The Civil War in 50 Objects
416
The Civil War in 50 Objects
416Paperback(Reprint)
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Overview
From a soldier’s diary with the pencil still attached to John Brown’s pike, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the leaves from Abraham Lincoln’s bier, here is a unique and surprisingly intimate look at the Civil War.
Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer sheds new light on the war by examining fifty objects from the New-York Historical Society’s acclaimed collection. A daguerreotype of an elderly, dignified ex-slave; a soldier’s footlocker still packed with its contents; Grant’s handwritten terms of surrender at Appomattox—the stories these objects tell are rich, poignant, sometimes painful, and always fascinating. They illuminate the conflict from all perspectives—Union and Confederate, military and civilian, black and white, male and female—and give readers a deeply human sense of the war.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780143128144 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 05/05/2015 |
| Edition description: | Reprint |
| Pages: | 416 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.60(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.50(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
The New-York Historical Society is the oldest museum in New York City, and one of the country’s pre-eminent cultural institutions.
Table of Contents
Foreword Louise Mirrer xvii
Preface Harold Holzer xxi
Introduction Eric Foner xxvii
1 Chains That Bind 1
Slave Shackles Intended for a Child, ca. 1800
2 The Human Face of Slavery 5
Daguerreotype of Caesar: A Slave, ca. 1850
3 Old Kentucky Home 10
Negro Life at the South, Painting by Eastman Johnson, 1859
4 For Sale to the Highest Bidder 17
The Slave Auction, Sculpture by John Rogers, 1859
5 Weapon of Last Resort 22
"John Brown" Pike, ca. 1857-1859
6 John Brown's Body 29
John Brown's Blessing, Painting by Thomas Satterwhite Noble, 1867
7 The Animal Himself 37
Right Hand of Abraham Lincoln, Cast by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1886, from 1860 Original by Leonard Wells Volk
8 Secession, New York Style 44
To the People of Louisiana, their Executive and Representatives Greeting, Broadside, January 29, 1861
9 Where the Civil War Began 53
South-Western Angle of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, S.C., April 15, 1861, Photographic Print by Alma A. Pelot
10 "Flagmania" 59
Flag, 1861
11 The Palmetto and the Snake 67
Confederate Palmetto Flag, 1861
12 To Arms! 73
A Great Rush to Join the 36th Regiment, New York Volunteers, Woodcut, ca. 1862
13 Uniform Courage 79
Zouave Uniform, ca. 1861-1863
14 Divided Loyalties 85
Letter from Howard Gushing Wright to His Mother, 1861
15 Blarney from Bull Run? 94
Return of the 69th (Irish) Regiment, N.Y.S.M. from the Seat of War, Painting by Louis Lang, 1862-1863
16 "Reuniting" a Shattered Family 102
The Lincoln Family in 1861, Painting by Francis Bicknell Carpenter, ca. 1865
17 Distant Drums 111
Snare Drum, ca. 1860-1865
18 Thoughts of the Future-but Where? 117
Thoughts of the Future, Painting by Edwin White, 1861
19 There's Something in It 126
Half Model of the USS Monitor, 1862
20 Key to Confederate Victory? 133
Cipher Key, ca. 1861
21 Hidden Glory 138
An Episode of the War-the Cavalry Charge of Lt. Henry B. Hidden, Painting by Victor Nehlig, 1862
22 A Diarist in Action 142
Diary of William Rothert, 1861-1862
23 Tailor-Made Souvenirs of Battle 149
Military Buttons Mounted on Card, 1860-1864
24 An Early Call to Recruit Black Troops 155
Petition to Abraham Lincoln for Recruitment of Black Troops, 1862
25 If My Name Ever Goes into History, It Will Be for This Act 159
By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, 1863
26 A Dentist Drills Lincoln 167
Writing the Emancipation Proclamation, Etching by Adalbert Johann Volck, 1863
27 Frederick Douglass's Call to Arms 175
Men of Color, to Arms!
