Battle of New Market by William C. Davis

He is correct in that purely in terms of historical writing they have been somewhat obscured by studies of either the Republicans per se or of the 'Copperheads.' The War Democrats still deserve a lucid and careful book-length treatment. Dell has surveyed an extremely interesting and important political group in the War Democrats. The credit for this remarkable coalition, Dell claims, goes to Lincoln, who by 'gentle hammering ' destroyed the 'conservative principles' of the Northern Democracy (p. Dell also believes that the Union party was no mere Republican facade but rather 'all that it claimed to be,' that is, a true cooperative, nonpartisan movement. The 1864 elections were won, Dell says, only with the support of the 'loyal War Democracy,' a statement that implies that Democrats not voting the Union ticket were not loyal. Concomitant with this is the assumption that the 'Peace' Democrats were traitorous, by definition.

Most unfortunate is that Dell falls into a variation of the all too familiar 'Lincoln won the war and saved the nation' theme. In fact, such labeling enforces a simplicity upon the subject that just did not exist. The delicate balance of ideology, partisanship, patriotism, prejudice, hope and fear that determined any American's feelings regarding the shattering events of the 1860's does not admit of such facile categorization. 'Antebellum Peace Democrats' become 'Proto-War Democrats.' Etc., etc. War Democrats shift in mid-conflict into Peace Democrats. Furthermore, he insists upon the use-and in some cases the creation-of arbitrary and misleading categorical labels. For example, he accepts that the Knights of the Golden Circle were subversive in nature, despite continuing evidence to the contrary by Frank Klement. In addition, for an author who begins by declaring how many common errors he will destroy, he falls victim to a significant number of them. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Ĩ8CIVIL WAR HISTORY has been fully laid to rest among historians for nearly a quartercentury.

Battle of New Market by William C. Davis