One man can make a difference.
A Weekly Book List selection of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Conspicuous Gallantry:
The Civil War and Reconstruction Letters of James W. King, 11th Michigan Volunteer Infantry
From the back cover:
"In this wonderfully edited collection, Eric Faust has provided us with a captivating glimpse into the life of James W. King, a member of the Eleventh Michigan, who chronicled his war experience in eloquent letters to his sweetheart, Jenny. At the same time, King detailed the social ramifications of Reconstruction during his time in the South after the fighting halted. This volume is a welcomed and needed exploration of one man's life dramatically altered by the defining hour in our nation's history." —Brian Craig Miller, editor of "A Punishment on the Nation": An Iowa Soldier Endures the Civil War (The Kent State University Press, 2012)
"Eric R. Faust has done a service to everyone interested in the Civil War by editing his ancestor's letters. Those of us who have been able to access the letters at Western Michigan University have found them to be a treasury of information on every aspect of the Civil War era. King served in the major battles of the Western Theater and spent a brief but dangerous time in the postwar South as a farmer. He returned to Michigan to recover his fortunes through the political alliance of the GAR and the Republican Party. He was an outstanding example of the Civil War soldier and veteran." —Leland W. Thornton, author of When Gallantry Was Commonplace: The History of the Michigan Eleventh Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1864 and Professor Emeritus, Glen Oaks Community College, Centreville, Michigan
"When nineteen-year-old James King went to war in 1861, he reflected on his great-grandfather's heroics during the American Revolution. He believed 'one brave man could impact the course of a great war.' King was right. In November 1863, he was among the first Yankees to reach the top of Missionary Ridge—an action that warranted a Medal of Honor, had his application not been a victim of 'bad timing.' Beyond the battlefield, King's letters to his sweetheart Jenny chronicle a soldier's struggles, experiences, and opinions. Eric R. Faust, King's great-great-grandson, has produced an outstanding and refreshing look at one exceptionally eloquent Yankee." —Roger L. Rosentreter, Michigan State University
Reviews:
"Multiple characteristics place this compilation apart from other such volumes. These letters are not merely confined to King’s service in the war but also speak of his transition back into civilian life and show the true experience of being a soldier involved more than fighting battles…. Additionally, King’s letters bring to light with vivid clarity the toughest enemy the soldiers faced, disease…. King [had] an exceptional perspective to observe camp life…. The survival of letters following King’s active duty in the Union army is another unique quality of the collection. James and his new bride moved to the South in 1866, hoping to make a profit farming cotton. These letters dispel the common conception of the carpetbagger; rather, the King family was well received and made an honest attempt to assimilate…. The collection [is] presented in a captivating manner…. The author does a magnificent job of letting the man speak for himself, while at the same time recognizing when to step in to provide extra content."—Civil War History (read the full review here)
"King's letters offer richly detailed descriptions of the places he saw.... Editor Eric Faust wisely included some of King's most colorful accounts from Charles E. Belknap's History of the Michigan Organizations.... Conspicuous Gallantry is capably edited and annotated.... The inclusion of both wartime and postwar correspondence makes this worthwhile reading."—Civil War News
The Story
A unique and fascinating collection of letters from a soldier, planter, and journalist.
The Union states of what is now the Midwest have received far less attention from historians than those of the East, and much of Michigan's Civil War story remains untold. The eloquent letters of James W. King shed light on a Civil War regiment that played important roles in the battles of Stones River, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. King enlisted in the 11th Michigan in 1861 as a private and rose to the rank of quartermaster sergeant. His correspondence continues into the era of Reconstruction, when he tried his hand at raising cotton in Tennessee and Alabama and found himself caught up in the social and political upheavals of the postwar South.
King went off to war as an obscure nineteen-year-old farm boy, but he was anything but average. His letters to Sarah Jane Babcock, his future wife, vividly illustrate the plight and perspective of the rank-and-file Union infantryman while revealing the innermost thoughts of an articulate, romantic, and educated young man.
King's wartime correspondence explores a myriad of issues faced by the common Federal soldier: the angst, uncertainty, and hope associated with long distance courtship; the scourge of widespread and often fatal diseases; the rapid evolution of views on race and slavery; the doldrums of camp life punctuated with the horrors of combat and its aftermath; the gnawing anxiety while waiting for mail from home; the incessant gambling, drunkenness, and profanity of his comrades; and the omnipresent risk of death or crippling disability as the cost of performing his duty: to preserve the Union.
Through meticulous research and careful editing, Eric R. Faust presents a story that does not cease with King's muster out, or even with Lee's surrender at Appomattox. King's postwar correspondence illuminates the struggles of a soldier disabled by wounds, trying to find his place in a civilian world forever changed by war. Like thousands of other Northern soldiers, King traveled south to raise cotton. The letters he penned on the plantation defy the timeworn stereotype of carpetbaggers as ruthless opportunists who deprived the South of its capital and dignity after the war.
A kind twist of fate boosted King to prominence in his home state as editor of Michigan's foremost Republican newspaper. Through his remarkable rise to the national stage, the reader gains insight into the heated political climate of the Reconstruction era and the Gilded Age, and more generally into the deeply complex legacy of the American Civil War.