Synopses & Reviews
Georgians, like all Americans, experienced the Civil War in a variety of ways. Through selected articles drawn from the New Georgia Encyclopedia (www.georgiaencyclopedia.org), this collection chronicles the diversity of Georgiaandrsquo;s Civil War experience and reflects the most current scholarship in terms of how the Civil War has come to be studied, documented, and analyzed.
The Atlanta campaign and Shermanandrsquo;s March to the Sea changed the course of the war in 1864, in terms both of the upheaval and destruction inflicted on the state and the life span of the Confederacy. While the dramatic events of 1864 are fully documented, this companion gives equal coverage to the many other aspects of the warandmdash;naval encounters and guerrilla warandshy;fare, prisons and hospitals, factories and plantations, politics and policiesandmdash; all of which provided critical support to the Confederacyandrsquo;s war effort. The book also explores home-front conditions in depth, with an emphasis on emancipation, dissent, Unionism, and the experience and activity of African Americans and women.
Historians today are far more conscious of how memoryandmdash;as public commemoration, individual reminiscence, historic preservation, and literary and cinematic depictionsandmdash;has shaped the warandrsquo;s multiple meanings. Nowhere is this legacy more varied or more pronounced than in Georgia, and a substantial part of this companion explores the many ways in which Georgians have interpreted the war experience for themselves and others over the past 150 years. At the outset of the sesquicentennial these new historical perspectives allow us to appreciate the Civil War as a complex and multifaceted experience for Georgians and for all southerners.
A Project of the New Georgia Encyclopedia; Published in Association with the Georgia Humanities Council and the University System of Georgia/GALILEO.
Review
andldquo;
The Civil War in Georgia uses selected articles drawn from the New Georgia Encyclopedia to cover the Georgia Civil War experience and provide the latest scholarship discussing how the Civil War affected individual states. . . .A fine guide, this is a pick for any Civil War or Southern history holding.andrdquo; andmdash;
Midwest Book ReviewReview
andldquo;That the text is so seamless is a tribute to the strong hand of project editor John C. Inscoe, Professor of History at the University of Georgia and onetime editor of the
Georgia Historical Quarterly. . . . Those looking for a sophisticated, concise overview of Georgiaandrsquo;s role in the American Civil War. . .would do well to begin here.andrdquo;andmdash;Keith Muchowsky,
The Civil War Monitor Review
andldquo;An excellent book for anyone interested in the home front during the war.andrdquo;andmdash;NYMAS Reviews
Review
andldquo;John C. Inscoe has skillfully edited and arranged seventy-three topics into three sections: andlsquo;Prelude to War,andrsquo; andlsquo;The War Years,andrsquo; and andlsquo;The Warandrsquo;s Legacy.andrsquo; The result is a valuable resource that provides concise information on major social, political, and military events from the antebellum era through Reconstruction in the andlsquo;Empire State of the South.andrsquo;andrdquo;andmdash;Brett J. Derbes, Journal of Southern History
About the Author
John C. Inscoe is Albert B. Saye Professor of History and University Professor at the University of Georgia. His nine books include Writing the South through the Self: Explorations in Southern Autobiography and Enemies of the Country: New Perspectives on Unionists in the Civil War South (both Georgia). Inscoe is the editor of the New Georgia Encyclopedia and secretary-treasurer of the Southern Historical Association.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
OVERVIEW: The Civil War in Georgia 5
section 1: Prelude to War 13
Slavery 16
BOX: Wanderer 22
Georgia in 1860 24
Sectional Crisis 29
BOX: Georgia Platform 34
Secession 35
State Constitution of 1861 38
Milledgeville 40
BOX: Old Governorandrsquo;s Mansion 41
section 2: The War Years 43
MILITARY ACTIONS
Fort Pulaski 49
Union Blockade and Coastal Occupation 51
BOX: css Savannah 56
BOX: uss Water Witch 58
Naval War on the Chattahoochee River 59
Guerrilla Warfare 62
Andrews Raid 66
Black Troops 67
Battle of Chickamauga 70
Atlanta Campaign 73
Battle of Resaca 83
Battle of Pickettandrsquo;s Mill 87
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain 89
Shermanandrsquo;s March to the Sea 92
BOX: Griswoldville 97
Wilsonandrsquo;s Raid 98
Capture of Jefferson Davis 101
BOX: Confederate Gold 103
Civil War Photojournalist: George N. Barnard 105
MILITARY SUPPORT
Georgia Military Institute 125
Confederate Hospitals 126
Industry and Manufacturing 129
Atlanta as Confederate Hub 134
BOX: Roswell Mill Women 138
Prisons 139
Andersonville Prison 142
HOME FRONT
Newspapers 149
BOX: The Countryman 152
Unionists 153
Desertion 157
Dissent 160
Women 164
BOX: Nancy Harts Militia 168
Welfare and Poverty 170
Emancipation 173
Shermanandrsquo;s Field Order No. 15 177
SECTION 3: The Warandrsquo;s Legacy 179
POSTWAR IDENTITY
Reconstruction 185
Lost Cause Religion 194
Confederate Veteran Organizations 197
United Daughters of the Confederacy 201
COMMEMORATIVE SITES AND ACTIVITIES
Cemeteries 207
Confederate Monuments 209
Cyclorama 212
Fitzgerald 215
Stone Mountain 216
Civil War Heritage Trails 218
National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus 219
Civil War Centennial 221
Georgia Civil War Commission 226
Reenacting 228
Archaeology 233
LITERARY AND CINEMATIC PERSPECTIVES
Journals, Diaries, and Memoirs 239
Slave Narratives 244
Macaria 248
andldquo;Marching through Georgiaandrdquo; 250
On the Plantation 252
The General 255
Gone With the Wind(Novel) 258
Gone With the Wind (Film) 262
The Great Locomotive Chase 267
The Andersonville Trial (Play) and Andersonville (Film) 269
Jubilee 271
The Wind Done Gone 273
Fictional Treatments of Sherman in Georgia 276
Selected Bibliography 281
Contributors 287
Index 293