History Commons^™

Challenging The "Butcher" Reputation: General Grant's Strategy In The Overland Campaign, Sean Ftizgerald

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Ulysses S. Grant's exploits had earned him a reputation as an offensive- minded general who was not afraid of hard fighting and made no excuses.

A Prized Memento Of The Civil Way: Joseph Abbott's "Lightning Brigade" Medal, James Brenner

Student Projects from the Archives

This silver medal commemorates Joseph N. Abbott's Civil War service with Wilder's Lightning Brigade, 1861-1865. The engraving on the reverse reads, "Jos. N. Abbott, Co. B, 98th Illinois. Dating to about 1887, these medals were features at post-war veterans' reunions.

Close, But No Cigar: Tobacco Usage During The Civil War Era, Benjamin M. Roy

Student Publications

Tobacco carried a range of gendered, social, regional, and racial meanings in America during the nineteenth century, and these disparate meanings were symbolized through different forms of consumption. The cultural meaning inherent within chewing tobacco, cigars, pipes, and cigarettes, are the object of this research. I will examine the class associations linked to chewing tobacco, the manly identities symbolized through cigars and pipes, and explore cultural movement and racial meaning through the cigarette. Through tobacco, I will explain how nineteenth century Americans comprehended addiction, and establish the organic agency of consumable commodities to influence the consciousness of their users.

Military Occupation, Sexual Violence, And The Struggle Over Masculinity In The Early Reconstruction South, Cameron T. Sauers

Student Publications

This inquiry centers on the way that sexual violence became the terrain upon which the struggles of the postemancipation and early Reconstruction South were waged. At the start of the Civil War, Confederate discourse played upon the fears of sexual violence engulfing the South with the invasion of Union armies. The nightmare never came to Southern households; rape was infrequently reported. However, Southern women, especially if they were African American, were subjected to sexual violence, which likely increased as the war dragged on. Sexual violence includes, but is not limited to, rape. Destruction of clothing, invasion of domestic spaces, and …

Castle Pinckney Work Continues- Testing And Monitoring During The Down Season In 2020, John Fisher

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Escape From Camp Ford!, Vicki Betts

Presentations and Publications

Accounts by federal prisoners of war who tried to escape from Camp Ford, Texas, 1863-1865.

Legacy - September 2020, South Carolina Institute Of Archaeology And Anthropology--University Of South Carolina

SCIAA Newsletter - Legacy & PastWatch

Contents:

Ancient Weapons from the Siege of Ninety Six…..p. 1

Director’s Notes…..p. 2

New Books Include Contributions by SCIAA Staff…..p. 4

Artillery Ammunition from the 1781 Siege of Star Fort…..p. 5

The Wateree Bug: Hellgrammites, Dobsonflies, and Mississippian Period Potters…..p. 8

Sixteenth-Century Scale Weights from Santa Elena…..p. 12

Update on the Activities of the Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey (2014-2020)…..p. 17

Field Slave Quarters Discovered at Historic Brattonsville…..p. 23

Castle Pinckney Work Continues: Testing and Monitoring During the Down Season in 2020……p. 26

A Vietnam War-Era Training Village at Fort Jackson…..p. 28

Archaeological Survey at Rose Hill Plantation State Historic Site…..p. 31 …

The Failed Powder Boat Explosion During The First Attack On Fort Fisher In December 1864., Christopher Steven Carroll

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This paper attempts to provide a detailed understanding of how General Benjamin Butler's proposal to detonate an explosive laden ship to secure Fort Fisher and ultimately Wilmington, North Carolina failed because of a flawed plan, a gross failure of communication and a desire for personal glory over intelligent planning led to an embarrassing Union defeat in 1864.

