Lorien Foote - Rites of Retaliation: Civilization, Soldiers, and Campaigns in the American Civil War

RITES OF RETALIATION

Rachel Shelden, editor

William A. Blair, founding editor

The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era are published by the University of North Carolina Press in association with the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center at Penn State University. The series features books based on public lectures by a distinguished scholar, delivered over a three-day period each fall, as well as edited volumes developed from public symposia. These books chart new directions for research in the field and offer scholars and general readers fresh perspectives on the Civil War era.

LORIEN FOOTE

CIVILIZATION, SOLDIERS, AND CAMPAIGNS in the American Civil War

THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS

Chapel Hill

This book was published with the assistance of the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center at Penn State University.

2021 Lorien Foote

All rights reserved

Designed by Jamison Cockerham

Set in Arno, Scala Sans, Irby, Gatlin Bold, and Cutright Bold by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.

Manufactured in the United States of America

The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003.

Cover illustration: From Harpers Weekly, March 18, 1865. Courtesy Library of Congress

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Names: Foote, Lorien, 1969 author.

Title: Rites of retaliation : civilization, soldiers, and campaigns in the American Civil War / Lorien Foote.

Other titles: Steven and Janice Brose lectures in the Civil War era.

Description: Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, 2021. | Series: The Steven and Janice Brose lectures in the Civil War era | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021015344 | ISBN 9781469665269 (cloth ; alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469665276 (paperback ; alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469665283 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: United States. Army. Department of the SouthHistory. | Lex talionis. | PunishmentPhilosophy. | Reciprocity (Psychology) | United StatesHistoryCivil War, 18611865Prisoners and prisons. | United StatesCivilization19th century.

Classification: LCC E611 .F655 2021 | DDC 973.7/1dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021015344

Portions of this work also appear, in somewhat different form, in Lorien Foote, Campaign for Charleston: Military Science, Emancipation, and Social Collapse, in The Oxford Handbook of the Civil War, ed. Lorien Foote and Earl J. Hess (New York: Oxford University Press, 2021); Lorien Foote, The Sternest Feature of War: Prisoners of War and the Practice of Retaliation, in Crossing the Deadlines: Civil War Prisons Reconsidered, ed. Michael P. Gray (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2018), 81100; and Lorien Foote, Civilization and Savagery in the American Civil War, South Central Review: The Journal of the South Central Modern Language Association 33, no. 1 (Spring 2016): 2136.

To the prisoners of the 54th Massachusetts, 8th USCT, and 1st North Carolina

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This book marks what I hope to be the midpoint of my career as an academic historian, and it has been a joy to reflect on those who have supported me in the research and writing of a book that feels like a milestone in my journey. Part of that feeling stems from the fact that this is a Brose Lecture book. I was deeply honored when Bill Blair called and asked me to present the Brose Distinguished Lecture Series at the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center at Penn State University. I thank him for giving me this amazing experience. My deep gratitude goes to Steven and Janice Brose for their generous endowment of the lectures and of the study of Civil War history and for their personal kindness during my visit. Matthew Isham and Barby Singer were their usual wonderful, competent selves and made sure I had a great experience. The faculty, administrators, graduate students, fellows, and members of the public audience who attended my three talks asked great questions and helped me refine my thinking. I would like to thank Lois, Pete, and Peter Agnew for driving up from New York and providing friendly family faces during the lectures.

Rites of Retaliation would not be the book that it is without Rachel Shelden, who took over as director of the Richards Center when I gave my lectures in 2019. Her brilliant report afterward helped me see what the book should really be about. During the revision process in 2020, amid the stress of the pandemic, she took the time to answer paragraph-level questions.

I was able to travel the country to conduct research for this book because of the Patricia and Bookman Peters Chair in History at Texas A&M University. I thank Bookman Peters for his generous support of historical research. I am also grateful for the faculty development leave that I received from my university, which supported the final phases of writing. My colleagues in the history department at Texas A&M have supported and encouraged me in immeasurable ways. I would like to thank David Vaught and Carlos Blanton, who had succeeding terms as department head during the research and writing of this book and who made sure I had resources, time, and headspace. Kate Unterman and Adam Seipp told me it was OK that I had to let some things go. Walter Kamphoefner and David Hudson stepped up so that I could step down and write this book.

Several people took photographs for me of primary source material in archives or looked something up for me in an archive they were visiting. Thanks go to Shane Makowicki, John Wendt, and Zac Cowsert. Peggy Ann Brown did some research in newspapers for me. Angela Riotto shared with me some sources she found in her research on Confederate former prisoners of war. Because he seems to know everything, I asked Chris Barr a lot of questions about Civil War prisoners, prisons, and the Sea Islands. He always knew the answer or knew someone who did.

Greg and Sarah Eastman might as well designate the guest bedroom of their house in Arlington, Virginia, as The Lorien Foote Research Room. They even let me come when they are not home. Their hospitality has extended across several of my book projects. Holly and Kevin Fletcher also opened their home to me for weeks at a time during the research for previous books and continue to welcome me with open arms when I need a place to stay. I dont know what I would do without the Eastmans and the Fletchers.

In my research experience, archivists have always been knowledgeable and helpful. I found material I would not have otherwise and received scans of materials because of the assistance of these historians and experts. I would like to particularly thank the following individuals: at the South Caroliniana Library (one of my favorite archives), Edward W. Blessing, Graham Duncan, and McKenzie Lemhouse. At the South Carolina Historical Society, Karen Stokes, who has also published many helpful books on the history of the Civil War in South Carolina. At the U.S. Military Academy Library Special Collections, Susan Lintelmann. At the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Michelle Krowl. At the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, Rich Baker and Lori Wheeler. At the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Samantha Wolf. At the Wisconsin Historical Society, Lee Grady. At the Massachusetts Historical Society, Sabina Beauchard, Anna Clutterbuck-Cook, and Peter Drummey. At the Boston Public Library, Kimberly Reynolds. At the Clarke Historical Library, John Fierst and Mariah Billington-Rives. At the Virginia Historical Society, Jennifer M. Huff. At the West Virginia and Regional History Center, John Cuthbert and Mary Mullett.