Matt W. Ransom: Confederate General From North Carolina

By Clayton Charles Marlow
Maps, endnotes, bibliography, index, 190 pp., 2006. McFarland & Company Inc., Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640, $28.50 plus shipping.

Reviewer: John S. Benson
John S. Benson is a past president of the Bucks County Civil War Round Table. He is a partner in a Doylestown, Pa., law firm, an adjunct professor of law at Widener University, and an adjunct professor at Delaware Valley College.

Review:
Matt W. Ransom, attorney, politician and soldier, loved his home state of North Carolina. Although he was a slave owner, Ransom believed that slavery was a dying institution. As a state politician, Ransom was a Unionist and encouraged his fellow politicians to find a compromise with the North.

When Confederate guns opened on Fort Sumter and North Carolina seceded, he reluctantly followed his fellow statesmen and gave his full support to the Confederacy.

Ransom's younger brother, Robert Ransom, is the more famous of the brothers. Educated at West Point, Robert eventually joined the Confederate cavalry where he quickly rose to the rank of brigadier general. Robert's experiences are also highlighted in this book.

Matt Ransom did not have formal military training prior to enlistment with the Confederate forces. He attended the University of North Carolina, joining the class of James Johnston Pettigrew where the two became academic rivals.

With his education and experience as a politician, Ransom had no difficulty securing a commission as a lieutenant colonel in the 1st North Carolina regiment before later serving in the 35th North Carolina where he was assigned to his brother's division.

Ransom was elected colonel of the 35th a short time later and was promoted to brigadier general on June 15, 1863. He was wounded at Drewry's Bluff in May 1864. Much of his service was with the Department of North Carolina. He saw action at such notable battles as Mechanicsville, Malvern Hill, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg and Petersburg.

Following the war Ransom returned to his beloved plantation and shared the same struggles as his fellow Confederates as he attempted to rebuild from the destruction of war.

Ransom's biographer, Clayton Charles Marlow, writes an enjoyable and easy read. His style is entertaining and is easily followed. Unfortunately, he never saw his work truly completed as he died shortly before the book was first published in 1996.

Marlow could tell a story, but he did not tell the complete story of Matt Ransom. It appears that while he was discovering Matt Ransom, Marlow learned the home front story of North Carolina and found that to be an equally compelling topic.

While Marlow maintains the reader's interest throughout, he often veers away from Ransom to tell the story of the defense and survival of the people of North Carolina.

Often missing are vital parts of the story that would have given us a better understanding of Matt Ransom. As a result, confusion develops as Ransom, his brother Robert and the State of North Carolina all compete for space on many pages.

The book thrusts the reader into the political storm swirling around North Carolina just prior to the war. After a quick summation, and without any background on where the winds of war came from, readers are introduced to the Ransom family history. Readers are then brought to the batteries firing on Fort Sumter and Ransom's enlistment in the Confederate forces.

Marlow's biography is short, running only 190 pages. With a work of such short length, it is incumbent on an author to spend as much time on the subject matter as possible. However, Marlow often leaves Ransom and looks more towards the war in North Carolina and then Ransom's role in it. For example, from pages 32 to 52 Ransom is only mentioned a few times.

While many books contain subject matter deviation, rarely does it succeed unnoticed in such a short a book. Missing are pictures of Ransom or his surroundings, letters or reports written by him, and in-depth analysis of the battles Ransom fought in.

It is regrettable the book does not go into Ransom's postwar years as he had a distinguished career in the United States Senate and as minister to Mexico. We are not even told that he died in 1904 or where he is buried. Ransom remains pretty much as unknown at the end as when the book begins.

Ransom's name is only a vehicle upon which Marlow takes the reader on a tour of the North Carolina countryside as it feels the effects of war. Strangely, Matt Ransom's brother, who is not the center of attention here, receives almost as much exposure as Matt Ransom himself.

Marlow lost focus in many parts of this book. However, he was able to clearly articulate events, a skill missing with many historians of today. With enough time I am sure he would have made valuable contributions to Civil War history.

This book, while dealing very little with the subject matter of its title, does enlighten us on the war outside of Virginia. It is for this reason, and not Matt Ransom, that this book should be read and enjoyed.