Carolina Sunset, Cuban Sunrise: A Comparative Study Of Race, Class, And Gender In The Reconstructed South And Colonial Cuba, 1867-1869, Eric Walls

Madison Historical Review

The loss of the American Civil War and the consequence of Reconstruction literally turned the South on its head, profoundly altering the dynamics of race, class, and gender that previously defined antebellum Southern society. The letters of Harriet Rutledge Elliott Gonzales reveal one formerly elite South Carolina family’s struggle as they faced a new social landscape that forced them to adapt to new challenges, particularly surrounding emancipation and the drastic reversal of the norms that previously characterized Southern society that development entailed. Harriet Rutledge Elliot Gonzales never abandoned a sense of her “aristocratic” origins and “good blood,” despite the hardships …

Rise And Fall? The Rise And Fall Of Isis In Libya, Azeem Ibrahim

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

This monograph places events in Libya since 2011 into their historical and social context and argues a form of radical Islamism, linked to long-standing national defiance of outside control, remains a factor even after the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This entrenched radicalism means extremist Islamist groups may still make a renewed bid for power until the current civil war is resolved. At the time of this writing, the military campaign by the Libyan National Army has stalled outside Tripoli. Now is the time for the United States and the wider international community to step …

Orson Pratt And The Expansion Of The Doctrine And Covenants, Brian C. Passantino

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a faith that is distinguished by its religious texts. The nickname "Mormon," that has been applied to adherents of the faith, comes from the name of its most cherished canonical book, the Book of Mormon. Aside from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, Latter-day Saints accept two other books of scriptures – the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants. These four books constitute the authorized scriptures of the faith, or as they refer to them, "the standard works."

My thesis focuses on the book entitled the Doctrine …

Hamilton Family Collection (Mss 698), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 698. Correspondence of the family of Eleazer and Emily (Perry) Hamilton of Middle Tennessee, and related families in Texas and Mississippi.

The Confederate Triumvirate: Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, And The Making Of The Lost Cause, 1863-1940, Aaron Lewis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While numerous historians have studied and written about the lives and deeds of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis, fewer have conducted analyses of these three individuals’ popular memories. This study considers how the memory of these three Confederate leaders formed the foundation of the Lost Cause. From 1863 through the 1940s, white southerners held each of these three men in high esteem, proclaiming them as heroes to the dead Confederate ideology. Orators and writers who built the Lost Cause in South consistently utilized their memories to argue in favor of the righteousness of the Confederate cause and …

Ulster, Georgia, And The Civil War: Stories Of Variation, William Loveless

Honors Theses

Ulster, Georgia, and The Civil War: Stories of Variation explores the lives of 13 men from Northern Ireland who immigrated to the American South and fought for the Confederacy. The author pursues the stories of each man’s life in order to have a more thorough understanding of what life looked like for Irish/Ulster immigrants in the South during the 19^th century. By looking at the lives of the men in Ulster, their first experiences in the United States, their experiences in the Civil War, and their lives following the war, the author identifies more variation than consistent trends.

Free Speech Or Sedition: Clement L. Valladigham And The Copperheads, 1860-1864, John Forsyth

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Abstract

The antiwar movement during the Civil War, led by the Peace Democrats and their more virulent cousins, the Copperheads, was remarkable from many perspectives. First, their civil disobedience and political dissent largely remained well within constitutional boundaries, and the voting booth was their preferred battleground throughout the war. Second, during the unprecedented Civil War, at least unprecedented from an American perspective, executive wartime authorities expanded with the crisis, often abridging civil rights under the auspices of war. Third, power lay mostly in the hands of the Radical Republicans, both at the national and state level, and the determination of …

Sinnet, Edwin, 1827-1902 (Sc 3528), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below). Letter, 21 January 1862, written to his wife in Granville, Ohio, by Dr. Edwin Sinnet while serving as a surgeon with the 94th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. From Mill Springs Kentucky, he writes of the fate of the Confederate forces after the recent battle: their ill-advised attack from their winter quarters; their flight and abandonment of arms, equipment and horses; their burning of flatboats used to cross the Cumberland River; and the “bloody corpses” scattered across fields and roads. He tells of encountering a survivor still lying wounded on the battlefield.

