How could a man become a division commander (or higher) in Robert E. Lee’s famed Army of Northern Virginia?  The golden ticket was a West Point education, which makes it all the more remarkable Robert Emmett Rodes was able to achieve that position as a VMI graduate.  Using numerous primary sources and writing without the benefit of a majority of Rodes’ own letters, author Darrell L. Collins has crafted what is destined to be the best account of the general’s life for decades to come.

Robert Emmett Rodes was born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1829.  After several attempts to attend West Point failed Rodes went to Virginia Military Institute, graduating in 1848.  He hoped to be an educator after graduation and was for a time at his alma mater, but failure to achieve a promotion which went to “Stonewall” Jackson led him to his checkered but ultimately successful career as a railroad engineer.  He had just accepted an invitation to again become a professor at VMI, his dream job, when the Civil War broke out.  By that time Rodes had relocated to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he had married Virginia Hortense Woodruff in 1857.  Rodes started the war as colonel of the 5^th Alabama, and he held a special place in his heart for the regiment from that point forward.  By the time of the Peninsula Campaign Rodes was already a brigade commander, distinguished himself at Seven Pines with a solid attack, and was wounded.  He next took part in the Antietam Campaign, performing well while facing overwhelming odds at South Mountain.  His brigade helped to defend the Sunken Road at Antietam and he was wounded a second time.  Rodes led a division at Chancellorsville.  At that battle, he took charge of the Second Corps after Jackson’s wounding before selflessly yielding to J.E.B. Stuart.  Rodes had a bad three days at Gettysburg, a fact which Collins believes prevented him from being considered for Corps command.  Rodes soldiered on as a division commander in the Second Corps through the Overland Campaign and on Early’s adventures in the Shenandoah Valley and beyond until his death at Third Winchester on September 19, 1864.  He had been one of the best division commanders in the Army of Northern Virginia, beloved by his men despite being a disciplinarian, and largely responsible for the creation of that army’s sharpshooter battalions.

Rodes’ wife Hortense burned his collection of letters after his death, making the job of future biographers exceedingly more difficult.  Despite this, some of the letters Rodes wrote do still exist in various collections across the country, and many pieces of correspondence written to the general also exist.  In this way, and filling in the details with the recollections of those who were close to or came into contact with Rodes, Collins was able to piece together a surprisingly complete picture of the general’s life.  His bibliography shows his commitment to research, with materials from collections around the country consulted.  Despite his best efforts, some events such as Rodes’ feud with Colonel Edward A. O’Neal in 1863 were unable to be fully explained.  For more on Collins’ methods and how the book came about, listen to the October 17, 2008 episode of Civil War Talk Radio.

This was a stellar biography with one major exception.  Robert Rodes and his subordinate Eugene Blackford were largely responsible for the formation of sharpshooter battalions in the Army of Northern Virginia.  Collins barely mentions this fact.  I was expecting this biography to contain much information about the sharpshooters after reading felloe TOCWOC blogger Fred Ray’s excellent book Shock Troops of the Confederacy: The Sharpshooter Battalions of the Army of Northern Virginia, which shows the extent of Rodes’ involvement.  A minor quibble was the tendency at times to simply tell the story of Rodes’ command more than the story of the man himself, but I suspect this was unavoidable in places due to the dearth of relevant material.

In Major General Robert E. Rodes of the Army of Northern Virginia: A Biography, author Darrell Collins pieced together as many sources as he could to make up for the near complete absence of letters from Rodes himself.  His efforts have resulted in a readable and entertaining retelling of the life of one of the Army of Northern Virginia’s best division commanders.  The addition of more on Rodes’ involvement with the sharpshooter battalions’ creation would have improved this book.  Fans of Civil War biographies will enjoy the book, as will those interested in the detailed workings of the Army of Northern Virginia.  All in all, Darrell Collins’ biography of Robert E. Rodes looks to be, if not the definitive account of the general’s life, then at the very least one which will serve as the standard work on Rodes for years to come.

Major General Robert E. Rodes of the Army of Northern Virginia: A Biography recently won the 2009 Douglas Southall Freeman Award for best book on a Southern subject. Also, it was a Finalist (only 5 in that category) for the Army Historical Award’s Distinguished Writing Award for Biography.

UPDATE: It has come to  my attention that author Darrell Collins did not have access to Fred Ray’s book because his manuscript was already finished by the time Fred’s book was published.

I would like to thank Sarah Keeney and Ted Savas at Savas Beatie LLC.

