The Civil War: The Second Year Told By Those Who Lived It (2012)

The second year of the Civil War saw significant changes in both the military and political aspects of the war. It became the first industrial war fought on a national level. Politically the war changed from a struggle to maintain the Union to a war fought to destroy slavery. These changes provide the background for the 148 selections in this volume.
The growth in the military activity was illustrated by two battles. In April of 1862 there were more casualties in the Battle of Shiloh than had been incurred in all of the battles involving American soldiers up to that time. In September of 1862 in the Battle of Antietam more Americans were casualties than in any battle before or since. The focus of the political changes in the war was the issuance of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862.
The selections in the book provide a wide variety of points of view concerning many different aspects of the war and how it affected many different people all across the country. I can only imagine the vast amount of documents that the editor went through to arrive at his selections. It gave me a great opportunity to play amateur historian reading through this collection of writings from the past. Each selection centered on a brief moment in time and helped give me a much better understanding of the flow of the chronology of events.
Excerpts from the book Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott was one of my favorite selections. Her selection is extremely well written describing the day to day activities of a nurse. She carried a bottle of lavender water which she used liberally to fight the combination of vile odors that filled her ward. Her descriptions of the wounded men brought to life the true horror of war. Helping with amputations she admired the courage of her patients. Her many conversations with the soldiers brought them to life as individuals.
There was humor in the war as illustrated by selections about the problems that Union military men had in New Orleans shortly after it was captured. Many of the women in New Orleans treated the men with disgust and after a chamber pot was emptied over the head of Admiral Farragut the military governor, Ben Butler, issued a general order. He declared that any woman showing disrespect to Union men in uniform "shall be treated as a woman of the town, plying her avocation and arrested". This brought on a letter from the British Prime Minister to the American Ambassador expressing his disgust over Butler's order.
A turn in the war brought on by the Emancipation Proclamation was well illustrated in several letters from members of the British Cabinet. In September of 1862 after a Union defeat they discussed offering mediation to the United States Government with a view to the recognition of the independence of the Confederacy. I was surprised that this action had been considered so seriously. In October after a Confederate defeat and the issuance of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation the Prime Minister wrote that he had a change of opinion and England would continue to be merely onlookers.
It is very unpleasant at times to read military history. But these events are part of our past and show the lives of men at their best and worst. I enjoyed the book very much and award it five stars. ( )