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Freedom Rising: Washington in the Civil War

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I was very surprised to read the negative review of this book. I agree the "journalistic parentage" of this book is apparent, but I disagree with the "ricochet" comment. The book IS about Washington during the Civil War. The problem with any book about Washington D.C. is that, because of its status as the nation's capital, it's impossible to focus only on the city itself. Any book that did so would be seriously flawed and incomplete. A history of Washington must take into account, at least periodically, the effects that actions in Washington have on other parts of the country, and what events in other parts of the country do to change the situation in Washington. This is doubly true of the Civil War era.

I found the mix of local and national issues and events not at all confusing and in fact, quite palatable. Furgurson seamlessly weaves in events such as John Fremont's action in Missouri and Ben Butler's actions on the Virginia Peninsula, for example, with local events in Washington. The importance of the interaction between these events is self-evident. Indeed, such masterful weaving is half the book's charm.

_Freedom Rising_ is not meant to be a source for report writing (although it works as background reading); it's meant to be an enjoyable read, and at this task Furgurson succeeds masterfully. I would recommend this book, and I will be more likely to read Furgurson's other books in the future.

Ernest Furgurson uses the statue atop the Capitol as a metaphor for the survival of the U.S. and the liberation of African-Americans. Even throughout the turmoil of the war, construction of the Capital continued, albeit haltingly, its progress symbolizing the triumph of the Union. This book is a must read for anyone who lives or works in the capital.

Riddled with southern sympathizers and spies, the capital nevertheless became a truly federal city. Slave markets stood on the south side of Independence Ave, now a two-mile-long chain of government departments, and even on Lafayette Square. D St. and 21st, the present location of the State Department, was a huge stables; on Boxing Day, 1861, a fire broke out that killed thousands of horses and sent thousands more running through the city. For days afterwards, the city stank of burned horse meat. Present day conservatives would say that they still haven't cleaned out all the horse---- from the area. Federal Triangle was the red light district, catering to all tastes; digs have found piles of bottles of expensive French champagne where the bawdy houses one stood. Constitution Avenue was a canal -- Tiber Creek -- and all of the mall west from the Washington monument was the Potomac. Within months of the outbreak of war, Washington saw a string of firsts -- the first use of trains for strategic mobility, the first use of aerial reconnaissance, the first machine gun, the first suspension of habeas corpus, the first nursing corps, the first aircraft carrier (a balloon moored to a boat in the Potomoc that allowed the feds to observe the Confederate withdrawal from Occoquan and the Pohick Creek area where I now live). Furgurson writes of Lincoln, Stanton, Seward, Chase, Winfield Scott, Grant, and McLellan; of Confederate spies such as Antonia Ford; of dozens of soldiers and nurses, poets such as Whitman, and others who created the rich fabric of a capital at war, surrounded by hostiles. Washington, Furgurson writes, went from a town divided and fearful in 1861 to a "place of focused and confident power" in 1865. He does a superb job of reporting this huge political and physical transformation.

Some other notes. George Washington's grand-nephew fought on behalf of the Confederacy, and was killed in September 1861. Some vengeful Northerners wanted to confiscate Mt. Vernon but a collection of women persuaded the military authorities to let them retain it as a national historic landmark. If the hallmark of sharp political speech is that it remains as relevant today as when it was uttered, these words of Lincoln to a crowd celebrating his re-election bear diirectly on the calls of some to postpone the Iraqi elections of January 30, 2005. "We cannot have free government without elections, and if the rebellion could force us to forgo or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us."

"Freedom Rising" was enlightening as well in how deeply runs the Democratic Party's visceral distrust of the federal government, whether as a player on the national stage or more currently in the international arena. The Democratic platform in 1864 "shrugged at slavery" and all but assured Lincoln's reelection. Gideon Wells described the platform as "unpatriotic, almost treasonable to the Union. The issue is made up. It is whether a war shall be made against Lincoln to get peace with Jeff Davis. Those who met at Chicago prefer hostility to Lincoln rather than to Davis." Democratic Party leaders still struggle with the dilemma of supporting a Republican leader in time of war.

