Another lecture by Robert E. Mallin on women's health in the mid-19th century was also very interesting.

I can't say enough about the dedication of the staff at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. They are all wonderful, from founder Dordon Dammann, D.D.S., to Executive Director and Deputy Director George Wunderlich and Karen Thomassen, to everyone else.

If you are not a member of the NMCWM, you should be!

"War Like the Thunderbolt" - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

When a writer's debut book (or the first book you've read, anyway) makes an impression on you, you naturally look forward to their next one. Recently, I've felt that way about nonfiction authors like James D. Hornfischer, whose Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors had me waiting (not so patiently) for his Ship of Ghosts. Likewise, novelists like Matthew Pearl and Louis Bayard - with debuts like The Dante Club and Mr. Timothy had me looking forward to their follow-ups The Poe Shadow and The Pale Blue Eye.

So it was with my anticipation of Russell S. Bonds' War Like the Thunderbolt: The Battle and Burning of Atlanta, after reading his first book, Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor.

I recently finished War Like the Thunderbolt and all I can say is: WONDERFUL!

A quick - but important - disclaimer: I'm not your ordinary reader of Russell Bonds' books. He has been a kind and faithful correspondent for a few years now and has provided important advice for my own research and writing. Mr. Bonds was kind enough to mention me in the Acknowledgments of Thunderbolt, for pointing him to some sources relative to medical aspects of the book. With the disclaimer aside, I can still safely declare that Thunderbolt is indeed...WONDERFUL!

In many ways, Thunderbolt is a fitting sequel to Stealing the General, in no small part because the Georgia and Tennessee railroad networks are important strategic points in both books. As Atlanta played an important part in the trials of the raiders involved in the Great Locomotive Chase in Stealing the General, so is the city a very important player - a major "character," even - in Thunderbolt. Indeed, he begins the book by describing what most people (think they) know about the battle and burning of Atlanta: the dramatic burning scene in the film Gone With the Wind.

As for the battles of Atlanta, Bonds uses just the right amount of detail to avoid the minutiae that sometimes plagues battle narratives. Many people like the tactical detail, and that's fine. I don't have the patience for it. For my part, I very much enjoy small unit actions (company-level and smaller, even) when it comes to reading about WWII and other modern wars, but for the Civil War, brigade-level (and in the rare case, regimental-level) detail, suits me just fine. Thunderbolt mostly maintains this level, which - with excellent maps - makes following the battles easy, indeed.

Among the more interesting consideration to which he gives attention are the feuds - on both sides - engendered by petty arguments over promotion and rank, with generals resigning over the principle of "self-respect." The fact the resignations were almost uniformly accepted without reservation suggests that - in sports parlance - most of the resignations were "addition by subtraction."

If Bonds doesn't "rehabilitate" the wartime reputation of Confederate general John Bell Hood, he does treat him fairly, and makes a good case that he was not a "hard-fighting simpleton" but uses his orders and correspondence to prove otherwise.

Naturally, Union general William T. Sherman is also a major character and Bonds fairly - but thoroughly - assesses Sherman's decision-making in the expulsion of Atlanta's citizenry and the burning of the city.

The closing anecdote - which I won't give away - is easily the eeriest ending to any Civil War book I have ever read.

Well done, Russell Bonds, and I look forward to what comes next!

Civil War News Reviews Lincoln's Labels!

I'm pleased to announce that The Civil War News published a very kind review of my first book, Lincoln's Labels: America's Best Known Brands and the Civil War, penned by Jeffrey D. Wert in the October 2009 issue, which will be in subscriber's hands soon!

It's all the more gratifying because Civil War News is where I got my writing "bona fides," as I've penned the "Medical Department" column on a regular basis since 2000! Kay and Pete Jorgensen - managing editor and publisher at CWN - have been extremely supportive of my writing and research efforts over the years, which I appreciate very much, indeed.

If you don't subscribe to The Civil War News, you should! You can learn how to get a sample issue here.

Excerpts:

"James M. Schmidt’s Lincoln’s Labels chronicles the roles of several renowned contemporary American corporations whose roots extended back to and even beyond the Civil War. But it was this conflict, as Schmidt writes, that significantly impacted the companies’ future success. The stories he recounts are fascinating and enlightening...

