Customer Reviews

The Last Generation: Young Virginians in Peace, War, and Reunion (Civil War America)

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Like most readers of history, the significant figures of the Civil War have taken on almost mythic proportions. Some times they seem almost to be gods stepped down from Mt. Olympus. In The Last Generation, Peter Carmichael manages to shed new light onto the lives, interests, and beliefs of many of the young Virginians that were so caught up in the cause of the day and in the process makes them human once more.

I found The Last Generation to be full of information that is new...at least to me. I've done my share of reading about the major characters involved in the Civil War, on both sides. Yet Carmichael seems to provide the reader with new insights on almost every page.

I also found the tables in the appendix to be full of useful and eye opening facts. Trust me, they're worth the time it takes to study them. Finally, I spent more time than usual studying the notes provided by Carmichael, a compliment of the first order.

For the casual or serious Civil War buff, The Last Generation will be a memorable read.

In this fascinating book, author and historian Professor Peter S. Carmichael takes a generational look a particular group of American men who fought in the Civil War, selecting 121 men who had been born in Virginia between 1830 and 1842. These men were mostly highly educated, from the slave holding class, and formed the junior officer core of the Virginia military units. These men were part of the last generation to grow up in Virginia with slavery, and the story of their journey of life is one little studied, until now.

As a fan of the works of Messrs Strauss and Howe ("Generations" and "The Fourth Turning"), I was intrigued to see another book that looked at American history with an eye to generations. The book is eminently readable, and is quite fascinating. The author does an excellent job of telling the story of the "last generation," bringing them and their experiences alive. I was interested to watch the "last generation" move through the 1850s fostering a inter-generational conflict, assume capable and pragmatic managerial control of the armies their elders led, and then move into leadership positions after the War.

In relation to the Strauss and Howe generational theory, this book focuses on a part of the Gilded Generation. Overall, I thought that the book complemented it very well, showing that side of the generation that lost the war.

So, let me just say that this is a fascinating look at a generation that lived during a fascinating time in American history, one that will captivate anyone who is interested in generations, the American Civil War, or just plain history. I loved this book and highly recommend it to you.

In his book, "The Last Generation," Peter Carmichael explores the psyche, values, goals and visions of the young caucasian men of Virginia who came into adulthood just as our nation descended into the Civil War. Born to privilege in the 1830s and early 1840s, these men were in colleges and schools across Virginia and the nation when the crisis of secession reached its apex in 1860 and 1861. Once the war started, they served as junior officers in the Army of Northern Virginia, leading their peers into combat and fighting alongside them.

The book is a generational study and an examination of Confederate nationalism in the young Virginians. Carmichael first takes us through the 1850s, a time when young Virginians worried about the future of their state and their place in it. They watched as the North increasingly distanced itself from Virginia through industrialization and internal improvements. They feared that Virginia, the home state of four of the first five U.S. presidents, was becoming moribund under the leadership of its elders, "old fogies" who lived on past glories of events such as the American Revolution and who encouraged unthinking opposition to change even at the expense of educational and economic reform.

At the same time, the young Virginians had to find a way to reconcile slavery, the system upon which they depended for their wealth and social standing, with the free labor system of the North. Some of the strongest points in Carmichael's book delineate how these men did just this. Their belief that slavery was sanctioned by the Bible as necessary because God had created races to be inherently unequal, coupled with their belief that Southerners were God's chosen people, sustained many young soldiers throughout the war. Even as it became clear in 1864 and 1865 that the war would be lost, Carmichael cites examples that show these men could not distinguish between their religious beliefs and political nationalism. To the end, many young Virginians believed that God would not allow the North to be victorious. Young Virginians sincerely believed that theirs was a unique Christian society trying to survive in a godless world. The book is careful to point out that young Virginians gave considerable thought to secession and do not fit the traditional stereotype of secondary scholars who say young Southerners were drawn to the flame of secession like boys playing with fire.

The book looks at the leadership style of young Virginians once the war started. Examples are cited of how they maintained order and discipline in the ranks, what they thought of battle and death, and how they maintained their morale through defeats. Some colorful anecdotes are also included in "The Last Generation": Jeb Stuart's thoughts on women while he was a cadet in West Point, NY; the president of Washington College and his comical attempt to control the secession frenzy sweeping his campus; the notion of body building by young Virginians in college as a way to "muscularize" and "masculinize" their Christianity.

In the final chapter of the book, Carmichael examines the fate of various members of the Last Generation who managed to survive the war. He explains how they adjusted to Reconstruction. The romanticized, "Moonlight and Magnolias" view of some ex-Confederates is contrasted with those who wished Virginia to take a new role of leadership and have the economy of the state resemble more closely that of the North.

This book contributes greatly to the discussion of why some Southerners fought the war- a question which will probably always be debated. Through diligent research and thorough explanation, Carmichael presents a new picture of a generation of Southerners of the Civil War era. His book takes into account many factors that made "The Last Generation" distinct from their Northern counterparts and from the older Virginians who preceded them. It is an important book on dispelling stereotypes of the young Confederates and in understanding the complexity of the South as a whole.

I owned this book for three years, and after only recently picking it up to read it, I realized what I was missing out on during that time. This is a fresh and descriptive analysis of the young Virginia generation before, during, and after the war. As one who has read dozens of books on the Civil War, it was this one more than any other that best explains how and why Virginians formed their fundamental opinions of their native state, the Southern region, and Northern industrialism during the antebellum period. Through their viewpoint that Virginia's reputation and standing in the Union was diminished during the period prior to the war, it becomes clear that the war gave these young Virginians an opportunity to improve the status of their commonwealth while cementing their place among men in their state. Though one often gets the perception through Carmichael's writing that these were overzealous, egotistical young men, their conduct in the war brings to fruition their importance in the New South.

Carmichael's writing is interesting and well-detailed with a wide variety of excellent material from both primary and secondary sources. His inclusion of statistics on the members of the last generation provides ample insight into the professions, religious affiliation, and other important data on the members of the last generation. Even more than "For Cause and Comrades" by James McPherson, this book will expose why a reluctant Virginia joined the Confederacy and explains clearly how the young Virginia generation almost pushed the South to ultimate victory.