Uncommon History

Ambrose Bierce was among the great many combatants during the US Civil War and it was that experience that led this prolific writer to expose his readers to a deeper and darker side. So much so that he became known as “Bitter Bierce.” His disdain for corruption and first-hand experience with the atrocities and maladies of warfare were a constant source of material and insight.

One of my favorite short-stories of all times has been Ambros Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” It has been some time since I last read the story, but this week it was required reading in one of my college courses. Having now returned to that story, it refreshes my memory as to why I like the story so much.

Bierce has a way with imagery, point of view and the English language that few writers, myself included, could ever dream of achieving. I have not read all of his works, but those that I have read pull you directly into the story and don’t let you go. Bierce has a message and he wants you to read it.

While we discussed the story in class, I found myself half in agreement and half in disagreement with the interpretation of the man and the story. Perhaps Bierce was bitter, who could blame him. I am certain there were many people who held onto bitterness following the end of the Civil War in 1865. While there was indeed much to be thankful for and to look forward to, there remained much to be bitter about.

I personally find a deeper, more thoughtful man in Bierce than most people I have spoken about him with. He had an adventurous spirit that propelled him way beyond simple bitterness. A bitter man would most likely sequester himself into a dark corner and never escape. Ambrose Bierce explored his bitterness and searched for more meaning. Perhaps the search is what led him towards bitterness. Regardless, his travels, exploits and written record of American History give us a picture of our land that was not seen through rose-colored glasses.

Perhaps that in itself is why I have so much respect for a man that many hold much disdain for. He sought out truth and exposed mankind for what it was. Biased, of course. Objective, perhaps not. Regardless, he did find and report about things that most people either glossed over or simply ignored. For all he lacked in fragrant prose he made up for with courageous and gritty tenacity. I find in Ambrose Bierce a kindred spirit, to a point.

To read more of Ambrose Bierce’s writing and to learn more about the man, visit:

http://www.ambrosebierce.org/

Join me in welcoming Uncommon History’s first author interviewee, Michael Aubrecht.

Michael, let’s start off with one of my favorite questions for writers. How long have you been writing?

First off, I want to say what a thrill it is for me to be interviewed for your blog Patrick. Uncommon History is fast becoming one of my favorites and I thank you.

My path to becoming a professional writer has been a lot of hard work, but also a lot of luck. Back in 1994 I started writing freelance articles for some independent Internet sports websites. Looking back, I can hardly read anything I penned as they were so amateur. That said, Sean Holtz of Baseball-Almanac read a few of my features and asked if I would be interested in taking on some large-scale projects for his digital publication. That commission led to me getting my first paid gig as a contributing historian for BA. As a lifelong fan of our national pastime, I couldn’t ask for a more enjoyable subject to begin my career with and my work even ended up in some MLB publications and quoted on ESPN Classic. Over the next 6+ years, I wrote hundreds (375+) of studies and essays that now make up most of their website’s historical sections. I am a life-long Civil War buff and during this time I was also toying with the idea about writing historical pieces. Ironically, I was contacted by our local newspaper to consult on a story about baseball during the Civil War. That’s when the door opened…

That project led to me writing Civil War articles and book reviews, which in turn led to my work appearing in more newspapers and magazines like The Free Lance-Star, Civil War Historian, and Patriots of the American Revolution. I also joined a group called Faith-Writers and began publishing an equal amount of Christian-based material. Since then I have become the personal copywriter for renowned artist Mort Kunstler, and I am contracted full-time as a technical writer for the U.S. Marshals Service. Beyond the printed page, my writing has really opened up a whole world of opportunities and media. Over the last 10 years I have: written 7 books (5 are in print, 1 is circulating), given lectures at museums and universities, appeared on multiple radio programs, hosted Internet episodes, provided personal battlefield tours, and co-produced my first Civil War documentary. What surprises me nowadays is that I get asked to speak to writers groups about our craft just as often (if not more) than I do about historical topics. After all these years, the biggest thrill for me is meeting people at book signings and knowing that they enjoy my work.

It is definitely wonderful to be able to tie in our personal passions to professional writing projects. With so much history in your area and your own valued interests, how do you come up with your topics?