...Lincoln’s Labels is a solid work, well-researched and ably written. The subject is seldom addressed in most Civil War books, but the stories are worth retelling. This is a fine book and recommended for readers interested in aspects other than campaigns, battles, and military figures."

You can read the whole review here!

Thank You to Civil War News and Mr. Wert!

Read more reviews of Lincoln's Labels here:

Civil War Times magazine
Brett Schulte - TOCWOC
James Durney (also at TOCWOC!)
Rea Andrew Redd - The Civil War Librarian
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Andrew Wagenhoffer - Civil War Books and Authors
Michael Aubrecht - Pinstripe Press
Reader Testimonial
Advance Praise/Blurbs

Civil War Personals! (SWM Seeks...)

I'm in the middle of a really interesting book, entitled Wanted-Correspondence: Women's Letters to a Union Soldier. The book is a collection of 150 letters written to soldier Edwin Lybarger (43rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry) from several different women who answered his "Wanted: Correspondence" personal advertisements placed in various newspapers.

I received the book as a kind gift from author Jennifer Wilke, who is Lybarger's great-grandaughter! Jennifer is working on a novel based on her ancestor's Civil War experiences, and you can learn more about it at her website and blog, where you can also learn more about - and see photographs of - Edwin Lybarger.

The book includes a well-written and interesting Introduction by Lucy E. Bailey, an assistant professor in the Women's Studies program at Oklahoma State University. She describes letter writing as important "war work" on the part of women during the war, and covers topics such as: the importance of letter-writing in the war, correspondence as "romantic work," the importance of exchanging photographs between men and women during the war, women and education in the mid-19th century, letter writing as education in itself, and Ohio during the Civil War.

I've included here some examples of "Wanted - Correspondence" advertisements.

The heartfelt letters to Edwin are mostly from women he knew (and one he would eventually marry), but Dr. Bailey discusses somewhat the risks that the female letter-writers took in sending correspondence, especially since they might be shared among other soldiers and gossip and rumor ensue. However, in my own research while reading the book, I think those risks were expressed very strongly by a Wisconsin officer who placed his own notice in the paper, warning women NOT to answer the ads:

Janesville (WI) Weekly Gazette - September 9, 1864, p. 17

Ladies, permit me to address a few lines to you through the Tribune, in regard to "correspondence" with soldiers and officers serving in the army of our country. We, the officers and soldiers of the army, need and deserve the sympathy and counsel of our mothers, wives, sisters, and lady acquaintances from the dear homes which we have left behind. From these, letters are always acceptable, and are read with a deep interest; and there is always a deep feeling of respect for the writers, and the dear old homes from whence they come. There is no levity or expression of vulgar thought, or lewd illusions to the writers of them - holy home thoughts of the dear ones whome we loved so well; and often have I seen the bronzed face of the veteran, as well as the fair cheek of the young recruit, flushed with manly pride, or over them flowing tears that spoke louder than words of true hearts and brave men. Not so when your cold, insipid, and stale letters are received. There is generally a shout of derision from many voices as your carfeully written nonsense is retailed out to a corporal, sergeant, private or maybe a negro servant; and could you hear their vulgar wit and coarse expressions over your letters, and at your expense, I think ladies, you would answer no more 'Wanted Correspondence, for mutual cultivation.' I trust, ladies, that this article may be of service to you, inasmuch as it will urge you to write only to those whom you know; and you may put it down for a fact that any officer or soldier advertising for lady correspondence, does so for no honorable or noble purpose. Ninety-nine of every hundred letters by officers and soldiers are treated with contempt and derision. Thus you see that your tender effusions, gushing out flowery and sentimental platitudes, are used to your disadvantage and injury.

In many cases the officer or soldier takes pains to ascertain your true name, and then your letters not only reflect to your disadvantage, but bring disgrace to your friends. I know of one young lady who is the laughing stock of a whole regiment, andmany of them are or were friends and neighbors of hers, not two years ago. Her fair name and character are blighted, and one who as counted on her being something more than a friend to him in the future has cast her aside, and her letters of truth to him are unanswered, or returned unopened. Ladies, goodbye. Learn from this to do better. Write to your known and tried soldier friends and relatives, and none other.

I am, ladies, your friend and well-wisher,
E. V. Wilson, 1st Lieut., Co. H, 39th Reg't Wisc. Vol's