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The evolution of Civil War novels for children

Stone, James Clement, Ph.D.

The Ohio State University, 1990

UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Aibcr, MI 48106

THE EVOLUTION OF CIVIL WAR NOVELS FOR CHILDREN

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate

School of The Ohio State University

By

James Clement Stone, B.A., M.A.

*****

The Ohio State University

1990

Dissertation Committee; Approved by:

Rudine Sims Bishop M. Eugene Gilliom Rbdi ne S i^ B i shop, Mviser Janet Hickman Department of Educational Theory and Practice To Karen and Louise

n ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my appreciation to the people who have aided me through my research. Rudine Sims Bishop provided me with many ideas and much guidance. She always found time to work through problems with me, and her efforts throughout the process were long, productive and positive. Janet Hickman has been helpful and supportive from the time I began considering a study of Civil War novels. I would also like to thank Diane

DeFord for providing support and energy.

I am fortunate to be in a large family, and am particularly thankful to them for their constant support. I would also like to express my gratitude to Libby Chestnut and others responsible for the Wilmer collection at The University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill.

m VITA

September 22, 1953 ...... Born, Evansville, Indiana

1976 ...... B.A., St. Edward's University Austin, Texas

1977-1979...... Teacher, Niobrara County Schools, Manville, Wyoming

1980 ...... M.A., University of Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming

1981-1985...... Teacher, Carbon County Schools, Saratoga, Wyoming

1985-1989...... Research and Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University

FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field: Educational Theory and Practice

Studies in Children's Literature. Professor Janet Hickman

Studies in Reading. Professor Diane DeFord

Studies in Social Studies. Professor Raymond Muessig

IV TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iii

VITA ...... iv

LIST OF TABLES ...... vil

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

Background ...... 2 Statement of the Purpose ...... 11 Significance ...... 12 Clarification and Delimitation ...... 14 Summary and Overview ...... 14

II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ...... 15

The Move Away from Moral ism...... 16 Series Books ...... 17 The Rise of Realism ...... 19 Historiography ...... 22 Author's Perspective ...... 24

III. METHODS AND PROCEDURES ...... 28

Selection of Novels ...... 29 Procedures ...... 33

IV. ANALYSIS OF THE DATA (1863-1950) ...... 37

Civil WarNovels: 1863-1900 ...... 37 Civil WarNovels: 1901-1919 ...... 61 Civil WarNovels: 1920-1950 ...... 86 Page

V. ANALYSIS OF DATA (1951-1987) ...... 98

Civil War Novels: 1951-1969 ...... 98 Civil War Novels: 1970-1987 ...... 126

VI. SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS ...... 155

Summary ...... 155 Conclusions ...... 168 Implications ...... 170 Suggestions for Further Research ...... 172

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 173

Primary Sources ...... 173 References ...... 177

VI LIST OF TABLES

TABLE Page

NUMBER OF NOVELS INCLUDED IN EACH PERIOD OF THE STUDY ...... 32

NUMBER OF AUTHORS INCLUDED BEFORE AND AFTER THE MID-POINT OF THE STUDY (1925) ...... 32

3. CIVIL WAR NOVELS 1863-1900 38

4. CIVIL WAR NOVELS 1901-1919 62

5. CIVIL WAR NOVELS 1920-1950 87

6 . CIVIL WAR NOVELS 1951-1969 99

7. CIVIL WAR NOVELS 1970-1987...... 127

8 . PERIODS OF STUDY ...... 155

VI CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The Civil War possesses a power that has claimed the imagination of every generation of authors who have written for children since the onset of the war. Civil War novels for children have been written from the time of the war to the present, and there is every indication that they will continue to be written. The famous poet, and author of Civil War fiction, Robert Penn Warren, stated, "The

Civil War is for the American imagination the great single event of our history" (Warren, 1961, p. 3).

The Civil War continues to be an event that lives in the minds of American people. Each year men can be found dressed in blue and grey as they reenact Civil War battles. Far more books have been written about the Civil War than any other event in American history, and this literature has helped to promote Civil War roundtables across the country. The war has affected each of the generations that have followed its devastation. Samuel Clemens claimed

Southerners believed the Civil War was, "what A.D. is elsewhere; they date from it" (McPherson, 1988, viii). Background The present study has been undertaken to investigate the major influences on Civil War novels for children. The influences were cited by Robert Lively in his study. Fiction Fights the Civil War, published in 1957. Among the influences noted by Lively were the problems of intermingling history and fiction, the author's con­ temporary world, realism, and black characters and slavery.

The Lively Study

Robert Lively completed a study of Civil War novels at The

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to earn his Ph.D. in

History. Fiction Fights the Civil War is a published work that grew out of his dissertation. Lively studied Civil War novels written from the time of the war until 1948. He included an imposing 512 novels in his study.

Lively worked to convince his audience of the merits of historical fiction. His background as a historian makes his distinction between a historical monograph and a work of historical fiction particularly meaningful. Lively's explanation of the difference reveals his belief that a story is sometimes able to

penetrate into the past, while a historical monograph rarely sends

the reader back into history. The monograph is written to an 3 audience intent upon gleaning information from the text; in contrast, the story is written to entertain, without being sub­ jected to a close reading.

Lively broadly interprets the meaning of historical fiction.

He defends the inclusion of period romances, and costume romances

in his study. Critics often deny that these romances are genuine historical novels. He also chooses to include novels that were written at the time of the conflict, while many who have defined the historical novel find this unacceptable. Lively summarizes his beliefs about this popular literature by stating:

The surface of American literature, if we

describe the whole volume of our popular

writings by this term, has only been skimmed

by orthodox students of belle lettres; and

a descent to analysis of mass reading seems

an urgent task for scholarship (Lively, 193).

Biographical information of authors of Civil War novels is included in Lively's study. This information included where the authors came from, what affected their point of view and when and how much they wrote. The birthplace of authors and how this

information affected whether a novel was Pro-Northern or Pro-

Southern were examples of the data and how they were interpreted. 4

The central part of Lively's study is his analysis of fiction and history in Civil War novels. Although a professor of history.

Lively displays a sensitivity for the literary qualities of historical fiction. In a section entitled "Novelist as Historian" he points out concerns facing the novelist. Lively believes the primary responsibility of the novelist is to entertain, and that he should not be constrained by objectivity. This belief is re­ vealed in Lively's passionate argument for the necessity of partisanship in Civil War fiction. The importance of partisanship in the novels is a recurring theme throughout the study.

Lively shows further sensitivity for literary elements in the novels when he claims that prominent historical figures detract from the story. And it is the story, he claims, that is the overriding concern of the novelist. The problem of integrating history and fiction is illuminated when prominent figures are used as major characters. "Since history limits fiction's right to mold historical character to f it the artists' conception of the past, successful twentieth-century Civil War novels have depended largely on imaginative persons entirely subservient to the author"

(Lively, p. 94).

As characters became more developed, the novels experienced changes. The successful 20th century novels can be largely 5 identified by their use of localized settings with developed characters. Authors of 19th century novels were often unable to escape the proximity of the war. This resulted in attempts to explain the causes of the war on a grand scale, and their characters were relegated to subordinate roles.

Lively found that black characters did not show development in 19th or 20th century novels, and it was rare for a black character to be a central character. Northern writers often included the black slave in novels following the war. Many of these novels were written from an Abolitionist perspective that spoke favorably of the black slave, yet the character was nearly always stereotypically depicted. It is interesting to note that the black character soon faded from Northern novels, and became common in Southern fiction at the turn of the century. Blacks in

Southern novels were notable for their noble simplicity. Lively found that, "The Negro in these stories never forgot his 'place', a fact that guaranteed him Southern praise" (Lively, p. 53).

Lively compares the depiction of black characters to angels in both Confederate and Abolitionist fiction. Attempts to view the black slave from the slaves' own viewpoint was rare. Lively closes his remarks about black characters with the following 6 comment. "It is white society, and white viewpoints, which writing about the Negro has clarified" (Lively, p. 53).

The study conducted by Lively included 113 juvenile novels.

Many of these novels were written during the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, a time when many authors of juvenile novels wrote in series. This resulted in a large number of Civil

War novels being written by only a few authors. What is most significant regarding the present study is that while Lively includes juvenile titles in his study, it is clear that they were peripheral to his study. Lively singles out the juvenile titles when explaining that much of his reading was "more hurried than thoughtful." He liberally uses quotes from novels to support his arguments, but these quotes are never taken from juvenile novels.

Only a few pages of Lively's study discuss the juvenile novels.

The present study specifically addresses Civil War novels written for children. Novels written for a young audience can be traced back to the war years, and it is the history of how the Civil VJar novel has evolved over the past 124 years that provoked the present study.

Lively has taken the Civil War novel and its novelist and placed them in a historical context. His study thoughtfully examined the troublesome issues faced by writers of historical 7 fiction. The present study builds on this work, while shifting the focus to novels for younger readers.

History and Fiction

The dilemma Lively addressed in his study concerning the dual responsibilities of a writer of historical fiction is a dilemma that confronts every writer of the genre. Historical fiction has the responsibility of telling a good story that accurately depicts an event from the past.

An integration of history and fiction is the goal of the writer, yet this sharing of genres is a major source of criticism.

Literary purists and historical purists alike will continue to find fault with the genre, as it cannot satisfy purists and remain a viable genre. It is more realistic to think of historical fiction on a continuum. The genre is believed by some to be a vehicle to teach history, and this is often accompanied by a desire for a reporting of conventional historical events. Others are interested in the literary quality of the novel, with a primary interest in the telling of a good story.

Perhaps a good illustration of this is the work by Christopher and James Collier. These brothers have written several historical novels for children, and bring a unique background to the creation of historical fiction. James Collier is a successful 8 writer of children's fiction, while his brother Christopher is a professor of history. Yet, again, the integration of history and fiction remains a problem, as is evidenced by Christopher Collier's statement that he is responsible for the historical part of the coupling (Collier, 1982).

Historical fiction is inherently troubled by the merging of an author's imagination with what is known of the period. Stories about the past that are thinly disguised history lessons are destined to fail. A successful historical novelist integrates what is known about the past into a story that entertains children.

Author's Contemporary World

Past events are interpreted by people, and attempts to find out what happened are constantly being reinterpreted. The present inevitably affects the context of the interpretation of the past.

McPherson, a Civil War historian, states that, "Historians do not merely recount the facts of the past. Rather, they try to interpret the meaning of those facts. And that endeavor is inevitably conditioned by the perspective of the historian's present"

(McPherson, 1988b, p. 75).

Authors of historical fiction are similarly affected by the times in which they live. That the Civil War was fought from 1851 to 1865, would be agreed upon by Oliver Optic, the prolific 19th 9

century author of Civil War novels, and Patricia Beatty who has

written Civil War novels in the 1980s. Yet, the event known as

the American Civil War was interpreted for four or five generations

before Beatty wrote her novels. Beatty's perspective on the Civil

War period would likely differ from Optic’s, and this would affect

her interpretation of the war.

It is not realistic to expect an author to tap into the past

without being affected by the world around him. Authors of

historical fiction for children often use research in an attempt

to get in "touch" with the times they are depicting. The success

of getting in "touch" with the past is important in the writing of

historical fiction, but the present is an important factor in the

creation of the novel. This is not entirely negative, for the

audience of the historical novel is living in the present, and is

aided by contemporary references.

Historians have interpreted the Civil War for generations.

These interpretations have evolved over time, and sometimes affect the writing of historical fiction. Authors writing after the war

have been affected by interpretations of the war, and more informal

sources, rather than first hand experiences of the Civil War.

Contemporary novels written about the Civil War are only the

latest attempts by authors to re-create this event for young 10 readers. A study concentrating on only recent Civil War novels would suffer from a view that does not include the constantly evolving struggles of generations to capture this event, but even more importantly it would not be embedded with a vision for the future.

Realism

Civil War novels have been greatly affected by realistic protagonists. Historical novels have often been thought of as synonymous with the adventure novel that is driven by heroic characters. The heroic characterization is impressionistic by necessity. The hero would lose the qualities that make him a hero if he were described in depth. The author's depiction of a more rounded protagonist requires a more complex character, and thus a more complex novel.

As Lively noted, realistic protagonists are often portrayed in localized settings which allow the author to address human problems. Adventure novels with heroic protagonists are successful when the action is fast paced, and the protagonist is often de­ picted as one-dimensional. In contrast, the realistic protagonist is depicted as a fully rounded person who encounters daily problems. n Black Characters and Slavery

A strong argument is made by many historians that slavery was the major cause of the American Civil War. This is particularly true of recent historians (Boles, 1987). The importance of black characters in Civil War novels is thus readily apparent. Racism in the United States has historically affected children's books and is of particular significance in novels written about a war that resulted in the freedom of black slaves.

The depiction of black characters was affected by the perspec­ tive of the author. Novelists writing from an Abolitionist perspec­ tive often portrayed black characters quite differently from those writing from a Southern perspective. Black authors may bring a perspective to the novel that has not been available to writers of the majority culture.

Statement of the Purpose

This study is an attempt to examine the evolution of Civil War novels for children. It examines five aspects of seventy novels which were published over a period of 124 years. Specifically, the study focuses on the following questions:

1. How do protagonists evolve in Civil War novels written

from the 19th century to the 1980s? 12

2. How has the depiction of black characters and slavery

evolved in Civil War novels written from the 19th

century to the 1980s?

3. How has the protagonists' response to their initial

battle evolved in Civil War novels written from the

19th century to the 1980s?

4. How have feelings toward the enemy evolved in both

Northern and Southern characters in Civil War novels

written from the 19th century to the 1980s?

5. How have authors used military and homefront themes in

Civil War novels written from the 19th century to the

1980s?

Significance

This study is significant for several reasons. An examination of novels covering a single event over a period of 124 years will provide an in-depth analysis of issues central to the genre of historical fiction. First, the author's approach to combining fiction and history has always been a concern in historical fiction, and this study should contribute to a better understanding of how this important issue has evolved in children's historical novels.

Second, the present study should result in a greater under­ standing of the effects of an author's contemporary period on the 13 writing of historical novels. Historiographic interpretations of the war at the time of the creation of the story will bear on this issue.

Third, the study of Civil War novels published over more than a century will contribute to the understanding of how realistic characters have evolved in historical fiction. The depiction of the protagonist as hero has evolved towards a more realistic depiction of characters in Civil War novels for children.

Fourth, a contribution should be made to the understanding of how black characters and slavery have evolved in Civil War novels since the time of the war. These characters have rarely played significant roles in the novels, and they are commonly stereotyped.

The present study should result in a better understanding of the characterization of Blacks in Civil War fiction for children.

Finally, the study should highlight historical and literary issues of significance for the classroom. Selection of Civil War novels for classroom use, and issues related to their reliability as resources in the elementary social studies are embedded in the study. The question of whether the novels under study are capable of exciting young readers as well as being historically reliable is central to the study. 14

Clarification and Delimitation

The Civil War period is sometimes interpreted as beginning with the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and continuing through the end of Reconstruction in 1877. The present study, however is concerned only with novels set during the years of the actual conflict, 1861-1865. Thus, the phrase Civil War novels in this study refers to stories that are set between 1861 and 1865.

Children's novels will refer in this study to books that are most likely written for and read by children between the ages of

9 and 15.

Summary and Overview

The purpose of this study is to investigate five aspects of

Civil War fiction written for children. The aspects - protagonists, black characters and slavery, protagonists' initial responses to their first battle, feelings toward the enemy, and themes - were examined in novels written over a period of 124 years.

The following chapter will be a review of relevant literature.

Chapter Three will describe the procedures used in the study.

Chapters Four and Five will analyze the novels, and Chapter Six will be used to summarize the study, cite implications it has for the educational and library fields, and finally draw conclusions

study. CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Children's literature was experiencing great changes in the latter half of the 19th century. The move from the moralistic tracts written for children earlier in the century to books written for the child's enjoyment occurred near the time of the Civil War.

The literature related to this transition will be reviewed in this chapter.

Authors and publishers began to plan and write novels in a series about the time war broke out between the states. These series books were a phenomenal success as only a few authors represented large numbers of works. Another trend that began near the time of the war was the increased emphasis placed on realism.

An attempt to break from the romanticism of the day resulted in a new trend for writers of adult and children's fiction. The rise of realism and how it affected the present study will be explored in this chapter. How writers mixed the two genres, history and fiction, impacted on an author's attempt to give a realistic depiction of life. Issues related to the combining of these two genres will be addressed in this chapter as well. The review of

15 16 relevant literature adheres to the design of the study as a whole;

in that, issues related to the 19th century are reviewed initially, followed by the evolution of the particular issue.

Criticism

The Move Away From Moral ism

The American Civil War was fought during a time when children's books were experiencing a radical change. This was a time when authors began to believe that it was worthwhile to entertain chil­ dren. Pflieger (1987) found in her doctoral study of a 19th century periodical for children that by the time of the Civil War children were no longer seen as "raw material to be shaped into good citizens," but "entities of themselves." Phlieger made a connection to the literature of children. "This change in a tti­ tudes fueled a change in the literature provided for children, as the overt didacticism of antebellum literature gave way in the

1860s to entertainment."

MacLeod (1978) studied the cultural history of children's

books written in the United States from 1820 to 1860. The fiction she examined initially revealed very little of the culture of the

period, since its sole purpose was to provide moral lessons to its

readers. MacLeod found the backgrounds in the stories almost

abstract in their generality, and plots and characterization that 17 were purposefully flat. "It is startling to contemplate how much was left out, for all the authors' claim that they wrote about reality" (p. 18). MacLeod determined from careful readings from this early literature that writers were attempting to control the next generation, and save it from the social upheaval they were experiencing prior to the Civil War.

The sharp rise in the numbers of books written to entertain children at about the time of the war are attributed to two factors by the critic Townsend. The growth in literacy and the vibrancy of the publishing industry are cited as the primary causes (1974).

Children's books written for pleasure became more prevalent on both sides of the Atlantic according to Townsend, which suggests the

American Civil War was not a primary reason for the growth.

Richard Darling, the author of a study on how children's books were reviewed from 1865-1881, is careful not to dismiss the influ­ ence of the war. While it would appear that had the War been fought twenty years earlier, children's novels written about the war would have been deeply moralistic; it is important to "remember that everything in some way was touched by the war" (p. 6).

Series Books

Novels written as a series appeared following the war, and were extremely successful. The books were attacked for their 18 sensationalism by teachers, reviewers and librarians. Donelson and Nil sen, authors of a textbook for young adults, describe these books as the method for publishing most adolescent novels. The series novels by Optic, Alger and Castlemon were charged with sensationalism (Darling, 1974). Donelson and Nil sen as well as

Darling see the series novels of the 19th century as the fore­ runner of the modern series books that received phenomenal success under the guidance of Edward Stratemeyer. Darling does explain that the series books of the 19th century did differ from the

Hardy Boys series as well as other modern books written in a series.

The books written immediately following the Civil War were planned as a series from the outset, and four to six books were contained in each series. Despite these differences, the series books of the 19th century were attacked by librarians and reviewers as were their 20th century counterparts (Donelson and Nilsen, 1989).

MacLeod (1984) compared the series novels to fairy tales.

She found they helped the reader to believe in himself as he

"faced the challenges of growing up." Oliver Optic, the pen name of William T. Adams who was a principal of a Massachusetts school, is cited by MacLeod as the first author of popular series books for boys. He was phenomenally successful and authored over 100 books as well as being the editor of two children's periodicals. 19

The series books have been blasted by critics since the 19th century. Opticwas one of many who published juveniles in a series and created sensational heroes, but he received a dispro­ portionate amount of the abuse (Darling, 1974). He often used his periodicals to defend himself and his writing, but the cri ti ci sm conti nued.

