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.”
Review for University of Texas Press by
Dr. Joe Chance
Lyndon Johnson is reported to have said that Texas
is not a southern state, rather a western state. I must take a
slight exception to this characterization - Texas is both a southern
state and a western state. The Brazos Valley counties, such as
Washington County, had economies based on King Cotton and slaves
and an aristocratic society developed among the plantation owners
that would rival that of any southern region. The village of Chappell
Hill could have been uprooted and placed into the states of Louisiana
or Mississippi without any feelings of dislocation by its residents.
Thus, I argue this book tells a bigger story than just that of
the people of Chappell Hill. It is the story of the transition
of an aristocratic society that is re-shaped by the War for Southern
Independence, defeat and reconstruction and the attempts at reconciliation
that continue to this very day.
This is a marvelous book, a social history of
the Southern people before, during and after the great war - a
war that is considered by many to be the most important event
in American history ¡ Chicoine delivers this powerful message
by the many eyewitness accounts contained herein. But this book
is more than a military history, although the author demonstrates
a masterful knowledge of the battles fought in both the eastern
and western theaters. Life in Chappell Hill during the war gives
us a good idea of the desperation felt by wives and mothers after
receiving notice of their loved ones¡¯ deaths on the battlefields.
It also conveys the important message that slavery was not the
only dividing issue that brought on the war ¡ The book is particularly
poignant because it gives some insight into the generally complex
Southern psyche, the thinking and mindset of the only Americans
to ever lose a war. The veterans reunions after the war are particularly
emotional. One sees the gray-bearded old men casting off the infirmities
of age for a few moments to re-live the adventures of their military
career with their comrades-in-arms.
The book tells the story of a Southern community
and its struggles from antebellum time until the turn of the century.
This social history of the war is a significant contribution to
our understanding of the culture and thinking of those people
who chose to leave the Union of the United States.
As I reflect on his work, The Confederates of
Chappell Hill reminds me more and more of a prose version of Spoon
River Anthology. The deserted town of Chappell Hill, which the
world has now passed by, and the neglected cemeteries filled with
the illustrious dead, each of whom has a life story to relate,
is a striking analogy. Other social histories of the war include
such classics as Life of Johnny Reb and Life of Billy Yank by
Bell Wiley and the works of (Prof.) Joseph Glatthaar, but these
books deal more with military history and do not include the span
of time covered in this book. The multi-volume series on Hood¡¯s
Brigade, written by Col. Harold Simpson, probably comes the closest
to this work. This book will compare favorably with any of the
aforementioned.
|
|
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 - 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 |
|