Customer Reviews

Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I appreciate the favorable comments made by all of the reviewers. For the record, however, in response to Peter George: my note on Stonewall Jackson accurately observes that the Confederate forces under his command repulsed the Union army at the first Bull Run and forced their retreat to Washington. I elsewhere add (chapter V, note 14) that J. E. Johnston commanded all Confederate forces in the battle. Peter Bridges also seems to object that my notes are too detailed, even "demeaning" to "educated Penguin readers," yet that my note re. Bailie Jarvie is not detailed enough. I can only reply that my notes are intended to aid precisely those undergraduates who require them, not the pedants who are perfectly entitled to ignore them.

Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty may have a cumbersome title, but it is an enjoyable read. It tells the story of Lillie Ravenel who with her father are exiled from Louisiana at the beginning of the Civil War. Lillie is an ardent Confederate, but her father's loyalist sympathies force them to take refuge in New England. In the fictional city of New Boston, they meet two men who both fall in love with Lillie. These men fight for Lillie at the same time as fighting for the Union. It is through these relationships and through her experiences on returning to occupied Louisiana that Lillie's gradual conversion occurs.

John De Forest's novel is part romance and part war story. These strands of the story are interweaved well and are fascinating for the insight they give into life in the 1860s. The romance is at times quite conventional with Lillie constantly blushing and occasionally swooning, but the story also contains unusual elements for a 19th century novel. The story includes a woman seeking an affair with a married man, a man keeping an apartment for his mistress and a Union officer conquering not only a Southern town, but also two of the women in it.

The battle scenes are well told and are clearly based on De Forest's experiences during the war. He is not afraid to show the consequences of battle, describing soldiers horribly mutilated with rotting wounds. The actual battle scenes are quite few in number and are mainly skirmishes. The only large-scale engagement in which the characters are involved is Port Hudson. This is a pity for with De Forest's writing skill, it would have been interesting if he had been involved in and given an account of one of the really great battles. Nevertheless he provides a detailed account of army life during the Civil War showing the bureaucracy and boredom, the frustration and pettiness, the bravery and the cowardice. His account is extremely one-sided and he has scarcely a good word to say about the Confederacy, but this adds to the fascination of the novel, for it gives the reader first-hand insight into the attitude of a Union veteran towards his beaten enemy and why it was that he fought against the South.

The Penguin edition of the novel has a good introduction with some helpful information about De Forest and the reception of his novel. It also has many useful notes especially those which translate phrases written in French and Latin. However it must be said that a lot of these notes are superfluous for most readers, e.g. explaining what the Mason Dixon Line is, or what the dodo was, and some of the notes are mistaken such as the statement that Stonewall Jackson commanded the Confederate forces at first Manassas.

When I read "Miss Ravenel" several years ago, I did not fully appreciate it--now that I'm very much into The War, I have a new outlook. Yes, it's dated, and to modern readers, the dialogue at times is corny and silly (as is DeForest's hesitancy to be more explicit about certain sexual matters). To me,though, that's part of the charm, along with its Victorian sentimentality. It's too bad it was not appreciated when it was published in 1867. Anyone interested in The War needs to read this--and keep in mind the fact that I'm a blue-blooded Southern boy.

This is perhaps the best novel with the worst title ever written. Set during the Civil War, the novel depicts the war in all its sordidness: the blunders, the incompetence, the poor leadership. Miss Ravenel is a Southerner who falls in love with a Union captain and gradually sheds her rebel coat for the Northern cause. De Forest's realism is admirable, his writing ability even more so. It's hard to think of a better novel about the Civil War than this one, the first to treat the war realistically. This is truly a minor American masterpiece and should be much better known.

Written shortly after the end of the Civil War this novel covers all of the bases -- politics, battles, social issues, and personal relationships -- affected by the war. It does this with a depth not usually seen in Civil War novels and particularly those written in the 20th century. De Forest does not insult the reader's intelligence and his characters are not just stereotypes but have real flesh and blood. (Well, except maybe for the heroine!) If you enjoy this book try A Fool's Errand for a good novel about Reconstruction also written shortly after the end of the Civil War.

This is a very good novel and it behooves every Civil War student to read this book. Books written today about the War often say more about our times than the War; that's why I like this book. My great-grandfather fought with the Sixth Kentucky Volunteers (USA) in the Western Theater. His father was wounded at Chicamauga and sent home. Reading this book allowed me to glimpse into that time, not from the perspective of a modern day author, but from the perspective of one who really lived the War. His battle descriptions are fascinating and, for my money, his finest passage begins on p. 307 (Penguin Edition) with "Such was the defense of Fort Winthrop..." I think that DeForest wonderfully captures the wistfulness of those individuals who experienced the raw energy of battle (e.g. Oliver Wendell Holmes' descriptions on his service) and realize, with a bit of relief, but with a bit of melancholy that he will never have that feeling again. All veterans live with this kind of thought, I think; DeForest captures the Civil War veteran's thinking here perfectly.

One more thing positive about this novel: DeForest's use of characters, who are Southern and yet agains secession, is a fine change of pace from modern novels which can only offer up tired cliches of North/South characters. DeForest's characters seem closer to the truth than our modern sensibilities allow (especially when it comes to race). This is a novel really worth reading for many reasons.

i was somewhat putoff by the title of this book but after adapting to the 19th century prose, i was blown away by discovering a book to put by melville , hawthorne or henry james. Even the language took on a contemporary flavor . DeForests picture of American democracy has an eerie back to the future relevancy. The authors book length meditation on the human condition is sad and lonely in a uniquely American way. I am amazed that a vast academic industry has neglected promoting this masterpiece.

Professor Gary Scharnhorst has done readers interested in the American Civil War a great favor in his erudite and readable introduction to John De Forest's novel. One can only hope that for the next edition he will reduce by eighty or ninety percent the number of his Explanatory Notes which, if necessary for some under-educated undergraduates, will seem demeaning and at times inaccurate to educated Penguin readers. (Walter Scott's good Bailie Jarvie would have taken umbrage to see himself described as "a Scots weaver"!)