There is alot out there about the American Civil War, by some accounts one of the most written about events in world history. This year we commemmorate the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the conflict. It’s not a celebration as some are already mistating. I don’t think we want to celebrate the most costly war in American history. But we certainly need to remember it and learn from it.
There are already many Civil War sites out there, but few deal with the rich collection of fictional writings based on the war. That’s what this blog will be about.
As with anything, when we talk about Civil War fiction, there is the good, the bad and the ugly. There’s some really bad, bad stuff out there. And the more you know about the facts of the war, its people, its time, the more you gag on the bad. The worst is probably what is often portrayed by Hollywood. More of that in a later post.
Much Civil War fiction is based on or has grown out of Margaret Mitchell’s classic, Gone With The Wind, which in today’s world seems dated, racist, or just plain wrong. But like it or not it was the single most important piece of Civil War fiction ever written. Almost every bit of Civil War fiction written today seems to flow from GWTW, for good or bad. More on that later too.
I have just completed my own fictional book on the war, Soldiers Just Like You, based on the true story of a trial of black soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts captured during the Battle of Battery Wagner. If you’re familiar with the film Glory, you know about the 54th and its attack on a Confederate island fortress. The movie did a pretty good job with the military story, though the attack proceeds in the WRONG DIRECTION! Where was the Historical Consultant, where was the director’s head? How about looking at a map?
Anyway the 54th was the Union’s famous black regiment and while the attack and its sacrifice was important, a better story is what happened after the battle, where the movie abruptly ends. When sixty of the black men were captured, South Carolina denied that they were soldiers, POWs with inherent rights, but contended they were slaves in revolt and should be executed or at least returned to slavery. A trial ensues in Charleston, but in 1863, how could black men get a fair trial in the Cradle of the Rebellion, a city under siege? Sometimes history gives fiction writers a better story than we can make up, and this certainly was a case of that. You can find the book on Amazon.com or if you want a signed copy, go to the website, SoldierJustLikeYou. com.
I feel that I have been blessed with all the talents to be a Civil War fiction writer. Those who know me know that I have a rich imagination, a keen eye cultivated as a journalist, and a good feel for human nature.I have written non-fiction books and articles about the war and worked as a professional historian interpreting some of the battles in Virginia. I feel I know the history and its times. And I had the best time writing this story, researching it as vigorously as I have my non-fiction. I try to stay true to the historical record, and I believe I do except in the most literary sense. I don’t believe in “what if” books, where an author takes a line of history and tries to imagine how things might have turned out differently. Instead I think good Civil War fiction stays true to the basic facts and tries to show the higher truth of the human condition. In the Civil War those higher truths include things like the commitment of those who fought for both sides, and the inherent prevailing duty and honor of the era. I believe good Civil War fiction tries to show the times as they really were where the reader gains meaningful insight into society, politics, religion and culture.
For instance, why didn’t people smile when they sat for a picture back then? That seems so different from what we take for granted today when someone with a camera pops up. Leave aside the enormous changes in photo technology since then; they could not even imagine cell phone cameras or Scype. Oh if we only had a video of Lee and Jackson at Chancellorsville! I have seen thousands of Civil War photos, as well call them now, and never once have I seen someone saying “cheese.” Very rarely I can infer a slight smile from younger people, but I can tell they have been told not to smile and are trying not to. Why is this? Modern people want to let others know we are happy. Victorians wanted others to know they were serious, God-fearing people who should not be lightly regarded. What a difference in values Civil War society had compared to us. That’s why it’s always dangerous to judge them by our standards. It just can’t be done fairly.
Civil War fiction, the good, the bad, the ugly. I’ll continue this discussion next time. In the meantime go see True Grit. LaBoeuf, the Texas Ranger, says he was with Kirby Smith in the Army of Northern Virginia. What’s wrong with that statement?
No comments:
Post a Comment