Chickamauga and Other Civil War Stories (Paperback)

~ Shelby Foote (Editor) "At nightfall the column broke into regimental pieces, and the fragments went into the fields to camp..." (more)
Key Phrases: loud soldier, cedar thicket, tall soldier, Miss Theo, Miss Myra, Cousin Melisandre (more...)

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Product Description

This long out-of-print anthology of Civil War stories by such authors as F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, and Thomas Wolfe includes a new introduction and the addition of three new stories. Contributing writers include Stephen Crance, Ambrose Bierce, Eudora Welty, and Mark Twain.

From the Publisher

Shelby Foote's monumental historical trilogy, "The Civil War: A Narrative," is our window into the day-by-day unfolding of our nation's defining event. Now Foote reveals the deeper human truth behind the battles and speeches through the fiction he has chosen for this vivid, moving collection.

These ten stories of the Civil War give us the experience of joining a coachload of whores left on a siding during a battle in Virginia . . .marching into an old man's house to tell him it's about to be burned down . . .or seeing a childhood friend shot down at Chickamauga.

The result is history that lives again in our imagination, as the creative vision of these great writers touches our emotions and makes us witness to the human tragedy of this war, fought so bravely by those in blue and gray.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Delta (October 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385311001
• ISBN-13: 978-0385311007
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #473,308 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ennui, November 16, 2006

By	Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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I finished CHICKAMAUGA several days ago. Since then, I've been unable to whip-up enough mental energy to give it either an emphatic thumbs-up or thumbs-down. I guess you could say it's so-so. And writing the review approaches being a chore.

Except for the first and last chapters, which I'll get to in a moment, these stories of the Civil War come from the point of view of the common man and woman, whether he or she be either a soldier in battle or a civilian caught up in the collateral damage.

The first chapter is the inaugural address of Jefferson Davis at Montgomery, AL on February 18, 1861. The last chapter is Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address of March 4, 1865. The two serve as bookends to what comes in between, but it's hard to care (despite whatever eloquence the two have to offer.)

As with most collections of short stories, these run the gamut from better to worse than average, and the two extremes cancel each other to result in my overall lassitude concerning the whole.

Perhaps the best chapter is by, no surprise, Mark Twain: "The Private History of A Campaign That Failed" - an account of his time as a civilian irregular in Missouri at the outbreak of the war playing at soldier with a bunch of his buds, and who did more retreating in the face of real and imagined enemies than advancing to the sounds of battle. It incorporates Twain's characteristically wry, self-effacing humor, which, to me, made it the most readable of the lot.

Perhaps the least deserving chapter is one by Stephen Vincent Benet: "Fish-Hook Gettysburg", a 25-page free verse summary of the event. There are so many excellent prose accounts of this decisive encounter that my reaction was "why bother?". The battle deserves better treatment.

Another good one was the chapter entitled "The Night of Chancellorsville", in which a young prostitute, Nora, and a bevy of co-workers, while aboard a train on its way to Fightin' Joe Hooker's HQ at Chancellorsville, where they'll show the general and his staff a good time, are almost captured by the Confederates during the subsequent Federal rout. The story has an aspect of cleverness, at least. The prospect of capture by the Rebs causes Nora to think:

"... the Rebs would capture us and send us down to one of those prisons you hear about where they starve you to death unless you sing Dixie all the time and kiss (un-PC word for Blacks)."

One that I found particularly annoying was "The Burning" by Eudora Welty. Here, Southern belles, sisters Theo and Myra, are alone with their slaves on their plantation near Jackson, MS. After a band of Northern soldiers comes through raping and burning, the survivors straggle to tragic ends. At least I think so. Reading the story was like looking at something through a fine gauze mesh; all was slightly out of focus.

I consider the late Shelby Foote one of the greatest U.S. Civil War historians; his monumental trilogy on the subject is a must read. Perhaps I was seduced into buying CHICKAMAUGA when I noticed his name listed as the editor. Had I to do it all over again, I wouldn't.