I’ll break that down by title…

Onward Christian Soldier and Christian Cavalier were originally going to be one, combined book, but the publisher decided that two, smaller pieces would sell better. (I still disagree and perhaps in the future I’ll put out a larger, expanded version.) Stonewall Jackson has always been one of my favorite historical figures, both as a believer and a military commander. His cavalier subordinate Jeb Stuart is equally fascinating, but on a different level. Both subjects have been written about again and again. Now I knew that I could never compete with previous scholarly biographers, so I decided to write vignettes on these two while focusing specifically on their spiritual roots and how their faith affected them both on and off the battlefield. OCS was received very well and has been developed into a bible study course and used by the USMC Tun Tavern Fellowship.

The Southern Cross was a total labor of love. I had been writing pieces for some small Christian publications and wanted to do a devotional in the worst way. My pastor showed me one based on Abraham Lincoln’s life and thought I could do that too. TSC is unique amongst my titles as it features all of my work: the writing, photos, design, study materials etc. This book has been circulating amongst our troops overseas and I have received some extremely touching letters from soldiers. Perhaps one day I will follow-up with a northern version.

Both of my regional books for The History Press: Houses of the Holy and Campfires at the Crossroads are secular works and really established me as a respected historian in the ACW community. Both studies were written to fill a void. HOH presents the historical churches of Fredericksburg and CAC chronicles the words of Confederate soldiers encamped in Spotsylvania County. I am very proud that the NPS carries these titles in their Eastern National bookstores. These are my best titles by far.

Your love and skill for writing as well as your passion for history certainly come across through your writing. You mentioned that your works have helped to build your reputation among the ACW historian circle. How has being published changed your life personally?

Publishing has affected me on so many levels. At first, there is a genuine feeling of excitement whether it’s seeing your first byline or approving your first cover. That welcome emotion is shortly followed thereafter by sheer terror as you anticipate the impending critiques and reviews. Once you get past the butterflies there is a tremendous sense of pride and validation. Then of course there’s the all-important “ego-rub” you get by seeing your stuff on the shelf. Eventually, you become seasoned at this process and it simply becomes work. You do the best job you can and let the chips fall where they may. Being published for me has changed my life in the respect that I now get to meet my heroes and sometimes make friends with them. In 1994, I stood in line at a Fredericksburg military art gallery for 3 hours to meet Mort Kunstler. Today, I write his copy and can call him at home. One of my favorite writers has always been Eric Wittenberg and we just co-authored a book together. Even my full-time job as a tech-writer for the USMS is a derivative of my freelance work and publishing. It’s changed my life by giving me a career.

Speaking of your past endeavors, which of the books that you have written is your favorite and why?

That’s a hard one. I am very proud of all of these titles, but once again, it’s very hard to go back and look at things that I know I could do better now. I tend to have that feeling about all of my work. I spend months researching, writing, editing, re-writing, reviewing galleys, etc…then when the book or magazine finally arrives, I read it once through and never open it again. I would imagine that I’m like most writers in the sense that we are constantly maturing and our favorite piece should be whatever we are working on at the time. I will add this…The feature on race and remembrance at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello that I just did for Patriots of the American Revolution may be a favorite of mine. It’s critical and one of the more mature studies I’ve done. I also like the lecture that I wrote on Sgt. Richard Kirkland and delivered to the FCWRT at Mary Washington University. Both of those pieces bridged the gap between public and scholarly history.

I’ve been impressed, and pleased, with the quality of research in the books you have published. What kind of planning do you do before writing a book?

Research is THE most important aspect of my process. For what I write about, the best source of both primary and some secondary reference is of course the National Park’s archives as they are an invaluable resource for reference, photography, and illustration files. I am very blessed to live in a place as historic as Fredericksburg where a large collection like that is located. Even better, the NPS has spent a great deal of time modernizing their library and here is where it really pays to be a historian in the 21st century. I say this as their entire 1000-page catalog has been converted into a massive, searchable database. Each item in their bound volumes has a series of keyword designators and a short abstract telling you what the item includes. By typing in a keyword, such as “churches” it provides the researcher with a PDF (Adobe Acrobat doc.) with all of the volumes on file and associated info featuring the word “churches.” Now what this enabled me to do in mere minutes is identify 44 volumes that held potentially usable reference material and sources. It would take months to do that by hand. Each item with the word “churches” in it was listed by vol. number, section number, page and chapter number, and a brief description outlined the major topics. I then told the NPS guys which ones I needed and they pulled them for me to browse. I spent days up at their offices, copying and photocopying page – after page – after page of documents and memoirs, recollections, and other unpublished sources. The pile that I walked away with was staggering.