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Review: Major General Robert E. Rodes of the Army of Northern Virginia: A Biography

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What do these all have in common? They were all in the National Archives at one time but now are not, or at least can’t be found. Some were stolen and later found on Ebay or in the possession of collectors, some I don’t doubt were misfiled (it’s easy enough to do, you often get stacks of material with no index).

The Archives’ stewardship of the nation’s records has been questioned before. In a well-publicized incident, former President Bill Clinton’s national security adviser, Sandy Berger, took documents from the Archives in the fall of 2003 while preparing, along with other ex-Clinton administration officials, for testimony to the Sept. 11 commission. In September 2005, Berger was sentenced to two years of probation, 100 hours of community service, a $50,000 fine and loss of his security clearance for three years. Some records have been missing for decades from the Archives’ 44 facilities in 20 states and the capital, including 13 presidential libraries.

Perhaps eventually all this information will be digitally archived, although the holdings are vast, and there will be times when you need to look at the original documents. For example, I’ve found some CW era documents that were so faded as the be unreadable, but could be “brought up” to readability by copying them with the contrast turned all the way up.

Blogger/teacher Betsy Newmark has some thoughts as well.

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Missing Archives

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North & South Magazine, Volume 11, Number 4 (August 2009) Posted

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I’ve blogged about the Lincoln-Douglas Debates podcasts available at the Knox College web site in the past.  They are absolutely worth a look as well.

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Manuscript of Burlingame’s Massive Lincoln Biography Offered FREE Online at Knox College

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• Be the first person to comment on this blog entry (who meets the requirements below) and you will win a 100% free, 100% new copy of the book.  Please note that I said *comment*, not send an email or use the Contact Us form or any other form of communication with me other than *commenting*.
• Contestants are limited to those people who can have the book shipped to a location in the lower 48 United States.  No exceptions.
• Shipping will be via media mail.  No exceptions.
• The first comment to appear *may* not be the winner because I have to approve comments for anyone who hasn’t commented here before.  In order to be fair, I will announce a winner after approving comments first.
• The winner’s name will appear at the end of this blog entry when a winner has been determined.

UPDATE: The Contest is CLOSED.  “Robert” is the winner!  I’d like to encourage everyone to continue reading this summer.  I have plans for more free book giveaways in the future…

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Free Book Giveaway: The Guns of Independence on Independence Day!

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Pennsylvania news station WGAL (”News 8″) is embedding some correspondents at Gettysburg this year, and you can look at their reports (on video) at their web site. Good to see the media take an interest in this sort of thing.

“Writer Beware” blog is reporting that the US Justice Department is investigating the Google settlement, which has been put on hold. I agree that this is an extremely important (and hard to understand) case and am glad to see them taking a hard look at it for anti-trust violations. OTOH I would not like to see Google Book Search go away as it has been a gold mine for 19th Century material. The blog is worth looking at if you’re a author, as it covers similar topics of interest. And yes, you do need to beware!

And finally, a good piece of free software—at least if you run Windows—Microsoft SyncToy 2.0. It’s an easy way to synchonize folders and whole drives, and is simple to use. I use it to back up all my data files to an external drive every nite just before I shut everything down. Recommended—and free!

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Short Takes

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I want to add a little disclaimer before I start.  This list is the educated opinion of Brett Schulte alone, and in no way should it be construed as the final word on the subject.  If you believe this list is totally wrong or if you believe I’m an idiot for forgetting to add this or that book, let me know!  I hope new readers can go to this page in the future and by reading my Top 10 Civil War Books on the Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg list, those of the other Civil War bloggers in this event, AND the comments will be able to get a good idea of what types of books on Gettysburg might be for them.

Top 10 Civil War Books on the Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg

1. The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command by Edwin B. Coddington

Despite Gettysburg Campaign studies in recent years from Stephen Sears and Noah Andre Trudeau, I still think the very best look at the Gettysburg Campaign is Edwin B. Coddington’s classic The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command.   Some have criticized Coddington for his tendency to favor the Federals and to denigrate Confederate First Corps commander James Longstreet, but his overall look at Gettysburg has not yet been eclipsed.

2. John Bachelder Papers (3 Volumes + 7 Maps) by John B. Bachelder

John Bachelder, an artist at the time of the battle, became obsessed with writing a history of Gettysburg.  He corresponded with thousands of veterans of the fight, and these collected writings form the three volume Bachelder papers.  Morningside has put together a fine version of this collection, which is readily available to the public for the first time.

