Civil Wargasm...and you know, other stuff.

            This week’s book reading was Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horowitz, pages 145-281, covering chapters 7-10. Chapter 7, Tennessee At the Foote of the Master, Horowitz tells us about his visit with Shelby Foote, known for his writings on the Civil War.  During the interview, Foote talks about his own personal experiences and how they correlate with the Civil War, giving his opinions on race, the confederate flag, and his admiration of Nathan Bedford Forest, the Klu Klux Klan’s first Imperial Wizard.  Foote prefers imperfect Forest over virtous Robert E. Lee because “I abhor the idea of a perfect world. It would bore me to tears.” (p 156)

Shelby Foote. Photo courtesy of University Press of Mississippi

            Chapter 8, Tennessee The Ghost Marks of Shiloh, is about Horowitz’s visit to the battlefield at Shiloh.  He met travelers with personal family history with the battle and those who just had a passion for it.  One of the men he met, Bryson Powers, said “If they’d ever had a chance to talk instead of shoot each other, maybe that whole bloody mess would have turned out different.” (p 164) Horowitz also met Stacy Allen, the park historian, who spoke about the park’s history, revisionism, and tendency for people to forget the gruesome realities of war.  Another interesting character he met was Wolfgang Hochbruck, from the University of Stuttgart in Germany, whose interest in the Civil War also started when he was a child.

            Chapter 9, Mississippi The Minié Ball Pregnancy, tells of Horowitz’s trip to Vicksburg and his visit with Joe Gerache, a Civil War enthusiast specializing in the medical tools and knowledge of that time. Gerache’s most prized collection piece is the 9000 pound Parrott Gun, which was the Confederacy’s riverside cannon, he found in flower garden on land he purchased.  Horowitz’s makes sure to note that some of what we think is factual is actually made up of both fact and hearsay, like the story of a minie ball that passed through the reproductive organs of a young man then hit a young woman, resulting in her pregnancy.  He also remarks on the separation of black and white history of the Civil War, and how that is still in effect today. “Everywhere, it seemed, I had to explore two pasts and two presents; one white, one black, separate and unreconcilable. The past had poisoned the present and the present, in turn, now poisoned the remembrance of things past.” (p 208) Chapter 10, Virginia and Beyond The Civil Wargasm, is about the authors week long power-tour with Robert Lee Hodge through Civil War sites, dressed in Civil War garb and eating similar food of the day.  They hit as many sites as quickly as they could, keeping record of where they went and what they did. 

Civil War Field Hospital at Battle of Savage Station. Photo courtesy of  Sonofthesouth.net.

            The video of Ken Burns talking about the road to making his Civil War documentary was eye opening on what it took to compile historical photos without the use of internet, and the handling of a controversial subject.  He talked about trying to convince sponsors to support his project that was conceived to be too long on too broad a subject to retain people’s attention.  He also spoke about how documentaries have become a lucrative way of presenting history.