However, identifying what is available and drilling that information down is only step one. This points you to the reference. But how do you manage it – especially when you end up with everything from old newspaper clippings and diary pages – to official reports and meeting minutes? The answer is you make your own card-catalog. Organization is a top-priority. For “Houses of the Holy” each church had its own folder with a contents and index. As I gathered more and more materials, they all went into the folders. By the time I was done I had a stack of folders bursting at the seams with reference. This kept everything categorized and organized for me as I wrote each church’s section separately. It also helped when it came time to credit people and I referred to these sources for the bibliography. What is extra nice is that I now have an extensive collection of pre-sorted materials that I can refer to again and again for future projects. So through this one book, I now have sources for a dozen more pieces. I would like to add that I simultaneously collected the data on Spotsylvania’s churches and I am already prepared to draft a companion volume when the time comes. So it helped me to think ahead, beyond the immediate project.

It appears that the research side of your works is likely the longest phase of your writing projects. I’m curious, how long does it normally take you to write a book?

The quick and dirty answer to that question is: however long it takes. That said, between 8-12 months for my past books. That’s working on them in some capacity at least 30 hours a week. Half, if not more than that time is spent on research, with the resulting writing and editing split between the remaining 50%.

You mentioned earlier some amount of collaboration with other writers. What are you currently working on?

As I mentioned before, Eric Wittenberg and I are currently shopping our baseball book You Stink! a study on MLB’s worst teams and players around, and I am also working on a keynote speech about Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign for the 2010 CWHC Muster. The main focus for me nowadays is on the 30-min documentary that I am co-producing with Clint Ross about Sgt. Richard Kirkland, “The Angel of Marye’s Heights.” The film is currently in post-production and we are looking to premiere it in February 2010. A website and sneak preview will be online very soon. Movie-making is ten-times harder and more intense that writing. I love it, but this may be my first and last film for a while.

You obviously keep a very productive schedule. What do you enjoy doing in your free-time?

I have a full-time job with a 3-hour commute, freelance work, a foundation, and four kids…what’s free-time?

What’s free-time indeed. Earlier you brought up a good point about different venues for writers. What advice would you give a beginning author?

Determine what your strengths and weaknesses are as a writer. Play to your strengths, but never stop working on your weaknesses. Another piece of advice is to check, double-check and then re-check your sources again. Your work is only as good as the research that you put into it. Finally, remember to enjoy the process. Pursue it passionately, but also remember that someday it will become work. That is if your goal is to do this professionally. If so, then approach it like any other craft. Practice your skills. Educate yourself. Stay abreast of the industry. Make contacts and build a network. And once it becomes a job, it is no longer a hobby. Your feelings about it will change. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it will be looked at differently. It will be serious, and you will have to be serious about doing it. Your reputation is your greatest asset, but it can also be your downfall. Miss a few deadlines, or turn in something less-than-par and you can blemish your rep. Always do your best work and protect it.

Speaking of downfalls. In your opinion, what is the greatest danger or pitfall in the life of a writer?

My answer is themselves. It’s very easy as a writer to become egotistical and get used to calling your own shots. First off: GET OVER YOURSELF. When you are just starting out, and writing for free, YOU make your own deadlines, YOU choose your own topics. YOU edit your own work. When you get picked up by a publication whether it is a website, newspaper, magazine, or book, YOU are no longer in charge. Chances are someone else with far more experience and qualifications will be selecting your topics, setting your deadlines, editing your copy etc. This is a shock at first. But I say listen to these people. THEY know what they are talking about. And if you work hard enough at it, you start to earn that control back a little at a time. Today, I pick my own features, pitch the ideas to the various newspaper, magazine, and book editors that I have a relationship with, and we collaborate. I had to earn that privilege and it took me far too long to appreciate it. And to be perfectly honest, I still answer to a lot of people. Writers just need to be aware that they are often their own worst enemy.