3. Gettysburg—The Second Day by Harry W. Pfanz

Harry Pfanz has also written books on the first day’s fighting and that which occurred on Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill on July 1-3.  I have selected his book on the July 2 struggle from Round Top to Cemetery Ridge as the best of his detailed tactical studies of the battle of Gettysburg.  All of these books are loaded with detailed maps and tactical discussions.  Curiously, Pfanz never did day three, though there may be a good reason for this.  For Day 3, you might wish to check out Jeffry Wert’s book Gettysburg, Day Three.

4. Regimental Strengths and Losses at Gettysburg by John W. Busey and David G. Martin

This is absolutely the most detailed order of battle study I’ve ever seen.  Busey and Martin break down each army and come up with exact numbers for each and every unit in the Army of the Potomac and Army of Northern Virginia.  Using known numbers of regiments in each corps, they came up with plausible numbers for those regiments for which exact Present for Duty numbers were not known.  The result is a wargamer’s and researcher’s dream and an indispensable reference work on the battle.

5. Pickett’s Charge–The Last Attack at Gettysburg by Earl J. Hess

Hess’ book is a detailed tactical look at, and to me the best book on Pickett’s Charge, topping George Stewart’s classic look at the July 3 fight for the Union center.  Hess gives the point of view of both sides, moving back and forth and producing a wonderfully researched look at this climactic moment of the most famous battle of the war.

6. Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign by Kent Masterson Brown

Amazingly, Brown’s book, first published in 2005, was the first book-length account of the retreat from Gettysburg.  I say amazingly given the extreme saturation of the market with regards to Gettysburg books.  As the subtitle mentions, Brown looks at the retreat with a great deal of time and energy spent on logistics.  He believes Lee did not necessarily need a battle to happen to make the campaign a success.  Instead, says Brown, the Southern commander simply wanted to live off of Northern land for awhile to give Virginia a break.  Brown’s book has a decidedly Confederate focus.  For a detailed and balanced look at the fighting during the retreat, I recommend One Continuous Fight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863.

7. Gettysburg: A Journey in Time by William A. Frassanito

Longtime readers of Civil War books will recognize the name of William A. Frassanito.  The author is famous for his books on Civil War photography.  Frassanito takes famous photographs of Civil War battles (Antietam, Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign) and attempts to take a modern day photograph from the same spot and in the same direction.  Frassanito’s detective work has led to many interesting discoveries about the photographs taken at Gettysburg shortly of the battle.  Perhaps his most famous discovery is that of the sharpshooter who wasn’t in the Devil’s Den area.  I highly recommend all of Frassanito’s books to anyone who is unfamiliar with this unique way to (literally) look at history.

8. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

I debated on whether or not to include The Killer Angels because (gasp!) I haven’t actually read the book.  I am a fan of fiction, and I’m a student of the Civil War, but I have never been interested in the two when combined.  With that said, I felt I needed to include this one simply because of the amazing popularity and almost universal acclaim it has received, especially in the years after the movie Gettysburg, based on the novel, was released in 1993.

9. Plenty of Blame to Go Around: Jeb Stuart’s Controversial Ride to Gettysburg by Eric J. Wittenberg and J. David Petruzzi

Wittenberg and Petruzzi have written what I believe to be the best book yet on Stuart’s adventures in Pennsylvania.  The authors and fellow bloggers tapped a large number of previously unused primary sources for the book.  The result is a detailed look at Stuart’s Ride which does not get caught up in the blame game so prevalent in secondary sources.  It also covers in great tactical detail the cavalry engagements which resulted from the ride.  If you can only afford one book on the subject, this one is it.

10. Gettysburg July 1 by David Martin

I went back and forth on whether to include this title in my Top 10 Gettysburg Books list, but in the end the positives outweighed the negatives.  Martin’s book to me is a better representation of the July 1 fighting at Gettysburg than Harry Pfanz’ similarly titled book.  I wanted to include a book on the first day’s fighting, so this by default was it.  Martin’s book, especially the first edition, suffered from numerous typos and errors of fact, so much so that the book has been panned in many circles.  Get the latest edition of the book that you can (the Amazon link above leads to the paperback version), and you will not be disappointed with this one.

I cannot end a discussion of the Top 10 Civil War Books on the Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg without mentioning Gettysburg Magazine, the only magazine I am aware of which focuses solely on one campaign.  If you are deeply interested in the Gettysburg Campaign, I highly recommend you subscribe to Gettysburg Magazine.  I finally did so last year after resisting for far too long, and I haven’t regretted it.

