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A GENTLEMAN AND AN OFFICER: A MILITARY AND SOCIAL HISTORY By Judith N. Mcarthur - Picture 1 of 1

A Gentleman and an Officer : A Military and Social History of James B. Griffin's Civil War by Orville Vernon Burton and Judith N. McArthur (1996, Trade Paperback)

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A GENTLEMAN AND AN OFFICER: A MILITARY AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF JAMES B. GRIFFIN'S CIVIL WAR By Judith N. Mcarthur **BRAND NEW**.

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Product Information

In 1861, James B. Griffin left Edgefield, South Carolina and rode off to Virginia to take up duty with the Confederate Army in a style that befitted a Southern gentleman: on a fine-blooded horse, with two slaves to wait on him, two trunks, and his favorite hunting dog. He was thirty-five years old, a wealthy planter, and the owner of sixty-one slaves when he joined Wade Hampton's elite Legion as a major of cavalry. He left behind seven children, the eldest onlytwelve, and a wife who was eight and a half months pregnant. As a field officer in a prestigious unit, the opportunities for fame and glory seemed limitless. Griffin, however, performed no daring acts, nordid he inspire great loyalty in his men. Instead, he unknowingly provided a unique and invaluable portrait of the Confederate officers who formed the core of Southern political, military, and business leadership. In A Gentleman and an Officer, Judith N. McArthur and Orville Vernon Burton have collected eighty of Griffin's letters written at the Virginia front, and during later postings on the South Carolina coast, to his wife Leila Burt Griffin. Extraordinary in theirbreadth and volume, the letters encompass Griffin's entire Civil War service, detailing living conditions and military maneuvers, the jockeying for position among officers, and the different ways officers andenlisted men interacted during the Civil War. Unlike the reminiscences and biographies of high-ranking, well-known Confederate officers or studies and edited collections of letters of members of the rank and file, this collection sheds light on the life of a middle officer--a life turned upside down by extreme military hardship and complicated further by the continuing need for reassurance about personal valor and status common to men of the southern gentry. In these letters, Griffin describessecret troop movements in various military actions such as the Hampton Legion's role in the Peninsula Campaign (details that would certainly have been censored in more recent wars). Here he relates themarch from Manassas to Fredricksburg, the siege of Yorktown and the retreat to Richmond, and the fighting at Eltham's landing and Seven Pines, where Griffin commanded the legion after Hampton was wounded. Throughout, as Griffin recounts these most extraordinary of times, he illuminates the most ordinary of day-to-day issues. One might expect to find a Confederate officer meditating on slavery, emancipation, or Lincoln. Instead, we are confronted by simple humanity and simple concerns, from theweather to gossip. Monumental historical events intruded on Griffin's life and sent him off to war, but his heartfelt considerations were about his family, his community, and his own personal pride.Ultimately, Griffin's letters present the Civil War as the refinery, the ordeal by fire, that tested and verified--or modified--Southern upperclass values. With a fascinating combination of military and social history, A Gentleman and an Officer moves from the beginning of the Civil War at Fort Sumter through the end of the war and Reconstruction, vividly illustrating how the issues of the Civil War were at once devastatingly national and revealingly local.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Oxford University Press, Incorporated
ISBN-10
0195093127
ISBN-13
9780195093124
eBay Product ID (ePID)
615801

Product Key Features

Book Title
Gentleman and an Officer : a Military and Social History of James B. Griffin's Civil War
Author
Orville Vernon Burton, Judith N. Mcarthur
Format
Trade Paperback
Language
English
Topic
Social History, United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877), Historical, Military
Publication Year
1996
Genre
Biography & Autobiography, History
Number of Pages
392 Pages

Dimensions

Item Length
5.4in
Item Height
1.1in
Item Width
8.2in
Item Weight
17.8 Oz

Additional Product Features

Lc Classification Number
E547.H2g755 1996
Reviews
"A Gentleman and an Officer masterfully integrates James B. Griffin's experience as well as that of his family and slaves into the larger story of the Civil War's military, social, and cultural impact on the South. It represents historical editing at its best, and is well worth the time of professional and amateur historians of the Civil War and the South."--South Carolina Historical Magazine, " A Gentleman and an Officer masterfully integrates James B. Griffin's experience as well as that of his family and slaves into the larger story of the Civil War's military, social, and cultural impact on the South. It represents historical editing at its best, and is well worth the time of professional and amateur historians of the Civil War and the South."-- South Carolina Historical Magazine, "A Gentleman and an Officer masterfully integrates James B. Griffin'sexperience as well as that of his family and slaves into the larger story of theCivil War's military, social, and cultural impact on the South. It representshistorical editing at its best, and is well worth the time of professional andamateur historians of the Civil War and the South."--South Carolina HistoricalMagazine, "A Gentleman and an Officer masterfully integrates James B. Griffin's experience as well as that of his family and slaves into the larger story of the Civil War's military, social, and cultural impact on the South. It represents historical editing at its best, and is well worth the time ofprofessional and amateur historians of the Civil War and the South."--South Carolina Historical Magazine, "A Gentleman and an Officermasterfully integrates James B. Griffin's experience as well as that of his family and slaves into the larger story of the Civil War's military, social, and cultural impact on the South. It represents historical editing at its best, and is well worth the time of professional and amateur historians of the Civil War and the South."--South Carolina Historical Magazine
Copyright Date
1996
Lccn
96-032140
Dewey Decimal
973.7/42
Intended Audience
Trade
Dewey Edition
20
Illustrated
Yes

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Most relevant reviews

5 out of 5 stars
by junebugbriscoeNov 10, 2010
Descriptive book regarding its subject and Civil War
I first borrowed this book from our library system because I'm into genealogy and have a hunch the subject is an ancestor of mine. I found the price inside the book where it had been purchased through a website for a really low price. I wondered if I could find it for such a low price, too, so I checked eBay and there it was...for a really low price! Although I haven't finished reading it yet, I'm hoping to find that this man is indeed an ancestor of mine. I would probably buy the book again...I'll know for sure when I finish reading it and see whether this is indeed a blood relative. It is very descriptive of the area where he lived at the time of the Civil War and also includes some letters between him and his wife during the war. It would be very interesting to a history buff who is interested in knowing what things were like not only for the subject but also for his family and the areas where they lived. I would hope people order it simply for its interesting reading.Read full review

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