This is a masterful book - a street-level, street wise view of the Civil War from Pennsylvania Avenue and its tributaries. Furgurson writes of all the high and low lifes, generals, prostitutes, slave pens, piles of amputated limbs, mud, malaria, con men and spies that invaded Washington during the 1860s. The City was part morgue, part hospital, completely political and closely allied to the Southern cause.

Furgurson writes this book like a forensic detective with the flair of a novelist. Here is a sample:

"On a given evening in the early summer of 1861, toward midnight, no one stirred at William Seward's house on the east side of the square, where Lincoln often came to talk strategy and swap stories....The windows were dark at Gideon Welles's home, looking south from H Street toward the White House. The entrance to St. John's Church, Benjamin Latrobe's little 1816 gem, where every President since Madison had worshiped, was shut against the night. But across Sixteenth Street, so close to all this quiescent power and anxiety, a portly senator range the bell of a brick townhouse, and a hall lamp briefly lit his eager face as he was admitted to the presence of Rose O'Neal Greenow."

That paragraph could have been a dry recitation of events. But in Furgurson's hands, the tale is a 'little gem,' like St. John's Church, of a Senator unknowingly sleeping with, and spilling secrets to, a Southern spy. This is "you are there" journalism at its best.

If you live or work or visit Washington DC in search of the Civil War's legacies, you will take Furgurson's visions with you when you walk its streets. All the people and many of the buildings are long gone, but Furgurson's book has stemmed history's tide for a long time to come.

Contrary to the peevish Publishers Weekly review posted by Amazon, Kirkus Reviews says this book is "Pure pleasure for Civil War buffs."
The Library Journal says, "This readable and well-documented volume can be recommended for all libraries."
According to the Washington Post Book World, "Freedom Rising is the ideal portrait of Civil War Washington for our times, an account of the political cat fights behind the dogs of war....Furgurson captures the bite and bile but also the wondrous glory of the Civil War era. Freedom Rising serves as a refreshing tonic at the end of this sorry year, reminding us not only that things might be worse, but that they once were far more dangerous and troubling."

I work in Washington, D.C, specifically in the US Capitol, and I felt that while this work lacks significant historical interpretation (as some reviewers point out) we should remember that the author is a journalist first. This book gives a strong feel for what was going on in the city during the civil war, as if the reader were following events as they were likely to be covered in the newspapers at the time. There is also more in depth coverage, gleaned from personal accounts - as though the author were interviewing those writers, and as though the author / reader were working or living in the city at the time. It should be noted that MANY of the sites by the author are from contemporaneous periodicals. No surprise there. All these first hand accounts shed some much needed light on other than a typical military history of the city and its suburbs.

Looked at in that light, this is an excellent work. It is unfettered with the typical historian's personal academic spin on events. I felt I was looking through a clearer and more familiar window into the past, as opposed to those fogged by the breath of the historian. Based on this read, I will definitely purchase the author's work on Richmond during the civil war.

I must begin this review by stating that this is the first book I have ever read on the Civil War. My review, thus, will be from the perspective of a person who possessed limited knowledge of the subject in retrospect to the other fine reviewers who have written in great detail about the subject.

Overall, I enjoyed Ernest B. Furgurson's 'Freedom Rising: Washington in the Civil War', as I found many interesting and well researched subject matter easily presented and carefully constructed in the narrative. Through an incredible amount of research that is well placed, Furgurson managed to keep my interest from the beginning of the book, which starts out with the creation of Lady Liberty's bronze statue, all the way through the inevitable. In between, the reader learns of the many scandels, the outlandish behavior of all the players, the suggested but failed compromises, and the evolution of the slavery issue from not as significant with respect to Lincoln's desire to keep the Union as one, to the importance of the matter in keeping the country one nation. In contrast to the detail, I felt some of the more important players were minamized, particularly of U.S. Grant. There were times that I felt there was a lack of consistancy on the author's direction, but was more than willing to take the journey, and understand the issues presented in the country's capitol.

War time Washington: Sharpsters, con men, spies, heroes, winners, losers. Some in uniform, some not. An eclectic mixture of the best and the worst the country had to offer and all focused on their own unique visions of opportunity.