That is some great advice for every writer! As a reader of your books myself, do you think there are ways that your readers can help make you a better author?

When I started with Baseball-Almanac, the work was challenging, and tedious, and for a baseball fanatic like me, awesome. That said, no matter how hard we tried there were always readers out there who had forgotten more about baseball than we would ever know. We called these people the “trekees” (after the Star Trek enthusiasts) and many had either attended these games, or memorized the box scores, because they would find the most minuscule errors and blast us for them. In baseball history, stats and source material must always be validated. Luckily as an almanac we were always able to update our stuff. What this taught me is that our readers in many cases can be our best editors and we must take the time to listen to them. It can be a humbling experience, but it ultimately makes our work better. The same goes for my work on the Civil War. People’s ancestors who fought in the conflict sometimes have knowledge that surpasses that of the National Park Service or heritage organizations because they lived it firsthand and passed those stories down through the years in their diaries and letters home. As a historian I consider myself in a way a custodian of the legacies of those who came before us. It’s a tremendous privilege and responsibility, so I always make accurate research a top priority. In addition, our findings may become reference for a future study and bad reference breeds bad history.

Your love for history is very evident and admirable. As a historian, I have little doubt that you have your own  personal favorite places or people to learn from and about. If you could have dinner with three historical people, who would they be and why?

Great question…I would love to dine with Thomas Jefferson, so I could ask him about his relationship Sally Hemmings firsthand. Erwin Rommel, so I could get inside the mind of a true military genius, and Lou Gehrig, because he is perhaps the nicest guy that I have ever studied. (A close #4 would be Jeb Stuart as I don’t think Stonewall Jackson would be much fun and I don’t like lemons.)

That certainly sounds like an interesting dinner! In closing, what accomplishment are you most proud of, writing or not?

Family of course: My wife Tracy, who I have been with since the tender age of 13, and our four children Dylan (18, attending the University of Northwestern Ohio), Madison (12, an accomplished dancer), Kierstyn (5, just started pre-school), and Jackson (2, a curly-haired tornado).

Thank you so much for your time, and your talent, Michael. The readers of Uncommon History look forward to learning more great history from you.

Michael’s Current Book Selection

The Civil War in Spotsylvania: Confederate Campfires at the Crossroads features published memoirs, diaries, letters and testimonials from those who were there to give a fascinating look into the day-to-day experiences of camp life in the Confederate army.

Historic Churches of Fredericksburg: Houses of the Holy recalls stories of rebellion, racism and reconstruction as experienced by Secessionists, Unionists and the African American population in Fredericksburg’s landmark churches during the Civil War.

The Southern Cross: A Civil War Devotional shares forty uplifting devotions, ten encouraging essays, a special sermon that was presented to the soldiers in the field and a short biographical tribute to six of the South’s most pious commanders.

Christian Cavalier: The Spiritual Legacy of J.E.B. Stuart presents an intimate portrait of the flamboyant Confederate Cavalry General J.E.B. Stuart and a testament to his devout service to both God and country.

Onward Christian Soldier: The Spiritual Journey Of Stonewall presents a historical account of the military, personal, and spiritual life of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson who rose from the pains of a tragic childhood to become one of the South’s most celebrated soldiers.

If you would like for the readers of Uncommon History to know more about you and your writing endeavors, please contact me to arrange your interview.

Although this does not specifically address the issue of Separation of Church and State directly, I do believe it is very much a part of the discussion.

The First Amendment, specifically the “Establishment” and the “Free Exercise” clauses are at the very center of the debate, thus we cannot talk about it without understanding the history behind this important amendment.

Attached to this article is a copy of the research paper I submitted for my US Government class in which I touched briefly on the subject. To be honest, I wanted to go very much deeper into the subject, but I was limited by the requirements of the project. I am contemplating a larger work in which I will fully expose much of what I have learned and have yet to learn.

I think many people I speak with assume that because I come from a Christian worldview, that my opinion is biased or skewed in some way towards favoring the right-wing political agenda. Let me be clear that while I unreservedly hold a Christian worldview, it is that very point that helps me better understand this issue.

