Comrades in Arms

This is the title of my latest article in the July/August 2009 issue of Military Images Magazine. Also known as MI, the popular publication celebrates its thirtieth anniversary with this issue. Inside is a dozen images from my collection, all of groups of two or more soldiers. The brief introduction reads:

Considering the large number of surviving examples of Civil War period vernacular photography, relatively few are group portraits. This may leave an impression that singular individuals fought the war’s great battles, and this is true on a micro level, for the history of the Civil War is the stories of its soldiers. Yet we know from letters, journals, and other first-hand accounts that bands of brothers were linked by strong bonds and esprit de corps due to their pre-war connections, patriotism, sense of duty, and shared military experience. This gallery pays tribute to all Civil War comrades in arms and celebrates the photographers who recorded their likenesses.

The twelve featured images are also part of my Flickr Faces of War Collection.

On "Two Ways to Approach One War"

Civil War literature can be divided into two classes of historians, non-academics writing about military events and academics focused on the home front and politics, explains Gary W. Gallagher in his essay in the August 2009 issue of Civil War Times. Gallagher observes, "Both these Civil Wars form part of a complicated story that cannot be comprehended by mastering only one." He defines a particular kind of military history, a third way that puts the great battles and campaigns in context to the broader impact on Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

To be mindful of the larger context in which events unfold is a responsibility that non-academic and academic historians share alike, regardless of the lens in which an author chooses to frame an article or book. The best writers in either class manage to do this by seeking different perspectives during the course of their research. Moreover, they reflect those perspectives in a measured and thoughtful way in their writing. This is a function of natural curiosity, education and experience.

No single volume about the war captures the complexity of the period. No volume is likely ever to be produced. It is the complete body of literature on the subject that speaks to the depth and breadth of this tragic conflict.

Current and future readers and writers have an opportunity to learn and share and contribute to this dynamic and ever expanding field of study.

As our country evolves in the wake of the great events that have shaped our past and impact the current time in which we live, it is in the best interests of those who will form our future to comprehend how we came to be. For the better informed we are, the less likely we may be filled with fear and anxiety about what we will become.