REVIEWS OF BOOKS

THE CONFEDERATES OF CHAPPELL HILL, TEXAS
PROSPERITY, CIVIL WAR AND DECLINE

Book Review from November 2005 issue of America’s Civil War 

The saga of a Southern community driven from boom to bust by the war is not unfamiliar, but The Confederates of Chappell Hill, Texas by Stephen Chicoine benefits from an opulent infusion of contemporary evidence never before published.  This makes Chicoine’s story worthwhile … A fine chapter on the home-front experience cites 17 manuscript sources … The five chapters devoted primarily to the exploits of Chappell Hill’s 5th Texas troops probably will appeal to most Civil War readers.  Twenty war-dated letters, written by three men, printed in pleasingly long block quotes, buttress the story of the 5th Texas’ experiences … Chicoine also supplies a gratifying volume of contemporary evidence from periodicals, most of them published in Houston or Galveston … Confederates of Chappell Hill, Texas throws new light on some of the most famous moments in the annals of Hood’s Texas Brigade and the Army of Northern Virginia … Numerous excellent photographs, many of soldiers in uniform, illustrate Confederates of Chappell Hill, Texas … the book is surely worth the tariff. 

  • Robert K. Krick, former chief historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Site, author of fourteen books on the Civil War and past winner of the Douglas Southall Freeman award for the best book on Southern History. 

Book Review from Southwestern Historical Quarterly 110.1 (2006) 140-141

“ … Chicoine concludes the book with the contribution of the Confederates' children and grandchildren to the reconciliation of the country through their actions during the Spanish-American War and World War I. Chicoine's concept of examining Confederates from a particular town is not unique, but the greatest strength of his book is examining their lives after the war and how they adapted to the changes the war created. His research is impeccable. The author drew from many different sources to examine these Texas soldiers' lives, especially the letters of common soldiers and newspapers from the area. Another positive attribute of the book is the number of photographs incorporated throughout its pages. Pictures of soldiers, families, locations, and buildings within the town bring the story to light and provide a physical connection for the reader. Chicoine organizes the book both topically and chronologically. This style allows him to focus on the numerous groups of Texas soldiers spread across the South while containing a narrative that shows the progressive changes that occurred to the men and the town they called home.”

  • Charles David Grear, Texas A&M University

Review for University of Texas Press by Dr. Joe Chance

Stephen Chicoine draws upon a wealth of primary sources from the local archives and the historical society of Chappell Hill, Texas, to provide a personal account of this significant town's contribution in the American Civil War. In doing so, the author attempts to place Chappell Hill in the larger context of Texas in the war and the southern experience of prosperity, war, and decline. The bulk of the monograph traces the experience of men from Chappell Hill through a synopsis of the minor and major battles. In doing so, Chicoine touches on several interesting topics and does an excellent job of discussing the prison-of-war experiences of Confederate soldiers. Through personal accounts he discloses the hazards of prison life and the harsh conditions in which men suffered brutal treatment and malnourishment and literally froze to death. In all, we find that men from Chappell Hill served throughout the Confederacy in several capacities, experiencing the full effect of war.

With the close of war and the homecoming experience, the author reveals the difficulties that men encountered while traveling back to Texas. Once home, these men faced starvation, possible indictment for their wartime activities, loss of loved ones, loss of land and business, and no employment--a reflection of the Texas and southern experience, from the author's perspective.

When it comes to the decline of Chappell Hill, however, Chicoine argues that the yellow fever epidemic of 1867, not the consequences of war, ravaged the town. Chicoine reveals, in one of his better and more enlightening chapters, that the epidemic held no respect for class and that even in this crisis, Chappell Hill residents played roles beyond their community. For example, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Richard M. Swearingen, a civil war veteran, to a commission of experts (to investigate yellow fever) that eventually established the National Board of Health. Nevertheless, Chappell Hill was hard hit by the 1867 epidemic and became known as an unhealthy place to live, the most significant factor in the town's decline.

Despite the author's neglect to consult the leading secondary sources on many topics, he has done excellent primary-source research in dissecting one town's contribution to the war effort. Chicoine's monograph on Chappell Hill, Texas, which he portrays as a microcosm of the Confederacy, allows the reader to understand the real experience and impact of war from a personal and local perspective, a work that will interest Texas historians and general Civil War enthusiasts.