The Rise of Realism

Historical fiction written for children was nearly inseparable from theadventure story during the 19th century (Townsend, 1974).

There was a burgeoning movement toward realism in the latter half of the 19th century, and this could be found in works about the Civil

War. John Esten Cooke, the author of several adult Civil War novels of the 19th century, bemoaned the fact that his work preceded the emergence of realism. Cooke noted in the mid-1880s that the realists, "See as I do, that fiction should faithfully reflect life, and they obey the law while I can not. I was born too soon, and am now too old to learn my trade anew" (Muhlenfeld, 1985).

Children's historical fiction was affected by the advent of realism as well. Cornelia Meigs, the author of A Critical History of Children's Literature (1969), cited the work of Howard Pyle as an example of this growth in realism. The author of Otto of the

Silver Hand (1888) and Men of Iron (1892) is described by Meigs as 20 a "Lover of romance who was able to discipline himself to the demands of realism and to infuse his realism with significance"

(p. 287). Berman (1978) states in his dissertation, "The Naive

Child and the Competent Child: American Literature for Children and American Culture, 1830-1930," that characters in children's novels following the Civil War lose some of their innocence and become "competent" or "chivalric". He found heroes in Oliver

Optic's novels to be competent, and heroes created by Howard Pyle to be chivalric.

William Dean Howells, the leading proponent of realism in

American fiction, praised the children's novel. The Story of a Bad

Boy (1870) in a review published that same year in the "Atlantic

Monthly". The author, Thomas Baily Aldrich, is described in the review as "Telling the story of a boy's life, with so great a desire to show what a boy's life is, and so little purpose of teaching what it should be" (pp. 124, 125). The Story of a Bad Boy was a contemporary children's novel, yet it is interesting to note that the author later wrote Civil War novels for adults.

Realism in historical novels is affected by the author's mixing of history and fiction. Critics are not in agreement with how these two disciplines enhance or detract from the successful portrayal of a realistic work of fiction, Joel Taxel (1983) 21 believes literature for children is selective, and that this narrowing of interpretations of a particular event furthers the importance of accuracy in works of historical fiction for children.

He helps to build his argument for a careful representation of the past in historical fiction by using Rosenblatt's transactional theory of literature. Taxel believes that "meaning resides in the text as well as the reader." A misrepresentation of events or characters in the text of historical fiction would thus affect what Rosenblatt terms the "poem" (1978).

Allan Jacobs (1969) examined eleven Civil War novels that were written in the 1950s and 1960s, and found the protagonists to be

"caucasion, brave, strong, reliant and trustworthy." Historical references were rarely stated directly in the novels. Strong alleigances to either the North or South seldom emerged, and

"no clear statements of causes or purposes of the Civil War were ascertained." Jacobs stated that the literary quality of the novels should be the primary criteria for use in social studies classrooms.

Sheila Egoff (1981), a children's literature critic, finds the issue of mixing history and fiction to be difficult for many writers. Her stance leans to the fictional part of the coupling.

She uses the novels of the acclaimed British author of historical 22 fiction, Rosemary Sutcliff, to support the author's ability to create realism through providing "just the right detail" and gain­ ing an "affinity" for the distant past as though she had experienced it herself.

Compromise is inherent in historical fiction, but the influence on these works by the competing fields of fiction and history is not formulaic. Of course a perfect "meshing" is not desired, nor is it foreseen. Perhaps the mixture of these disparate fields forces compromises that reflect the realism that has been sought by both writers of history and fiction.

Historiography

Authors who use research to help create historical novels are inevitably .effected by interpretations presented by historians.

Collier, a historian and author of historical fiction for children, claims that writers of historical fiction are unable to avoid the influences of historiography. "All written history is interpre­ tation, and novelists present their own historical interpretation whether they are conscious of it or not" (Collier, 1977, p. 234).

The American Civil War has provoked an enormous amount of scholar­ ship. More than 50,000 books and pamphlets have been published on the war years alone (McPherson, p. 865). This body of literature is constantly shifting as different aspects of the war are 23 emphasized. The dominant historical interpretation of the cause of the Civil War during the 19th century was the South's exploita­ tion of the slave and the maintenance of the planter society

(Brock, 1969). Other major interpretations of the war have included the South's response to Northern provocation or states' rights, and economic interpretations. The causes of the war have been debated over the past century, yet historians over the past twenty or more years have been in near total agreement over the cause of the war.

This is reflected in the historiographical scholarship of the past twenty years. "A student who read only what has been written on the secession crisis since 1960 might have great difficulty under­ standing the long controversies over the causes of the Civil War.

In more recent works, slavery is unquestionably the cause" (Taylor,

1987, p. 162).

Joel Taxel's study of Revolutionary War novels supported

Collier's claim of the inevitability of historiographical influence on novels written about the past. Taxel found the vast majority of novels about the Revolution adhered to the conservative Whig inter­ pretation, and thus resulted in a focus on the colonies' patriotic battle for independence.

In a recent dissertation Frances Walsh (1987) studied the evolution of novels written about the American Revolution. She 24 stated that succeeding generations interpreted and reinterpreted the war. Walsh's findings were in harmony with those found by

Taxel. She found that "prevailing historiographic theories" did affect the writing of the novels.

Historiography would appear to reflect the writing of chil­ dren's novels as well as influencing them. Books written without conscious attention to the interpretations of history may result in stories that mirror the historian's work, but who is receiving the information is not clear. Ann MacLeod's work on the cultural history of children's books expresses the nature of this symbiotic relationship. MacLeod believes all children's books have a cultural context (1978). "When American writers undertook the moral and social instruction of children through fiction, they necessarily documented their own attitudes, both conscious and unconscious, toward childhood and society" (p. 19).

Author's Perspective

Authors of the latter half of the 19th century commonly intruded on their story. This practice could be found in the works of Charles Dickens and George Eliot, two famous and highly respected

British authors. Jean-Paul Sarte (1939), the author and philos­ opher, claimed that the writer should not exist in fiction, and found these intrusions to be unforgivable (1939). The contemporary 25 critic, Wayne C. Booth (1983), does not see these intrusions to necessarily be a fault, and states, "We must never forget that though the author can to some extent choose his disguises, he can never choose to disappear" (p. 20).

The literary critic Houston Baker explains how the social concerns of the 1960s and 1970s affected the role of the black author. "The necessity was to continue speaking in a manner that both counteracted the repressions of the white world and clarified the black situation for those who shared it" (p. 132). Blacks writing for children often felt a sense of responsibility to their readers. The point of perspective for Sarte was neutrality, while many black writers accepted the inevitable influence they had on their readers.

A heated debate in the literary community has surrounded the authorship of novels about the black experience. Novels written about the Civil War are particularly affected by this issue. It is difficult to write about the war without .cpnfrpntinq the issue pf ,_i slavery, althpugh the cpncern fpr the authpr's perspective manifests itself mpst clearly when the writer chposes t P depict a black prptagonist.

Central t P this issue is the acceptance pf black Americans as a distinct cultural grpup. The histprian, Jpel Williamspn states. 26

"Both as a race and as a culture, only the Afro-Americans seem to persist in large numbers over the centuries, physically proximate to other Americans, and yet significantly outside of the mainstream"

(Williamson, 1984, p. viii). The expression of this distinct cultural group has been limited due to the paucity of its oppressed audience.

The critic Baker explains the limitations of black authors due to the repressions of the black populace.

The status of black America as a collectivity,

however, has always been correlated with

harsh codes designed by white America to

ensure its power over black Americans. As a

consequence of this state of affairs, there

was, for all too long, no tangible, literate,

accessible black collectivity to answer the

black writer's query. Is there anybody there?

(Baker, 1980, p. 140).

The issues concerning the black author are then connected to a black audience. The importance of audience in children's books is addressed by Sims Bishop in Shadow and Sustance (1982). She states that, "Considerations of the audience to whom books about Afro-

Americans are primarily addressed cannot be dissociated from other 27 factors that influence the quality of such books (Sims Bishop, p. 8). The author's perspective has been affected by the recent scholarship done by historians. Their work on slavery has influenced the depiction of the institution in fiction. This is indicative of how the relevant areas of research are interre­ lated in the present study. The rise in realism has been affected by historiography as well. Children's novels are not only affected by historiography, but has also been created in a context that informs the historian. CHAPTER III

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

The purpose of the study was to explore Civil War novels that have been written for children since 1861. An attempt was made to include a representative sample of novels published from

1861 to the present. Novels written about the Civil War were popularized by prolific authors including Alger, Castlemon and

Optic, well before Lee surrendered his army at Appatomattox.

Content analysis was used to study five categories found in the novels. An emphasis was placed on how each of the selected cate­ gories helped to reveal the evolution of the novels.

The novels were examined for both historical and literary elements. Protagonists were depicted through the years of the study as realistic or heroic for literary as well as historic reasons.

The study attempts to reveal the changes in Civil War novels through examining five areas related to this body of fiction.

These areas will be identified and discussed following an explana­ tion of how the novels were selected.

28 29

Selection of Novels

The Richard Wilmer Jr. Collection contains hundreds of Civil

War novels dating back to the war, and this was the chief source for the present study. A friendly wager with a fellow undergraduate at Yale led to Wilmer's attempt to collect all of the Civil War novels. He began collecting novels in 1937, and by the time he entered World War II his collection included over 500 books. Wilmer soon found his collection had become too large for an army chaplain, and turned it over to the University of North Carolina at Chapel

Hill. "The library agreed to buy new titles and to continue to search for novels long out of print" (Lively, p. 14). Lively wrote in 1957, that, "The call list with which the University of North

Carolina seeks to complete its holdings includes hundreds of 'lost' titles, largely in the dime novel and juvenile categories' (Lively, p. 20).

The bibliography of Robert Lively's Fiction Fights the Civil

War and Albert Menendez's bibliography of Civil War Novels were used to select novels for this study. The Wilmer collection was the primary source for both Lively and Menendez's research. The bibliography of Civil War novels cited in Lively and Menendez contains 167 Civil War novels for young readers. Civil War novels found in Books in Print and children's literature textbooks added 30 to the present study. Many titles were cited in the bibliographies of Lively and Menendez. but the books were not available in the

Wilmer Collection. Nearly fifty novels were read from the Wilmer

Collection, while the remainder were drawn from various libraries.

The Columbus Public Library provided many of the novels not found in the Wilmer Collection. The Education Library at the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro contains novels written in the 1950s, a time when many books were published, but were particularly difficult to find on library shelves. The Interlibrary

Loan at The Ohio State University provided a few of the novels that could not be found otherwise. Despite the multiple sources used in this study it is obvious that the study would have been extremely difficult without access to the Wilmer Collection.

Of the nearly 200 novels "found" published between 1863 to 1987, seventy are included in this study. An attempt has been made to make the selection representative of the 124 years covered in the study.

The researcher has chosen to explore from thirteen to seventeen novels in four of the five chronological periods of the study. Few novels were published in the period from 1920 to 1950, and only six are included in the study. An effort has been made to make the study representative of the different periods by including many authors.

This is easily demonstrated by the inclusion of only three of the 31 eighteen novels written by Oliver Optic in the 19th century. The only other selection criterion was that the novels be set "during" the war. Lists of novels were drawn up before arriving at the

Wilmer Collection, but books that could be found about the war continued to be sought. There were novels written to an older audience that were deleted from the list only after viewing the novel. A bibliography of nearly 115 novels was prepared, but many of these were not found, represented books in a series by a single author or were not appropriate to the specific period of the study.

The study is broken into five separate time periods. The first period contains seventeen novels published in the 19th century, while the second period includes thirteen novels published between 1901 and 1919. Only six novels are included in the period between 1920 and 1950, largely because of the fewer novels written during this period. There are seventeen novels in the fourth

.period which spans the 1950s and 1960s, and seventeen novels in the fifth period as well, which covers the 1970s and 1980s, and completes the study. 32

TABLE 1

NUMBER OF NOVELS INCLUDED IN EACH PERIOD OF THE STUDY

1863-1900 17 novels

1901-1919 13 novels

1920-1950 6 novels

1951-1969 17 novels

1970-1987 17 novels

There are 24 authors included from 1853 to 1925, and 35 authors from 1926 to 1987. Several authors published novels in a series in the earlier years, resulting in fewer authors included in the first half of the study. Only four authors were responsible for producing

46 novels before 1925.

TABLE 2

NUMBER OF AUTHORS INCLUDED BEFORE AND AFTER THE

MID-POINT OF THE STUDY (1925)

1863-1925 24 authors

1926-1987 35 authors

Novels with little literary merit, as well as award winning novels will be found in this selection of Civil War fiction. The 33 novels in the study are set during the Civil War years from 1851-

1865, and a separate bibliography of Civil War novels is included.

Procedures

The novels in the study are broken into five periods based on their date of publication, and are then analyzed under five separate categories. An examination of each of the categories helps to illuminate the changes in Civil War novels since the time of the war.

The categories were chosen for their significance to the individual

Civil War novel, as well as their ability to reveal the evolution of the novels over the past 124 years. The novels were not read in chronological order but were purposely read to accent the evolution of the novels.

The first category to appear in the study is an exploration of protagonists in Civil War novels. Important characters were noted, and their development through the novel was followed. How sensationalized individual characters were depicted was included, as well as more indepth realistic portrayals found in the stories.

The age of the protagonist was not an issue in the preparation for the study, but it became important early in the research. Young protagonists, those under 12 years of age, created opportunities and difficulties for authors. The realistic depiction of the young protagonist became an important part of the study. 34

Breakthroughs in this study of Civil War novels sometimes mani­ fested itself in the protagonist. The first female protagonist is noted along with the far later appearance of the first black protagonist.

Black characters and slavery is the second category to be studied by the researcher. Slavery was a major issue in the war, and a necessary component of a study of Civil War novels. Given their role of central importance it is ironic that Blacks are rarely major characters in the novels. The present study is interested in the roles black characters are given, and the degree of dignity they are shown to possess when depicted by the majority culture. There is only one black author among the 59 writers in the study. The perpetuation of stereotypes of Blacks is examined in the study, and how the depiction of these stereotypes has changed over the years. An example is the acceptance of racial slurs by characters in the novels.

The third category to appear in the study is the protagonists' initial encounter in battle. The first engagement with the enemy on the battlefield is an integral part of war novels. This cate­ gory is designed to examine protagonists when they are vulnerable, and thus leave the author an opportunity to develop the character.

The researcher studied the author's response to the encounter to 35 see whether the protagonists was further developed. This category was also helpful in detecting trends away or towards realism within the study. Heroic protagonists were often good barometers for a continued romantic view of the Civil War.

The fourth category, feelings toward the enemy, is of partic­ ular importance for Civil War novels. The American Civil War evoked strong feelings between people living in the Northern and

Southern sections of the United States. This category included the movement toward reconciliation, in addition to the bitterness expressed by the enemies. Authors were often unable to resist a didactic tone as they spoke of the merits of the enemy. The researcher noted these often obvious passages, as well as the bitterness shown by characters.

The final category is made up of the themes that emerged from

Civil War novels set on the homefront or on the battlefield.

Characters involved in the fighting are enveloped by the verbal and visual reminders of the military, while those remaining at home are immersed in the war within the context of familiar surroundings.

A predominant theme was identified in each novel by determining which setting had the greatest impact on the protagonist. The researcher noted the type of protagonist found in homefront novels.

While young men were depicted in the military, a plethora of types 36 lived on the homefront. The protagonists were analyzed to see if they were under twelve years of age, female, or young men who had not left for the military.

The researcher alternated reading the novels written 50 or more years ago with those written more recently. This pattern helped to keep the study focused on the evolution of the novels.

Trends revealed in the novels were compared across periods, and in the context of the full study. Anomalies found in the study were noted and their significance was explained. This is exemplified by the desertion of a protagonist in a 1960 novel, and the impact his action had on the category entitled the initial encounter in battle.

Civil War novels for children were not written in a vacuum.

This was true for what the critic, Brander Mathews (1901), referred to as the most "trustworthy" historical novels, "those which were a-writing while history was a-making," as well as novels whose reconstruction of the war period was influenced by contemporary events. Each period will be introduced with a brief overview of trends in children's literature, major events affecting the nation, and changes in the black community. CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

(1853-1950)

Civil War Novels 1863-1900

The five categories described in chapter three are reflected in all of the novels. A table appears at the beginning of each of the sections of chapter four and five to give an overview of each section. Two of the categories were difficult to label. Black characters and slavery has been labeled Blacks, and the number of important black characters in each novel is listed. A male pro­ tagonist older than twelve is listed as a civilian. This would, of course, not include soldiers.

The five categories will be used to study the novels written during the 19th century. Most of the writers of this period were influenced by events of the war as they happened. The bitterness and cost of the war was especially meaningful to them. The war became a part of them, not something they saw from a distance.

Three writers of Civil War fiction during this period were especially prolific. Oliver Optic wrote over 100 novels for children, eighteen of which were Civil War novels. Many of his novels were

37 TABLE 3

CIVIL WAR NOVELS: 1863-■1900

Author Title Date Protagonist Blacks Initial Feelings Theme

Alger Frank's Campaign 1864 Civilian 3 Yes Yes Homefront

Allen A Boy Tropper with Sheridan 1899 Soldier - - — Yes Yes Military

Barrow Colonel Freddy 1863 Youth ------No Yes Homefront

Castlemon Frank Before Vicksburg 1864 Soldier “ - “ Yes No Military

Castlemon Rodney the Partisan 1890 Soldier 1 Yes Yes Mi 1i tary

Dunn General Nelson's Scout 1898 Soldier — — — Yes Yes Military

Goss Jed: A Boy's Adventure 1889 Soldier — — — No Yes Mi 1i tary

Howard Henry in the War 1899 Solider ------Yes Yes Military

Optic Soldier Boy 1863 Soldier ---- Yes No Military

Optic Fighting Boy 1866 Soldier ---- No Yes Military 00 TABLE 3 (continued)

CIVIL WAR NOVELS: 1863--1900

Author Title Date Protagonist Blacks Initial Feelings Theme

Optic On the Blockade 1890 Soldier 2 Yes Yes Military

Optic An Undivided Union 1899 Soldier No Yes Military

Page Two Little Confederates 1888 Youth 1 No Yes Homefront

Shelton The Last Three Soldiers 1897 Soldier — — — No Yes Homefront

Smith The Boy in Gray 1894 Soldier 2 Yes Yes Mi 1i tary

Stoddard The Battle of New York 1892 Soldier 1 No Yes Military

CO KO 40 written as a part of a series, which was common in the 19th century.

Horatio Alger -Jr. was first published in Oliver Optic's magazine.

His stories of boys going from rags to riches became legendary.

Alger wrote a Civil War novel for children during the time of the war. H.C. Castlemon wrote eight Civil War novels for children.

Castlemon claimed children were interested in action, not literary descriptions. He believed if you packed enough adventure into

"about 250 pages" children would be satisfied.

The 17 books included in this period have been written by 12 different novelists. Only two of these novelists lived in the

South. The devastation of the South left little money for Southern publishing houses necessary to support the region's authors. "War's end left the South with no major publishing firm equipped to pro­ duce and market books. Besides, Southerners were far too poor to buy them" (Muhlenfeld, 1985, p. 184).

Southern authors who wrote Civil War novels for children during this period were Thomas Page and George Smith. Page was a well known regional novelist who lived in Virginia. Scribners, a large publisher in the North, published his novel. Two Little

Confederates. Smith was a chaplain in the Georgia militia during the war. His Civil War novel. The Boy in Gray, was published in

Macon, Georgia. 41

Children's literature was moving away from the simple moralizing tale of the early 19th century during this period.

