Intimate Strategies of the Civil War Military Commanders and Their Wives

by Bleser, Carol K.; Gordon, Lesley J.

• ISBN13: 9780195115093
• ISBN10: 0195115090
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-11-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

From Robert E. and Mary Lee to Ulysses S. and Julia Grant, Intimate Strategies of the Civil War examines the marriages of twelve prominent military commanders, highlighting the impact wives had on their famous husbands' careers. Carol K. Bleser and Lesley J. Gordon assemble an impressive array of leading scholars to explore the marriages of six Confederate and six Union commanders. Contributors reveal that, for many of these men, the matrimonial bond was the most important relationship in their lives, one that shaped (and was shaped by) their military experience. In some cases, the commanders' spouses proved relentless and skillful promoters of their husbands' careers. Jessie Fremont drew on all of her connections as the daughter of former Senator Thomas Hart Benton to aid her modestly talented husband John. Others bolstered their military spouses in less direct ways. For example, Ulysses S. Grant's relationship with Julia (a Southerner and former slave owner herself) kept him anchored in stormy times. Here, too, are tense and tempestuous pairings, such William Tecumseh Sherman and his wife Ellen--his foster sister before becoming his wife--and Jefferson Davis's fascinatingly complex bond with Varina, further complicated by the hostile rumors about the two in Richmond society. Throughout, these historians paint remarkably intimate portraits of their subjects. Readers will see these famed men in a way that they perhaps never considered: not merely as famous leaders, but as lovers, husbands and fathers.

Author Biography

Carol K. Bleser is Kathryn and Calhoun Lemon Distinguished Professor of History Emerita at Clemson University and former president of the Southern Historical Association and the Southern Association of Women Historians. Her books include The Hammonds of Redcliffe, Tokens of Affection, Secret and Sacred, and In Joy and In Sorrow. Lesley J. Gordon is Associate Professor of History at the University of Akron, and is the author of General George E. Pickett in Life and Legend.

Table of Contents

Editors' Introduction	ix
PART ONE: CONFEDERATE MARRIAGES
The Marriage of Varina Howell and Jefferson Davis	3	(29)
A Portrait of the President and the First Lady of the Confederacy
Carol K. Bleser
The Lee Marriage	32	(17)
Emory M. Thomas
``A Sweet Solace to My Lonely Heart''	49	(20)
``Stonewall'' and Mary Anna Jackson and the Civil War
Sarah E. Gardner
``Cupid Does Not Readily Give Way to Mars''	69	(18)
The Marriage of LaSalle Corbell and George E. Pickett
Lesley J. Gordon
``All Say They Are under Petticoat Government''	87	(17)
Lizinka Campbell Brown and Richard S. Ewell
Peter S. Carmichael
The Marriage of Amelia Gayle and Josiah Gorgas	104	(19)
Sarah Woolfolk Wiggins
PART TWO: UNION MARRIAGES
A Marriage Tested by War	123	(15)
Ulysses and Julia Grant
John Y. Simon
General and Mrs. William T. Sherman, a Contentious Union	138	(19)
John F. Marszalek
The Reconstruction of ``Home''	157	(21)
The Civil War and the Marriage of Lawrence and Fannie Chamberlain
Jennifer Lund Smith
The Civil War Partnership of Elizabeth and George A. Custer	178	(21)
Shirley A. Leckie
Permutations of a Marriage	199	(26)
John Charles and Jessie Benton Fremont's Civil War Alliance
Pamela Herr
``A Good Wife, the Best Friend in the World''	225	(18)
The Marriage of Elizabeth Blair and S. Phillips Lee
Virginia Jeans Laas
Notes	243	(48)
Authors' Biographies	291