The Civil War in the Carolinas (review)

Several books have been published over the past few years on the American Civil War in North and South Carolina. Some have examined the war's impact on one state, others a particular region, and still others have focused on a single battle or campaign. Dan Morrill's new work, The Civil War in the Carolinas, is different in that it seeks to examine the war's impact on both North and South Carolina. Why such a book?

Morrill makes the point that while Civil War battles in the Carolinas have been overlooked due to their smaller size, nevertheless, those battles were important because they demonstrated the growing capability of Union forces to conduct naval and combined operations. Those coastal operations also provided the North with the opportunity to utilize new technologies such as rifled cannons mounted on steam-powered ships driven by screwed propellers, innovations which changed warfare. Battles in the Carolinas also provided other firsts such as the world's first combat between surface ships and a submarine, the CSS Hunley; and the assault of the 54th Massachusetts on Fort Wagner, S.C., which proved that African-American troops could fight. Thus, for these and other reasons a study of the Civil War in the Carolinas is important.

Morrill's book has strengths and weaknesses. The strengths are many. For example, it reads well, at times like an adventure novel: "Men strode purposefully from one chore to another; adrenaline surged in their blood" (p. 38); "the lonely light that pierced the winter darkness" (p. 41); and the "wind ruffled [Abner] Doubleday's hair" (p. 43). The book also does an excellent job of discussing the battle for Fort Sumter from all perspectives: soldiers, civilians, reporters, Abraham Lincoln, Robert Anderson, and so forth. Further, the work is greatly enhanced by a wonderful collection of photos and period prints.

On the other hand, the book has its weaknesses. The biggest seems to be a lack of balance. For instance, the author spends eight pages describing Virginia-born Robert E. Lee's background, while devoting barely a half page to the Battle for Fort Macon, N.C. At another point, he provides a whole section on Lincoln's upbringing, yet gives only one page to the Battle of Averasboro, N.C. At times, one wonders what happened to the war in the Carolinas?

For the most part, the author has a good grasp of the literature and skillfully responds to various historians, but there are two major exceptions. First, he seems to know only one interpretation of Joseph Johnston, noting that Johnson "superintended a brilliant strategic retreat through northwestern Georgia against Sherman's advancing army" (p. 484). Second, he writes about the Battle of Bentonville, N.C., yet makes no reference to Mark Bradley's authoritative book, Last Stand in the Carolinas: The Battle of Bentonville. Morrill's work is not the definitive account of the Civil War in the Carolinas, but, despite its problems, he has added to the literature by focusing his attention on an important and often overlooked region.