The importance of morals often remained, but was accompanied by romance and humor. Books were written to appeal to a wider age range during this period, which the critic, Meigs, attributed to

"The very general family habit of reading aloud" (Meigs, p. 160).

Nineteenth century Civil War novels were written during a time of change following the war. Northern troops maintained a military presence in the South when the war ended. The period of reconstruction lasted until 1877 when the troops were removed.

The period under study, 1863-1900, began while the Civil War was being fought, and ends with the Spanish-American war.

Reconstruction was a time of progress for Blacks. State governments in the South had substantial Black participation, and two black men were elected to Congress. These gains ended after reconstruction, as Southerners instituted the poll tax and other measures to keep Blacks from voting.

Protagonists

Protagonists who join the army and go to war dominate the novels during this period, while young protagonists appear infre­ quently on the homefront. Young protagonists often talk of the 42 war, but are too young to join the army. Only two of the novels have protagonists twelve years old and under.

Protagonists in this early period were often boys who experienced remarkable success in the army. The children's literature critic, John Rowe Townsend claims "There is no clear dividing line between the adventure story and the historical novel of the 19th century" (Townsend, 1974, p. 59). Nineteenth century

Civil War novels are in reality, then, boys' adventure novels.

Oliver Optic claimed he would not apologize for his 18 year old protagonist who commanded a ship in the 1890 novel. On the Blockade.

The protagonist in Howard's novel, Henry in the War, is equally . successful. He enters the war as a private, passes through nine grades, and leaves the war a brigadier general.

Louisa May Alcott, a 19th century children's author, attacked these novels for being sensational. Protagonists could be found commanding ships, speaking with famous generals, and performing deeds not common for boys their age. Her charge of sensationalism cannot be denied, although her attack is misguided. Alcott demanded a depiction of realistic characters, but the adventurous protagonist is an integral component of Civil War novels written in the 19th century. This was true before Alcott's famous attack in 1875, and continued through the end of the century. A rejection 43 of adventurous protagonists is a rejection of the 19th century

Civil War novel.

Novelists of this period were often hindered by their proximity to the war. Writers of the 19th century novels were overwhelmed by the recent history of the war, and focused on events of the war, rather than individuals. General 0.0. Howard spends a vast amount of time describing West Point, the training ground for leaders of both the Confederacy and the Union. The reader is informed that "It will not be long before we shall see how useful was all this West Point experience" (Howard, 1899, p. 73).

The protagonist, Henry, is placed in the background during

Howard's description of West Point. The protagonist is not developed by this description and the action in the novel does not occur at West Point. Howard appears to extend his description because of his familiarity with West Point during the war. He is unable to view the war from a distance.

Warren Goss was explicit in connecting his experiences in the war with his writing. His novel, Jed: A Boy's Adventure, is dedicated to, "The Sons and Daughters of My Comrades of the Grand

Army of the Republic." Goss intended to depict the war as it was fought. He states in his preface that, "This sketch of the war will be recognized as true believes the author. By the veterans 44 of the war who may chance to read them to their boys and girls"

(Goss, preface).

The accuracy Goss commits himself to has pitfalls for a writer of fiction. His first person narrator repeatedly finds reason to state, "Here let me digress". The reader is then in­ formed of issues of military importance. Goss describes battles at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg in detail. His desire for accuracy results in a protagonist who has more knowledge than is possible. Dick, the protagonist, explains that 2,204 prisoners died at Andersonville prison in July. This information could not have been available to Dick until he looked at records following the war.

George Smith was a chaplain with the Georgia militia, and unable to escape his past associations with the war. Smith claims in the preface to The Boy in Gray that his purpose is the reconcili­ ation of the North and South. Yet, from the beginning this

Southerner is also intent on defending slavery. The protagonist's family had slaves who, "Were better trained, more religious and moral than farm laborers in any other part of the world" (Smith,

1894, p. 15). The desire to persuade his audience of the merits of the "Old South" leaves little room for a story. 45

Robert Lively wrote in his study of Civil War novels that,

"For many years after the war the burden of history proved almost too much for novelists who wrote of the conflict" (Lively, 1957, p. 80). These authors had remembrances of the war period, and believed they had a duty to inform their young readers. Writing a good story was secondary.

Children as Protagonists

Children were depicted as protagonists in only two novels written during this period. Children's literature critic Sheila

Egoff expresses a reason for why so few writers use young protagonists. "Characters must be old enough and mature enough to grasp, and hence impart, the nature of the often awesome events in which they find themselves" (Egoff, 1981, p. 184).

The protagonist in Colonel Freddy by Barrow avoids the concern

Egoff has outlined by making no attempt to "grasp or impart the nature of awesome events." Freddy is eager to join the war, but is a ten year old playing games on the Atlantic shore in this novel.

Colonel Freddy may be best described as a period novel. Egoff's concern for young protagonists in historical fiction would not extend to novels that are merely set during a particular period.

The young characters in Two Little Confederates help to impart information about important events during the war. Union 46 troops often foraged off.Southerners as they pushed through rebel lands. Young Frank and Willy are frightened by the Yankee soldiers who come onto their land. A Yankee soldier is described as drawing his sword on the boys. "The boys expected no less than to be immediately killed. They were almost paralyzed. But instead of plunging his sword into them, the man began to stick it into the mattresses" (Page, p. 49).

The fear the boys express imparts important information on how Union soldiers were thought of by Southerners on the homefront.

Page has shown that young protagonists are able to convey believable information. This is not easily done on the battlefield, but young protagonists on the homefront can be believable and informative.

Depictions of the war in 19th century novels relied heavily on the daring of adolescent protagonists. The necessity for a hero in these novels made realism a liability. Yet, it was the reality of the war that was too close for many authors of this period. They could not gain the needed distance to create characters and not history lessons.

Black Characters and Slavery

There are no black protagonists in the novels written in the

19th century. The most crucial shortcoming in the development of minor black characters of this period is their lack of individuality. 47

The plight of the free Black and the slave was inarguably difficult.

Yet, this did not necessarily keep them from living full lives.

It is difficult to depict these lives when the perspective is always from the white world.

The novels of this period are noteworthy for their persistent use of racial slurs and other indignities. This is a crude reminder of the absence of a black culture in the novels. The reality of the social order in those times is not being questioned. What is questioned is the ignorance or lack of interest in black lives being lived in a black culture. There are no black writers in this period, and the white authors had difficulty extending them­ selves beyond their own perspective.

Novels of this period had in common two characteristics relating to Blacks and slavery. First, black characters are described as having some accomplishment, which is, more often than not, subsequently invalidated. Second, there is a lack of inter­ action among black characters in the novels, which does not allow for the depiction of a black culture. Slavery is an issue that influences the novels and evokes strong feeling.

The accomplishments of black characters are often invalidated by negative implications. Frank's Campaign was a novel written about the contributions Frank made to the Union cause while living 48 at home. Frank and his family helped a black mother and her son

after they escaped from the South. Frank is teaching the mis­

chievous young black boy. Pomp, how to read. Pomp makes rapid

progress with his reading, and is told he could help his mother

to read. "She couldn't learn. Mass' Frank. She's poor ignorant nigger" (Alger, p. 43).

Children in Civil War novels during this period have not

spoken of a parent in the manner in which Pomp does. His words

imply that black slaves had a lack of respect for family. Learning to read is an accomplishment that is immediately tarnished by Pomp's

response concerning his mother.

On the Blockade was written by Oliver Optic. The story

involves a young commander Christy Passford and his crew, who

fight to keep the rebels from running the Union blockade. A free

black man, Dave, helps to capture a spy on board the ship. This

accomplishment is negated when Dave is shown to be feeble minded.

The commander informed Dave that the spy was dumb, and Dave

responded that, "I expect he is, sir; but he never said anything

to me about it" (Optic, p. 53).

Dolly is a black character in the same novel. He helps in

the engine room, and is described as more intelligent than the

other slaves. "Dolly talked as though he had been educated, but 49

he could neither read nor write; and had picked up all his learning

by the assistance of his ears alone" (Optic, p. 282).

Dolly's ability to communicate is invalidated because he has

no formal schooling. The narrator's statement does not contain

sufficient information for the reader to realize that slaves were

not allowed this schooling.

There is at least one exception to the pattern of invalidating

black characters' accomplishments. Ida Hancock is immediately

identified as an educated black woman in The Battle of New York.

Hancock is caught in the draft riots in New York, and finds refuge with the protagonist's family. Ida teaches at the orphan asylum.

The black and white members of the household are impressed with

this woman who comes from "One of the oldest New England families"

(Stoddard, p. 210). She represents a success valued by the majority

culture.

Slavery

Slavery was a major cause of the Civil War, and evoked

powerful feelings in many novels. The narrator in The Boy in

Gray, a Southern novel, is explicit about his beliefs on slavery.

"The fact was, no race of mere laborers were ever better paid, for

no race was ever so universally provided for as this race was" 50

(Smith, p. 210). The novel is used as a forum for the defense of slavery.

Two Little Confederates is a Southern novel written by

Thomas Page. Lucinda Mackethan wrote in The History of Southern

Literature that "Page saw only the charm of the master-slave rela­ tions" (Rubin et al, 1985, p. 212). This thought applies to the single children's novel written by Page. Uncle Balia, the major black character, has a special relationship with the mistress.

"There was a bond of sympathy between Uncle Balia and mistress"

(Page, p. 91). Uncle Balia is disturbed when mistress offers the slaves their freedom. Uncle Balia claims that he intends to remain on the plantation. "I wuz born on dis place an' I 'spec to die here, an' be buried right yonder" (Page, p. 49). This is part of the "charm" that Page saw in the master-slave relationship.

Balia's decision to remain on the plantation reveals the novel's unacceptance of emancipation.

General Nelson's Scout is set in the border state of Kentucky.

The Union protagonist and his cousin are divided in their feelings about slavery. The mother of the protagonist convinces her son of the horror of slavery. She states on her deathbed "That a just God will never prosper a nation whose chief cornerstone is human slavery" (Dunn, p. 35). His cousin, Calhoun, is not moved by the 51

goodness of the protagonist's mother: "Owing to the teachings of that Yankee mother of yours, you are with the abolitionists, nigger-stealers, the mud-sills of creation, lower and meaner than our slaves" (Dunn, p. 17). This novel of divided kinsmen uses the issue of slavery to drive the cousins apart. The beliefs expressed are polar opposites. The issue of slavery is used as a device by the author to create a good protagonist and an evil cousin.

The Battle of New York is written from an abolitionist perspective. Mrs. Redding is anxious for her daughter to grow up to be just like the educated black woman, Ida Hancock. Mrs. Redding tells her husband that, "If all the colored people were like her

." Her husband does not allow her to finish, but states,

"They’re just like white people. Some are worth something and some are of no use whatever" (Stoddard, p. 239). Mr. Redding explains that colored people are just like white people, and Mrs. Redding claims she wants her daughter to be like a black woman. Both of these statements reflect an Abolitionist perspective. This perspec­ tive is evident throughout the novel.

Lack of a Black Culture

A black culture is not depicted in the novels, as the black characters are seldom seen outside their roles in the white world. 52

This is obvious in the novels written by Southern authors. The mistress of the plantation in Two Little Confederates is in charge of a "dozen white people, and five times as many colored dependents" (Page, p. 61). The sixty colored dependents are referred to as a group. The reader learns that the negroes all had henhouses and raised their own chickens.

The only time the black slaves are seen as individuals is when they interact with whites. Uncle Balia was a slave who helped the mistress, and was the young protagonists' "boon comrade". No attempt is made to include interactions between black characters.

Uncle Jack is a black character in The Boy in Gray. Uncle

Jack is in a position of authority. The reader is told that Jack,

"Manages the hands well, but is too hard on them" (Smith, p. 107).

He responds harshly to a request of help from the slaves. "Dese lazy niggers can card dey own wool" (Smith, p. 107). The author had the opportunity to include dialogue between slaves, but chose to refer to the black slaves as a group.

Novels with isolated black characters do not contain a black culture. Altick is a servant to Tom Somers in Fighting Joe. He does not interact with black characters. Smutty is an eccentric black servant who is seen wearing Colonel Gruffs clothes in Jed 53 by Goss. His eccentric actions are for a white audience. Black characters do not interact in these novels.

The Battle of New York gives a glimpse of black characters interacting. A small group of black women seek refuge from the draft riots in New York. Diana Lee is a black servant in a New

York home, and encourages the women to stay with her. Diana Lee leads the women in song and prayer. This brief interaction is made possible by the creation of a strong character in Diana Lee.

Depictions of the black slave are sometimes deceptive.

There are blatant racial slurs contained in many of the novels, but it is the subtle implications of inferiority that remain with the reader. The world of the slaves is rarely mentioned in the novels, the emphasis being on their subservient roles in the majority culture. The novels show little interest in the lives of

Blacks, but slavery is an issue that is used to give novels a philosophical direction.

Initial Encounter in Battle

An examination of the responses of protagonists to their first battle will shed some light on the authors' creation of dynamic characters. When the protagonist is faced with such crises, there is an opportunity for development. 54

Not all the novelists took this opportunity to develop their protagonist- Fred is the able staff officer in General Nelson's

Scout. He speaks with confidence to famous generals, and performs difficult tasks effortlessly. Fred is shaken by his first battle, and tries to reconcile his religion with his behavior on the battle­ field. Fred's religious beliefs have been challenged, and he is disturbed by the battle. The normally unflappable young staff officer is shaken. Fred had been a character who was always sure of his actions, but this cool assurance is broken and leaves the possibility of problems in the future. The author has chosen to develop Fred when he has his first encounter in battle.

The protagonist in The Orphan's Home Mittens, a simple moral tract, is depicted as someone who is dedicated to the Union cause.

His devotion to the cause is solemn and complete, but a friend's death on the battlefield has a profound effect on him. This is evidenced by his continued references to his friend. The protagonist later becomes a general and moves west to Ft. Donelson in Tennessee, and continues to speak of the loss of his friend.

There are other characters in the novels who are not developed by their initial encounter in battle. The protagonist in Henry in the War attended a seminary in Bangor, Maine, and is in a prayer group at West Point. His religious background is in evidence when 55 he faces his initial battle. "Henry was at his best; kind, tender, and Christian" (Howard, p. 153). The author did not choose to use this opportunity to develop his protagonist.

Tom Somers is the determined protagonist in Soldier Boy.

Other soldiers grumbled when given guard duty, Tom did not. "It was not exactly agreeable to stand on guard for two hours, on a cold, rainy night; but grumbling would not make it any more agree­ able" (Optic, p. 107). Tom responds similarly to his first battle:

"He pressed on determined not to disgrace the name he bore"

(Optic, p. 212). He is surprised by the "dead reality" of the war, but he persevered. "The order was given to fire ... He no longer saw the dead and the dying; he no longer heard the appalling roar of battle. He had become a part of the scene, instead of an idle spectator" (Optic, p. 121). Tom Somers is an admirable character who accepts difficult situations throughout the novel. The author has chosen to keep the protagonist consistent, rather than seize this opportunity to develop the character.

Many protagonists during this period found themselves in their first battle, but the lack of realism in the novels lessened the power of this event. Characters who enter their first battle as thinly developed heroes are difficult to define and the effects of a dangerous conflict are seldom seen. The creation of genuine 56 fear in characters, in a time of courageous heroes, was a substantial risk for authors- of this period.

Feelings Toward the Enemy

Novels written in the 19th century were influenced by the bitterness following the war, and the competing desire for reconciliation. Soldiers in the novels came into contact with the enemy on the battlefield, as well as under circumstances other than combat. Often remarks about the enemy are spiteful, but concern for soldiers on the other side does occur. Characters on the homefront often share feelings with enemy soldiers stationed near their homes.

Bitter feelings against the enemy are expressed in novels written for both Southern and Northern perspectives. The narrator in The Undivided Union strongly implies Southerners were lazy.

"Evidently, like many other Southerners, they were not used to work, and the task proceeded with many growls from all hands" {Optic, p. 127).

The Confederacy is depicted as cowardly in its attack on

Ft. Sumter in The Orphan's Home Mittens. "A wicked and dreadful attack on the handful of half starved soldiers" (Barrows, p. 32b).

The fort was located in South Carolina, but this is not mentioned.

The statement inflames Union partisans. 57

Union troops living in the South often helped themselves to rebel property. The soldiers were often in need of the food and supplies found in these homes, but were sometimes abusive to the families. There is an occurrence of this foraging reported in the

Two Little Confederates. This Southern novel describes the abuse of Union soldiers:

It was a queer sight, to see the fellows

sitting on their horses with a ham or a

pair of fowls tied to one side of the

saddle and an engraving, or a package of

books, or some ornament, to the other

(Page, p. 59).

The Union soldiers are depicted as thieves, as the property they took was not essential. This scene expresses the abuses of Union soldiers.

There were characters in the novels who attempted to under­ stand the enemy. A brief dialogue between a returning soldier and his wife in A Boy Trooper with Sheridan shows understanding toward the enemy.

"When I get well I'll be able to

rebuild our home, which the Yankees have

destroyed for us." 58

"But, my dear, our home was not

destroyed by the Yankees. The city was

fi red by our own men ..."

"Our leaders were wrong, and it

follows that we must suffer for it"

(Allen, 1899, unpaged).

This soldier quickly loses his bitterness toward the Yankees and accepts the mistake his own men have made. The soldier not only sees the fault of Southern soldiers, but rebel leaders as well.

The author of The Boy in Gray, George Smith, is explicit in his desire to reconcile the differences between the North and

South. He gives his novel a purpose in the preface. This purpose is to show his readers the worth of Union soldiers. He states that he wants his young readers to see, "How really noble and generous were many of those who were on the other side" (Smith, preface). This explicit information in the preface forces the author to fulfill his purpose, and depict fine Union soldiers in the narrative. The narrator of the story claims that, "Fédérais and Confederates never hated each other, and the soldiers of either side were always willing to help each other" (Smith, p. 141).

Henry is disturbed by the foraging of Southern homes in

Henry in the War. He is "furious" when "rough men wantonly 59 destroyed any property of a private nature, such as stables, barnes, and houses" (Howard, p. 230). Yet, Henry does accept all of his duties on Sherman's March to the Sea.

Henry angrily defends the right of Southerners from abusive

Union trespassers. He also performs all of his duties as a soldier on Sherman's March to the Sea. Sherman's march was notorious for its destruction of Southern property, and Henry's participation in the march invalidates his stance against abusive

Union trespassers. The actions of Union soldiers against Southerners on the homefront was a cause of bitterness. Feelings toward the enemy were not uniform. Bitterness was strong in the country, yet reconciliation was a common theme.

Military or Homefront

The most meaningful separation of themes in Civil War fiction written for children distinguishes the novels set on the battlefield from those on the homefront. There are important events in the novels that occur specifically on the homefront. Southerners at home faced the threat of Union soldiers robbing them of necessities and destroying their property. Novels with children as protagonists are forced to be set on the homefront. These novels have unique concerns greatly influenced by their setting. Children may be removed from the war, or their home may be the site of interactions 60

with soldiers. Adolescents may be too young to join the army,

causing authors to find connections between the home and the war

for these protagonists.

Military themes depict life in the army or navy. The pro­

tagonist is influenced by other soldiers and threats of combat.

An atmosphere where the protagonists are surrounded by other boys

and older men affects these novels. Courage may be shown in subtle ways on the homefront, but it is a visible issue with the young men in military themes.

