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Most histories are fluid in time and space, even those that center on only one battle, but describe in excruciating detail the events unfolding simultaneously on every part of the battlefield. Daniel Sutherland, Chairman of the Department of History at the University of Arkansas, has, fortunately for those with even the remotest interest in the Civil War, chosen to zoom in on one small southern town—Culpeper, Virginia—and trace the chronology of events there between 1861 and 1865 and their impact upon Culpeper's citizenry.
The result is a combination of military and social history at its best. The book is eminently readable, extraordinarily well-documented, and effectively places the reader directly into life in a southern town with all its tragedies, humor, politics, fears and hopes. Everyday life comes alive and one cannot help but learn of and appreciate the toll visited upon the people of Culpeper, and by extension, those of Virginia, the entire South, and the North as well.
The reader really comes to know the individual people of Culpeper—the farmers, politicians, reluctant soldiers, slaves, free blacks, wives and mothers—and learns of the impact and importance of geography, the railroad and the weather on the unfolding events in and around Culpeper.
Anyone with an interest in the Civil War, from teenagers on up, can learn from this book. Reenactors can learn in detail about clothing and arming local Confederate soldiers, students of military history can study the battles of Cedar Mountain and Brandy Station as seen by common soldiers and civilian witnesses, and most significantly, everyone gets a detailed look at what it was like to be in the midst of one of the most pivotal events in U.S. history.
As Sutherland puts it, Culpeper suffered through "forty-eight months of war ... (and) military training, invasion, occupation, liberation, battle, hardship, triumph, and sorrow." Nothing escapes Sutherland's monumental treatment of those 48 months: the reality of Yankee occupation under John Pope, the horrors of mid-nineteenth century medicine, the blue language of soldiers, romance and sex, various camp diversions, fraternization between armies and between soldiers and civilians (much more frequent than one might think), morale among soldiers and civilians, attitudes toward slavery, discipline in the armies, religion, desolation of the countryside, conscription, crime (not a twentieth century phenomenon by any means), drunkenness, and not surprisingly, humor. The list goes on and on. Virtually no subject is left untouched.
Sutherland's "you are there" approach works. In the hands of a lesser writer, the facts and events would simply overwhelm the reader. However, Sutherland's skilled story telling is so effective that one becomes mesmerized by the unfolding drama of Culpeper and absorbs the wealth of material with ease.
This is one for the ages and gets a perfect 10 oak leaves on a scale of 10. Only $21.00 from the Living History Onine Bookstore. A great Christmas present! Order now and save $9.00 (30%).
