Title Conspicuous gallantry : the Civil War and Reconstruction letters of James W. King, 11th Michigan Volunteer Infantry / edited by Eric R. Faust

Published Kent, Ohio : The Kent State University Press, [2015]

Click on the following:
ProQuest Ebook Central

Copies

Description 1 online resource (xvi, 285 pages) : illustrations, map Series Civil War in the North Civil War in the North. Contents Historical cast -- Drum and fife : September-December, 1861 -- Rations and coffins : January-April, 1862 -- The celebrated John Morgan : May-December, 1862 -- The worst scourge : December 1862-June 1863 -- This cannot be a defeat : June 1863-April 1864 -- The cannons' deep roar : April 1864-December 1865 -- King Cotton : December 1865-January 1868 -- The battle of life : January 1868-October 1903 -- Appendix A -- Appendix B Summary "This is a unique and fascinating collection of letters from a soldier, planter and journalist. The Union states of what is now the Midwest have received far less attention from historians than those of the East, and much of Michigan's Civil War story remains untold. The eloquent letters of James W. King shed light on a Civil War regiment that played important roles in the battles of Stones River, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. King enlisted in the 11th Michigan in 1861 as a private and rose to the rank of quartermaster sergeant. His correspondence continues into the era of Reconstruction, when he tried his hand at raising cotton in Tennessee and Alabama and found himself caught up in the social and political upheavals of the postwar South. King went off to war as an obscure nineteen-year-old farm boy, but he was anything but average. His letters to Sarah Jane Babcock, his future wife, vividly illustrate the plight and perspective of the rank-and-file Union infantryman while revealing the innermost thoughts of an articulate, romantic, and educated young man. King's wartime correspondence explores a myriad of issues faced by the common Federal soldier: the angst, uncertainty, and hope associated with long-distance courtship; the scourge of widespread and often fatal diseases; the rapid evolution of views on race and slavery; the doldrums of camp life punctuated with the horrors of combat and its aftermath; the gnawing anxiety while waiting for mail from home; the incessant gambling, drunkenness, and profanity of his comrades; and the omnipresent risk of death or crippling disability as the cost of performing his duty, to preserve the Union. Through meticulous research and careful editing, Eric R. Faust presents a story that does not cease with King's muster out, or even with Lee's surrender at Appomattox. King's postwar correspondence illuminates the struggles of a soldier disabled by wounds, trying to find his place in a civilian world forever changed by war. Like thousands of other Northern soldiers, King traveled south to raise cotton. The letters he penned on the plantation defy the timeworn stereotype of carpetbaggers as ruthless opportunists who deprived the South of its capital and dignity after the war. A kind twist of fate boosted King to prominence in his home state as editor of Michigan's foremost Republican newspaper and set him on a path to national notoriety. Through King's remarkable rise to the national stage, the reader gains insight into the heated political climate of the Reconstruction era and the Gilded Age, and more generally into the deeply complex legacy of the American Civil War"--Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 264-275) and index Subject King, James W., 1842-1903 -- Correspondence SUBJECT King, James W., 1842-1903. fast (OCoLC)fst01944893 Subject United States. Army. Michigan Infantry Regiment, 11th (1861-1864) SUBJECT United States. Army. Michigan Infantry Regiment, 11th (1861-1864) fast (OCoLC)fst00666590 Subject Soldiers -- Michigan -- Correspondence Cotton farmers -- Southern States -- Correspondence Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) -- Tennessee -- Sources Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) -- Alabama -- Sources Newspaper editors -- Michigan -- Correspondence Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) Cotton farmers. Newspaper editors. Regimental histories. Soldiers. SUBJECT Michigan -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140261 United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental histories. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140267 Subject Alabama. Michigan. Southern States. Tennessee. United States. Genre/Form History. Personal narratives. Personal correspondence. Sources. Form Electronic book Author Faust, Eric R., 1971- ISBN 9781606352434 1606352431 9781631011382 1631011383 9781631011399 1631011391

  Permalink