The majority of the novels in this period are set on the

battlefield. The most marked quality of these novels is their

predictability. Each protagonist is involved in a battle, and

becomes an officer. This is a reflection of the adventurous

protagonist who dominates the novels of this period.

A strength of the homefront novel during this period is its ability to accomodate varied protagonists. Children, adolescents not in the war, and ironically even soldiers appear as protagonists

in homefront novels of this period. These protagonists make diff­ erent demands on the author and give the homefront theme a richness

not found in military novels written during this period. 61

Civil War Novels: 1901-1919

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by advances in

children's literature. Public libraries began to lend books to

children and separate rooms for children and their books began to appear (Meigs, 1969). The literature for children continued to free itself of the moralizing found in books for children before the Civil War. Elva S. Smith noted many of these advances being made at the beginning of the 20th century.

The changes in the social and economic life

of the people, the international contacts

resulting from the European war [World War I],

studies in child psychology, new educational

theories and methods, more critical reviewing

of children's books, new processes in printing

and illustration, the establishment of chil­

dren's rooms in public libraries and special

departments in publishing houses-these and

other causes have resulted not only in a

greatly accelerated production but in a new

literature for children differing from the

old subject, literary method, format, and

illustration (Smith, 1980). TABLE 4

CIVIL. WARNOVELS: 1901-1919

Author Title Date Protagonist Blacks Initial Feelings Theme

Arnold The Young Refugees 1912 Civilian 1 Yes Yes Homefront

Altsheler The Guns of Shiloh 1914 Soldier Yes No Military

Bowl y A Boy Lieutenant 1906 Soldier 2 Yes Yes Military

Dunn Scouting for Sheridan 1918 Soldier 3 No No Military

Earle The Flag on the Hilltop 1902 Civilian 1 No Yes Homefront

Kennorly The Story of Sam Tag 1911 Youth 2 No Yes Homefront

Lancaster The Blue and Grey 1908 Soldier ------Yes Yes Mi 1i tary

Peple The Little Rebel 1911 Female/ - - - No Yes Homefront Youth

Robins Chasing an Iron Horse 1902 Civilian 2 No Yes Homefront

ro TABLE 4 (continued)

CIVIL WAR NOVELS: 1901-1919

Author Title Date Protagonist Blacks Initial Feelings Theme

Singmaster Emmeline 1916 Female — Yes Yes Homefront

Strateme.yer Defending His Flag 1907 Soldier — Yes Yes Military

Tomlinson The Young Sharp­ shooter at Antetam 1914 Soldier 1 No Yes Military

Wheelwright War Children 1908 Youth 1 Yes No Homefront

en w 64

Society was affected by the reforms of the progressive move­ ment during this period. The feminist movement, labor movement, and work with the poor were among the visible reforms. The family was going through changes. Migration to the cities altered the family structure. Women were less responsible for economic produc­ tion than they had been on the farm. The home was less a place of work, and the "Child had become to be its greatest concern"

(Frazier, 1979, p. 126).

Within the black community there was a concern about the image of black people in the country during this period. The leader of the National Association of Colored People, W.E.B. DuBois, was angry with how Blacks were being portrayed in the country by what he believed was a "wide conspiracy". This anger was expressed in an open letter to Woodrow Wilson on the day of his inauguration as President in 1913. DuBois' accusation connects with the portrayal of Blacks in Civil War fiction during this period. He states "It will take more than general good will on your part to foil the wide conspiracy to make Negroes known to fellow Americans not as flesh and blood but as beasts of fiction" (DuBois, 1986, p. 1143). 65

Protagonists

Protagonists in this period fall into four main categories.

The most striking change from the previous period, the 19th century, is the introduction of female protagonists. Other protagonists in this period are children, older boys who are not in the war, and soldiers.

Unlike the boy adventurer protagonists of the 19th century novels, Emmeline's success is not gained easily. Emmeline is the story of a 15 year old girl who grows up in Gettysburg. The author.

Elsie Singmaster, has created a character who sees Gettysburg as a town rather than a battlesite. When the great battle comes, the reader sees it through Emmeline's eyes.

The Confederate army decides to use her grandfather's house to treat their wounded. Emmeline is enlisted to help nurse the wounded. Her response to this duty dominates the novel. She often finds her job overwhelming. "I am to bring warm water and towels and cloths. I am not to cry or scream. I am not to cry or scream"

(Singmaster, 1916, p. 91). Her care for the Southern soldiers leads her to the loss of "all partisanship".

There is more character development with Emmeline due to the author's willingness to portray the girl's struggles. She is not depicted as an effortless heroine. The emotions she displays sets 65 her apart from many of the earlier protagonists who achieved their success without the accompaniment of emotions.

Virgie is the young protagonist in The Littlest Rebel. Her age is not stated, but she appears to be five or six. Virgie is often alone in her home in a bombed out village outside Richmond.

Her father is a spy for the Confederacy, and he gets home to Virgie when he can. "I come to my little girl with empty hands - with an empty gun - and with an empty heart" (Peple, 1911, p. 23).

Virgie threatens to tell Uncle Fitz Lee if a Union officer harms her father. When the officer asked if Fitz Lee was actually her uncle, he is given a look of "positive pity". According to

Virgie, the nephew of Robert E. Lee is everyone's uncle. The author's choice of a young female protagonist may have been for the sentiment she evoked.

Young Protagonists

In addition to The Littlest Rebel two other novels with young protagonists appear during this period. Young protagonists present problems for writers of historical fiction. As noted earlier,

Egoff claimed that young characters may not be believable when imparting important information. Virgie is not asked to provide information, and is therefore free of the problem expressed by

Egoff. She symbolizes the devastation of the South. Her simple 67 presence, and the reverence she has for Southern leaders conveys the author's message.

War Children, on the other hand, confirms the danger of children imparting information about awesome events. A judge speaks comfortably with eight year old Charlie about momentous events in the war. Word of the slaves' emancipation in the rebellious Southern states is received, and Charlie gives the judge his response to this event. "They must be firing guns every­ where in the country and the camps too, at the front, and when the slaves, near the lines, hear the guns they will know that they are free. Oh, aren't you glad" (Wheelwright, 1908, p. 186). An eight year old is unlikely to understand the magnitude of this event, and even less likely to articulate his thoughts in this manner.

The Story of Sam Tag is the first person narrative of a ten year old Southern boy. The story relates the boy growing up in a

Southern town during the time of the war. Yankee soldiers destroy property in Sam's home, but the war has little impact on the story.

Sam does not impart important information about the war, but gives a depiction of Southern life for a young boy. This helps to bolster his credibility as a character. He escorts ladies to dances because there are few men available, and tells stories of elaborate pranks performed at school. 68

The novelists have used young protagonists to achieve diff­ erent goals during this period. One story entertains, another sentimentalizes, and a third attempts to inform. They display the varied possibilities of young protagonists.

Adolescent as Civilian

Adolescent males, 15 and over, routinely join the army in

Civil War novels. Two novels in this period have older male protagonists who have not joined the army. These characters are not safe from violence, despite their civilian life. They do not appear in uniform, but are nevertheless embroiled in the war.

The protagonist in The Flag on the Hilltop is not prepared for the partisan feelings he finds in this small town on the

Confederate border. He is the nephew of the town doctor who is a strong Union man. Alec is kidnapped by rebel sympathizers determined to weaken the doctor's position in the town. Alec is treated kindly by his captors, and after escaping, he makes it back to his uncle's home.

The protagonist watches frightfully as the story reaches its climax. The flag on a hilltop at the edge of the doctor's property is the focus of the rebel sympathizers' anger. A mob of rebel sympathizers is met by Doctor Ford. The flag is torn down and the doctor is threatened. When a terrified man demands that 69 the doctor help his ailing wife, the doctor insists that he must go to see the man's wife, and he is allowed to leave.

Doctor Ford explained to Alex how that night changed him.

It doesn't even matter that the flag is

down, and I don't believe I'll put it up

again. I don't want to fly it in their

faces after the way they let me off last

night to save Hutchins' wife (Earle, 1902, p. 124).

Alec became closer to his uncle after that night. The author has developed the protagonist through his interactions with partisan characters from both North and South. Alec knows nothing of this small town when he arrives on the train, but his knowledge of the town and its people grows steadily through the novel.

George is involved in attempting to steal a southern train in Chasing an Iron Horse. George is described as a mere boy, but often acts the equal of the other men. This is made clear in a response he makes to MacGreggor, an older companion. MacGreggor makes a disparaging comment about their living quarters. "This place can't be renting at a very high price."

"It will do us well enough for a few hours sleep," said

George (Robins, 1902, p. 62). 70

George performs remarkably through the novel. He saves the members of his group from angry vigilantes by impersonating

Negroes, a skill he learned while a member of a minstrel group in Cincinnati. George performs an unbelievable feat described by the narrator: "He gracefully turned a somersault and landed, quite unhurt, after falling 35 feet while cutting telegraph lines"

(Robins, p. 132). The action is suddenly more serious when the men are caught stealing the train. Several of them are executed, and George is sent to prison. Yet George soon escapes, and is later granted an audience with President Lincoln.

The author of Flag on a Hilltop has written a story that is driven by partisan feelings. Anger rises quickly for supporters of both the North and South. This is an odd setting for a pro­ tagonist who lives at home, despite being old enough to join the war. George is a member of a gang stealing a Southern train, and this daring action answers all questions concerning his military standi ng.

Ironically, the protagonists depicted as soldiers are not as involved in the war as the adolescents out of uniform during this period. These stories are often tales of adventure, without connections to historical events. An examination of the novels reveals the importance of adventure in the stories. 71

The Young Sharpshooters at Antietam is a novel that relates the adventures of two soldiers. The adventures of the protagonists are often racially motivated. A Jewish sutler charges outrageous prices for his goods, resulting in a protagonist creating a sham battle and destroying the sutler's property. The protagonists are led into a trap by a "grotesgue negro", imprisoned in the home of a rebel sympathizer, and make a miraculous escape. There is no connection to historical events, and little description of military life.

The author, Tomlinson, claims in his preface that he will show "scrupulous" regard for the larger truths of history. A brief chapter on the movements of General Lee, that could easily be lifted from the text, apparently fulfills the requirements for his attention to history. The Battle of Antietam, included in the title, has little effect on the characters. It is the adventurous escapades of the protagonists, not the larger truths of history that are employed in this novel.

Defending His Flag by Stratemeyer is a story with both a

Union and a Confederate protagonist. These soldiers' connection to the war is no stronger than the protagonists described in The

Young Sharpshooters of Antietam. The Union protagonist is a soldier who cannot shed a hometown bully. The bully. Jacks, helps 72 to keep the novel removed from military life, and focused on suspense as evidenced by an authorial intrusion. The narrator states, "But were Jacks and his men fooled? Let us wait and see"

(Stratemeyer, 1907, p. 46).

The Confederate protagonist makes a daring escape from a

Union prison early in the novel. He makes another escape later in the novel accomplished by a girl giving him a silk handkerchief containing a pistol. A depiction of military life is sacrificed by the portrayal of adventurous protagonists.

Female protagonists are introduced in this period, and they provoke changes in the conventional Civil War novels. The girls' inability to join the war is an asset in these novels glutted with boy soldiers on meaningless adventures. The older girls provide a maturity not found on the homefront with young protagonists. Male and female adolescents are seen on the homefront during this period and give the novels a needed infusion of energy.

Black Characters and Slavery

It is surprising to find that half of the Southern novels written during this period do not have black characters. The novelists who attempted to depict Blacks positively during this period nearly always failed. The author of War Children,

Wheelwright, attempts to depict his black character in a dignified 73 manner. Tomlinson, the author of The Young Sharpshooters at

Antietam, creates black characters who are baited by the white protagonists. The plight of black characters is seen most poignantly when a black man is unceremoniously hanged for not providing adequate directions. The sensitivity shown toward

Black characters differs with each novel, but a black perspective is absent during this period.

Physical descriptions of black characters reveal a reliance on stereotypes. Julianne is a black character who is seen briefly in The Guns of Shiloh. She is a servant in the protagonist's home. Julianne travels to the battlefield with the protagonist's mother. The narrator describes Julianne as a, "Gigantic figure in a blue checked dress" (Altsheler, 1914, p. 157).

Two black characters with minor roles are described in The

Young Sharpshooters. An unnamed black woman is described as weighing four hundred pounds, and Long John is described as an exceptionally tall black character. Long John is defined as a

"grotesque negro".

The protagonist in Chasing an Iron Horse is met at the door of a mansion by a black servant. "A lazy looking negro came shuffling out of the front door" (Robins, p. 242). The black character is further described as having, "Large white teeth that 74

shone in the morning light like so many miniature tombstones"

(Robins, p. 242).

The physical descriptions of black characters are indicative of the attitude toward Blacks in many of the novels of this period.

The challenge to describe and create individual black characters

is made increasingly difficult by the use of stereotypical physical descriptions.

There were efforts made to depict Blacks positively, but these efforts were often accompanied by derogatory stereotypes. The racism of the time was rarely totally overcome. Bowley, the author of A Boy Lieutenant, was an officer in a black regiment during the

Civil War, and used his experiences to write this novel. Black troops are prepared to fight one morning but are not needed. The first person narrator explains, "No credit was ever given for that noble effort of exhausted, footsore men; not even a mention of it in the official reports" (Bowley, 1906, p. 46).

The young white lieutenant who narrates the story finds the black soldiers not "so black or so much alike after the first day"

(Bowley, p. 40). He draws this conclusion after contemplating the term "smoked Yankees", a name given black soldiers by Confederates.

The dialect used by black characters also belies the positive 75 depiction of Blacks. A black soldier advises a friend, "Doan' ye dar to flinch" (Bowley, 1905, p. 47).

Bowley made an effort to portray Blacks positively. He appreciates them as soldiers, and attempts to understand them as individuals. These efforts, however, are paternalistic and accompanied by racism, and thus fail to create a positive view of Blacks.

The first person narrator of The Story of Sam Tag ends the novel with a tribute to "Black Mammies". This is an explicit attempt to view Blacks positively.

Know this, my reader; soon the loyal South

will erect a fitting monument to the dear

old black mammies, to the kindly souls who

loved and nursed us the glad days and the

sad days of the dear "Old South" (Kennerly,

p. 183).

This tribute is given within the context of the values of the "Old

South". A positive view of Blacks is not incompatible with an acceptance of slavery in the mind of the narrator.

Basil is a black character in War Children. He appears frequently in the narrative, and the author attempts to portray him positively. Basil is admired for having endured the passage 76 across the ocean, and is appreciated for helping the protagonist's father escape from a Southern prison. The author defines Basil as a "Tall dignified man, not to be thought of as playing the banjo or dancing a double shuffle. His nose was straight and proud, and his mouth not full lipped" (Wheelwright, p. 194). The author has attempted to create a dignified black man, but he fails. He uses stereotypes to define Blacks, and then presents Basil as positive because he lies outside the stereotyped definition.

The most frightening occurrence involving a black character is found in Scouting for Sheridan. The protagonist. Bob, and a colonel are trying to cross a river, when they meet a black man who claims to know of a ford nearby. The men are unable to find the ford and the colonel shouts, "string him up". Bob was bothered by the colonel's intention to hang the man, but turned his horse and rode away. Not another word is said about the hanging; it is simply and completely accepted. The protagonist is presented as a hero in the novel, and maintains this status even though he makes no effort to stop the hanging.

There is a surprising lack of emphasis on black characters

or slavery in two of the Southern novels. The Littlest Rebel and

The Blue and Gray. Slavery is an issue in The Littlest Rebel, 77 but not in The Blue and Gray. The other two Southern novels are heavily influenced by black characters and slavery.

The Young Refugees, set in Georgia at the time of Sherman's march to the sea, has a heavy emphasis on slaves and slavery.

Ebony is a black character whose faithfulness to his master is described as something wonderful to witness. Ebony is singing the following song on his way to work one morning. "My ole mistus promised me. When she died, she'd sot me free; Now ole mistus dead an' gone, Lef dis negger hoein in de cawn" (Arnold, p. 57).

Another black character. Aunt Lucy, is photographed smoking a pipe on the page opposite Ebony's song. The caption reads,

"Aunt Lucy was seated at one side of the fire place in a low chair enjoying her evening smoke" (Arnold, p. 58). Ebony's song and his faithfulness to his master suggest that it was futile for a slave to seek freedom, and that faithfulness was the best alternative for the slave. The photograph of Aunt Lucy and its caption are designed to degrade black slaves.

In The Young Refugees the author describes slaves and slavery without invoking black voices. The scenes with Blacks are depicted with stereotypical information and an absence of black characters.

The people from a small Georgia town settle into camps outside town to avoid Sherman's march. These "refugees" are accompanied 78 by a "large retinue" of former slaves. The Blacks, "With fires, at some little distance from "de white folks", they sang, laughed and chattered away, without a thought for the future" (Arnold, p. 84).

The camps of former slaves had "No less than two or three fiddles or banjos. These particular musical instruments have been a part of the Southern negro from time immemorial" (Arnold, p. 85).

Depictions of life among Blacks is seldom worthwhile without black voices.

The Story of Sam Tag is a first person narrative set in the

South. The black characters have a strong influence on Sam. He is raised by Aunt Betsy, a black slave who claims to have been to heaven more than once. Her belief in spirits is shared by Sam.

The influence of black characters is best described in a statement made by the protagonists: "I climbed the bank and sat down by the tree, and wished I was a man, a negro man, that could catch fish and pop snakes' heads off" (Kennerly, p. 150). Sam's desire to be a "negro man" reflects the romantic attitude this ten year old boy has of the Old South.

Authors active at the turn of the century wrote during a time of racism and segregation. A lack of understanding of black characters by writers at this time reflects the segregated society.

Physical descriptions of black characters during this period are 79 stereotypical, and attempts at depicting positive black characters are not successful. The senseless hanging of a black character is conveyed in a perfunctory manner in a novel of this period. The

Southern novels showed both strong and mild influences by black characters and slavery.

Initial Encounter in Battle

In their initial encounter in battle, some characters responded to scenes of horror. Some authors used the battle scene as an opportunity to develop their characters, to show growth or change.

Other authors used this time of crisis to give information about problems many soldiers face when encountering their first battle.

Ned watches soldiers battle in The Young Refugees. Ned does not participate in the battle, but is affected by its violence.

"Come on, let us go home," entreated Ned. I believe I am getting sick. Oh, mercy; how some of them groan" (Arnold, p. 109). Ned is an adventurous young character who enjoys watching the gamblers in town, and finds gold near the end of this episodic novel. The horror of the battle helps to develop his character.

The protagonist in The Boy Lieutenant stumbles onto a frighten­ ing scene during his first battle, "I saw a pit near the house, ten feet long, five feet wide, and four feet deep, where the amputated members of the wounded were being buried" (Bowley, p. 42). 80

The protagonist in The Boy Lieutenant arrived at the military

camp with no experience. The soldiers gradually gave him respect.

The scene described helps to depict the protagonist as an officer

gaining experience. The horror of battle has been used by the

author to develop the protagonist.

Some responses to initial encounters included in this period

lack individuality. Altsheler, the author of The Guns of Shiloh,

is predictable in his description of the protagonist's initial

encounter.

It needs no small courage to hold fast

against more than 10,000 men rushing forward

at full speed and bent upon victory or death.

Dick felt all the pulses in his temples beat­

ing hard, and he had a horrible impulse to

break and run, but pride kept him firm

(Altsheler, 1914, p. 195).

Dick is a competent staff officer in this novel. There is

nothing in this depiction of his initial encounter in battle that

betrays this image. Altsheler's description could f it thousands

of soldiers.