  • CLAYTON JEWETT, history professor at Baylor University and author of three well-regarded books on Texas and the Confederacy

Book Review from May 2006 issue of Journal of Southern History

Stephen Chicoine draws upon a wealth of primary sources from the local archives and the historical society of Chappell Hill, Texas, to provide a personal account of this significant town's contribution in the American Civil War.  In doing so, the author attempts to place Chappell Hill in the larger context of Texas in the war and the southern experience of prosperity, war, and decline. The bulk of the monograph traces the experience of men from Chappell Hill through a synopsis of the minor and major battles. In doing so, Chicoine touches on several interesting topics and does an excellent job of discussing the prison-of-war experiences of Confederate soldiers. Through personal accounts he discloses the hazards of prison life and the harsh conditions in which men suffered brutal treatment and malnourishment and literally froze to death. In all, we find that men from Chappell Hill served throughout the Confederacy in several capacities, experiencing the full effect of war. 

With the close of war and the homecoming experience, the author reveals the difficulties that men encountered while traveling back to Texas. Once home, these men faced starvation, possible indictment for their wartime activities, loss of loved ones, loss of land and business, and no employment--a reflection of the Texas and southern experience, from the author's perspective.

When it comes to the decline of Chappell Hill, however, Chicoine argues that the yellow fever epidemic of 1867, not the consequences of war, ravaged the town. Chicoine reveals, in one of his better and more enlightening chapters, that the epidemic held no respect for class and that even in this crisis, Chappell Hill residents played roles beyond their community. For example, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Richard M. Swearingen, a civil war veteran, to a commission of experts (to investigate yellow fever) that eventually established the National Board of Health. Nevertheless, Chappell Hill was hard hit by the 1867 epidemic and became known as an unhealthy place to live, the most significant factor in the town's decline.

Despite the author's neglect to consult the leading secondary sources on many topics, he has done excellent primary-source research in dissecting one town's contribution to the war effort. Chicoine's monograph on Chappell Hill, Texas, which he portrays as a microcosm of the Confederacy, allows the reader to understand the real experience and impact of war from a personal and local perspective, a work that will interest Texas historians and general Civil War enthusiasts.


LITHUANIA: THE NATION THAT WOULD BE FREE
by Stephen Chicoine

Honorable Mention from the Washington Independent Writers

Adventuring with Books: A Booklist for Pre-K--Grade 6, National Council of Teachers of English
The faces of the people are what capture the reader.  Chicoine’s photographic odyssey through the cities and countryside provides a rare look at individuals.  We learn their names, how political events have shaped their lives and about their dreams for the future.  It is a book that makes us care about the fate of Lithuania.”  -  Victoria Crenson, author

OUR HALLOWED GROUND: WORLD WAR II VETERANS OF FORT SNELLING NATIONAL CEMETERY

MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
Robert Armstrong

A moving book and especially apropos now

No matter what side you take on the war in Iraq . Chicoine, the executive director of Twin Cities Urban Reconciliation Network, profiles more than 90 soldiers -- men and women -- who are buried at Fort Snelling . Each ends with the numbered grave site, should you want to go and pay your respects. It's not the sort of book one reads at one sitting, but it's worth revisiting. Again and again.

MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE - May 28, 2006
Katherine Kersten

