Black Flag Over Dixie: Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil War

Preface

 Preface This book traces its origins to the research I have done for nearly a decade on the Civil War west of the Mississippi River. The experiences of African American troops in Arkansas,Kansas,and Indian Territory represent some of the more dramatic and tragic episodes in the Civil War. It is time for historians to bring those stories out of the shadows and accord them the prominence they deserve in understanding the conflict that profoundly shaped modern America. Ireceivedtheinspirationandencouragementnecessarytobringthisproject to fruition after I joined the history department at Temple University and became an associate director of Temple’s Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy (cenfad). Over the past two years,the historians and political scientists associated with cenfad have launched an exciting new initiative to define guidelines and processes that might help reduce the cost of war.Discussions regarding civilian immunity and casualty aversion have stimulated my thinking about the role race has played in making American wars more barbaric. I hope this book and the essays it contains will contribute to that dialogue. Whether they do or not,I am confident that the efforts of cenfad will stimulate a broad reexamination of the ethics of modern warfare. Black Flag over Dixie would have remained nothing more than a promising idea without the assistance of two of my superiors at Temple University. Morris J. Vogel, the former acting dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and Richard H.Immerman,the director of cenfad and chair of Temple’s history department, provided essential moral and material support when I needed it most.I am also indebted to Russell F.Weigley,Wilbert Jenkins,and graduate student Craig Stutman, three Temple colleagues who specialize in Civil War studies, for their feedback and encouragement. In addition, I wish to thank Mark Mattson,the director of Temple’s Cartographic Laboratory,and graduate student Michelle A. Schmitt for the book’s lovely map. Other historians have contributed to this collection by deepening my understanding of African American troops during the Civil War.I would like to recognize the following: Dudley Taylor Cornish, formerly of Pittsburg   State University; Daniel E. Sutherland, University of Arkansas; Carl H. Moneyhon,University of Arkansas at Little Rock; William L.Shea,University of Arkansas at Monticello; Anne J.Bailey,Georgia College & State University ; John T.Hubbell,formerly the director of Kent State University Press and editor of Civil War History; Arnold Schofield, Fort Scott National Historic Site; Ronnie A. Nichols, formerly the director of the Old State House Museumandnowanindependentscholar;MarkK.Christ,ArkansasHistoric Preservation Project; and Frank Arey, Department of Arkansas Heritage. Some of my deepest thanks must go to the technicians at the Instructional Support Center in Temple University’s Gladfelter Hall.Without their assistance , I would have never learned how to scan the previously published articles that make up the bulk of this volume. Finally,I wish to thank the publishers of Civil War History, Louisiana History, North Carolina Historical Review, and Southern Historian: A Journal of Southern History for permission to reprint eight essays that appeared originally in their pages. Preface ...