The narrator of Defending His Flag chooses to inform the

^ reader, rather than reveal Louis's thoughts and feelings after he 81

fires high in an early battle. The reader learns that many

soldiers shoot high in their first battle, and that they must be

"nerved up" to kill someone. This information may pertain to

Louis, but the opportunity for a full response from the protagonist

is not taken. A character's initial encounter in battle presents

a tempting opportunity for the author to inform the reader of

common fears soldiers faced. But the opportunity to develop

characters during their first battle is lost when the characters

are not presented as individuals.

Ironically, the character most affected by a first battle is

the young woman in Emmeline. Singmaster has created a character who shows emotion in an emotional situation. Emmeline is faced with wounded enemy soldiers, has few supplies, and no experience.

Her encounter is notable for its length, as she faces the torn

bodies for days.

The fear of the war never ended for most, but its peak was

nearly always reached at the time of the first battle. The charac­

terization in novels of the first two periods is often poor, which

makes the depiction of most protagonists in the flush of this

crisis disappointing. This point is made obvious by the effective

portrayal of Emmeline during this crisis. Singmaster had created a

full character before she met her first encounter in battle. 82

Feelings Toward the Enemy

Thoughts about the enemy give insights into character and reveal the degree of partisanship found in the novels. The

Southern novels of this period are partisan. In the Northern novels, there is a trend toward reconciliation.

Four of the novels analyzed in this section were written from a Southern perspective. The Young Refugees, set in Georgia, includes a description of a battle with Sherman's army: "If we take into consideration the great difference in the size of these armies, it certainly seems remarkable that the confederate leader had successfully kept this immense host of Sherman's at bay for so long a time" (Arnold, p. 94). The narrator defends the effort of the Confederate army, as the rebels are depicted as a courageous group of soldiers who fight against tremendous odds. The Union troops have a remarkably difficult time against so few soldiers.

The protagonist in The Blue and Gray is partisan in his feelings. "Jack felt much inclined to resent the flippant and callous manner of the federal lieutenant" (Lancaster, p. 145). He finds Union navymen "exceedingly rude". Jack does not make a complimentary remark about a Union character in the entire novel.

Virgie, the young girl of five or six in The Littlest Rebel, refers to Union soldiers as damn yankees. Her father is a Southern 83 spy. Virgie‘s connection to the South is clear in the following statement. "Virgie came to him again, a little daughter of the

South. The daughters of the South I A crutch-on which the staggering hopes of Dixie leaned" (Peple, p. 24). This sentimental story is strongly partisan. Virgie's feelings toward the Union are voiced personally, but she was created to represent the voice of the South.

The final Southern novel is The Story of Sam Tag. Sam describes the actions of a Yankee soldier who enters the protagonist's home. The Yankee soldier, "strode past us and neither spoke nor saluted my mother, but went into the house and with one stroke of the butt end of his gun cleared the mantle" (Kennerly, p. 63).

This scene depicts Yankees as vicious soldiers destroying

Southern property. A young boy and his mother watch the violent scene. A similar scene was described by Page in the 19th century

Civil War novel. Two Little Confederates.

In many of the books with Northern protagonists reconciliation is a theme. In two of the novels authors make this intention clear in the preface. Southern novels in this period reflect a bitterness toward the North.

Stratemeyer writes in his preface to Defending His Flag that,

"Now we can tell the whole truth, up till now everything has been biased. The Southerners fighting in the Spanish American War seem 84 to have allowed this" (Stratemeyer, preface). The author has created a major character from the North and a major character from the South. A friend of the Northern character states that

"The rebs are just as brave as we are" (Stratemeyer, p. 197).

Louis, the Northern character, is foraging with a group of Union soldiers, and is given water and eggs by a Southern woman. Louis says, "But remember, I don't demand them. We have strict orders to demand nothing" (Stratemeyer, p. 117). Stratemeyer makes his stronger statement supporting reconciliation by choosing to depict a Northern and Southern protagonist. His unbiased novel loses strength due to its clumsy attempt at showing understanding for both sides.

Tomlinson, the author of The Young Sharpshooters at Antietam, writes in his preface that "The story has been written with no desire to revive or even keep alive the spirit of the struggle between the states" (Tomlinson, preface). The narrator of this novel makes numerous statements that show understanding for both sides. He states that, "Perhaps it was part of the struggle but few could look calmly at sufferings of the prisoners of either side" (Tomlinson, p. 96). Later in the novel it is stated that,

"There was no question about the earnestness of both armies"

(Tomlinson, p. 293). 85

It is difficult to depict a civil war without showing

animosity toward the other side. In his study of Civil War novels. Lively found partisanship to be a necessary ingredient for these novels. Civil War novels with reconciliation themes may lose narrative power. The explicit intention to present under­

standing portrayals of the North and South often result in didactic

passages.

Military or Homefront

With the addition of female protagonists comes a greater

focus on homefront themes. Other types of protagonists in the

homefront novels of this period are adolescent males not in the military and young protagonists 12 years and under. In fact, the majority fo the novels published during this period have predomi­

nantly homefront themes. This is in marked contrast to the 19th

century novels which contained far more military novels than those

set on the homefront. The military novels of the early 20th century

continued to be heavily influenced by adventurous protagonists.

Notable exceptions were Guns of Shiloh and The Boy Lieutenant, two military novels that make strong efforts to describe the war from

a soldier's perspective.

The growth in homefront novels during this period is an

indication that Civil War novels are moving beyond the stereotypical 86

boy-goes-to-war story. This is a needed stimulus for the novels,

although the risk of losing connection with the central issue, the

Civil War, is a concern.

Military protagonists are evolving slowly, a move toward a more realistic depiction of life in the military is given in two

of the novels. Most authors of military novels have been unwilling

to discard the outdated adventure story, and the continued

dominance of novels set on the homefront can be expected unless

the authors of military novels find ways of breaking with the past.

Civil War Novels: 1920-1950

Children's Literature continued to grow during this period.

The Newbery Medal, awarded yearly to the most distinguished book for

children, was established in 1922. "The young people's novel—the

psychological story as well as the story of action—became an actuality in the thirties" (Meigs, p. 404). The forties were marked by a flood of mass produced books, and the growing need for

critics became "essential" (Meigs, 1969).

This thirty year period included the aftermath of World War I,

the Great Depression and World War II. The stock market crash of

1929 began an unprecedented economic downfall in the United States.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and began his New Deal

programs designed to bring the country out of the depression. TABLE 5

CIVIL WAR NOVELS: 1920-1950

Author Title Date Protagonist Blacks Initial Feelings Theme

Darby Look Away, Dixieland 1941 Female 1 Yes Yes Home

Daringer Mary Montgomery, Rebel 1948 Female 1 No Yes Home

Evans Sunstar and Pepper 1947 Soldier 1 Yes Yes Military

Knox Gray Cups 1933 Youth 1 No Yes Home

Singmaster Swords of Steel 1933 Civilian 2 Yes Yes Home

Singmaster A Boy At Gettysburg 1924 Civilian - - “ No Yes Home

00 '-J 88

Roosevelt was able to keep America out of World War II until

Japan invaded Pearl Harbor in 1941. That same year work began on the Manhattan Project. The top secret research project was designed to develop an atomic bomb. The bombing of the Japanese cities,

Hiroshima and Nagasaki, marked the close of the war.

The Harlem Renaissance began in the 1920's. The historian,

John Hope Franklin, explains the distinctness of this artistic movement.

The plantation, the slave quarters, the

proscriptions and the riots, the segregation

and discrimination had created a body of

common experiences that, in turn, helped to

promote the idea of a distinct and authentic

cultural community (Franklin, 1980, p. 363).

Novelists writing between 1920 and 1950 were likely informed of the Civil War at the library and by their grandparents. Unlike many authors writing during the previous periods, they had some distance from the war.

Protagonists

Nineteen hundred and twenty to 1950 saw few Civil War novels published for children. There are only six novels analyzed during this period, all of which have been written by women. Incontrast. 89 between 1863 and 1919, of the 30 books examined only three were written by female authors. Four of the six novels were written from a Southern perspective. There is little realism in the

Southern novel with a male protagonist, and the female protagonists are portrayed in traditional roles.

The protagonists in the two novels written by Singmaster during this period have similar experiences. In The Boy at

Gettysburg, Singmaster creates the first protagonist who has his patriotism questioned. Carl, the protagonist, is 15 when the novel begins, and lives with his invalid grandfather. He is responsible for maintaining the family sawmill and hiding runaway slaves. His carrying out those responsibilities, however, does not keep the townspeople from wondering about why this older boy is not off fighting. The doubts about the boy's patriotism reach a peak when

Carl, now 18, is found to have a mysterious gunshot wound which appears to be self-inflicted. Eventually, it is learned that a

Southern sympathizer is responsible for the wound.

The protagonist in Singmaster's other novel written during this period has his patriotism questioned as Carl did in The Boy at Gettysburg. John is the protagonist of Swords of Steel, and nearly 18 years old before he joins the army. He is ashamed to meet his girlfriend for fear she will find him a coward. 90

Another striking similarity in these novels is how the author chooses to reveal he deaths of John's mother and Carl's parents.

The reader is not informed that these family members are dead until the novel ends. The absence of them in the story is not explained or even mentioned. Singmaster has used similar means to help characterize her protagonists in The Boy at Gettysburg and Swords of Steel. The shocking possibility of the protagonist being an unpatriotic coward is used in both novels. John's mother is missing in Swords of Steel and both parents are absent in The Boy at

Gettysburg.

The other male protagonist during this period appears in

Sunstar and Pepper. He is a 16 year old scout in the rebel army.

The accomplishments of Pepper, the protagonist, are connected to his relationship to famous generals. This is exemplified by a message he delivers that involves the four most famous Southern generals in the Civil War. The message Pepper delivers is sent from Jeb Stuart to Robert E. Lee. General Longstreet accompanies

Pepper into Lee's tent to deliver the message about Stonewall

Jackson. Many of the accomplishments of this 16 year old boy are not believable. They are similar to the accomplishments of military protagonists depicted in earlier periods. Meeting the four famous 91 generals in a single scene is perhaps the most outlandish incident in any novel examined thus far.

Half the novels published during this period are Southern novels with female protagonists. These protagonists are depicted in traditional female roles. Victoria, the protagonist in Look

Away, Dixieland, is a volunteer at a hospital, where she works with her aunt who is a nurse. She is committed to nursing, and is disturbed by the suffering. Victoria is particularly troubled by the violence done by those who have remained at home in Missouri, a state ripped by divided loyalties. Victoria remarks that, "War is dreadful anywhere, but the things these stay-at-homes do to each other is the worst" (Darby, p. 258).

Carleton is a young female protagonist in Gray Caps. She makes a daring ride to warn Confederate troops early in the novel, but she grows older in this novel that spans the war, and comes to assume traditional female roles. Carleton joined a group of girls who "Sewed and knit and helped their elders in the hospitals and reviled the hated Yankees and talked about their beaux with equal vim" (Knox, p. 217). The daring Carleton showed in warning the rebels is replaced by more conventional female accomplishments.

The protagonist in Mary Montgomery, Rebel works at the hospital whenever she can be spared from the plantation. Mary 92 is more interested in education than she is in her work at the hospital. She is angered by the lack of educational opportunities for girls, and shows great perseverance in becoming a teacher. It is ironic that Mary's ambition lands her in a traditional female role. The ambition she displays sets her apart from the other female protagonists in this period. Carleton loses her freedom as she grows out of childhood and comes to assume basic female roles. Victoria's work at the hospital fits into the traditional female role as well.

This period again shows the problems with military protagonists, as well as revealing a weakness in female protagonists. The influx of female protagonists during this period helped to show that, while their welcome addition in the early 20th century novels may have expanded the homefront theme, they arelimited by theoptions that were available to them in the past.

Black Characters and Slavery

Two novels during this period show thevast difference in perspectives between those who valued the beliefs of the "Old South" and those who valued Abolitionist thought in the North. The depiction of black characters and slavery is shown to be greatly influenced by the different perspectives. 93

Singmaster, in Swords of Steel, created a protagonist who speaks to horses in "Virginia negro English" in reverence to a black character in the novel, and the protagonist later speaks of being "the friend of negroes." Grey Caps, by Knox, ends with the singing of Dixie, and includes a scene where a black slave is lost in a card game in Charleston. The black characters, young and old, use racial slurs repeatedly in the novel. Slavery is not promoted, but is given tacit acceptance. The black characters' use of racial slurs might be implied as an admission of their inferiority.

These novels written in 1933 are powerful reminders that the war begun in 1861 was a civil war. Black characters and'slavery are depicted as radically different in these novels. A comparison of Gray Caps and Swords of Steel reveals the passions that helped to ignite the American Civil War. The difference in these women's depictions of slave life brings home the meaning of a civil war.

Singmaster's Abolitionist perspective reflected the beliefs of a group of Northerners, while Knox wrote from a perspective that revered the "Old South".

Initial Encounter in Battle

Only a single novel during this period has a military theme.

A young protagonist is involved in a skirmish in a second novel.

The protagonist in Sunstar and Pepper is a scout for the Confederacy. 94

The narrator describes Pepper's first battle. "Here and there a wound showed bloody. But the light of victory burned in every eye"

(Evans, p. 54). The narrator chooses not to give a personal response from Pepper, missing the opportunity to develop the protagonist. The description of the battle is in the spirit of this sensationaliStic novel. The narrator attempts to give the description of the battle realism by identifying bloody wounds.

The second part of the description negates this effort. "The light of victory" and "burned in every eye" are meaningless cliches.

There are no battles in Gray Caps, but one of the young protagonists is involved in a skirmish. Bud has moved from the plantation in North Carolina to the Kentucky hills. He meets a bugler who rides with Morgan's raiders, and becomes involved in a small conflict. Bud sees the bugler killed, but remains calm. "He saw a man with a split-open skull fall to the ground. Once more a flash of sabres in the sun dazzled Bud's eyes" (Knox, p. 127).

Bud is described as being calm after his friend's death.

The author may be expressing that Bud is so frightened that he is mentally escaping the scene. This is suggested by the flash of sabres dazzling Bud's eyes, as they symbolize his mental escape.

The author informs the reader that this flash of sabres has occurred before, perhaps when his friend was killed. The author is not 95 simply saying Bud felt no fear, but is expressing how he protected himself from the shocking event.

Feelings Toward the Enemy

Protagonists help enemy soldiers in two novels during this period, thus fulfilling the authors' desire for a reconciliation theme. An enemy soldier is helped by a third protagonist because of a friendship developed from the beginning of the novel.

A wounded Union soldier is nursed to health by Mary in Mary

Montgomery, Rebel. His thanks to Mary is not personal, but involves the armies of both sides. "You and your folks have shown me that rebels can act like the Good Samaritan in the bible. It ain't only fair and just. Miss Mary, but that you should let Yankees show kindness too" (Daringer, p. 149).

The author, Daringer, makes an obvious attempt at reconciling the two sides. Authors have felt a responsibility to include reconciliation themes in Civil War novels since the 19th century.

A young Union soldier is wounded in Sunstar and Pepper. The

Southern protagonist. Pepper, wants the wounded soldier to go home with him, rather than be sent to prison. The surgeon finds this

"might irregular", but allows the Union soldier to go home with

Pepper to recover from his wounds. The author creates the Northern soldier in an effort to develop a reconciliation theme. The two 96 soldiers were violently partisan before arriving at Pepper's

Southern home, but each quickly understands the other boy's position. The style of the writer becomes didactic in her effort to effect this change.

Victoria has been a friend of Sterling and his family since she was a child in Look Away, Dixieland! Victoria has maintained this friendship despite their differing alleigances in the war.

The Union milita in Lexington began to search for Sterling and other Confederate soldiers who came home to Lexington to visit.

Victoria used a room in the hospital to hide Sterling. The author has made the relationship between Sterling and Victoria evident from the beginning. When Victoria helps Sterling it stems from their friendship, and not a desire by the author to create a reconciliation theme.

Military or Homefront

Homefront themes are dominant in the novels of this period.

The single military novel during this period exemplifies the problems of stories with this theme. The adventurous male pro­ tagonist who performs great deeds is losing his audience.

The homefront novels of this period are greatly influenced by two factors. Female protagonists, introduced during the last period, are found in three of the six novels during this period 97 between 1920 and 1950. The other factor is the adolescent male protagonist who may no longer be a soldier, but live at home instead.

Four of the six novels written during this period have

Southern perspectives. The war was fought almost entirely in the

South, and these Southern novels with homefront themes begin to depict life at home for those surrounded by the war.

The number of military novels has dropped precipitously during this period. The problems of the military novel may best be expressed by Singmaster's choosing the most famous battlesite of the war as the setting for two homefront novels during this period.

Civil War novels written from 1951 to 1985 will be examined in Chapter Five. The categories used to analyze the books written through the 1950's will continue to be the means for examining the more recent novels. CHAPTER V

ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

(1951-1987)

Children's Literature during this period was influenced by federal programs. The increased funding revealed that nearly half of the elementary schools in the country were without libraries.

Literature for children was affected by the launching of the

Soviet sattelite. Sputnik. The fear of Soviet gains in science resulted in a large demand for informational books. Meigs, the children's literature critic, found that children's pleasure read­ ing became a competitive branch of the publishing industry during this period.

The 1950s and 1960s were a time of tension and change in the United States. Relations between the Soviet Union and America were tense and the term "cold war" came into being. The end of this period saw the American involvement in Vietnam escalate, and the anti-war movement at home gain strength. The war became more unpopular as men and women watched Americans die on television.

This was also a time of black protest. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955, and

98 TABLE 6

CIVIL WAR NOVELS: 1951-1969

Author Title Date Protagonist Blacks Initial Feelings Theme

Alter The Day of the Arkansas 1965 Soldier 2 Yes Yes Military

Brick Yankees on the Run 1961 Soldier 1 Yes Yes Military

Burchard Jed 1960 Soldier - - - No Yes Military

Catton Banners at Shenandoah 1954 Soldier 1 Yes Yes Military

Coatsworth George and Red 1969 Youth --- No Yes Homefront

Hancock Menace on the Mountain 1968 Youth — — “ No Yes Homefront

Haugaard Orphans of the Wind 1966 Youth 1 Yes Yes

Hunt Across Five Aprils 1964 Youth --- No Yes Homefront

Icenhower The Scarlet Raider 1961 Civilian “ - “ No Yes Homefront

Keith Rifles for Watie 1957 Soldier 1 Yes Yes Military VO TABLE 6 (continued)

CIVIL WAR NOVELS: 1951-1969

Author Title Date Protagonist Blacks Initial Feelings Theme

Levy Corrie and the Black/ Yankee 1959 Youth 3 No Yes Homefront

Meader The Muddy Road to Glory 1963 Soldier — Yes Yes Military

Shiereffs Roanoke Raiders 1959 Soldier — Yes Yes Military

Sobol The Lost Dispatch 1958 Soldier 1 Yes Yes Military

Steele The Perilous Road 1958 Youth --- Yes Yes Homefront

Webb Mark Toyman's Inheritance 1960 Soldier — Yes No Mi 1i tary

Whitney Step to the Music 1953 Female 1 No Yes Homefront

O O 101

began a movement that changed American society. The segregation

of the South was challenged by sit-ins and boycots. Intimidation

and violence were faced by black protesters.

Protagonists

Novelists of this period attempt to create realistic pro­

tagonists who serve in the army. Heroes have dominated the military scene in the previous periods of the study. The youths who enter the army are no longer safe from failure, and their

success is often reasonable. Young protagonists use a variety of

approaches to address the dilemma of believability when imparting

significant information about the war. This period includes both a

Black and foreign protagonist who are children.

