Synopses & Reviews
On May 26, 1863, Walt Whitman wrote to his mother: "O the sad, sad things I see--the noble young men with legs and arms taken off--the deaths--the sick weakness, sicker than death, that some endure, after amputations...just flickering alive, and O so deathly weak and sick." For nearly three years, Whitman immersed himself in the devastation of the Civil War, tending to thousands of wounded soldiers and recording his experience with an immediacy and compassion unequaled in wartime literature anywhere in the world.
In The Better Angel, acclaimed biographer Roy Morris, Jr. gives us the fullest accounting of Whitman's profoundly transformative Civil War Years and an historically invaluable examination of the Union's treatment of its sick and wounded. Whitman was mired in depression as the war began, subsisting on journalistic hackwork, wasting his nights in New York's seedy bohemian underground, his "great career" as a poet apparently stalled. But when news came that his brother George had been wounded at Fredericksburg, Whitman rushed south to find him. Though his brother's injury was slight, Whitman was deeply affected by his first view of the war's casualties. He began visiting the camp's wounded and, almost by accident, found his calling for the duration of the war. Three years later, he emerged as the war's "most unlikely hero," a living symbol of American democratic ideals of sharing and brotherhood.
Instead of returning to Brooklyn as planned, Whitman continued to visit the wounded soldiers in the hospitals in and around the capital. He brought them ice cream, tobacco, brandy, books, magazines, pens and paper, wrote letters for those who were not able and offered to all the enormous healing influence of his sympathy and affection. Indeed, several soldiers claimed that Whitman had saved their lives. One noted that Whitman "seemed to have what everybody wanted" and added "When this old heathen came and gave me a pipe and tobacco, it was about the most joyful moment of my life." Another wrote that "There is many a soldier that never thinks of you but with emotions of the greatest gratitude." But if Whitman gave much to the soldiers, they in turn gave much to him. In witnessing their stoic suffering, in listening to their understated speech, and in being always in the presence of death, Whitman evolved the new and more direct poetic style that was to culminate in his masterpiece, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd."
Brilliantly researched and beautifully written, The Better Angel explores a side of Whitman not fully examined before, one that greatly enriches our understanding of his later poetry. More than that, it gives us a vivid and unforgettable portrait of the "other army"--the legions of sick and wounded soldiers who are usually left in the shadowy background of Civil War history--seen here through the unflinching eyes of America's greatest poet.
Review
"Morris takes Whitman scholarship in a captivating new direction....The Better Angel enriches our understanding of his subsequent life and work." Publishers Weekly
Review
"This moving chronicle of a mere half decade of Witman's life takes his sexuality, refreshingly, for granted." Out Magazine
Review
"[A] thrilling narrative told with empathy and vast learning, rich with images that reinvigorate figures as familiar as Lincoln..." Deborah De Costa, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Morris deftly balances general historical sources with insightful selections of correspondence and poetry to construct an important addition to the body of Whitman scholarship. The most engaging and complete work on Whitman's Civil War years to date." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Morris's skills as a researcher are evident and his writing is first rate. Teens can read Better Angel as a moving introduction to Whitman...or to gain insight into the sociological and psychological aftermath of war on individuals or nations." School Library Journal
Synopsis
On May 26, 1863, Walt Whitman wrote to his mother: "Oh the sad, sad things I see the noble young men with legs and arms taken off the deaths the sick weakness, sicker than death, that some endure, after amputations...just flickering alive, and Oh so deathly weak and sick." Whitman was mired in depression as the war began, subsisting on journalistic hackwork, wasting his nights in New York's seedy bohemian underground, his "great career" as a poet apparently stalled. But when news came that his brother George had been wounded at Fredericksburg, Whitman rushed south to find him. Though his brother's injury was slight, Whitman was deeply affected by his first view of the war's casualties. For nearly three years, Whitman immersed himself in the devastation of the American Civil War, tending to thousands of wounded soldiers and recording his experience with compassion. In this text, biographer Roy Morris, Jr. offers an account of Whitman's profoundly transformative civil war years and an examination of the Union's treatment of its sick and wounded.
Synopsis
For nearly three years, Walt Whitman immersed himself in the devastation of the Civil War, tending to thousands of wounded soldiers and recording his experiences with an immediacy and compassion unequaled in wartime literature anywhere in the world.
In The Better Angel, acclaimed biographer Roy Morris, Jr. gives us the fullest account of Whitman's profoundly transformative Civil War years and an historically invaluable examination of the Union's treatment of its sick and wounded. Whitman was mired in depression as the war began, subsisting on journalistic hackwork, his "great career" as a poet apparently stalled. But when news came that his brother George had been wounded at Fredericksburg, Whitman rushed south to find him. Deeply affected by his first view of the war's casualties, he began visiting the camp's wounded and found his calling for the duration of the war. Three years later, he emerged as the war's "most unlikely hero," a living symbol of American democratic ideals of sharing and brotherhood.
Brilliantly researched and beautifully written, The Better Angel explores a side of Whitman not fully examined before, one that greatly enriches our understanding of his later poetry. Moreover, it gives us a vivid and unforgettable portrait of the "other army"--the legions of sick and wounded soldiers who are usually left in the shadowy background of Civil War history--seen here through the unflinching eyes of America's greatest poet.
About the Author
Roy Morris, Jr. is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is the author of
Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan and
Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments, ix
INTRODUCTION The Medicine of Daily Affection 3
CHAPTER ONE New York Stagnation 9
CHAPTER TWO A Sight in Camp 48
CHAPTER THREE The Great Army of the Sick 75
CHAPTER FOUR The Real Precious & Royal Ones of This Land 124
CHAPTER FIVE The Melancholy Tide 161
CHAPTER SIX Retrievements Out of the Night 201
EPILOGUE Lose Not My Sons 238
Notes, 245
Bibliography, 259
Index, 263