LSU Press to Publish Book on Sherman and the Confederate Home Front

Sherman’s War on Women

A Study of Home Front Hostilities on Sherman's March

Baton Rouge—Lisa Tendrich Frank’s book The Civilian War, to be published in April 2015, explores home front encounters between elite Confederate women and Union soldiers during Sherman’s March, a campaign that put women at the center of a Union army operation for the first time. Ordered to crush the morale as well as the military infrastructure of the Confederacy, Sherman and his army increasingly targeted wealthy civilians in their progress through Georgia and the Carolinas. To drive home the full extent of northern domination over the South, Sherman’s soldiers besieged the female domain—going into bedrooms and parlors, seizing correspondence and personal treasures—with the aim of insulting and humiliating upper-class southern women. These efforts blurred the distinction between home front and warfront, creating confrontations in the domestic sphere as a part of the war itself.

Historian Lisa Tendrich Frank argues that ideas about women and their roles in war shaped the expectations of both Union soldiers and Confederate civilians. Sherman recognized that slaveholding Confederate women played a vital part in sustaining the Rebel efforts, and accordingly he treated them as wartime opponents, targeting their markers of respectability and privilege. Although Sherman intended his efforts to demoralize the civilian population, Frank suggests that his strategies frequently had the opposite effect. Confederate women accepted the plunder of food and munitions as an inevitable part of the conflict, but they considered Union invasion of their private spaces an unforgivable and unreasonable transgression. These intrusions strengthened the resolve of many southern women to continue the fight against the Union and its most despised general.

Seamlessly merging gender studies and military history, The Civilian War illuminates the distinction between the damage inflicted on the battlefield and the offenses that occurred in the domestic realm during the Civil War. Ultimately, Frank’s research demonstrates why many women in the Lower South remained steadfastly committed to the Confederate cause even when their prospects seemed most dim.

Lisa Tendrich Frank received her Ph.D. in history from the University of Florida. She is the author and editor of numerous works relating to the Civil War, including Women in the American Civil War and the forthcoming The World of the Civil War: A Daily Life Encyclopedia.

April 2015
256 pages, 6 x 9
978-0-8071-5996-5
Cloth $42.50s

Book Review--The Vicksburg Campaign March 29-May 18, 1863

Woodworth, Steven E. and Charles D. Grear, series editors. The Vicksburg Campaign, March 29-May 18, 1863 (Civil War Campaigns in the Heartland). Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. 2013. Index, end notes, 9 maps, b/w photos. 239 total pages, 228 pages of text. ISBN 9780809332694, $32.50.



Here in the first of a planned five volume series of essays editors Steven E. Woodworth and Charles D. Grear have gathered a strong, interesting, and for the most part easily read series of pieces. For somebody, such as myself, who has read more on the eastern theater of the war this is a breath of fresh air. I am already eagerly awaiting the second volume and in the mean time will have to search for some of the standard works such as those by Edwin Bearss and Michael Ballard.


Eleven chapters are included in this volume: Gary Joiner writes about the relationship of Ulysses S. Grant and naval commander David Dixon Porter, Charles Grear covers Grierson's cavalry raid, Jason Frawley tells the story of Grant's march along the western side of the Mississippi River and the Battle of Port Gibson, J. Parker Hills covers the May 12 Battle of Raymond, lead editor Steven E. Woodworth tells the story of the battle and first Union occupation of the capital of Mississippi, Jackson, John Lundenberg gives a stinging critique of Joseph Johnston, noted Vicksburg scholar Michael Ballard discusses the relationship of Grant with John McClernand, William B. Feis delves into the subject of intelligence and what did Grant know and how did he obtain that knowledge, Timothy B. Smith (the western theater scholar not the Gettysburg scholar) tells of the Union rout of Confederate forces at Big Black River Bridge, Steven Nathaniel Dossmon tells the story of "hard war" and the interaction of Union troops with locals and the volume wraps up with Paul L. Schmelzer discussing Grant's action at Vicksburg with an eye toward Carl von Clausewitz.


For me the low-light of the book was the closing chapter by Schmelzer. For me it just didn't add anything and I really found myself not caring. As with any anthology like this there will be some writers who grab you more than others and that is certainly the case here. For me however learning as much as I did from this volume pretty well negated my concern about writing styles.


