The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History

Was the Confederacy doomed from the start in its struggle against the superior might of the Union? Did its forces fight heroically against all odds for the cause of states' rights? In reality, these suggestions are an elaborate and intentional effort on the part of Southerners to rationalize the secession and the war itself. Unfortunately, skillful propagandists have been so successful in promoting this romanticized view that the Lost Cause has assumed a life of its own. Misrepresenting the war's true origins and its actual course, the myth of the Lost Cause distorts our national memory. In The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History, nine historians describe and analyze the Lost Cause, identifying ways in which it falsifies history--creating a volume that makes a significant contribution to Civil War historiography.

"Well reasoned and timely." --Booklist

"The Lost Cause... is a tangible and influential phenomenon in American culture and this book provides an excellent source for anyone seeking to explore its various dimensions." --Southern Historian Indiana University Press

The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History posits the notion that the Confederacy was doomed from the start in its struggle against the superior might of the Union, but its forces fought heroically against all odds for the cause of states' rights. In reality, this was and is an elaborate and intentional effort on the part of Southerners to rationalize the secession and the war itself. Beginning with Jubal Early, skillful propagandists have been so successful in promoting this romanticized view that the Lost Cause has assumed a life of its own. By misrepresenting the war's true origins and its actual course, the myth of the Lost Cause distorts our national memory. In this book, nine historians describe and analyze the Lost Cause, identifying the ways in which it falsifies history. This is a thoughtful and provocative volume that makes a major contribution to Civil War historiography.

Gary W. Gallagher is John L. Nau III Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He has written or edited a number of books in the field of Civil War-era history, including, most recently, The Confederate War, Lee and His Generals in War and Memory; and Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War.

Alan T. Nolan (1923-2008) is author of Lee Considered: Robert E. Lee and Civil War History and The Iron Brigade: A Military History (IUP, 1994), and editor (with Sharon Eggleston Vipond) of Giants in Their Tall Black Hats: Essays on the Iron Brigade (IUP, 1998).

Introduction, Gary W. Gallagher

The Anatomy of the Myth, Alan T. Nolan

Jubal A. Early, The Los Cause and Civil War History, A Persistent Legacy, Gary W. Gallagher

Is Our Love for Wade Hampton Foolishness?: South Carolina and the Lost Cause, Charles J. Holden

These Few Gary-haired, Battle-Scarred Veterans: Confederate Army Reunions in Georgia (1885-1895), Keith S. Bohannon

New South Visionaries: Virginia's Last Generation of Slaveholders: The Gospel of Progress and the Lost Cause, Peter J. Carmichael

James Longstreet and the Lost Cause, Jeffrey D. Wert

Continuous Hammering and Mere Attrition: Lost Cause Critics and the Military Reputation of Ulysses S. Grant, Brooks D. Simpson

Let the People See the Old Life as It Was: Lasalle Corbell Pickett and the Myth of the Lost Cause, Lesley J. Gordon

The Immortal Confederacy: Another Look at Lost Cause Religion, Lloyd A. Hunter