The Battle for God and the Right: The Civil War Letterbooks of Emerson Opdycke (review)

Surprisingly few diaries and letter collections survive from field officers of the Union Army of the Cumberland. The best of these was Colonel John Beatty's The Citizen Soldier, long available to readers. The problem was that Beatty departed the army at the end of 1863, thereby leaving a big gap for those desiring a further candid glance within the army. Glenn V. Longacre's and John E. Haas's The Battle for God and the Right (which notably covers the fall of 1863 through late 1864) thus represents an absolute goldmine.

Beginning the war as a lieutenant in the 41st Ohio, Opdycke became colonel of the 125th Ohio and ultimately a brigadier general. He fought in many of the war's later battles— Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, Franklin (where his brigade saved the day), and Nashville. A no-nonsense, hard-fighting officer, Opdycke had little tolerance for those officers who, in his view, did not share his zeal and stomach for fighting. Following the Union defeat at Chickamauga in September 1863, the colonel, in letters to his wife, could hardly restrain his denunciation of the Cumberland army's top command who, with the notable exception of George Thomas, fled the battlefield. Opdycke was painfully wounded in the arm at the battle of Resaca in May 1864. Although bleeding profusely and temporarily fainting, he soon revived and, in his own words, "got [the] men straightened up" (p. 173).

Opdycke's letters to Lucy, while revealing a warm relationship, concentrate mostly on his view of the progress of the war. He was not a man who revealed vulnerabilities, and those searching for a tender side to this fiery-tempered officer will not find it. While perhaps unfortunate for his wife, modern-day readers will immediately recognize the historical value of his letters.

I will not mince words; this book is an absolute must for serious students of the western theater. The reader is taken beyond the bland, often self-serving reports of the Official Records and shown the behind-the-scenes personal stories taking place. Opdycke's fellow officers are seen as the human beings that they were, for better and for worse. The emerging influence of politics and slavery is also given attention, through the eyes of a highly opinionated, anti-slavery Opdycke. For those desiring a book where Beatty's leaves off, Opdycke's letters are for you.