Banners at Shenandoah is a first person narrative written by

Bruce Catton, a famous Civil War historian. Bob, the protagonist,

arrives at the army camp unable to ride a horse. He comes to be

General Sheridan's flagbearer. This duty is described by one of

Bob's friends.

It's riding straight into the firing with that

little flagstaff in my hand that gets me. You

can't shoot back and you can't run away. All

you can do is follow big Rienzi's (Sheridan's 102

horse) rump and hope nothing hits you

(Catton, p. 182).

Bob joined the army because he wanted to be thought of as an adult. The novel closes with General Sheridan asking Bob to go south with him. Bob declines, "I couldn't follow Phil Sheridan.

I was on my own" (Catton, p. 251).

Realism appears to be the author's goal when he admits his protagonist is unable to ride a horse. This admission is evidence that the protagonist is not a hero. The duty as flagbearer, the protagonist's assignment, could be described as daring, but his inability to defend himself makes him appear less heroic. The protagonist is a success because he has learned to be his own person, not because he has performed a heroic feat.

Jeff is the protagonist in the Newbery Medal winning novel

Rifles for Watie. His relationship with the enemy helps to give the novel a degree of realism. Jeff, acting as a Union spy, un­ covers a traitorous Union officer's plot to sell special rifles to Confederate troops. Jeff spends an extended period of time as a Union spy with the rebels, and grows to respect them. The cook becomes a good friend who treats Jeff like a son.

The author is careful to see that Jeff comes to know the rebel soldiers. When Jeff realizes it is time for him to go back 103

North, he is saddened to leave the rebel camp. His relationship with the enemy makes it difficult for him to be the simplistic hero described in past novels. The success he achieves by exposing the officer's plot is tempered by the development he undergoes while living with the Southern troops.

The protagonist in Muddy Road to Glory gains his success as a member of a regiment. The pride Ben felt for his regiment is revealed when he finds the new recruits inadequate. He believed,

"They lacked the sense of duty that he had seen often among the veteran troops" (Meader, p. 153). He does not view the recruits against himself, but finds them wanting when compared against the veterans he served with.

The narrator connects Ben with his regiment. His successes and defeats are not depicted as individual, but are described within the context of the regiment. This is exemplified after an embarrass­ ing loss at Dabney's Mill. "Ben and the other veterans had borne themselves as well as any soldiers could" (Meader, p. 155).

The protagonist of many Civil War novels is depicted as an individual who performs bravely. The author, Meader, has resisted portraying his protagonist as a hero by connecting him to other members of the regiment. Ben expresses his pride in being one of 104 the veterans of the regiment. Thus, the author has created a more realistic character.

The author of Mark Toyman's Inheritance created a military protagonist who ran from a battle. This action was unprecedented in Civil War novels in this study. The author, Webb, fostered realism in Civil War novels when he showed protagonists in the military could experience failure.

Young Protagonists

Six protagonists in this period are children of 12 and under.

The authors of three novels with young protagonists use different approaches for making their young characters believable. One of the protagonists is quiet and serious, while another is impulsive and recklessly partisan. The third protagonist is a boy not as connected to the war as the others.

Jethro is nine when Across Five Aprils begins. The coming of the Civil War is an issue from the beginning in this novel.

The author approaches the problem of Jethro being too young to impart important information believably by making him a student of the war. Jethro listens as older family members discuss the war, and learns of the war in lessons he has with his teacher. He is depicted as quiet and serious which helps to make him believable when he talks of the war. 105

Jethro meets a man on the road when he is traveling to town.

The man asks about the war, and Jethro responds with information that he has gained from newspapers. Having a source of information, the newspapers, gives Jethro a context from which to reply to the man's question.

Later in the novel Jethro's cousin Eb deserts the army, and asks him for help. Jethro wrestles with Eb's problem, but he does not make statements that reflect a knowledge beyond his years, which makes him a more believable character. The credibility of the novel is harmed when Jethro writes a letter to President Lincoln asking for help with his problem, and receives a personal response from the President.

Jamie is the protagonist in Menace on the Mountain. He is a boy who travels the mountains around his home in North Carolina, and is only occasionally affected by the war. The most important event in the novel is Jamie's killing of a menacing panther.

An incident does take place in the novel that highlights the issue of young protagonists and their believability when imparting important information about the war. Jamie met a Yankee soldier when the novel opened. The soldier was later able to provide information to Jamie's family about his father who was missing from the rebel army. Jamie and his family are grateful to the Yankee 106 soldier, and try to remain in contact with him. Later in the novel a group of adults in this Southern community are discussing Union troops camped in the area, when Jamie asks about the 23rd Corps

Insignia, Ohio regiment. This specific request startles the adults, who are unaware of Jamie's connection to the Union soldier.

Hancock, the author of Menance on the Mountain, shows an awareness of the danger of using young protagonists in historical novels. The concern pointed out by Egoff, the critic, was that protagonists must be mature enough to impart information of great significance. Hancock has an adult character express bewilderment at a question from Jamie that reveals unexpected knowledge. The neighbor's response is what may happen with the reader when a young protagonist imparts information beyond what might reasonably be expected from a child. The author has created a character who lives at the time of the Civil War, but the historical events of the time are not at the center of the novel. The protagonist is seldom in situations that require him to respond to events of the Civil War.

The protagonist in The Perilous Road is an 11 year old boy who hates Yankees. Chris hangs from a cliff to avoid Yankee soldiers he has attempted to kill, and slips into a corral to free mules being held by the Union army. Despite these events there is realism in the novel. Chris is depicted as a headstrong boy 107

who believes he knows far more than he does. Chris gives informa­

tion about the location of the Union army to a friend. Chris

believes his friend is a rebel spy. The reader learns that the

friend is not a spy, and the information Chris has about an awe­

some event is based on a young boy's imagination.

Chris is a young protagonist who proves he cannot be trusted with imparting important information. This shortcoming becomes

known as the story is told. The novel gains realism when the

narrator divulges the misinformation that Chris has acted on. This

historical novel with a young protagonist is strengthened by Chris's

immature response to an awesome event.

There are two novels with unique protagonists in this period.

Corrie and the Yankee, is the first novel with a black protagonist to appear in the study, while Orphans of the Wind is the only novel

in the study to have a protagonist from a foreign country. Corrie

is a ten year old black girl who lives on a plantation in the South.

She is a protagonist largely unaffected by being black. She is

depicted as female protagonists have been throughout the study.

Corrie is kind, nurses a soldier and does well at her lessons. She

reflects a Union perspective as opposed to a distinctively black

perspective. Her father is a scout with the Union army, and the wounded Union soldier she cares for is a valued ally. The first 108 black protagonist in this study does not view the war through the lens of a former slave.

Jim is 12 years old when he leaves England to sail for America in Orphans of the Wind. The first person narrative reveals a foreign perspective on the American Civil War. He must be told that America is at war with itself, has never heard of Abolitionists, and could not recall Abraham Lincoln's name. The arguments aboard the ship over slavery are based on evidence of slavery in other countries. Jim's lack of basic information about the war reveals a foreign perspective. His strong feelings against slavery do not grow from a lifetime of hearing arguments against slavery, but from a few stories heard on board a ship bound for Charleston.

Novelists writing during this period began to heed the advice of Louisa May Alcott, who had earlier attacked the unrealistic characterization found in Civil War novels, and breathed new life into the military character. Certainly a protagonist without the ability to ride a horse would be unacceptable in an Oliver Optic novel. It has taken a century for military characters to begin to become realistic, yet it also took a century for the first black protagonist to appear in this study. The prominence of slavery during the Civil War makes this late appearance of a black pro­ tagonist remarkable. 109

Black Characters and Slavery

Many of the novels published durign this period were written when the Civil Rights Movement was demanding change for black people in this country. The critic Grander Matthews claimed at the beginning of the 20th century that historical novels were more affected by the period in which the author wrote than by the period in which the novel was set (Mathews, 1901). There are influences from the Civil Rights Movement in the novels, but not as significant as Matthews' belief would suggest.

The accomplishments of black characters often included negative implications in 19th century Civil War novels. The accomplishments of black characters in novels written 50 and more years later reflect changes during these years. Novels during this period contain long passages about slavery by respected characters.

Mrs. Kill is a free black woman who owns a business in Step to the Music. The novel is set on Staten Island, with Mrs. Hill's business located in Factoryville. The protagonist informs her

Southern cousin about Mrs. Hill. "Everyone likes her and admires the good job she's done raising her little boy since her husband's death" (Whitney, 1953, p. 48). The mother of the protagonist then makes the comment that a number of fine Negroes live in the area. no

Mrs. Hill is depicted as a “fine Negro" who owns a business and is liked and admired by everyone. That Mrs. Hill is the owner of a business is tangible. There may be less prestige in owning a business in "Factoryville" but she remains the owner of a business. She is also admired for being a fine mother, and is liked by everyone. The context in which these accomplishments are discussed changes their meaning. The protagonist and her mother are attempting to convince their Confederate relative that there are "fine Negroes" in the North.

Jeff Davis is a free black man who is responsible for getting the protagonist in and out of a small Southern town in Banners at

Shenandoah. Jeff was confident that he would accomplish this duty.

"I'll get him in and out again if he does just what I tell him"

(Catton, p. 207). The protagonist is safely led into and out of the small town. The danger the protagonist faced is made evident, but the awesome risk run by the black character is not mentioned.

The black character's accomplishment is made meaningful by the character's assumption of responsibility. Jeff makes it clear that it will be himself, and not the protagonist who directs the mission.

The protagonist in Yankees on the Run arrives at Lacey's door with a wounded friend. Lacy, a black character, answered the m protagonist's questions simply and directly. He is careful to ask

Matt, the protagonist, about weapons he might have. "Best you show it, if you got it. Then I done what you said because of the weapon, not because it was my want," explained Lacy (Brick, 1961, p. 77). There is strength and awareness in this statement.

Lacy gives Matt the name of someone who will hide him as the protagonist continues to move north and make contact with Sherman's army. An insane Southern soldier threatens to kill Matt before he leaves Lacy's to head north. Lacy carefully soothes the Southern soldier and helps to defuse the crisis. Matt and his wounded friend leave for the safe home that Lacy has identified for him.

Lacy has accomplished his goal to move the Union soldiers north.

Lacy shows his awareness of the danger of helping the Union soldiers, when he asks Matt to show his weapon. His knowledge of a place for Matt to stay reveals his commitment to the Union effort.

The black character is depicted as an intelligent man who supports the Union.

Leemon Jones is a black character in Rifles for Watie.

Leemon is asked to delvier an important message to a Union fort.

He does not hesitate to accept the protagonist's request. The idea of joining a colored regiment when he reaches the Union fort interests him. 112

He assures the protagonist that, "Ah'11 make it," and he

swung easily, lithely into the saddle" (Keith, p. 253). Leemon

successfully delivers the message, and joins the First Kansas

Colored Infantry.

The black characters' accomplishments during this period

are given more respect than those found in the 19th century novels.

Jeff Davis and Thomas Lacy are strong characters who demand respect.

The depiction of Mrs. Hill is affected by racial attitudes, but

the fact she owns a business is significant.

The Civil Rights Movement demanded a better life for black

people. The movement affected the attitudes of people who lived

and wrote during this period. Although the Civil Rights Movement was active and created change in the 1950s, it was most visible

in the 1960s. There is one book published during the 1960s in

this study that contains a black character with a significant role.

Thomas Lacy is a black character in the 1961 novel Yankees

on the Run. He is depicted by the author, John Brick, as a strong

and intelligent character. He is respected by the other characters

in the novel. It is doubtful that this character would have been

depicted in earlier years as he is in this novel. The Civil Rights

Movement was the largest influence on society's changing view of 113

Blacks. Thomas Lacy is a black character who is depicted with dignity, and who was likely affected by the Civil Rights Movement.

Slavery is described at length in novels during this period.

Beliefs about slavery are often expressed in long passages by respected and influential characters. The mother of the pro­ tagonist in Step to the Music grew up in the South and was the daughter of a slaveowner. She explained to her daughter that the slaveowner was responsible for everyone in the quarters, which was often the size of a small town. "Most plantation owners didn't want to break up families by selling their people, but sometimes they had to or go bankrupt" (Whitney, p. 60). The mother of the protagonist claimed the economy of slavery was weak, and this was a major cause for the downfall of the institution.

Jim, the young protagonist in Orphans on the Wind, listens to his older friend Rolfe speak of slavery. Rolfe tells of a time he sailed on a slaver. Men and women were bought as though they were "coconuts". The ship sailed from the coast of Africa to

Rio de Janeiro, where the slaves who survived were brought out of the hold. Rolfe stopped his telling of the story to express to Jim his belief that slavery was the greatest crime there is. Rolfe's story ends with the dscription of a girl of fourteenor fifteen.

"She had a baby in her arms. It was dead. It had been dead for a 114 long time" (Haugaard, p. 68). Rolfe claimed he would never sail on another slaver.

The author has depicted slavery from the perspective of a foreign sailor. This man has no connection to the United States and its Civil War, but the anti-slavery message is clear, and is given added power by its extension beyond North American boundaries.

The Day of the Arkansas was published in 1965 when the Civil

Rights Movement was creating change throughout the country. The novel contains passages about slavery that appear to reflect a hesitancy with Civil Rights gains. Captain Pepper is in a position of authority in the novel and respected by the protagonist. Roady, the protagonist, is surprised by a black character's skepticism of emancipation. He decides to ask Captain Pepper why this man had doubts about gaining his freedom.

"Maybe because he knows this ain't the right time for hit,

Roady," answered Captain Pepper" (Alter, p. 187). Captain Pepper continues to respond to Roady by claiming that the Southern white man will only take things bit by bit. He is too stubborn to have things crammed down his throat. Pepper then explains that the

Negro has the virtue of patience, which the white man lacks.

The implication is that Blacks would be respected for waiting for emancipation or possibly civil rights in the 20th century. 115

Resistance to the Civil Rights Movement often took the form of attitudes described by Captain Pepper, a character depicted in the I860's.

Orphans of the Wind contains long passages that reflect anti­ slavery sentiment. These passages appear to have been affected by the Civil Rights Movement. Although it is difficult to assess the influence of the Civil Rights Movement on this novel because it was written by a Dane who has created British characters. The passages describing Blacks in Step to the Music appear to be affected by the Civil Rights Movement as well.

Corrie and the Yankee is the first novel of this study to have a black protagonist. The author. Levy, has made a break­ through with this novel. The excitement of having a black pro­ tagonist in the study after nearly 100 years, turns to disappoint­ ment with the realization that the black characters in the novel and the community they create have no distinct characteristics.

Corrie's father is a Union scout. This is significant, because it takes him away from the community. The white soldier who is being nursed back to health enjoys great prestige in the community because he is a Union soldier. Both the father's position in the army, and the presence of the wounded Union soldier serve to make the aspirations of the black people and the Yankees 116

identical. Once this happens the black community loses its identity

and does not have to be depicted with distinct characteristics.

Levy has created a black protagonist and attempted to create

a black community. Corrie is a disappointment as a black pro­

tagonist, and the black community is not realized. Levy's contri­

bution is that other black protagonists have followed, and Corrie

and the Yankee did help to establish the obvious possibilities for

black protagonists in Civil War novels.

Accomplishments made by Blacks are more accepted than they were in the past, and the first black protagonist appears during

this period. Despite these changes, there has not been a single

novel in more than 100 years of this study that reflects an

influence from the black community. The arrival of the first

black protagonist makes the lack of a contribution of black

characters and their community in the novels even more obvious.

Initial Encounter in Battle

This category is changed dramatically by the protagonist

running from a battle in Mark Toyman's Inheritance. A protagonist

describes the fear an officer experiences during his first battle.

Protagonists during this period are often depicted as learning about

the seriousness of war during their first experience in battle. 117

Mark Toyman relates his experiences at the Battle of Shiloh in Mark Toyman's Inheritance. It has been common for protagonists to feel the fear of what awaits them in battle. Mark is the first protagonist in the study to be unable to fight back this fear, and he runs from the Battle of Shiloh. "I was in a panic and didn't want any more to do with fighting or the army" (Webb, p. 115).

Mark returned when an officer struck him with a sabre. Mark's actions are made even more significant when he makes up his mind to leave the battle again. But when he reaches his regiment his panic subsides, and he decides to remain with his regiment. The author, Webb, has been courageous in depicting a realistic part of the war not previously seen in this study. The great fear soldiers have before their first battle is given added meaning by

Webb.

An officer facing his first battle in Yankees on the Run is afraid, and his fear is described by the veteran protagonist. The soldiers in the regiment are disturbed by the officer's nervous behavior. "He'll be all right as soon as he's seen the elephant."

The protagonist continues, "He's just upset, waiting for that first minnie ball to go singing by his head. He's worried because he wants to run and knows he can't" (Brick, p. 8). The officer's 118

actions are not unusual, but the protagonist's insight is truly

that of a veteran soldier.

Protagonists during this period learned of the grim side of

war during their first battle. Jeff, the protagonist in Rifles for

Watie, misses out on his first battle at the last minute when he

is ordered back from his position in the lines. The sight of a

soldier who had shot his finger off to avoid the battle does not

keep Jeff from feeling disappointment at being removed from the

lines. When the time comes again for his first battle he is more

subdued. He is constantly afraid of dying during the battle, and

is struck by the shoddy manner in which the dead are buried when

the battle ends.

Ben was anxious before his first battle in The Muddy Road to

Glory. He thoughtfully expresses what he has learned during his

first battle: "I hit one—an officer he was, too. But I guess I

just winged him. Hope so, anyhow. Killin' folks don't seem to be

as much fun as it's cracked up to be" (Header, p. 36). This 16 year old boy has changed his attitude about the war from being in

his first battle. The reality of battle is not what Ben expected,

and he learns from the experience.

The 11 year old protagonist in The Perilous Road is un­

expectedly caught in a fierce battle. Chris, the protagonist. 119 has talked of killing the hated yankees from the beginning of the novel. He dreamed of being old enough to be a soldier, but his feelings change drastically as the battle is fought: "It ain't true, none of it ain't. I'll open my eyes in a minute and won't none of it be true" (Steele, p. 173). Chris is a young protagonist who changes because of his first encounter with battle.

The most radical change in the novels of this period occurs on the battlefield. The assumption in Civil War novels has been that all protagonists will act heroically in battle. The pro­ tagonists' patriotism was questioned in Singmaster's novels of the last period, but the protagonist in Mark Toyman's Inheritance provides evidence for the reader to doubt his bravery.

Feelings Toward the Enemy

Novels during this period reflect both the partisanship of the war, and the desire for reconciliation. These two themes are found in nearly equal numbers during this period. Reconciliation and partisanship themes are found in novels set on the homefront and on the battlefield.

The family depicted in Step to the Music is torn by divided loyalties. The protagonist's mother was raised in the South before moving to New York. The greatest source of partisanship in the novel is Lorena, a cousin from the South who has come to visit. 120

Lorena angers the protagonist, Abble, with her outbursts condemning

the North. A violent outburst takes place at a dance the girls

are attending. It is reported that Charleston has burned, and

Lorena is horrified by the news. She rushes onto the platform and

begins tearing the Union flag. The partisanship in this novel is

especially intense because it exists within the family.

The war has divided the Creighton family in Across Five Aprils.

The family lives in southern Illinois and has relatives in Kentucky.

In the rural area where they live the Union is strongly supported.

The boys in the family join the Northern army, except for Bill who

sides with the rebels. The family is harassed by people in the

area because of Bill's decision to fight for the Confederacy. The young protagonist is dangerously threatened when he returns from a

trip to town, and the family barn is burned. The violent partisan­

ship depicted in the novel is inflicted by characters who are

portrayed as unsavory, although the anger towards the Creightons

is understood by even the most sympathetic character in the novel.

