By M. Keith Harris
Long after the Civil War ended, one conflict raged on: the
battle to define and shape the war's legacy. Across the Bloody Chasm deftly
examines Civil War veterans commemorative efforts and the concomitant and
sometimes conflicting movement for reconciliation.
Though former soldiers from both sides of the war celebrated
the history and values of the newly reunited America, a deep divide remained
between people in the North and South as to how the country s past should be
remembered and the nation's ideals honored. Union soldiers could not forget
that their southern counterparts had taken up arms against them, while
Confederates maintained that the principles of states rights and freedom from
tyranny aligned with the beliefs and intentions of the founding fathers.
Confederate soldiers also challenged northern claims of a moral victory,
insisting that slavery had not been the cause of the war, and ferociously
resisting the imposition of postwar racial policies. M. Keith Harris argues
that although veterans remained committed to reconciliation, the sectional
sensibilities that influenced the memory of the war left the North and South
far from a meaningful accord.
Harris’ masterful analysis of veteran memory assesses the
ideological commitments of a generation of former soldiers, weaving their
stories into the larger narrative of the process of national reunification.
Through regimental histories, speeches at veterans gatherings, monument
dedications, and war narratives, Harris uncovers how veterans from both sides
kept the deadliest war in American history alive in memory at a time when the
nation seemed determined to move beyond conflict.
ISBN 978-0807157725, Louisiana State University Press, ©
2014, Hardcover, 232 pages, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $42.50. To
purchase a copy of this book click HERE.
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