Grape & Canister
Civil War news, books, videos, and an Otis pic
News
Last week we lost the actor Andre Braugher. His many film and television credits included Homicide and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but we all know Braugher from his portrayal of Thomas Searles in the movie Glory. His performance was brilliant in the movie and who can forget this exchange just preceding the final assault on Fort Wagner.
“Who will pick up the flag and carry on?”—RGS
“I will.”—TS
“See you in the fort, Thomas.”—RGS
It’s official. Fences have been erected around the Confederate monument in Arlington National Cemetery. The monument will be dismantled down to its base by December 22. This comes after 44 Republican Congressmen signed a letter demanding that the secretary of defense halt the removal.
You may be wondering how the Republican Party (the “Party of Lincoln”) came to champion the Confederate Lost Cause. Check out my recent interview with historian Tim Galsworthy for some answers.
Congratulations to Drew Wagenhoffer, who has been blogging at Civil War Books and Authors for as long as I can remember. He just published his 1000th book review, which likely makes him the best read student of the Civil War on the planet.
A photographer is taking pictures of the descendants of Black Civil War soldiers and other well-known figures in historic dress. What a wonderful project.
Reuters explores how three members of Congress continue to benefit financially from slavery.
New to the Civil War Memory Library
Jayne Anne Phillips, Night Watch: A Novel (Knopf, 2023).
Here are a couple books that I am very much looking forward to reading in 2024.
Edda L. Fields-Black, Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War (Oxford University Press, 2024).
Shae Smith Cox, The Fabric of Civil War Society: Uniforms, Badges, and Flags, 1859–1939 (Louisiana State University Press, 2024).
Hilary N. Green and Andrew L. Slap eds., The Civil War and the Summer of 2020 (Fordham University Press, 2024).
Caroline Janney, Peter Carmichael, and Aaron Sheehan-Dean eds., The War That Made America: Essays Inspired by the Scholarship of Gary W. Gallagher (Univeristy of North Carolina Press, 2024).
Cecily N. Zander, The Army under Fire: The Politics of Antimilitarism in the Civil War Era (Louisiana State University Press, 2024).
What are you looking forward to reading in 2024?
Videos
Back in September I delivered the Joshua Chamberlain Memorial Lecture at the Pejepscot History Center in Brunswick, Maine. I spoke about the ongoing debate about Civil War monuments. The video was just uploaded to YouTube a few days ago if you are interested.
Here is Gettysburg historian Tim Smith sharing his “pet peeves” concerning the fighting on Day 3.
Otis
Otis wishes all of you a very Happy Holidays. He wishes he could give all of you a hug.
Thomas was a very important character in that movie. Just imagine Glory without him. Had the film been released in 1979, he might not have even been included. And 1969 might have not given much of the 54th's soldiers anything to say at all, and likely would have been entirley focused on Shaw and all he did for Black men by dying for them.
I spoke to someone once who dismissed the character of Thomas Searles as an "Uncle Tom." I still shake my head at that one. I know the film has been discussed to death but something I wish the movie had shown Thomas, after being told he was the worst soldier in the whole company, being promoted to Corporal because he was literate. That's all.
Glad to now know about that Reuters project.