Ernest Furgurson captures the tumult of those four years, from Lincoln's early arrival, slipping into town in disguise, to his leaving as a corpse. Furgurson's Lincoln is a wonderfully human individual. And so are the rest of the supporting cast, the cabinet, congressmen, soldiers, contractors and everyday people who persevered in this most amazing struggle to save the Union and create a nation rededicated "to the proposition that all men are created equal."

This was no easy task, no simple accomplishment, but rather a rough, rowdy brawl that was almost always out of control. This is a most gripping account of the chronology of major and minor events, of the very few triumphs, and the almost continuous sacrifice of all of the participants in what had to have been a most maddening struggle. In reading this book you can begin to understand the continual frustration and disappointments that ultimate success demanded. You will not be disappointed. This is a very good work.

Freedom Rising: Washington in the Civil War is an excellent book which recounts the events of the Civil War as they revolve around Washington, D.C. The Civil War was fought in different places, but the major battles and events all occurred within a 100 mile radius of the nation's capitol.

Abraham Lincoln becomes President at a time when many southern congressmen and their families are packing up and leaving Washington as their states secede from the Union. Its a very trying and heartbreaking period. The diaries of the people who live at this time recount the anxieties and uncertainties that lay ahead.

Lincoln had no idea exactly how bloody the rebellion would be or how long it would last when he assumed the presidency. He probably expected a conflict of short duration. Washington became the epicenter of this conflict and the nation's capitol undergoes an enormous transformation that takes it from a sleepy, rural community to the center of some of the most important events in the world. Washington fills up with troops called to defend the Union. As the war continues, the city's hospitals fill up with wounded soldiers convalescing. One street even became known for all its undertaking and body preparation businesses. The city is ill equipped for such changes and lack of modern sanitation causes many deaths from epidemic diseases and infections.

As the tide turns and the Union begins to win the war, Washington becomes a more secure place. The capitol, which was being renovated by the addition of a new dome, is completed despite the struggle going on. Lincoln is sworn in for his second term in office in March of 1865, just as the new capitol renovations are completed. The symbolism of what is occurring is overwhelming. Its like the nation is undergoing a new beginning. Tragically, Lincoln is assassinated one month later in Ford's Theater in Washington.

However, the nation and the city of Washington have weathered their worst crisis ever. Despite Lincoln's assassination and the rebuilding that will be necessary after this war, the people of the time look forward to a bright and better future.

C-Span2's BookTV has an author event available from 2/2/05 for those who are interested. This book is about the city of Washington during the Civil War period. It was a period a great tension as Virginia, which is now part of metropolitan Washington DC, was at the time in the Confederacy.

The author tells the story of the completion of the Capitol building's dome and the raising of the statue of freedom. The book tells of the social fabric in the District of Columbia at the time and has amazing photographs from that time including great pictures of Abraham Lincoln.

This book is not what I thought it would be (or possibly wanted it to be). To be certain, it is a fine story of the Civil War written from the perspective of Washington. But instead of detailing the events and personalities in the District of Columbia and the environs that make up its modern-day suburbs, it focuses instead on official Washington and the decisions it made for the nation. Ferguson spends a lot of time explaining legislation, military orders, and presidential decrees that were issued from the capital, but the ramifications of them have little or nothing to do with Washington itself. Furthermore, for anyone who has studied the Civil War in any detail, there is very little offered on these subjects that is revealing.

I was hoping for a Civil War-era version of David Brinkley's "Washington Goes to War" (which is limited to observations of how the nation's capital evolved during World War II). That book is riveting reading for anyone who wants to understand how Washington looked, felt, and grew during a critical period in its history. This was the expectation, which admittedly may have been unfair, that I held for Freedom Rising.

To suggest that there is nothing pertaining to my interests in the book would be inaccurate. There is, for an example, an interesting tale of how Mount Vernon was preserved from hostilities. There also is a great chapter on the history of slavery in the area and Lincoln's compensated emancipation in the District. There are other stories taken from the Capitol, White House, and streets of the city. But these nuggets are few and far between, leaving me feeling unfulfilled most of the times that I sat down to read it.

The purpose of this submission is not to discredit Ferguson or his work. It is well-written and well-intentioned. I mean the author no disrespect. But for readers like me who are interested in a detailed account of Washington the city during the Civil War, I cannot recommend this book.