Troubled State: Civil War Journals of Franklin Archibald Dick
Franklin Archibald Dick of Pennsylvania and Missouri kept journals of the Civil War years, which were handed down through the family, eventually reaching his great-great-granddaughter, Gari Carter. Over time, eight of the 10 volumes were lost, leaving just journals one and 10, which form the basis of Troubled State. Dick started volume one on Sept. 4, 1861, in his home in West Chester, Pa. A memo states, “I have intended for some time past in keeping a record of the rebellion.” He starts the journal with a record of the contentious early days of the Civil War in St. Louis, where he had a law practice. Dick had a role in the planning that led to the taking of Camp Jackson, acting as Nathaniel Lyon’s Assistant Adjutant General. He worked closely with Francis Preston Blair Jr. and both were members of the Committee of Safety, leaders in the Unionist element in St. Louis. The early entries in journal one were written in West Chester and Philadelphia, Pa., until Nov.13, 1861, when Dick returned to St. Louis. Except for his “short sketch of some of the past events” in St. Louis at the beginning of the volume, most of the entries for this time tell of his perceptions of the war as seen, through newspapers, from the home front. Dick was appointed to the Board of Assessments in St. Louis, with a responsibility to discipline Southern sympathizers. Later, on Nov. 5, 1862, he became Provost Marshal General with a rank of lieutenant-colonel. Unfortunately, the journals for this period of his life have disappeared. Carter fills in this time, some of the most interesting in Troubled State, with an extensive text and copies of letters he wrote, explaining and justifying his role as Provost Marshal. Many of his letters were forwarded through his friend, Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, to President Abraham Lincoln. Dick’s duties often consisted of banishing Confederate sympathizers from Missouri, earning the hatred of many Missourians. In the final volume, again written from Pennsylvania, Dick spends much time trying to decide whether to remain in Pennsylvania or to return to St. Louis. He felt that he would have a larger impact in Missouri but did not wish to subject his family to the ill feeling that his roles on the Board of Assessments and as Provost Marshal General had earned. Gari Carter does a good job of tying the journals together and providing notes on the various individuals mentioned in Troubled State. At one point, she confuses Northern Brig. Gen. Kentuckian Robert Anderson with Missouri guerrilla Bloody Bill Anderson, but that is the only glaring error. The book suffers from the lack of an index. Dick’s descriptions of the early machinations to keep Missouri in the Union and his letters, re his Provost Marshal General position, are the book’s most valuable aspects. However, much of the two extant journals simply provides Dick’s personal thoughts on the war, some unconventional, and his soul-searching on whether to pursue his legal career in St. Louis, Philadelphia or Washington. Reviewer: Robert L. Durham is a computer specialist. A longtime Civil War buff, he is also interested in Old West history and has written articles and book reviews for Alamo Journal, True West, Journal of the Alamo Battlefield Association, and Alamo de Parras web site at www.flash.net/~alamo3
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Illustrated, footnotes, appendices, bibliography, 269 pp., 2008. Truman State University Press, 100 East Normal St., Kirksville, MO 63501-4221, $34.95 plus shipping.