The protagonist and his family suffer this burden quietly.

The family is accustomed to hardships, and thought of retaliating

at the abuse they receive is not considered. The divided loyalties

in the family were the cause for their problems, but unlike Step 121 to the Music the Creightons are mistreated by people outside the family.

The protagonist in Banners at Shenandoah questions an officer about the hanging of a rebel soldier. Bob, the protagonist, is not sure whether the man was hanged because he was a guerilla, or because he had a valuable watch. The Union officer's response contains no sympathy for the rebel. "What difference does it make? When one of those guerrilla's kills one of our boys and takes his boots, does he kill him because he's fighting for his country or because he wants a new pair of boots" (Catton, p. 202).

The officer's logic is understandable for a partisan in the war.

It also reveals there is no room for thoughts of reconciliation in the mind of this officer.

Authors often included reconciliation themes in their novels.

A friend of the protagonist in Rifles for Watie encourages him to go swimming with the rebels. Jeff, the protagonist, finds it difficult to go swimming with people who would be shooting at him tomorrow, but he meets with the rebels. This reconciliation move is tempered by the words of Jeff's friend. "If we met in battle tomorry, we'd still be tryin' to cut each other's hearts out.

This was jest a recess" (Keith, p. 191). 122

One of the most blatant attempts at reconciliation is reported in Rifles for Watie. The enemy camps are only two hundred years apart, and the protagonist hears a rebel begina song. "And then a wonderful thing happened. On the chorus.Bill

Earle joined in, singing the harmony. The rebel baritone and the

Union tenor finished the old Scottish song together" (Keith, p. 192).

Menace on the Mountain has a Yankee soldier escaping to the

North from a southern prison. The protagonist, Jamie, is a young southern boy who hates all Yankees. Yet Jamie quickly comes to like the Yankee soldier. It is the Yankee who informs Jamie and his family that his missing father is alive. The reconciliation theme is not elaborate in this novel, but the simple meeting between

Jamie and the Yankee soldier is influential throughout the book.

The protagonist in Mark Toyman's Inheritance meets a fellow

Union soldier who is caring for a wounded Confederate soldier.

Mark asked the Union soldier if the man he was caring for was his brother. The soldier replied that the rebel was a farmer like himself. This isolated scene in the novel carries a powerful message. The North and the South are seen to be connected in a meaningful way. The link to farming has transcended the war for the Union soldier. 123

A young Southern boy breaks his leg near a Union camp in Jed.

The protagonist, a Union soldier, borrows a horse and takes the boy home. The boy and his mother do not trust the soldier, believing all Yankees steal from Southern homes. The protagonist fights off soldiers who have followed him and vows to protect the rebel's home. The boy and his mother are grateful. The author has used a setting, a Southern home near a Union camp, that is often the site of bitter feelings to create a scene of reconciliation.

Chris is the young protagonist in The Perilous Road. The eleven year old boy hates Yankees with great intensity, but changes his mind when he tries to find his brother who has joined the

Yankee army. Chris does not locate his brother, but grows to like the Union soldiers he meets. The violent hatred of Yankees that

Chris has felt ends when the soldiers he has met are attacked by rebels. Chris is able to make it through the frightening battle, and makes it back home.

His father scolds him for being away from home. Chris tells his father of the horrible battle and the Yankee soldiers. "What you should of knowed," his father exclaimed severely, "was that a man can believe that the Union ought to stay in one piece and still be a good decent man" (Steele, p. 189). This reconciliation theme takes place at the end of an otherwise partisan novel. 124

Writers during this period often described the Civil War by exploring characters efforts to understand the other side. These efforts at reconciliation were often local, and did not preclude a hatred between countries. Many authors of this period have used a reconciliation theme effectively, although the theme is attractive to a didactic style of writing when the lessons of being a good neighbor are to be taught.

Military or Homefront

Novels with military themes made a significant comback during this period. The military theme has been strengthened by the added realism in the novels. The authors of these novels have invested more time in creating protagonists whose lives are fuller than the events surrounding a battle. Novels set on the homefront include the first black protagonist, and two award-winning novels with young protagonists.

A move towards a more realistic portrayal of protagonists and the war has occurred during this period. The strength of military novels during this period is also reflected by the growth in novels with military themes. The last period had only a single military novel in the six novels studied. Nine of the 16 novels in this period have predominantly military themes. 125

The homefront novels published during this period all have protagonists under twelve years old, except for the female pro­ tagonist in Step to the Music. Novels with predominantly home- front themes continued to be the source of breakthroughs in Civil

War literature for children. The first black protagonist in the study is a young girl depicted on the homefront.

The strength of the homefront novels during this period is seen in two Newbery Honor books. The Perilous Road and Across Five

Apri1s. The authors of these books have used young boys with contrasting personalities to depict the war for children. The protagonist in Across Five Aprils is a quiet and determined boy who over the five years of the war is forced to assume adult responsi­ bilities, while the protagonist in The Perilous Road is an excit­ able youth who acts recklessly throughout the story. This fast paced novel takes place over a two week period.

The novels during this period are dominated by military themes. The military novels gained strength during this period by their move toward more realistic portrayals of the war. During this period young protagonists dominated the homefront themes.

One novel during this period resists placement in the military or homefront category. Orphans of the Wind opens in England and the major characters are British. It cannot be a homefront novel 126 because the characters' homes are outside America. The story takes place at sea, with only a brief battle described after the sailors reach America- The novel Orphans of the Wind defies placement in the military or the homefront category.

Civil War Novels: 1970-1987

The number of juveniles published has risen greatly over the past 100 years. Nearly 3000 juveniles were published in 1980 compared to only 300 such novels published-in 1880. There has been an increasing interest in realistic fiction during this period, while the interest in historical fiction and biography has declined. This period has seen increased interest and superior quality in informational books (Huck et al., 1987, pp. 34-37).

National events in the 1970s included the ending of American involvement in an unpopular war in Vietnam, the unprecedented resignation of an American President, and the defeat of the first woman to be nominated Vice-President by either major party. The

1980s were dominated by conservative Republican leadership.

Blacks fought to retain the civil rights gains they had made in earlier years, while black leaders in major cities were faced with cuts in government spending. Jesse Jackson emerged as a national leader with widespread support and influence. The protests TABLE 7

CIVIL WAR NOVELS; 1970-1987

Author Title Date Protagonist Blacks Initial Feelings Theme

Beatty Charley Skedaddle 1987 Youth Yes Yes Homefront

Beatty Turn Homeward, Hanalee 1984 Youth No Yes Homefront

Beatty I Want My Sunday, Stranger 1977 Civilian No Yes Homefront

Benner Lone Star Rebel 1971 Soldier Yes Yes Military

Burchard Rat Hell 1971 Soldier Yes Yes Homefront

Cummings Hew Against the Grain 1977 Female No Yes Homefront

Davis Three Days with Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg 1980 Soldier Yes Yes Military

Erdman Save Weeping for the Night 1975 Female No Yes Homefront

ro TABLE 7 (C ontinued)

CIVIL, WARNOVELS: 1970-■1987

Author Title Date Progatonist Blacks Initial Feelings Theme

Forman Song of Jubilee 1971 Black 4 No Yes Homefront

Hall Carved Wooden Ring 1972 Female - - - No Yes Homefront

Hall Beneath Another Sun 1970 Female “ - — Yes Yes Homefront

Hansen Which Way Freedom 1986 Black 5 Yes Yes Homefront

Hickman Zoar Blue 1978 Female and - - - Yes Yes Both Soldier

Mon jo The Vicksburg Veteran 1971 Youth — — — No Yes Homefront

O'Dell The 290 1976 Soldier --- Yes No Both

Perez Slopes of War 1984 Female “ - “ No Yes Both

Wisler Thunder on the Tennessee 1983 Soldier ---- Yes Yes Military

ro 00 129 of the 1960s and early 1970s became less visible, although the dissatisfaction remained.

Protagonists

Young adolescents of 14 and 15 are active members of the

Confederate army during this period, and young protagonists appear in two novels written by Patricia Beatty. There are significant military themes in three novels set on the homefront. Two novels with black protagonists are found in this period, including Which

Way Freedom, the first novel in the study to be written from a black perspective. A female protagonist from western Virginia is portrayed realistically in Hew Against the Grain.

Patricia Beatty has written two novels with 12 year old pro­ tagonists. Hanalee is a young girl who is forcibly transported north from Georgia in Turn Homeward, Hanalee, while Charley is a young boy who lives in New York City, and travels to a Virginia battlefield in Charley Skedaddle.

Sherman's famous march to the sea caused suffering in the small Georgia town of Roswell. Hanalee and her younger brother

Jem were working at the textile mill when the Yankee soldiers came.

The mill was burned down and the workers loaded onto trains for

Indiana. The author recounts the history of this particular episode in her extensive notes at the end of the book. 130

Hanalee and Jem are separated in Kentucky. After being

harshly treated by Yankees, she begins her miraculous journey

home. She avoids the infamous William Quantrill, finds Jem, and

watches a major battle from a tree on her successful trip home to

Georgia. The action appears difficult to believe, but Beatty can

place Quantrill at the appropriate site and surmise the rest of

her journey was possible.

Beatty does not burden the story with her arguments, but

includes them in the Author's Note that covers 12 pages and appears

after the story. The issue of young protagonist's believability

has been discussed in earlier periods. Authors in the past have

sometimes experienced difficulty when their protagonists impart

important information about the war. These authors worked within

the narrative, while Beatty uses research to claim the actions of

her protagonist are possible and sometimes factual. This method may have educational value, but it is important that the character's

actions are believable before the reader ends the novel, and comes

to the Author's Note.

Charley Skedaddle features a 12 year old boy who is a member

of a street gang in New York City. The reader does not meet

Charley's older brother, but his presence is felt. Charley had worshipped his street fighting brother, and was determined to get 131 revenge on the rebels because they killed him at Gettysburg.

Charley is able to board a troop ship, and become the first pro­ tagonist in this study to be portrayed as a drummer boy.

The author patiently describes the effort Charley makes to learn the skills of a drummer boy. This helps to place him firmly with the regiment before the Battle of the Wilderness. Charley picks up a rifle after the battle begins and shoots a rebel soldier.

The thought of killing a man terrifies him and he runs from the battlefield without regard for the taunts or threats from the other soldiers.

Many soldiers ran from battle during the war, but Charley's young age makes his frenzied escape from battle even more under­ standable. Unlike the soldier described in Mark To.yman's

Inheritance in the previous period, Charley does not return to his regiment, but becomes a deserter. He hides in the mountains where he is taken in by a mountain woman who helps him learn to accept himself and his desertion from the army.

A novel with a 12 year old boy fighting at a major Civil War battle, deserting from the army, and then finding refuge in the

Blue Ridge mountains strains credibility. Yet, Beatty creates a believable story by making the presence of Charley's older brother felt, by depicting the hours and weeks of time needed for Charley 132

to learn to be a drummer boy, and by creating a strong character

in Jerusha, the mountain woman. The author's research is reported

at the end of the novel, and the notes are extensive. The Author's

Note is informative but contains passages that have little relevance

to the novel. Charley is a believable character because of the

efforts made in the narrative, rather than the historical notes at

the end of the book.

Rob, in Lone Star Rebel, and Willie, in Thunder on the

Tennessee, are protagonists from Texas who fight in the war at a young age. Rob is 14 years old when he joins Colonel Ross's

troops, while Willie is an extremely mature 15 year old when he

leaves for the war with his father.

Rob is the protagonist in the Lone Star Rebel, but Colonel

Ross often dominates the novel. The author claims in a note

before the story that she intends to write a biography of Ross for her doctoral dissertation. The depiction of Rob suffers from

the attention on this historical character.

Rob is shown abandoning Colonel Ross in a battle, and bearing

the accompanying shame. He later saves Ross from danger, and gains

the respect of the regiment. Rob's actions are not always believ­

able, which is exemplified by his catching a counterfeiter who has

ruined his family and is damaging the Confederacy. This action 133 results in a meeting with Jefferson Davis who personally thanks him for his bravery.

Willie is 15 in Thunder on the Tennessee, but he is depicted as someone much older. When his father dies on the battlefield,

Willie's response is not typical of a 15 year old. "Take him to your heart. Lord," Willie said softly. "He was a good man" (Wisler, p. 115). Later in the novel a Yankee drummer boy is dying, and

Willie keeps him company. He asks Willie to promise to tell his mother of his death. Willie responds as a mature adult. "I won't have myself carryin' an unkept promise to the grave with me" (Wisler, p. 101).

The protagonist in Slopes of War is a young lady who lives in Gettysburg, while the protagonists in Zoar Blue live in a

Separatist community, but leave home and become involved in the

Battle of Gettysburg. The protagonist in The 290 lives in England, but fights on the seas for the Confederacy. Each of these novels depict military life as well as life on the homefront. Two novels with black protagonists were written during this period. Song of

Jubilee is the first person narrative of a black slave who uses guile and intelligence to make his way through slavery. The protagonist in Which Way Freedom is influenced by his African heritage, and views the world from a black perspective. 134

A black voice is rarely heard in Civil War novels, therefore a black narrator is especially welcomed in Song of Jubilee. The black voice loses its power as the narrator chooses to adopt "their language and talk"; that is, the language of the majority culture.

He proudly explains how he uses his intelligence to gain favor from the owner's family. A slave who curries the owner's favor is deemed an "I am". The narrator is proud to be compared to Mice,a slave with a reputation for being an "I am". The voice of the narrator is too influenced by the majority culture to speak clearly from a black perspective.

In Which Way Freedom, Obi is the black protagonist whose life is influenced by an elderly black slave he reveres, and the younger slaves he works with on a small farm in South Carolina. This is the only novel written from a black perspective in the study.

Obi looks forward to the end of his day in the fields, when he can go to visit Buka, an old man thought to be useless by the white people, but honored by the blacks in the area for what he has survived. Buka compares the Jennings brothers, who own Obi and the other slaves on the small farm, to the North and South in the Civil War. "John and Wilson Jennings brothers. Same as them

North men an' these whites down here" (Hansen, 1986, p. 23). This statement reveals a perspective that is based on the black man's 135

knowledge of race relations and not only on the opposing sides in the war. Buka views the world from a perspective different from that of the majority culture.

Obi is not able to find his mother who was separated from

him when he was a child. It is not until he is able to accept the

loss of her that he begins to find his own way in the world. He escapes from Jennings' farm with the help of black slaves from a nearby plantation. The novel ends with Obi fighting in a black

regiment.

Which Way Freedom is a story that gives the reader an under­

standing of life for a black slave within the context of the Civil

War. The war meant something different to Obi than it did for most

other protagonists in the study. The author has created a rich

black culture that interweaves the lives of black people with their heritage and their struggles.

Hew Against the Grain is a novel that depicts a protagonist

struggling to survive a war that devastates her and her family.

Mathilda, an adolescent, watches painfully as her family is divided

by the war. The deaths of family are not only described, but

grieved over and lived through by the protagonist. There is a

psychological emphasis in the novel. 136

The protagonist is constantly fighting what is termed the

"dwindles", a word used by her grandfather to describe a giving in to problems in life. Mathilda is encouraged by her grandfather to face the deaths of family members, and to fight back the dwindles. The novel is not always grim, but the life the pro­ tagonist lives is steeped in reality.

The tragedies of the war affect Mathilda throughout the novel, but it is the attack she suffers that is most vividly described. A man responsible for the death of her brother-in-law catches Mathilda alone at home and rapes her. The rapist had confidently resisted all efforts from Mathilda. The scene closes with her finding a hidden gun and killing the man.

Mathilda withdraws in shame. She had grown close to a boy named Daniel, but now she will not see him. She finally breaks free of her guilt when her sister comes home to thank her for killing the man responsible for her husband's death. This novel is told from within the protagonist. Mathilda responds to each tragedy with emotional depth.

Protagonists during this period range from children making long journeys which stretch credibility, to the depictions of an adolescent female responding to the vicissitudes of life during the war. The lives of female protagonists take on added complexity in 137 novels of this period, as they are forced to make choices and come to terms with a war that not only affects soldiers.

Black Characters and Slavery

The runaway slave has been a seldom seen character in this study of Civil War novels. Black characters who attempt to make their way to freedom appear in two novels during this period.

Strong black characters have been seldom seen as well, but are found in two novels of this period. Slavery has a strong influence on the novels with black protagonists, but has only a mild effect on the other novels of the period.

Runaway Slaves

The novels with black protagonists. Which Way Freedom and

Song of Jubilee, include characters who attempt to reach freedom.

Obi, the protagonist in Which Way Freedom, is successful, while only one of the black characters escaping in Song of Jubilee is successful.

When Obi learns that he is going to be sold he decides to run away. Information from Blacks at a nearby plantation, and knowledge from an elderly black man are instrumental in Obi's escape. Passes are produced, a sham funeral created, and a painful separation mark this hurried yet carefully planned move to freedom.

The last leg of Obi's journey is accomplished by floating on 138 baskets woven by Obi and other slaves. This African tradition symbolically connects the American black slaves with Moses' biblical plea to "let my people go".

A black slave is the first person narrator in Song of Jubilee.

He explains how the pride of an owner's son leads to the freedom for one slave and disaster for another. Arm wrestling is a popular sport for those on the plantation, but there are unspoken rules for the participants. The most important rule is that the owner's son is to always win. Dred breaks this rule and is threatened with a whipping. He and Ham are the two slaves who run away. It is Ham not Dred who is caught and beaten unmercifully.

The striking difference between the escapes in the two novels is the planning involved. Dred flees the plantation because of a specific action which demands an immediate response. Ham decides this is an opportunity to run away with a man he trusts. Obi decides to run away for a specific reason as well, but he knows he has time to plan his escape before he is expected to be sold.

Because Obi is a protagonist the reader gets a more detailed account of his journey to freedom.

Strong Black Characters

The role of black characters in Civil War novels has been subservient when the character is portrayed as an individual, but 139 most often their role has been to provide the society being

depicted with a backdrop of the stereotyped slave. Black

characters who act independently and command respect from other

characters have been extremely rare.

There are characters in Which Way Freedom who support the

protagonist. This novel is an anomaly in the study in that the

goal of the story involves a black character and the action

necessary for success is accomplished by himself with the support

of other black characters. Easter is a few years younger than Obi, and joins him on his escape to freedom. The struggle to escape becomes Easter's as well as Obi's. Buka is an elderly black man,

known for his wisdom, who influences Obi from the novel's beginning.

Buka designed the route for the runaways to take, and leaves with

them despite his old age.

The author has not created characters without faults, which

is seen most clearly in her depiction of the protagonist. The

decision Obi makes to leave Jason behind implies a selfishness

that is emphasized by Easter's desire to go back and get him. The

strength of these characters is perhaps most apparent in that the white characters are not all portrayed as villains, and the black

characters derive their strength from within, not solely from

heated scenes of brutality against them. 140

Docia, a black character in Hew Against the Grain, is strong enough to be an individual in a novel containing a well developed and strong white protagonist. The social reality of the times and Docia's strength is revealed when Mathilda, the protagonist

in Hew Against the Grain, speaks of being raped. Docia sensed that Mathilda had been raped, a feeling based on her own terrible experience. Without invalidating Mathilda's suffering Docia angrily relates her own experience. Docia reveals that it was

Mathilda's Uncle George who raped her. This information shocks

Mathilda, but the thought brings only anger to Docia.