ALL of the founding fathers had a Christian worldview, but they were not religious activists. As you will see in my paper, these men wanted to be free to worship God as they understood Him to be, not as the government understood him to be. That is the underlying fundamental equation in the debate.

Was this nation founded as a Christian Nation? Not in the way we would understand that today. This nation was founded by Christians, yes, without a doubt! Did they utilize biblical ideas and morals in the forming of this nation? If you doubt that, I must assume you have read only second-hand resources that quote information out of context. I suggest that the only way to understand the real history of these ideas and philiosophies is to read entire primary sources, letters and texts and follow their responses and rebuttals.

Below is my paper titled “A Nation Must Stand Divided”

A_Nation_Must_Stand_Divided

As an added benefit to readers of Uncommon History, some content includes consumer interest articles paid to the writer through various, valued advertisers.

This policy is valid from 23 November 2009

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact me at:  email@patrickgwhalen.com.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. Due diligence is taken to identify and disclose posts and advertisements. Please contact Uncommon History if you discover content, advertising space or posts that may not be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on certain products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

As a lay historian, writer, speaker, semi-retired reenactor and avid book consumer of all things Civil War, era-appropriate language has always been an interest of mine. Being neck deep in my own Civil War historical fiction project, I am becoming increasingly depended upon (and interested in) slang words used by the soldiers at the time.

During my most active reenactor years, while the internet was still in its infancy, I relied heavily upon the advice and information from other seasoned reenactors in order to develop my own first person characterization. Over time, I began to question the authenticity of such slang and continue to question what I find on various spindles on the web.

Some some slang words have very distinctive Southern overtones, yet many Federal reenactors would use these terms in first person events. I was rarely convinced that a Federal soldier would have used the word, or at least as often or in that specific context.

As such, I am using this space to compile my own online index of Civil War slang words. Over time I hope to better fine-tune the definitions as well as determine the origins and history of the terms as well as whether the words were used exclusively by one side or the other, or by both simultaneously. I welcome any input such historians would enjoy submitting to me in the aid of this research.

