Adams - Living Hell: The Dark Side of the Civil War

LIVING HELL

The Dark Side of
the Civil War

Michael C. C. Adams

2014 Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2014
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
4 6 8 9 7 5 3

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Adams, Michael C. C., 1945
Living hell : the dark side of the Civil War / Michael C. C. Adams.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4214-1221-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 1-4214-1221-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4214-1222-1 (electronic)
ISBN 1-4214-1222-5 (electronic)
1. United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Social aspects.
2. United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Psychological aspects.
3. United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Casualties.
4. War and societyUnited StatesHistory19th century.
5. War casualtiesUnited StatesHistory19th century. I. Title.
E468.9.A34 2014
973.7 1dc23 2013021123

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For the boys who fell
And the girls who mourned them

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

JULIA WARD HOWE
The Battle Hymn of the Republic (1861)

This book paints a graphic picture of the dark side of the Civil War, its pain, heartbreak, and tragedy. It describes the vicious nature of combat, the terrible infliction of physical and mental wounds, the misery of soldiers living amid corpses, filth, and flies. It also concerns the many civilians who endured loss, deprivation, and violations. To understand what the people of that time endured, I have relied heavily on bringing back their candid voices from the hushed past. That these eyewitnesses deserve to be heard again constitutes a core conviction of this book.

Because I want them to speak for themselves, I have neither corrected peoples grammar nor interrupted their thoughts with that unpleasant expletive, sic, supposedly needed to flag linguistic errors. Instead, I rely on the readers common sense to grasp the intended meaning of writings through which our forebears sought to reveal what they experienced.

Regarding terminology, I capitalize North and South as the major belligerent sections; by the same token, east and west, although major theaters of war, remain in lowercase. In the endnotes for each chapter, I cite sources used in the text. On first reference to a work, I give full information on author, title, and facts of publication. The authors last name and an abbreviated title only appear in subsequent notes for that chapter. The standard abbreviation for The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies is O.R., and I use this after each full reference in a chapter.

To achieve immediacy, I have at times attempted to create a sense of live action, as though we are experiencing an episode on camera. This technique begins in the Opening, where we piggyback on Stephen Cranes arresting image of a road that moves with wounded soldiers shambling to the rear, in order to conjure for ourselves a gallery of Americans journeying together down the path of war. Just as Cranes road was not actually in motion, we will not really sprint down a neurasthenia ward with the animated Dr. Weir Mitchell. Nor would we in fact meet individual men from so many different units clustered together as we and they grope through the smoke on a firing line. We are staging a reconstruction, a reenactment, but one in which the players are the original participants. This modest stylistic device in no way distorts or detracts from the original documents, and I hope will prove valuable to the reader.

The intellectual debts contracted over a career are incalculable; mine would fill another book. Many of my creditors appear in the endnotes, but other sources of inspiration must remain unacknowledged. For example, I early learned from reading the late John Keegan to understand the real face of battle, but that particular piece of his work has no direct bearing here.

Marcus Cunliffe, a masterful thinker and writer, became the founding father of American studies in the United Kingdom, where I was raised. He was my mentor, and I remain grateful for his encouragement of my tendency to think a little sideways (or perhaps it is bass ackwards, as Lincoln put it). Although long gone, I imagine he still bends over my shoulder as I sit at my desk, taking his pipe from his mouth to make pointed comments.

I have benefited from discussions with numerous colleagues on the nature of war. For conversations specifically on the Civil War, I would like to thank John T. Hubbell, Civil War historian and past director of the Kent State University Press. Among several provocative comments, John once asked me if I had ever thought that much armed conflict might just be tribal in origin. Gabor Boritt twice asked me to speak in the Gettysburg College Civil War Institute. On our second visit, he hosted lunch for Bob Bruce, my wife, Sue, and me at his handsome farmhouse that had been a field hospital during the July 1863 fighting. On a beautifully clear, warm Pennsylvania day, Gabor showed us minnie balls with deep teeth marks: surgeons indeed told patients to bite the bullet so as not to injure their tongues.

Two of my fellow Regents Professors at Northern Kentucky University deserve a special mention: J. Robert Lilly and James A. Ramage. Bob has done incisive work on U.S. military justice; Jim is a national authority on partisans and raiders.

Nobody could hope for a better, more supportive editor than Robert J. Brugger. A combat veteran with the courage to talk about war while still in uniform, Bob enthusiastically advocates candid writing about war. He urged me to write the book, and his vigorous advice immeasurably enhanced it. Thanks also to Melissa Solarz, acquisitions assistant, for her enduring patience and ability to cut through Gordian knots. Helen Myers did a brilliant job of copyediting and proved to be a splendidly supportive reader. Juliana McCarthy, managing editor, smoothed the transition from typescript to book. Thanks also to all the other staff at Johns Hopkins University Press whose expertise and hard work have brought this project to fruition.

My wife, Susan Steves Adams (formerly Kissel), and I have been constant companions and colleagues for thirty years. We read all of each others writing. Sue not only encouraged and supported me fully in undertaking this work, she read, commented on, and improved the manuscript at each stage of its evolution. In a vital proofreading role, she restrained my urge to pepper the text with indiscriminate volleys of commas.