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Best regards, Andrew Stewart - - - Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/ Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: September 3, 2019 at 12:47:19 PM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-CivWar]: Levy on Broomall, 'Private Confederacies: > The Emotional Worlds of Southern Men as Citizens and Soldiers' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > James J. Broomall. Private Confederacies: The Emotional Worlds of > Southern Men as Citizens and Soldiers. Chapel Hill University of > North Carolina Press, 2019. 240 pp. $29.95 (paper), ISBN > 978-1-4696-5198-9; $90.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-4696-4975-7. > > Reviewed by Carolyn Levy (Pennsylvania State University) > Published on H-CivWar (September, 2019) > Commissioned by G. David Schieffler > > James J. Broomall brings a new form of analysis to Civil War > historiography by drawing on methodologies of emotions history and > gender history in order to better understand the mentalities and > experiences of Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. > _Private Confederacies: The Emotional Worlds of Southern Men as > Citizens and Soldiers _details how Confederate men, raised in the > culture of the antebellum South that demanded men control their > emotions and restrain themselves, struggled to comprehend the > overwhelming emotional experiences of the Civil War. Broomhall argues > that Confederate soldiers learned to cope with difficult wartime > experiences through the creation of "emotional communities" of fellow > soldiers on whom they could rely for support (p. 2). When the war > ended with the defeat of the Confederacy, these Southern men > recreated the emotional communities they had forged during the war > through veteran reunions and paramilitary groups. Broomhall contends > that Confederate veterans' emotional responses to the Confederacy's > loss--their anger and resentment toward the Union victory and their > nostalgia for the past--fueled their desire to restore a Southern > social order that would reinforce white supremacy. > > Chapter 1, "Words," begins before the onset of the Civil War in order > to establish how Southern men expressed their emotions and thoughts > during the antebellum era. Broomhall relies heavily on diaries as a > means of understanding the feelings and identities of his subjects. > He contends that diaries are an important source for this research > because they provided Southern men an avenue for free thought and > expression. However, some readers may find Broomhall's reliance on > diaries problematic due to his assumptions about the honesty of > expression in these writings. Broomhall does acknowledge some of the > shortcomings of his source base, and the examples he provides are > compelling. Ultimately, the first chapter does an excellent job of > setting up the narrative of the monograph. > > Chapter 2, "Soldiers," discusses the new environments Southern men > faced when the war began. Broomhall argues that few historians have > paid proper attention to the relationship between soldiers and their > uniforms; he also argues that scholars have not fully considered the > effects of the camps and fields on soldiers' mentalities. He contends > that uniforms, camps, and new living quarters all affected the > emotions and identities of Confederate soldiers. The shared > experiences of messes and regimental companies bonded soldiers, > helping to create the emotional communities that would help Southern > men survive the challenges of camps and battles. > > Chapter 3," details how Confederate soldiers responded to the battles > of the war. There was no universal Confederate response to the > horrors seen on the battlefield. Records of soldiers' responses to > battle, injury, and death demonstrate a mix of depression, anxiety, > and uncertainty mixed with expressions of duty, honor, and ideology. > This chapter provides numerous examples that demonstrate soldiers' > various attempts to capture the details of their experience. > Broomhall highlights how some took on a detached tone to try to > explain situations, while others expressed the impossibility of > explaining what they had witnessed. As one soldier wrote, "You cannot > imagine my feelings" (p. 83). Broomhall argues that historians have > paid far more attention to soldiers' behavior as a means of > understanding how they reacted to battle, but he believes that more > attention needs to be paid to expressions of emotion. > > Chapter 4, "Demobilization," and chapter 5, "Reconstructions" discuss > the end of the war and the transition Southern men went through as > they grappled with the end of the Confederacy and changes in Southern > society. Broomhall considers three entwined points, "soldiers' > personal traumas, veterans' initial shift from soldier to citizen, > and fluctuating notions of manliness seen at the war's close," as > well as how men attempted to resolve these difficulties (p. 11). > Broomhall discusses how the end of the war left Southern men feeling > emotionally depleted and frustrated. Some returned home to resume > their prewar lives peacefully while others lashed out, but the > emotions the soldiers felt and expressed during the war did not > simply vanish when it ended. The emotional communities created during > the war remained strong, as seen in the creation of veterans' > communities. Broomhall demonstrates that these communities became > essential to veterans and provided them with a means of solace. These > same communities also gave rise to the Lost Cause mythology. > > Chapter 6, "Violence," discusses white Southerners' reactions to the > collapse of the antebellum South's social and racial order. The > Confederacy's loss coupled with the possibility of black equality > presented an enormous threat to white Southerners who wanted to > reestablish the prewar Southern order. Broomhall argues that the Ku > Klux Klan represented a new emotional community comprised of terror, > fear, and anger. Analyzing the KKK as an emotional community provides > a new means of understanding how members of the emotional communities > of soldiers transitioned to new communities of enraged, violent men. > Similar bonds of brotherhood that bound soldiers of the Confederacy > together also brought members of the KKK together. The members of the > KKK then used their hatred and racism as a means of regaining > political power and control over labor. > > Ultimately, _Private Confederacies _makes a strong case for the need > to incorporate analyses of soldiers' emotions into the history of the > American Civil War. Broomhall's discussions of the emotional > communities of soldiers, veterans, and members of the KKK demonstrate > how emotions history can provide greater insight into the bonds > Southern men forged throughout the Civil War era. His analysis of the > transition from citizen to soldier to veteran shows the wide variety > of emotional responses to the war. These responses provide new depth > and complexity to scholars' understanding of the culture of the Civil > War and its aftermath. > > Citation: Carolyn Levy. Review of Broomall, James J., _Private > Confederacies: The Emotional Worlds of Southern Men as Citizens and > Soldiers_. H-CivWar, H-Net Reviews. September, 2019. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=53875 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