• A.W.O.L.: Absent With Out Leave
• Absquatulate: to take leave, to disappear
• Acknowledge the Corn: to admit the truth, to confess a lie, or acknowledge an obvious personal shortcoming
• Arkansas Toothpick: a long, sharp knife
• Artillery: Camp kettles, stoves, posts, tubs, iron foundries
• Bad Egg: bad person, good for nothing
• Balderdash: nonsense
• Bark Juice, Tar Water, Kokum Stiff, Old Red Eye, O Be Joyful: Liquor
• Barrel shirt: Barrel worn by thieves for punishment
• Beat the Dutch: if that don’t beat all
• Been Through the Mill: been through a lot, seen it all, bad day
• Beehive : Knapsack
• Bellyache: complain
• Big Bugs: big wigs, important people
• Bite the Bullet: face up to a challenge or something unpleasant
• Bivouac: to camp without formal shelter or in temporary circumstances
• Blowhard: A big shot or braggart
• Bluebellies: Union soldiers
• Blue Mass: refers to men on sick call; named after blue pill
• Bluff: trick or deceive, cheater
• Bombproofs: provost guards/commissaries due to soft life
• Bragg’s Body Guard: lice
• Bread Bag: haversack
• Bread Basket: stomach
• Bull Pit: Under-arrest confinement area
• Bully: exclamation meaning, & ‘terrific!’ or ‘hurrah!’
• Bully for You: good for you
• Bumblebee: Sound of flying bullets
• Bummer: malingerer, someone who deliberately lags behind to forage or steal on his own shrift
• Bummer’s Cap: regulation army cap with a high/deep crown, so-called because it could be filled with gathered foodstuffs
• Bust Head / Pop Skull: cheap whiskey
• Buttermilk Cavalry: Term infantry had for cavalry
• Camp canard: tall tale circulating around camp as gossip
• Cashier: to dismiss from the army dishonorably
• Chicken Guts: gold braid used to denote officer ranks
• Chief Cook and Bottle Washer: person in charge, or someone who can do anything
• Company Q: fictitious unit designation for the sick list
• Conniption Fit: hysterics, temper tantrum
• Contraband: escaped slaves who sought refuge behind Union lines
• Coosh or Cush: cooked beef fried with bacon grease and cornmeal
• Copperhead: Northern person with Southern, anti-Union sympathies
• Cracker Line: supply line for troops on the move
• Deadbeat: useless person, malingerer
• Desecrated Vegetables: dehydrated (desiccated) vegetables formed into yellowish squares
• Dog Collar: cravat issued with uniforms, usually discarded
• Dog Robber: soldier detailed from the ranks to act as cook
• Duds: clothing
• Embalmed Beef: canned meat
• Essence of Coffee: early instant coffee, found in paste form
• Fairy Fleet: Boats carrying trade between sides at Fredricksburg
• Fighting under the black flag: Soldiers killing lice
• Fit as a fiddle: in good shape
• Fit to be tied: angry
• Forage: to hunt for food, live off the land; also came to mean plundering enemy property for sustenance
• Forty Dead Men: a full cartridge box, which usually held forty rounds
• French Leave: to go absent without leave
• Fresh Fish: new recruits
• Gallinippers: Insects, mosquitoes
• Ginned Cotton: Flower bread
• Giving the vermin a parole: Throwing away clothing infected with lice
• Go Boil Your Shirt: take a hike, get lost, bug off
• Goober Grabbers: Good natured term for Georgia troops
• Goobers: peanuts
• Grab a Root: eat a meal, especially a potato
• Greenbacks, Rocks, Spondulix: Money
• Greenhorn, Bugger:
• Grey Backs: lice, also derogatory term for Confederate soldiers
• Grit: courage, toughness
• Hanker: a strong wish or want
• Hard Case: tough guy
• Hard Knocks: hard times, ill use
• Hardtack: – unleavened bread in the form of ¼ inch thick crackers issued by the army
• Haversack: – canvas bag slung over the shoulder used to carry a soldier’s rations
• Here’s your mule: Nonsense expression akin to the modern “Kilroy was here”
• High-falutin: highbrow, fancy
• Horse Sense: common sense, good judgement
• Hospital Rat: someone who fakes illness to get out of duty
• Housewife: sewing kit
• Huffy, In a Huff: angry, irritated
• Humbug: nonsense, a sham, a hoax
• Hunkey Dorey: very good, all is well
• Iron Clad Possum: An armadillo dinner
• “I.W.”: In For the War
• Jailbird: criminal
• Jawing: talking
• Jeff Davis’ Pets: Rebel western troops’ term for A.N.V.
• John Barleycorn: beer
• Jonah: someone who is or brings bad luck
• Knock into a Cocked Hat: to knock someone senseless or thoroughly shock him
• Let Drive: go ahead, do it
• Let ‘er Rip: let it happen, bring it on
• Light Out: leave in haste
• Likely: serviceable, able-bodied
• Little Coot: Confederate slang for a yankee
• Long Sweetening: Molasses
• Lucifer: Match
• Mealy-mouthed: someone who is hard to talks but doesn’t get to the point
• Muggins: a scoundrel
• Mule: meat, especially if of dubious quality
• Mustered Out: wry term meaning killed in action
• Night blindness, Gravel: Condition caused by lack of green veggies.
• No Account: worthless
• Not By a Jug Full: not by any means, no way
• On His Own Hook: on one’s own shrift, without orders
• Opening the Ball: starting the battle
• Opine: be of the opinion
• Patent Bureau: Knapsack
• Peacock About: strut around
• Peaked: pronounced peak-ed; weak or sickly
• Peas on a trencher: Breakfast call
• PepperBox: Pistol
• Picket: sentries posted around a camp or bivouac to guard approaches
• Pie Eater: country boy, a rustic
• Pig Sticker: knife or bayonet
• Play Old Soldier: pretend sickness to avoid combat
• Played Out: worn out, exhausted
• Pumpkin Rinds: Grumpy term for lieutenants due to their gold lieutenant’s bars
• Quartermaster Hunter: shot or shell that goes long over the lines and into the rear
• Quick Step, Flux,  Tennesse Quick Step, Virginia Quick Step: Diarrhea
• Rio: Coffee
• Roast Beef: Noon Meal
• Robber’s Row: the place where sutlers set up to do business
• Row: a fight
• Salt Horse: salted meat
• Sand Happers: Good natured term for South Carolina troops.
• Sardine Box: cap box
• Sawbones: Surgeon
• Scarce as Hen’s Teeth: exceedingly rare or hard to find
• Skillygallee: fried pork fat with crumbled hardtack
• Secesh: derogatory term for Confederates and Southerners: secessionists
• See The Elephant: experience combat or other worldly events
• Shakes: malaria
• Sham Fight: Mock Battle
• Shanks Mare: on foot
• Sheet Iron Crackers: hard tack
• Shoddy: an inferior weave of wool used to make uniforms early in the war; later came to mean any clothing or equipment of substandard quality
• Sing Out: call out, yell
• Skedaddle: run away, escape
• Skunk: Officer
• Slouch Hat: a wide-brimmed felt hat
• Smoked Yanks: Union soldiers cooking over a fire
• Snug as a Bug: very comfortable
• Somebody’s Darling: comment when observing a dead soldier
• Sound on the Goose:
• Sparking: courting a girl, kissing
• Sunday Soldiers / Parlor Soldiers: derogatory terms for unsuitable soldiers
• Take an Image: have a photograph taken
• Tight / Wallpapered: drunk
• Toe the Mark: do as told, follow orders
• Top Rail: first class, top quality
• Traps: equipment, belongings
• Tuckered Out: exhausted
• Uppity: arrogant
• Vidette: a sentry same as Picket but usually on horseback
• Web Feet: Term cavalry had for infantry
• Whipped: beaten
• Who wouldn’t be a soldier?: “Who cares?”
• Worth a Goober: Something that amounts to a lot
• Wrathy: angry
• Yellow Hammers: Good natured term for Alabama troops
• Zu Zu: Zouaves