Broadside by Frederick Douglass, 1863
28 Suffered Severely and Behaved Well 181
Emily J. Semmes to Paul Jones Semmes, Letter, June 1, 1863
29 Emancipated by War 189
Arrival at Chickasaw Bayou of Jefferson Davis' Negroes from His Plantation on the Mississippi Below Vicksburg, Mississippi, Drawing by Frederick B. Schell, ca. 1863
30 Wallpaper News for Cave Dwellers 195
The Daily Citizen, Newsprint on Wallpaper, 1863
31 Wheel of Misfortune 203
Draft Wheel, ca. 1863
32 Charred Survivor of an Urban Riot 209
Bible Used at Colored Orphan Asylum, ca. 1863
33 Traveling Light 215
Footlocker with Belongings, 1860-1890
34 Learning to Read, Dixie Style 219
The First Dixie Reader, 1864
35 An Ovation-and a Banner-for Black Troops 225
Presentation Address of the Ladies of the City of New York to the Officers and Men of the Twentieth United States Colored Troops, 1864
36 A Modern Major General 233
Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822-1885), Painting by James Reid Lambdin, 1868
37 All's Fair 241
Entry Ticket for the New York Metropolitan Fair, 1864
38 The Faces of War 251
Photograph Album Presented to Major M. S. Euen by Co. C, P.P., 1860-1869
39 Strong Opinions 259
Entries from the Diary of George Templeton Strong, 1864
40 Prison Art 265
Point Lookout Sketches, Watercolor Drawings, 1864
41 Tribute from a Bad Man? 271
Colored Troops Before Richmond, Engraved Silver, 1864-1865
42 Political Dirty Tricks 277
The Miscegenation Ball, Lithograph, 1864
43 Lincoln's Worst Mistake? 287
Campaign Flag, 1864
44 Counting Votes, Lincoln's Way 293
Projection of November 1864 Election, Abraham Lincoln, 1864
45 Publish or Perish? 299
Prison Times, Newspaper, 1865
46 The Draft That Really Ended the War 307
Terms of Surrender, April 9, 1865, Ulysses S. Grant
47 Bloody Good Friday 317
Letter from Clara Harris to Mary, April 25, 1865
48 A Sprig from Lincoln's Bier 323
Framed Leaves from Abraham Lincoln's Bier, 1865
49 A Helping Hand for the Wounded Veteran 331
Autograph Letter from Joe W. Mersereau to William Oland Bourne, 1865
50 It Winds the Whole Thing Up 337
The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Manuscript, 1865
Acknowledgments 343
Bibliography 347
List of Objects 355
Index 369
What People are Saying About This
“In his new book, The Civil War in 50 Objects, Harold Holzer uses pictures of a fascinating menagerie of Civil War-related items to distill what historian Eric Foner calls in his introduction a conflict that ‘permanently affected the future course of the development of the United States. Holzer handles the task with ease, showcasing the era through such artifacts as a pair of slave’s shackles sized for the wrists of a child and a copy, signed by Abraham Lincoln, of the manuscript for the 13th Amendment..”—The Washington Post
“Packaged in an unusually high-quality edition, this book is the next best thing to viewing the artifacts in person or, given Holzer’s thorough explanation of the history of each object, it might be even better.”—The Seattle Times
“Holzer's essays educate and entertain, folding in noteworthy asides…. Holzer pieces [the objects] together to create a compelling story of the people who lived during the bloodiest war in American history — a war that jumped the boundaries of the battlefield to spark a race riot on July 10, 1863.”—The Chicago Tribune
“The Civil War in 50 Objects is a collection of deeply researched essays by the Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer. Mr. Holzer examines war-era artifacts culled from the collection at the New-York Historical Society, where he is a Roger Hertog Fellow, to get at a deeper truth about the single most defining event in American history.”—New York Observer
“Holzer, working through the archives of the New-York Historical Society, unearths treasures, if sometimes grim ones. Holzer’s choice of objects is spot-on, and the anecdotes they occasion are even more so, particularly when he turns to little-commemorated episodes such as the valiant charge of 14 New York dragoons against a much larger Confederate force (it did not end well for the dragoons) and the effect of the Union blockade on school primers in the South. A valuable addition to the popular literature of the Civil War, well-conceived and packaged.”—Kirkus