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Book Reviews These are some reviews from a recent issue of
The Civil War News:
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Gettysburg to Vicksburg: The Five Original Civil War Battlefield Parks.
Photographs by A. J. Meek, text by Herman Hattaway.
Illustrated, 208 pp., 2001. University of Missouri Press, 2910 LeMone Blvd., Columbia, MO 65201, $29.95 plus shipping.
An important issue that has emerged from the renewed interest in the Civil War over the last few decades is battlefield preservation. As Americans have become more aware of the value and significance of the sites where the fighting raged, their desire to preserve these sacred grounds has grown. Grassroots efforts to preserve battlefields and other Civil War sites have increased dramatically across the country; protecting — and interpreting — more than ever before. In addition, land has been added to federal and state Civil War sites. There has been a surge in interest in protecting these important assets. Preserving Civil War sites began more than 100 years ago and Gettysburg to Vicksburg takes us back to the very first federal efforts to preserve the sa-cred ground of our nation’s watershed conflict by looking at the first five national battlefields. As well as the two mentioned in the title, Chickamauga-Chattanooga, Shiloh and Antietam battlefields are featured. Herman Hattaway will be known to those interested in the Civil War. It is fortunate that a scholar so deeply im-mersed in the sources and literature of the war has provided the text for the volume. Hattaway’s essays provide brief summaries of the military action at each site, a brief description of the history of each, and some statistical information — acreage, facilities, number of monuments, cannon, markers and informational tablets. The summaries of the military action are very nicely done, models really of presenting complex events clearly in a brief essay. Hattaway’s choices for inclusion and emphasis in each essay are well made and the essays are highly readable. The discussions of each site’s history as a park are not as satisfying, unfortunately. They are far too simple, too brief, and formulaic to even begin to engage the issue. This is very disappointing because each of these battles has an extensive literature, while the early efforts to preserve each site and their development as protected sites does not. This is a lost opportunity. The photographs by A. J. Meek are superb. These are very elegant, almost misty, images that capture the beauty and power of each site in a timeless way. Meek has avoided the sharp contrast and strong black and white of many documentary photographs and provided photos that not only provide an image but capture mood and feeling. They are outstanding. The images are also well chosen to reflect the key points at each battlefield and, for the four I am familiar with, capture and portray the character of each very well. The photos and text for the four I have visited brought me back to the experience of each site and led me to relive the experience of being there. That perhaps is the highest praise for Gettysburg to Vicksburg — it succeeds in capturing the essence of each of these important battlefields and will be a book that readers will return to fre-quently to reconnect with these five special, powerful sites.
William H. Mulligan
William H. Mulligan Jr. is associate professor of history and director of the Forrest C. Pogue Public History Institute at Murray State University in Kentucky. He is president of the Kentucky Civil War Sites Association.
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