African American Service In The United States Civil War: The Forgotten Ten Percent, Jacob Roberts

History Class Publications

Throughout the early years of the development of the United States, the outright discrimination and prejudice directed against African American men, women, and children unfortunately became widely accepted, specifically in the southern regions of the country. Even in today’s society, in the 21^st century, instances of racism and hatred towards people of color are still prevalent. Despite over 200 years of growth and progress, many individuals in the United States still hold true to the beliefs that were consistent with racists and bigots of the pre-Civil War era. African Americans continue to experience the same trials and judgment that …

Ashby, Rickie Zayne, B. 1949 (Mss 699), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 699. Rickie Z. Ashby, a native of Ohio County, amassed this material as he worked on various historical and genealogical research projects. The chief focus of the collection is the vigilante group known as the Possum Hunters, which operated in the first quarter of the twentieth century in various western Kentucky counties, chiefly Butler, Muhlenberg, Ohio, and Daviess counties. Secondary emphasis is on other vigilante groups in southcentral Kentucky, including the Night Riders.

The Spirit Of Columbus: Civil War Memory In The Fountain City, 1865-1880, Kevin Fabery

Theses and Dissertations

During the Civil War men and women from Columbus supported the Confederate war effort through direct military service and the Ladies Soldier’s Friend Society. After the Civil War, the women of Columbus organized the Ladies Memorial Association to beautify Linwood Cemetery and build a Confederate monument. Their efforts between the years 1865 and 1880 was marked by organization of military parades and speech readings during Confederate Memorial Day, and fundraising projects for the creation of the Columbus monument. No research has been done on the work of Columbus’ Ladies Memorial Association. This work is a historic narrative on the efforts …

A Forgotten Shade Of Blue: Support For The Union And The Constitutional Republic In Southeastern Kentucky During The Civil War Era., Howard Muncy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes Southeastern Kentucky’s political and military support for the Union during the Civil War era. In the decades prior to the 1860 election, Kentucky developed deep social and economic ties with all sections of the country. After the secession winter that followed Abraham Lincoln’s presidential election, the statewide population divided and pockets of significant Confederate sympathies emerged. Kentucky’s southeastern counties aligned with the Union at the outbreak of the Civil War because of a strong national identity and the absence of a large slave population. As the war unfolded, Southeastern Kentuckians played an important role in the disruption …

My Family, Their History: Using Exploratory Inquiry & Pragmatic Methods To Learn History, Lowellen Sucgang

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

History education is at a crossroads. The availability of information at our fingertips has the potential to change how the non-historian sees history and the other social sciences. This capstone researched ways the non-historian can utilize the changing face of history education by implementing the pragmatic methods of John Dewey’s education philosophy called instrumentalism. Principal issues discussed include the pros and cons of out-of-classroom history education, utilization of exploratory inquiry for research and the usefulness of primary sources for a historiography. To apply instrumentalism ideals and methods, I created a historiography about my ancestors and how their lives intertwined with …

Pro-Confederate Sympathy And Its Results In Northern Kentucky, Joel Shutt

Senior Honors Theses

During the Civil War, Kentucky was deeply divided in sentiment between Union and Confederate sympathies. Although these divides could be found anywhere, even within the smallest of towns, the population of some regions numerically favored one side or the other. Even so, there was always a vocal and active minority present, leading to political and even violent contention. This thesis seeks to understand the role that pro-Confederate sentiment played in northern Kentucky during the war. It will investigate how the region influenced the war and public sentiment statewide, and the nature of the conflict within. It will investigate geographic, social, …

An Unguaranteed Victory: Military Challenges In The Union Army And Lincoln’S Call For A Militia, Madelaine Setiawan

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Many have assumed that the Union victory in the Civil War was guaranteed. This research paper looks at the challenges the Union army endured that interfered with the likelihood of a victory. Men who had previously fought for the Union retreated to fight for the Confederates, which necessitated President Lincoln to expand the Union army, by calling forth volunteers of 75,000 men. The Union’s advantage of having a larger federal army and national funding did not guarantee a Union victory as the challenges President Lincoln and the Union army faced proved an equal likelihood of a Confederate victory.