Author uncovers stories about soldiers who may otherwise

The small white tablet above Army Capt. Bernard Pepper's grave at Fort Snelling National Cemetery looks like the other markers that stretch row on row over the cemetery's 436 acres -- nearly 170,000 markers in all. The tablet at Section B, grave site 134-A, reads only "Bernard Michael Pepper, MN, Cap't, 5 Cav (inf), 1 Cav div (inf), WWII, Korea, May 10, 1914, Sept. 22, 1950." The small white tablet above Army Capt. Bernard Pepper's grave at Fort Snelling National Cemetery looks like the other markers that stretch row on row over the cemetery's 436 acres -- nearly 170,000 markers in all. The tablet at Section B, grave site 134-A, reads only "Bernard Michael Pepper, MN, Cap't, 5 Cav (inf), 1 Cav div (inf), WWII, Korea, May 10, 1914, Sept. 22, 1950." No headlines marked Bernard Pepper's passing more than 50 years ago. Most people who visit the cemetery today will stroll right past his grave, without any idea of who he was or what he did for his nation. But it's the stories of soldiers like Pepper that have become a life's work for Steve Chicoine, an author and historian from Eden Prairie . Chicoine's book, "Our Hallowed Ground," published in 2005 by the University of Minnesota Press , recounts the stories of 87 World War II veterans who are buried at the Fort Snelling cemetery. The book profiles both men and women, and members of all branches of the service. "You don't have to go to Arlington Cemetery or Washington , D.C," says Chicoine. "We have a shrine to democracy right here." "Our Hallowed Ground" opens with profiles of Seaman Second Class Ambrose Domagall (Section R, grave site 800) and Coxswain Karl Lasch (Section R, grave site 3252), both of St. Paul. They were on board the destroyer USS Ward early on Dec. 7, 1941, when it fired America 's first shots of the war at Pearl Harbor . The book closes with Army Sgt. George Tadashi Tani (Section 6-C, grave 799), a Japanese-American and later a Twin Cities physician, who visited Hiroshima in 1945 and was reunited with his two sisters while in Japan. Chicoine is particularly drawn to the soldiers who have no family left to treasure their memory. "They died at 19 or 20, with no wife, no children," he says. "At most, they have a nephew who lives in California or Alabama . People lose touch." Chicoine wants to honor the sacrifice of all, and preserve their legacy. "Our Hallowed Ground" is the fruit of Chicoine's unique modus operandi: a combination of hunches, military knowledge and tenacious sleuthing. Pepper's story is typical. Chicoine noticed Pepper's grave in 2003. "I saw that he had served in World War II, but died in Korea ," he said. "I just had an intuition that his might be a good story." Chicoine added Pepper to the long list of veterans whose lives and service records he was piecing together. He searched in vain for Pepper's family members, pored over old, nearly illegible microfilm rolls at the Minnesota Historical Society, and sought out veterans' groups and websites that might offer clues. Slowly, facts began to emerge. Chicoine discovered that Pepper had fought at D-Day, and ran across a reference to him in a former Army Ranger's autobiography. He used unit histories to follow Pepper's path after D-Day. Chicoine was elated when the special-collections librarian at the Minneapolis Public Library managed to track down a photograph of Pepper. So who was Pepper? "He was a big guy, a tough guy -- 6 feet tall, 220 pounds," says Chicoine. "He was a shipping clerk who volunteered for Ranger training in 1942. He led a company of the Army's Fifth Ranger Battalion ashore at Normandy on D-Day, and was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action that day." Pepper was wounded at the bloody battle for Brest , in France . In February 1945, his company fought what was supposed to be a two-day holding action but became a desperate nine-day struggle to survive. His battalion suffered 47 percent casualties. "Pepper cheated death all through Europe, and probably deserves a bucketful of medals," said Chicoine, "After the war, he volunteered for service in Korea . He finally gave his life for his country on September 22, 1950, as the U.S. Eighth Army drove the North Koreans out of the Naktong Perimeter." Chicoine advises all Minnesotans to "adopt" a grave at Fort Snelling Cemetery . "If these soldiers could go halfway around the world to serve their country," he says, "we should be able to go halfway across town to plant a flag on their grave." Chicoine did much more than that with his exhaustive research for "Our Hallowed Ground." "Sometimes my editor would say, "We've got to cut this guy out. We don't have enough about him,' " says Chicoine. "But I said, 'No, I've visited his grave; I've got to keep pursuing this. I feel like he's a friend.'"

Other Reviews on Our Hallowed Ground:
For most who serve in combat, war is a personal experience and no two people come away with an identical ‘picture’. Stephen Chicoine has blended the unique experience of the many to effectively paint a landscape reaching from the British Isles to Africa, from the South Pacific to D-Day, and encompassing the entire war from Pearl Harbor to V-J Day. A most interesting read. - Norb McCrady, World War II veteran, 34 th “Red Bull” Infantry Division

It would be nearly impossible to write about all the veterans buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery , but Our Hallowed Ground honors the memory of each of the men and women who now rest there in peace – Harry J. Herder, World War II veteran, Fifth Ranger Battalion.

Our Hallowed Ground is a reminder of the service and sacrifice of thousands of young men and women who defended our nation with valor in World War II. These stories should motivate all of us to visit Fort Snelling National Cemetery to pay our respects to ‘the Greatest Generation”. - Dr. Glen H. Nelson, World War II veteran, 194 th and 752 nd Tank Battalions

Our Hallowed Ground is a splendid book. It is full of moving stories and important World War II history … I am proud to be mentioned in your book. - Brent Ashabranner, World War II veteran and author of more than forty books, including Always to Remember: The Story of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Wonderful book. I read every biography. As a Minnesota historian, I am very happy that you have focused on a group of heroic Minnesotans and made known their contributions to our heritage. I can see that the research was a labor of love. As a veteran, I’m proud that some of my fellow servicemen are honored for the giving they did. - Noel Allard, Cold War veteran and chairman of the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame