Sacred Ties: From West Point Brothers to Battlefield Rivals: A True Story of the Civil War
The Civil War often has been described as being “brother against brother,” a war that pitted American against American in ways unimaginable today. Perhaps for the men who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, the war was an epiphany. Men who had gone to school together, learned the same tactics, and served in the same army now fought each other on battlefields throughout the nation. This is the gist of Sacred Ties. In this work, the author follows the experience of six members of the Class of 1861: George Armstrong Custer, Thomas Rosser, Henry DuPont, John Pelham, Stephen D. Ramseur and Wesley Merritt. He begins with a four-chapter discussion on the early history of the Point and then delves into the Civil War. Here he discusses the war in brief while going into detail on how each engagement affected the lives of these six men. Unfortunately, this study does not live up to its promise. Much has been written about West Pointers who fought in the Civil War, most notably John C. Waugh’s The Class of 1846 and George A. Plimpton’s The Class of 1861, which is a far superior study along the same lines as this book. This author attempts to write a moving, dramatic narrative of how the war affected those who had attended West Point together, but the story of the men of 1861, who literally made the split-second decision to remain loyal or go South, has been told often and more effectively. These men did not have the same Old Army and Mexican War ties that had bonded men like Lewis A. Armistead and Winfield Scott Hancock almost like brothers. Instead, their educational backgrounds linked these new officers. The six this book follows had some interesting experiences during the war as they faced each other repeatedly, most noticeably in the Shenandoah Valley in the fall of 1864. There are some interesting moments, such as Henry DuPont’s protesting of the burning of Virginia Military Institute and his later actions as a senator to give the school money to compensate for the destruction. There are some other salient points, but for the most part this book is a story that has been told before. There is potential here for a great story about how men who literally grew up together suddenly found themselves on opposite sides of a great war. The research and sources leave much to be desired. Few Civil War books can be successful without deep research into the archives and use of primary manuscript material to flesh out the narrative. Unfortunately, only printed primary and secondary materials are used in this work; much of it comes from the somewhat unreliable Battles and Leaders series. The sources used are those that could be found in even the most basic buff’s library. In conclusion, Sacred Ties is one of those books that has great potential and a great story about men who were essentially brothers who suddenly found themselves on a battlefield killing each other over a series of differing ideals. It is a good introductory piece into the fratricide that occurred during the war, but, without use of all the proper sources, it falls short of being a stellar piece of scholarship. Reviewer: Robert Grandchamp Robert Grandchamp is a historian working out of New England. He has authored seven books, including, The Seventh Rhode Island Infantry, The Boys of Adams’ Battery G, and the forthcoming A History of the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery, 1801-2010. He holds an M.A. in American History from Rhode Island College.
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Notes, index, 271 pp, 2010, New York, Berkley Press,