One of the chapters I found most interesting was John Lundenberg and his highly negative view of Joe Johnston. Having read this it seems hard to imagine his being in such a high command position. Any general that would so casually throw a subordinate general and his troops to the wolves as Johnston is said to have done to John Pemberton at Jackson and Champion Hill is not worth his stars.

I also enjoyed Steven Nathaniel Dossmon's story of Grant ordering what is called a "hard war", or having his troops live off the land. In this case it went further than that and it led to all out looting and destruction of much of central Mississippi. This area would no longer be able to supply food, clothing, and other needed items to Confederate troops. Dossman states: "...few other decisions would have a greater impact on the war-making methods employed and the eventual outcome of the conflict." I would add however that total war, making war on citizens and non military areas (the argument would certainly be valid that burning Jackson, a large producer of items for the Confederate war effort, could be called a necessity) leads to a lasting hatred and mistrust of the invader. When soldiers are given carte-blanche to do as they please there are lasting effects that rightly or wrongly do not go away easily. There can be little doubt that Grant's living off the land deflated morale of those in Mississippi and helped keep his troops fed and clothed.


One interesting item I did note while reviewing the Contributors list was that editor Woodworth is a professor at Texas Christian University. Of the eleven contributors six have ties to TCU. I imagine this is due to Dr. Woodworth being familiar with these scholars. They all seemed to have solid credentials and publishing histories so this isn't a knock more just an observation.


Most chapters are around twenty pages so they can easily be read in a single sitting. Many of the chapters include a map which is a must in a book like this. I would have liked to see the maps all be full page however. There are not so many included that this would have added much to the page count. In addition, not all maps list a scale so it is difficult to determine the size of area being displayed or that troops marched.


These are really minor complaints in what is an excellent guide to the start of the Vicksburg campaign. As I said I am looking forward to what Woodworth and Grear put together for future volumes in the series. For those without an in-depth knowledge of the Vicksburg campaign this is highly recommended. If you have read widely on the subject there may not be a lot new for you but I still think it is worth checking out. The individual topics may provide you with new insights.


Thank you to Southern Illinois University Press for sending a complimentary review copy.

Upcoming Posts

Thanks to the kind folks at LSU Press for sending along a collection of their new releases. Please be sure to check their website for more information on these and many other Civil War titles.


For those interested in the western theater of the war John Lundberg's new book Granbury's Texas Brigade: Diehard Western Confederates looks to be a must read. Lundberg argues that mass desertion was not a signal of giving up but rather a desire to fight the enemy closer to home. The brigade itself fought until the final surrender. Even after the war members of the brigade continued to support the ideals of the Confederacy.



Editor Mark J. Stegmaier brings together twenty-one letters of Henry Adams in Henry Adams In the Secession Crisis: Dispatches to the Boston Daily Advertiser December 1860-March 1861. These letters prove to be strongly in favor of the moderate Republicans who are working to avoid the secession crisis while being highly critical of those calling for secession. These letters are also a glimpse into the early work of the soon to be famous writer.



Sherman's 1864 "March to the Sea" and 1865 "Carolina's Campaign" are the major focus of Mark H. Dunkelman's new book Marching with Sherman: Through Georgia and the Carolina's with the 154th New York. With over 40 pages of notes and a nearly 20 page bibliography  this looks to be a thoroughly researched volume that delves not just into the works of soldiers but also the post war writings of civilians, mostly women, who lived through this part of the war.


I have a weakness for books dealing with historical disasters and Meredith Henne Baker has written a book on one that I imagine most of us have never heard of. Her new book, The Richmond Theater Fire: Early America's First Great Disaster, tells the story of the December 1811 fire that took the lives of nearly 100 people including the governor of Virginia. In this first full length book dealing with the fire Baker shows how it led to a surge of anti theater backlash that stymied theatrical entertainment in Richmond for decades.

Confederate Battle Flag Returned

In this photo, a Confederate unit flag that belonged
 to the Emmett Rifles, a Georgia-based company during
 the Civil War, hangs at Fort McAllister state park in
 Richmond, Ga., 148 years after the fort fell to
 Gen. William T. Shermans army.

148 years later a Confederate battle flag belonging to the Emmett Rifles has been returned to Georgia and now hangs at Fort McAllister. A formal dedication ceremony will take place next month. You can read about the Second Battle of Fort McAllister here.

Read the full article here.