One of the most compelling reasons I read and write about the US Civil War aka War-Between-The-States is that no matter how much is written or discusses, there is always some intriguing aspect left to be uncovered. There remains today, great emotion and heat-felt belief in certain personal figures, battles, weapons,and the like. I find all of these very interesting, but to me, the most compelling story is that of the civilians trying to lead out their lives in the midst of such chaos and turmoil.

When I began researching this period in American history, I admit that I was drawn first to the biggest battles and the larger-than-life generals in control of the armies. Perhaps this is because the vast majority of information written focuses on these facts. As I exhausted some of the more popular research works, I delved deeper into the library. There I found myself stuck for many years, reading about a facet of the war I had rarely, if ever, considered; civilian life.

While soldiers marched and battles raged, mothers and fathers, wives and daughters, holed up back home trying to make the best of it. Fields needed tending, homes needed mending and food cellar supplies grew shorter and shorter. I became increasingly curious as to just how the average man or woman struggled to make ends meet. As I read more about those brave people who suffered through terrible hardships, it also gave me a better outlook on the life we all have today.

Yes, the stock market has been treacherous as of late, and yes gas prices have all given us food for thought, but imagine having to pay more than a month’s wages for a loaf of bread!

Anyway, as a reenactor at the time, I spent much time trying to develop a first-person persona that I could apply at events. I would write letters home as most soldiers did, but I found myself unsure just what to write about. Then, while I was perusing the shelves at a book store, I came across an interesting find. It was a very tall two-volume set of Civil War era newspapers. I tried to move on to other items, but the handsomely bound books  kept calling my attention. Eventually I gave in, purchased the books and took them home.

I set Volume One on my dining room table and opened to the first page. Before I knew it, the sky outside had gone dark and I needed to turn on a light to continue reading. I nearly fell asleep that evening right there at the table. The local stories of commerce dotted with reports from the war, as well as adds for house maids and even slave auctions lit up my imagination.

I continue to scan through these great collections from time-to-time and am never dismayed at the content. I learned many years ago that in Civil War research, primary sources are king. These two books are a treasure trove of primary sources, and they are fascinating to boot. If you are in any way interested in learning more about the lives of ordinary citizens during the US Civil War, these books are a must read.

[amtap amazon:asin=0785811370]

[amtap amazon:asin=0785811508]