As I mentioned earlier in this blog entry, I am not the only person giving my list of the Top 10 Gettysburg books.  Check the space below and the permanent Top 10 Gettysburg Books page I’ve set up to see what books other Civil War bloggers chose and how those lists compare to mine.  I also hope to have a combined list very soon which will rank the books on a ten points for a first place vote to one point for a 10^th place vote basis.

Links to Other Top 10 Gettysburg Books Lists

• Ethan Rafuse of Civil Warriors: Live as of June 30, 2009!
• Mark Grimsley of Civil Warriors: Live as of July 1, 2009!
• Eric Wittenberg of Rantings of a Civil War Historian: Live as of July 1, 2009!
• Drew Wagenhoffer of Civil War Books and Authors: Live as of July 1, 2009!
• John Hoptak of The 48th Pennsylvania Infantry/Civil War Musings: Live as of July 1, 2009
• Harry Smeltzer of Bull Runnings: Live as of July 2, 2009!
• Craig Swain of To the Sound of the Guns: Live as of July 2, 2009!
• Nick Kurtz of Battlefield Wanderings: Live as of July 2, 2009!
• Chris Wehner of Blog 4 History: Live as of July 2, 2009!
• Rea Andrew Redd of Civil War Librarian: Live as of July 5, 2009!
  
• Elektratig’s The Road to the Road to Gettysburg: Top 10 Books on the Period Leading to War

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Top 10 Gettysburg Books

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Historians’ Methodology and Academic History

We start this month’s carnival at Crooked Timber, where Michele Lamont discusses what constitutes quality among historians and how to recognize it.  Tenured Radical Claire Potter  takes exception to a recent New York Times article decrying the decline of “traditional” history classes on college campuses.  Historian Rachel Leow guides researchers on how to get the most out of newspapers as sources at A Historian’s Craft.

Interesting Individuals

Romeo Vitelli of Providentia discusses the strange and gruesome circumstances surrounding Jean Lanfray’s successful attempts to kill his wife and daughters. Despite heavy drinking throughout the day by Lanfray, the “Green Fairy” was singled out as the sole cause.  Elizabeth Kerri Mahon explains how “Scandalous Woman” Lizzie Siddal, Victorian supermodel, found that she couldn’t live with or without the love of her life Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  The lifelong friendship of deaf/blind Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan Macy is examined by Kim Nielsen at her eponymous blog.  She finds that contrary to what one would think, Macy relied more on Keller than the deaf/blind woman relied on Macy.

Military Individuals

The “Good Death” of Captain Charles W. Billings, Co. C., 20th Maine Volunteers, at Gettysburg in July, 1863 is examined in a four part blog series by David S. Heald at My Morbid Obsession.  Billings’ wife Ellen suffered much tragedy in her life, missing seeing her husband alive one last time by mere hours, and living long enough to bury all three of the couples’ children.  Meanwhile, at Soldier’s Mail: Letters Home 1916-1918, Sergeant Sam Avery of the 26^th “Yankee” Infantry Division in the A.E.F. writes home to his sister “Em” about the new men coming to relieve his outfit in France in June 1918.

Military History

Scott Manning produces sobering statistics regarding the Nazi Body Count in Europe at Digital Survivors.  Manning breaks down the deaths by country and by what groups of people were killed.  Former Civil War book publisher David Woodbury criticizes a recent Wall Street Journal article on “Seven Civil War Stories You Didn’t Learn in High School” and offers up his own, more interesting anecdotes from the war.  Civil War cavalry expert and prolific author Eric Wittenberg examines exactly which cavalry units were with Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg and how Lee utilized what was available to him in the absence of J.E.B. Stuart and several of the best cavalry brigades in the army.  Author Bob Thompson dissects the confused and confusing command structure of the Army of the Potomac…and how it led to the Union disaster at Cold Harbor.  He believes George Meade and Ulysses S. Grant should shoulder the lion’s share of the blame.  Brett Holman remarks on the possible effects and use of gas attacks on the British and by the British in World War 2 at Airminded.  British worries about desperate Nazi gas attacks turned out to be unfounded.

