The Making of a Confederate: Walter Lenoir’s Civil War
One of the more interesting realms of contemporary Civil War study has been how the role of memory shaped our interpretations of the conflict down through the years. This is not only for modern students, but even for the veterans themselves in the postwar years as exemplified by the trove of recent literature on “Lost Cause” mythology. In this slender hardcover, author William Barney continues down that path by presenting the life of Walter Lenoir, an ardent Unionist living in western North Carolina prior to the Civil War. Even though his wealthy family owned numerous slaves, Lenoir readily acknowledged the institution’s evils and even planned to move to Minnesota after divesting himself of such “property.” With the shelling of Fort Sumter however, Lenoir transformed into a devoted Confederate and fought honorably until the loss of a leg sent him back to Carolina in 1862. He remained there, unrepentant until his death in 1890. Barney’s primary source foundation is the Lenoir Family Papers found within the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina. Through the many letters and diaries in that rich gathering, Professor Barney succinctly illustrates how Lenoir eagerly supported the Southern cause during the war’s early years while struggling to rationalize and make sense of the South’s overwhelming defeat in the months and years after Appomattox. To help cope, Lenoir withdrew to his farm in the North Carolina mountains, where he lived a near hermit-like existence, though staying in touch with his surviving family members through the extant letters. Barney explains how Lenoir completely wrapped himself in Lost Cause dogma, modified his recollections as to the war’s causes and why the South fought on, and mused on what an upper-class, Southern white identity properly entailed. From this story, the author clearly shows the reader how selective memory can create what later generations may call “history.” Amply illustrated and wonderfully written, this engaging work is highly recommended to all with an interest in how memory molded our understanding of the Civil War. Reviewer: Paul Taylor is the author/editor of four books on the Civil War. His forthcoming biography of Union officer and engineer Orlando M. Poe will be published by Kent State University Press. Visit www.paulrtaylor.com for details |
Illustrated, maps, endnotes, bibliography, index, 272 pages, 2008. Oxford University Press, 2001 Evans Rd., Cary, NC 27513, $22 plus shipping.