Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - October - 2006 Issue
Confederate Military History from Chapel Hill Rare Books
An honorable biography of a disgraced general.
Eliza Andrews did not fight in the Civil War, but this young Georgia girl did get to witness its end. Her book, published in 1908, is The War-Time Journal of a Georgia Girl 1864-1865. Of course any Georgian at that time would have been familiar with Sherman's march, but she was around for the very end. Her father was a prominent judge in Washington, Georgia, which is where Jefferson Davis and his cabinet, having escaped from Richmond, would hold their final meeting. Davis hoped to make it to Mexico where he could set up a government in exile, but he was captured shortly thereafter and the Confederacy was no more. Item 6. $325.
Every family must have its black sheep, and perhaps that is how President Lincoln felt about Ben Helm. Item 198 is Ben Hardin Helm. "Rebel" Brother-in-Law of Abraham Lincoln, by Gerald McMurtry (1943). Helm was a Kentuckian who rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the Confederate Army. He was married to Emilie Todd, Mrs. Lincoln's half-sister. Emilie was a favorite of both Lincolns, who referred to her as "Little Sister." Lincoln offered his brother-in-law the post of Paymaster, with the rank of major in the U.S. Army, but Helm chose to join his neighbors in siding with the Confederacy. Tragically, Helm died in the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863. Lincoln was reportedly deeply saddened by his death, and in a touching episode comforted his widow, Emilie, who would stay with the Lincolns in the White House for a while after his death. Nonetheless, in an ironic and undoubtedly difficult twist, Emilie would remain supportive of the Confederacy, though she took a loyalty oath to the Union. She returned to Kentucky before the war's end, and stayed there for the remainder of a very long life. She died in 1930 at the age of 93. $250.
In the waning days of the Civil War, various military units passed "fight to the death" resolutions. Here are two from South Carolina. On January 30th, 1865, came these Resolutions Adopted by Bratton's Brigade, South Carolina Volunteers. Jefferson Davis had authorized representatives to engage in peace talks with Lincoln at this time (ultimately unsuccessful). Not all units were ready for peace. Said the brigade, "we will continue the struggle until our independence be achieved or we perish in the attempt..." They would get an opportunity to reconsider a few months later. Item 63. $375. Item 64 is Resolutions Adopted by McGowan's Brigade, South Carolina Volunteers...Feb. 6, 1865. They too resolved to fight until the end. "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" $425.
Among the officers who died during the Civil War was Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn. Van Dorn resigned from the U.S. Cavalry in 1861 to join troops in his native Mississippi. He rose quickly through the ranks after early successes, but later reverses reduced him back to lesser commands. Van Dorn was killed on May 7, 1863, not in action, but as a result of his actions. He supposedly had been messing around with the wife of a Dr. George Peters, who defended his honor by placing a bullet in the back of the General's head. Despite ending up a disgraced figure at the time, the General was more favorably remembered in this biography written by "his Comrades," and edited by daughter Emily Van Dorn Miller, A Soldier's Honor. With Reminiscences of Major-General Earl Van Dorn. Item 201, published by a small vanity press in 1902. $1,200.
Chapel Hill Rare Books may be found online at www.chapelhillrarebooks.com, phone 919-929-8351.