European History

Judith Weingarten tells the interesting tale of Lorenzo De’ Medici, Louis XI of France, and St. Zenobius’ magic ring at Zenobia: Empress of the East.  Philip Wilkinson of English Buildings describes the painting of St. Christopher, “Christ’s Strongman”, in the church of St Botolph’s, in Slapton, Northamptonshire.  The painting of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, is lined up facing the door to the church, and is the first thing a traveler sees upon entering.  Roy Booth at Early Modern Whale explores an early treatise on bee-keeping, where one would do well to remain sober and chaste while killing all of your bees before collecting the honey!

Miscellaneous: Reviews, Questions, and Pictures

Natalie Bennett reviews 428AD: An Ordinary Year At The End of the Roman Empire at Philobiblon.  Penny L. Richards has been investigating the use of wheelchairs at the Bronx Zoo in the 191os and wonders whether they were used for luxury or necessity at Disability Studies, Temple U.  If you have any information on this topic, let her know!  Last but not least, Tony L. Alexander gives readers a pictorial look at Nara, one of the ancient capitals of Japan at The Soul of Japan.

As for the 78th History Carnival, that’s all folks!  The next edition of the History Carnival should appear August 1 at History Today News.  Keep reading and keep blogging!

*****

Still here?  You might want to look over the Top 10 Gettysburg Books Civil War bloggers series, starting today and running through July 3 during the anniversary of the Civil War’s most famous battle.

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History Carnival 78

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• July 1, 2009: The 78th Edition of the History Carnival goes live at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog.
• July 1, 2009: The Top 10 Gettysburg Books event officially gets underway with the Top 10 Gettysburg Books as chosen by Eric Wittenberg of Rantings of a Civil War Historian, Drew Wagenhoffer of Civil War Books and Authors, and John Hoptak of The 48th Pennsylvania Infantry/Civil War Musings
• July 2, 2009: The Top 10 Gettysburg Books event continues with the Top 10 Gettysburg Books as chosen by Harry Smeltzer of Bull Runnings, Craig Swain of To the Sound of the Guns, and Nick Kurtz of Battlefield Wanderings
• July 3, 2009: The Top 10 Gettysburg Books event winds to a conclusion with the Top 10 Gettysburg Books as chosen by Chris Wehner of Blog 4 History and Brett Schulte of TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog.  A final blog entry here at TOCWOC will tabulate the results and create a combined top 10 list for all of the Civil War bloggers participating.  A permanent page which will contain links to each blog entry and the final results has already been established and is only waiting for the posts to go live prior to being completed.
• July 4, 2009: A free book giveaway will occur to celebrate America’s independence from Great Britain.  Stay tuned for further details on the morning of July 4!

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BIG News at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (May 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807832758
• ISBN-13: 978-0807832752
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches

The Civil War generated a series of military questions that keep us busy almost 150 years after the action occurred.  This book is a series of essays not on those military questions but on social issues occurring during and after the war.  These essays provide a different view of the war; one that military history ignores but can expand our horizons.  Essays on Social History can be written for a select audience and be tedious or impossible to read.  This book contains both.  Additionally, a number of authors chose to display their ample vocabulary at the expense of readability and sentence construction.

Stephanie McCurry leads off with an excellent look at the war’s impact on poor Southern white women.  This is what Social History should be as she covers their entry into politics via petitions.  Not the easiest read but rewarding and thought provoking.

Gary W. Gallagher looks at Hollywood’s depicting the war.  An excellent writer, he knows this subject and provides an informative, interesting, readable piece.

Matthew Gallman looks at the USCT regiments at Olustee in a combination of social and military history.  This is the direction social history should consider.  He has combined looking at the men in these regiments with a good look at one of their major battles.

James Marten looks at the Soldier’s Homes in a very strong essay looks a charity as it was not as we see it.  Drew Gilpin Faust takes up the question of burying the Union dead and the impact it had on America.  These two essays make the reader look at America as it was from 1860 to 1920.  Again, this excellent social history is thought provoking and covers subject that military history ignores.

James McPherson contributes little in an essay on Lincoln and McClellan.  This is the shortest essay and contains nothing that has not been said elsewhere.  There are no insights nor is there anything new or different here.

I was unable to finish the essay on Walt Whitman.  Overly academic, it seemed pointless and boring.  The balance of the essays are readable and of varying interest.  I would have enjoyed Carol Reardon’s piece on Sherman more if I had not just read a book on the subject.

The 12 essays score as five winners, two losers and five fair to good.  This is a social history book and needs to be considered as such.  The more you like social history, the more you may like this book.

Editor’s Note: Jim is a Top 500 Amazon.com reviewer.

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Review: Wars within a War: Controversy and Conflict over the American Civil War (Civil War America)

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