The Civil War Shelf

Without Concealment, Without Compromise
Jill L. Newmark
Southern Illinois University Press
www.siupress.com
9780809339044, $29.95, PB, 312pp

https://www.amazon.com/Without-Concealment-Compromise-Courageous-Surgeons/d= p/0809339048

Synopsis: Of some twelve thousand Union Civil War surgeons, only fourteen w= ere Black men.

With the publication of "Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Coura= geous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons" historian Jill Newmark provides th=
e first-ever comprehensive exploration of their lives and service. Newmark'=
s outstanding research uncovers stories hidden for more than 150 years, ill= uminating the unique experiences of proud, patriotic men who fought racism = and discrimination to attend medical school and serve with the U.S. militar=
y. Their efforts and actions influenced societal change and forged new path= ways for African Americans.

The individual biographies featured in "Without Concealment, Without Compro= mise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons" highlight Alexander=
T. Augusta, who challenged discriminatory laws; William P. Powell Jr., who=
pursued a military pension for twenty-five years; Anderson R. Abbott, a fr= iend of Elizabeth Keckley's; John van Surly DeGrasse, the only Black surgeo=
n to serve on the battlefield; John H. Rapier Jr., an international travele=
r; Richard H. Greene, the only Black surgeon known to have served in the Na= vy; Willis R. Revels, a preacher; Benjamin A. Boseman, a politician and pos= tmaster; and Charles B. Purvis, who taught at Howard University. Informatio=
n was limited for five other men, all of whom broke educational barriers by=
attending medical schools in the United States: Cortlandt Van Rensselaer C= reed, William B. Ellis, Alpheus W. Tucker, Joseph Dennis Harris, and Charle=
s H. Taylor.

"Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civ=
il War Surgeons" presents all available information about the surgeons' ear=
ly lives, influences, education, Civil War service, and post-war experience=
s. Many of the stories overlap, as did the lives of the men. Each man, thro= ugh his service as a surgeon during the war and his lifelong activism for f= reedom, justice, and equality, became a catalyst of change and a symbol of =
an emancipated future.

Critique: A unique, informative, and invaluable contribution to personal, p= rofessional, community, college, and university library American Civil War = History/Biography collections, "Without Concealment, Without Compromise: Th=
e Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons" is enhanced for the reader = with the inclusion of a number of illustrations, as well as thirty-four pag=
es of Notes, a fourteen page Bibliography, a two page Index of Regiments, a=
nd a twelve page Index. "Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Coura= geous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons" is especially recommended for supp= lemental American Civil War and 19th Century African American History curri= culum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Jill L. Newmark (www.blackcivilwarsurgeons.com) is an indep= endent historian, as well as a former curator and exhibition specialist at = the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Her exhibi=
ts include "Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil = War Medicine," "Within These Walls: Contraband Hospital and the African Ame= ricans Who Served There," and "Opening Doors: Contemporary African American=
Academic Surgeons." She has published articles in Prologue and Traces, as = well as online in Circulating Now and www.blackpast.org

Detour to Disaster
Noel Carpenter
Savas Beatie
PO Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611216714, $19.95, PB, 216pp

https://www.amazon.com/Detour-Disaster-Demonstration-Unraveling-Tennessee/d= p/1611216710

Synopsis: In October of 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood set out th= rough Alabama on what would be the final campaign of the Army of Tennessee.=
One event in particular, overlooked and misunderstood for generations, por= tended what was to follow and is the subject of Noel Carpenter's new Americ=
an Civil War history -- "Detour to Disaster: General John Bell Hood's "Slig=
ht Demonstration" at Decatur and the Unravelling of the Tennessee Campaign"=
..

A simply fascinating, meticulously detailed, and expertly documented accoun=
t, "Detour to Disaster" is the first book-length study of the weighty decis= ion to march to Decatur and the combat that followed there. Carpenter also = investigated the circumstances surrounding these matters and how they overw= helmed the controversial young army commander and potentially doomed his da= ring invasion.

Critique: An impressively informative and exceptionally insightful history,=
"Detour to Disaster: General John Bell Hood's "Slight Demonstration" at De= catur and the Unraveling of the Tennessee Campaign" by American Civil War h= istorian should be required reading for American Civil War history buffs in= terested in the Western Theater, and especially the doomed Tennessee Campai= gn. A fascinating and impressively well organized and presented study, "Det= our to Disaster" is an especially recommended and worthwhile pick for perso= nal, community, and academic library American Civil War history collections=
and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "Detour=
to Disaster" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.49).

Editorial Note: As a boy growing up in Decatur in the 1920s, author Noel Ca= rpenter played on the sites described in "Detour to Disaster". After gradua= ting from the University of Alabama and earning a master's degree from the = University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carpenter spent 30 years as a = command pilot and Air Force officer. Later in life he combined a lifelong i= nterest in Civil War history with his military experience and examined the = episode that had unfolded in his hometown more than a century earlier. He s= pent 12 years researching and writing his account.

The Bone Ring
Gari Carter
Donella Press
https://donellapress.com
9781955068055, $14.95, PB, 100pp

https://www.amazon.com/Bone-Ring-Gari-Carter/dp/1955068054

Synopsis: When Colonel William Leonard died in 1901, among his effects was = found a lovely jewelry box containing a simple ring carved of cow bone and = engraved with his birth date and the year of his imprisonment in Libby Pris= on.

This humble memento, so carefully preserved, was made for him by his men to=
mark his 46th birthday when they were all prisoners of war in the notoriou=
s Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia.

Also found was his journal, which begins when he was colonel in Purnell's L= egion Infantry, which was charged with protecting telegraph and rail lines =
in Maryland and Virginia, and ends after he was paroled from Libby Prison a=
nd returned to Maryland.

The bone ring and journal writings were passed down through his descendants=
, and his memory has been kept alive through family stories. Leonard's grea= t-granddaughter Gari Carter, who previously published the Civil War journal=
s of another ancestor, Franklin Dick, now presents Col. Leonard's journal, = richly annotated and supplemented with family lore and local history.

Critique: A welcome addition to the ever expanding community, college, and = university library American Civil War collections and supplemental curricul=
um studies lists, "The Bone Ring: Civil War Journals of Colonel William Jam=
es Leonard" is a fascinating and informative American Civil War memoir that=
is informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a number of=
maps, black/white illustrations, a ten page family genealogy, and a ten pa=
ge bibliography. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of stude= nts, academia, civil war historians, and non-specialist general readers wit=
h an interest in the subject that "The Bone Ring" is also available in a di= gital book format (Kindle, $8.99).

Editorial Note: Gari Carter (https://garicarter.com/about) is also the auth=
or of "Troubled State: The Civil War Journals of Franklin Archibald Dick" (= Truman State University Press, 2008), which took her ten years of research = about the diaries of her great-great grandfather and his first-hand account=
of the initial Civil War event in St. Louis, and his correspondence with P= resident Lincoln as Provost Marshall General of Missouri.

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