Many have …

What Happened To Robert E. Lee After April 12, 1865, Katherine Hugo

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Confederate general Robert E. Lee is remembered primarily for his military leadership during the Civil War. However, the period of his post-war life is not as well studied as his military career. This paper seeks to examine his life after the war, as well as the effects of the decision to join the Confederacy.

Gendering Secession: Women And Politics In South Carolina, 1859- 1861, Melissa Develvis

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the writings and literature surrounding elite, white South Carolina women from 1859 and 1861 to trace their increasing political consciousnesses surrounding their state’s secession and the threat of civil war. Their diaries and letters reveal that though these women and their families were staunch supporters of South Carolina’s secession, women reacted to their new circumstances with fears and misgivings that their male counterparts would not, or could not, express. Elite women harnessed familiar and religious concepts to express political hopes and fears, creating a socially acceptable outlet through which to discuss current electoral politics previously considered improper. …

Peaceful Collaboration: The Truman Administration's Response To The Costa Rican Revolution Of 1948 And The Costa Rica-Nicaragua Crisis Of 1948-1949, James Wilkerson

History Theses & Dissertations

Before, during, and after the Costa Rican Revolution of 1948 and the Costa Rica-Nicaragua Crisis of 1948-1949, the Truman Administration maintained a posture of strict neutrality and helped to isolate, and bring a quick end to, both conflicts. This thesis attempts to revise the historiography of the Costa Rican Revolution by challenging the common view that the United States inaugurated the Cold War in Latin America by facilitating the overthrow of the communist-supported government in Costa Rica. The Truman Administration did not care who won and only wanted the Revolution and Crisis to come to a quick end. The United …

Hebron, John L., 1842-1914 (Sc 3522), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript for Manuscripts Small Collection 3522. Letter, 28 September 1861, to his mother from John L. Hebron, serving with the 2nd Ohio Infantry at Camp King near Covington, Kentucky. He describes his travel from Camp Dennison in Ohio, camping and drilling, and the shooting of an African American by a guard. He acknowledges receipt of a needle book and expresses a desire to procure oilcloth for a blanket. He reports on efforts to raise another company in Ohio, the treatment of the men by officers, and the absence of “secesh women” in that part of the state.

Wallar, James Leaman, 1837-1933 (Sc 3518), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3518. Letter, 21 October 1861, to his mother and sisters from James L. Wallar of Marshall, Illinois, serving with the 40th Illinois Volunteers at Paducah, Kentucky. He describes the current circumstances of his regiment: the possibility of winter quarters; the drill and guard routine; construction of fortifications; the wounding of pickets and scouts and the funeral procession of one who was killed; the capture of Confederates; and the local flora. He asks about his crops at home and the possibilities of sale, and notes an “ugly letter” …

Shuster, John W., 1846-1916 (Sc 3512), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text transcripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3512. Letters, 26 June and 19 July 1864, to Ensign Chubb, Canfield, Ohio, from John W. Shuster, serving with Company H of the 139th Indiana Volunteers. From Fort Jones, Lebanon Junction, Kentucky, he writes of illness in camp, July Fourth celebrations, the predations of “bushwackers,” and the popularity of Democratic presidential candidate George B. McClellan (“little Mac”) among the troops.

Peter, William Henry, 1840-1865 (Sc 3510), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text transcripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3510. Letters from W. Henry Peter to his sister in Brighton, Illinois. Stationed with the 122nd Illinois Infantry at Paducah, Kentucky on 11 December 1863, he recounts his regiment’s travel there by steamer to a camp site previously occupied by another regiment. He reports receiving a backlog of mail, expresses confidence in the strength of his regiment’s position and its supporting gunboats, and urges her and other family members to visit him. His letter of 12January 1864 reports his assignment as clerk for a military …