Further strength is shown by Docia's desire to teach black children and a comment made by Mathilda. A boyfriend of Mathilda's wrote her a letter containing a reference to colored troops that

included the word Negro uncapitalized. Mathilda immediately thought of Docia and how she would teach him to capitalize this word. Docia has a deep sense of pride in being Black, a quality

found in few black characters in the study.

Slavery

The arguments about slavery found in novels during previous

periods do not occur as frequently in this period. Slavery is not

described but lived in Which Way Freedom. Song of Jubilee has a

black narrator, and slavery is integral to the story. These two 141

novels which attempt to relate a story of the black experience

during the days of the Civil War, are the only novels profoundly

influenced by slavery during the period, except for Save Weeping

for the Night.

Set in the border state of Missouri, Save Weeping for the

Night is affected by the bloody arguments over the admission of

Kansas as a slave or free state. The protagonist, a citizen of

the slave state of Missouri, shows understanding toward slaves and makes efforts throughout the novel to depict slavery as a benign

institution.

The author creates a black character, Billy Hunter, to

illustrate the advantages of slavery. Billy is owned by the

protagonist's husband and is firmly loyal to him. At the same

time Billy is shown to be resourceful, and is depended on by the

protagonist. He is depicted in positions of authority, and is not

hesitant to be directive. Billy is portrayed as a black slave who

thrives under the system of slavery.

The Black Characters and Slavery category is dominated by

the novel. Which Way Freedom. This story, written by the only

black author in the study, is unlike other novels with important

black characters. In a study where the accomplishments of black

characters are often invalidated or realized through the 142 intervention of the majority culture, this novel depicts black characters' successes within a supportive black community.

Initial Encounter in Battle

Christopher Webb created the possibility of a protagonist who is unable to withstand the pressures of a first battle in a

1961 novel. The last story published in the study, Charley Skedaddle, is based on this theme. The opportunity to create heroes exists in this category, but a novel that realistically depicts a soldier's first battle is found in this period.

The significance of the scene of Charley's flight from his first battle is seen in the title of Charley Skedaddle. Nothing is able to stop Charley from running once he realizes he has shot a man.

The author has carefully created a young protagonist who flees a battle in fright. The reader knows Charley as a boy who never ran from a fight in the streets of New York City, and this makes the intense shame he feels afterward more understandable. It is the effects of Charley's actions during his first battle that are most significant.

The author builds the second half of the novel on the shame that Charley is carrying with him. When he fights with a boy in the mountains or defends his home against a panther he is haunted by the belief that he has become a coward. After killing the 143 panther he returns to being Charley Quinn, finally accepting his frightful first encounter in battle.

John enjoyed taking care of the garden and viewing wildlife in Zoar Blue, but the war placed different demands on him. He survives the war and comes to see it as a duty, but it is always frightening. There is no flush of excitement as the battle nears, a response common in most protagonists, but only a sense of dread.

His chief concern is to keep close to an older friend, and when he loses sight of him the fear becomes overwhelming. John's goal in the battle is to survive, thoughts of country or heroism do not surface.

A realistic character who does whatever is necessary to make it through the terror of his first battle is depicted in this story. The novels in the study are rife with heroes, and realism is difficult to portray in combat even with ordinary soldiers. It is the overcoming of these two factors that make the depiction of the protagonist's first battle in Zoar Blue noteworthy.

The horror of battle as described in these novels is largely psychological. John's fear is expressed through thoughts and needs, the terror is not built from the author's descriptions of mangled bodies, but from the thoughts created by John from the scene of battle. The shame Charley fights is a conflict within himself. The 144 inner struggle is not as deeply portrayed as in Zoar Blue but it is a psychological struggle nonetheless.

Feelings Toward the Enemy

Novels written during the 1970's and 1980's are not as affected by feelings toward the enemy as stories written in earlier periods. With the exception of Hew Against the Grain, a novel with a divided kinsmen theme, and Turn Homeward, Hannalee there is little bitterness expressed toward the other side. The reconciliation theme, popular in novels of the 1950‘s and 1960's, does not exist in novels of this period.

The protagonist's brother-in-law is found dead with the word traitor written on a piece of paper and attached to his chest early in Hew Against the Grain. Bad feelings between the opposing sides remain constant throughout the novel. The family allows a piece of their land to be farmed to feed Confederate soldiers. This action leads to the shooting of a black man who lives on the property and is helping to farm the land. The irreconcilable differences between the two sides are illuminated by this incident. The pro­ tagonist's mother is incensed by the shooting, and lashes out at the Union sergeant.

Yet my son died fighting on your side. My

son-in-law was killed on his way to join 145

your side. And until now. Sergeant, I have

regarded myself as a Federal sympathizer

(Cummings, p. 103),

The sergeant is startled by the woman's attack. "Lady, I'm sorry.

I hate it, doing this. But when you feed and shelter the Rebs, you kill us" (Cummings, p. 103). The shooting of the man was not

justified, but the argument of the Union officer, and the woman's

anger are both understandable and steadfast.

The young protagonist in Turn Homeward, Hannalee is abused

by Union sympathizers when she is taken north against her will.

The historical basis for this story is derived from one of the

abuses committed by General Sherman's troops in Georgia. Mill-

workers in the small town of Roswell are found guilty of being

traitors to the Union, and are forced to travel north to help

Union citizens. Children are among those taken north where they

are unceremoniously given to Union sympathizers interested in cheap

labor. The treatment Hannalee received is best illustrated when

she is forced to change her name to Carabelle. The author is not

concerned with a reconciliation theme, but depicts an historical

incident that furthered the bitterness in the South. 146

Military or Homefront

Three novels written during this period begin on the home- front, but military scenes are integral to the novels. The pro­ tagonist in Slopes of War is a native of the small town of

Gettysburg, while John Keffer and Barbara Hoff are members of a separatist community in Zoar Blue, and Jim is an American who has made his home in England in the novel. The 290.

Bekah, the protagonist in Slopes of War, was not the lady that her younger brother Leander expected in an older sister.

When Leander went to visit the rebel camps not far from home he would find Bekah following him. Bekah's life at home during the war was affected by her relationship with a cousin who fought in the rebel army. Custis had grown up in Gettysburg before moving to the South. Bekah renews her relationship with Custis when he returns to Gettysburg as a Confederate soldier.

Military life is woven through the narrative, Custis and his brother are depicted on the battlefield. Buck, an older brother of Bekah's, is marching with the Union army to Gettysburg where he will lose his leg. A third man affects Bekah's life during the novel. Adam Waite is a Union soldier who is injured in the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. Afraid an army surgeon will amputate his arm, Adam finds his way to Bekah's home. Bekah had 147 seen Adam in a Union camp before his injury and impulsively told him where her house was and to come by if.he had any trouble in the fighting.

It is difficult to separate the homefront from the military in this novel. A neighbor who is a close friend is shot and killed outside her front door. Bekah learns of the death of

Custis, but refuses to believe it and insists on walking to the site where he was killed. The war was so close that the line dividing her home and the battlefield had begun to blur.

John Keffer and Barbara Hoff lived in a separatist community in Zoar, Ohio. Members of the community worked to be self-sufficient, and outside events ofte^- went unnoticed. But the American Civil War was of such magnitude that it could not help but be noticed. The elders of the community attempted to minimize the impact of the war, but John and others were drawn to its power. Barbara finds herself at Gettysburg, after running away from Zoar, and being unable to find her uncle. The author of Zoar Blue has created characters who live in a distinctive community on the homefront, and are affected by events on the battlefield.

Barbara was born outside of Zoar, but moved into the community when her parents died of the fever when she was a child. She lives with the Keffer family and cares for their young daughter who is 148 handicapped. Barbara is depicted as independent from the opening of the novel, when she attempts to run away from Zoar. Her desire to leave Zoar and find her uncle eventually leads her to

Gettysburg. Barbara is unable to find her uncle at his home in

York, Pennsylvania, but meets his wife, Clara. Word of the horrible battle in Gettysburg reached her and Clara, and they traveled to Gettysburg to help the wounded.

Barbara worked in a hospital, while John Keffer fought on the

Gettysburg battlefield. John ran away from Zoar to join the war before Barbara left the community to find her uncle. He is depicted as a thoughtful 17 year old boy who loves the serenity of the out­ doors. He cannot resist joining the army after other boys from the community have done so. While Barbara must tolerate the stench and suffering of the hospital, John has to learn the horror of the battlefield.

John had depended on his odler friend Kappel, but he died of the fever before their regiment reached Gettysburg. He is always terrified with the fighting, and is fascinated by a soldier who takes obvious delight in the violence. John is wounded and taken prisoner but eventually finds his way back to Zoar. Barbara and

John are back home in Zoar when the novel ends, although the 149 military theme of the novel remains. John does not feel he should stay in Zoar while others are fighting in the army.

The protagonist in The 290 is an American from the South who is being educated in England. Jim is an apprentice helping to design a ship that later becomes a famous Confederate raider. The novel describes Jim's work at the shipyard, and his relationship with a scheming brother. The theme of the novel changes when the raider is finished and Jim decides to sail aboard the ship and fight for the Confederacy.

Ted Lynne is the protagonist's cheroot-smoking older brother.

Jim has a special feeling for the ship he has so carefully designed and is irritated by his brother's offers to buy information about the ship. Ted Lynne is interested in selling information about the ship to representatives of the Union. He is an unscrupulous character, and an older brother who Jim is only beginning to understand.

The ship is finished amid much celebration. Jim accepts the offer to sail on the Confederate raider, rechristened The Alabama.

The fabulous career of this raider is based on history, and re­ counted in the novel. Jim's knowledge of the ship is helpful to the captain who becomes the central character in the novel. 150

The author writes with insight about the relationship between

Jim and his brother, and convincingly depicts the protagonist as proud and painstaking in his work. He makes a smooth transition to a military theme, with Jim sailing on the ship he has helped to build. The military theme and the depiction of the protagonist suffer from too much history of The Alabama.

These three novels show a continued move toward realism in

Civil War novels. Novels were discussed in the prior period that depicted military characters more realistically. The three novels of this period are especially significant in depicting realistic characters in both homefront and military settings.

There have been young protagonists, 12 and under, in Civil

War novels since the time of the war. It has been assumed that novels with young protagonists ensure a homefront setting. Yet, two of the three novels with young protagonists during this period have military themes, while the protagonist in the third novel is away from her home for nearly the entire story. This trend shows a willingness in authors to create independent children. The Vicksburg

Veteran is set on the battlefield, although Fred Grant is with his father. Patricia Beatty wrote the other novels, and seems willing to create independent children at the risk of sacrificing realism. 151

She uses research to justify hard to believe incidents. Children living at home may be more realistic, but there must be action in the story.

It would seem that young protagonists could remain at home and be exciting characters if the story was set in the South. The most compelling reason for this is that the vast majority of the war was fought there, creating opportunities for children to interact with soldiers from the North as well as the South.Setting the novel in the South would greatly increase the possibility of depicting a young black protagonist. The restrictions of movement that children have make the setting in these novels especially important. Young protagonists traveling great distances is romantic and exciting, but using this device can be one of the greatest risks of creating an unrealistic depiction of the war.

Civil War novels for children have evolved from those dominated by heroic protagonists to novels with more realistic and developed characters. Male authors wrote nearly all of the novels written before 1920, but the last period contained more books written by women than men. It is not until 1986 that the first black author appears. The evolution of Civil War novels will be discussed in the following chapter. 152

Authors of Civil War novels attempt to recreate a slice of history encompassing five years, an endeavor sufficiently challeng­ ing and enticing to keep writers active and interested for consid­ erably longer than a single century. The study shows how the challenge changes with the passing years in both artistry and perspective.

The heroic and often clumsily depicted protagonist of the

19th century may be gone, but his vestiges remain. The award winning

Charley Skedaddle demands the reader believe the unbelievable, as did Optic and his contemporaries. The adventure is often documented today, but adventure it remains.

The realistic novels written today are noticeably different from their early counterparts. Realism to its practitioners of the 19th century was something the author possessed. A direct statement in the preface explained how the novel would reflect

"truth". Goss, Smith and others writing at this time had served in the war, and felt their experiences transferred to the page accurately and were appropriate to young readers. Those believing in the importance of realism in the writing of Civil War novels in later years are less certain that they have the answers their 19th century counterparts claimed to possess. The writers of today did not carry a rifle into battle, or watch their children harassed by 153 enemy soldiers, but paradoxically this has allowed the recent novelists to portray life more fully and less heroically. Writers of today are able to see that children were and are children, and that while the war was terribly costly in many ways they have seen other terrible wars as well. Those who lived through the war were forced to focus tightly.

A strong connection between the Civil Rights Movement and novels published in the past 30 years cannot be made unless a paradox is involved. That is, the Civil Rights Movement has been the powerful reality for recent writers that the Civil war was for those authors of the 19th century. The gains fo the Civil Rights

Movement and its continued strength may allow for the distance necessary for children to find a rich black culture in Civil War fiction.

The novels found in the study are not only representative of

Civil War fiction but bear similarities to the whole of children's writing for the past 100 and more years. Didactic writing has always been a temptation for writers. Authors of historical fiction are faced with the generic temptation as well as the desire to depict history in a patriotic vein. Authors of all fiction are searching to portray verisimilitude, and while the 154 writer of historical fiction begins with a framework of dates, events and people, it is verisimilitude not form that he seeks. CHAPTER VI

SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

The researcher will summarize and discuss the fivequestions raised in Chapter I, and suggestions for future researchwill follow. The discussion of the research questions will move across the five periods of the study, therefore the years included in each period have been listed below.

TABLE 8

PERIODS OF STUDY

Period I Period II Period III Period IV Period V

1863-1900 1901-1919 1920-1950 1951-1969 1970-1987

Summary

The purpose of the study was to reveal the evolution of the

Civil War novel for young readers. This was achieved by examining

70 novels written from 1863 to 1987. The novels were placed in five chronological periods, and examined by focusing on five categories. Each of the five periods were given a contextual setting by noting events that affected the nation, trends in chidlren's literature and important issues in the black community.

155 156

Individual novels were analyzed for their depiction of protagonists, black characters and slavery, initial encounters in battle, feelings toward the enemy and military or homefront themes.

Research Question 1

1. How do protagonists evolve in Civil War novels written

from the 19th century to the 1980s?

Protagonists of the 19th century commonly became minor officers after experiencing sudden and unrealistic success. The most prolific writers' used these qualities to describe their protagonists. Four of Oliver Optic 18 Civil War novels are included in the present study, and each of the protagonists perform with great success and become young officers. Authors of the 19th century often sacrificed information about the war in order to teach morals to their young readers. This was true of books by Castlemon, Alger and Optic, who were responsible for a large number of the novels. These were the storytellers who told of good boys overcoming evil characters.

Their protagonists were shallow and predictable, but their books sold millions.

The vast majority of protagonists in novels written during the second period, from 1901 to 1919, continued the pattern set in the 19th century. Yet, war novels were extended during this period to include females who have helped to sustain the genre 157

until the present. Few risks were taken with novels written in

the 19th century, and the introduction of the first female pro­ tagonist in the study was the result of only a minor risk. The author chose a safe six or seven year old girl whose character was deeply embedded in Confederate life. Five years later a female

protagonist with beliefs, fears and prejudices arrived. It was

Singmaster's Emmeline who cleared the path for the many strong female protagonists who have followed.

Protagonists portrayed as children, 12 years old and under, appear in both of these early periods. The child protagonists in the novel. War Children, are asked to impart important information about the war that is far beyond what a child would be likely to

know. Despite this concern. Young protagonists appear in every period of the present study, and are often credible characters.

The production of novels between 1920 and 1950 was unusually light, and only six are included in the study. Protagonists of this middle period gave an indication of the direction the novels were headed. The early 20th century novels were similar to the stories that preceded them; this was not true for the novels of the third period. The series novel would not be seen again in the study, and fresh protagonists appeared with each novel. Protagonists

in novels of the late forties were likely written by people who had 158 experienced the depression and World War II, while those writing in the twenties had lived through World War I. Authors achieved distance from the Civil War by more than years alone, but also by their experiences. The protagonist who performed heroic deeds was receeding, as authors who lived through major wars of the 20th century found it difficult to romanticize its horror.

The fourth period included novels written during the 1950s and 1960s. The Civil War was a century old and it continued to hold its grip on the American mind. The protagonists were created during a time of social upheaval. The Civil Rights Movement and the war in Vietnam replaced earlier concerns. Despite contemporary events, protagonists commonly found war fulfilling during this period.

The daily life of the soldier was seldom seen before this period, and this made realism difficult to establish in novels set on the battlefield. Authors had to learn how to describe pro­ tagonists who paused to eat at camp, and interacted with other soldiers. The historian, Catton, was responsible for moving the novels toward a more realistic depiction of the war when he created a protagonist who was unable to ride a horse. The inclusion of this detail suggested that realism is sometimes supported by an author's knowledge of the war. 159

War did not hold the glory for protagonists in the final period that it had previously. The public outcry against the

Vietnam War may have affected the novels of this period. Pro­ tagonists were not only believable, but many reflected the serious side of war. Frightened boys were seen from the inside in Civil

War novels of this period. The adventures have been left to the young protagonists whose experiences are exciting despite their careful documentation by authors. Research became an essential component of the latest novels. Authors of this period are wary of creating stories that cannot withstand close historical scrutiny. The pages following the narrative of these recent stories often contain evidence for the actions of protagonists.

The research has contributed to the growth of realistic protagonists.

Research Question 2

2. How has the depiction of black characters and slavery

evolved in Civil War novels written from the 19th

century to the 1980s?

No black protagonist was found in the 19th century novels, and only one strong black character is depicted during these years.

Slavery is defended, portrayed as benign, and attacked in novels written during this century, while black characters are frequently 160 depicted as irresponsible. The good traits found in black characters were often negated by a stereotypical reference.

The years following reconstruction were perhaps the most racist in the country's history, and racism guided the depiction of black characters. While prejudice was a reality that con­ sistently found its way into the novels, the everyday lives of black slaves were a reality that escaped the novels. The passage of time provides an author the distance necessary to view an event. The event does not change, but perspectives on the time seldom remain the same. It is surprising that distance, and the understanding provided by historians have not led to more novels exploring the everyday lives of slaves.

Historiography is a sober reflection on past events, that helps to reveal prejudices and remove stereotypes. The prejudice is revealed not denied, but as stereotypes recede and people emerge the gaps in the novels become apparent. Black characters living meaningful lives have been one of the gaps, and continue to receive scant attention in the novels.

The effects of the Civil Rights Movement along with recent breakthroughs in studies of the slave community make Civil War novels about Blacks an attractive consideration for novelists.

With few exceptions, young readers have only stereotypes of slaves 151

available to them. Novels that are written from the perspective of

the slave are long overdue, and would be helpful in stimulating

the subgenre of Civil War fiction.

The evolution of black characters has been painfully slow.

While the present state of the black character in Civil War novels

is disappointing, it was entirely bleak for the first 100 years.

If any proof were needed to show that historical fiction is affected

by the author's contemporary times, the black character in Civil

War fiction would provide it. There was no effort to depict black

slaves in their own social milieu before the last few years of the

study. There is now some reason to believe that black characters

depicted in the Civil War will be revealed within the context of

the black community. The current film, "Glory", exemplifies how the recent scholarship on slavery can aid in the depiction of Blacks

during the war. The scenes focusing on the interaction among black

soldiers are examples of what has been missing in Civil War fiction for young readers.

Research Question 3

3. How has the protagonists' response to their initial

battle evolved in Civil War novels written from the

19th century to the 1980s? 162

Civil War novels were almost exclusively set on the battle­ field in the 19th century with protagonists performing heroically in their first battle. The lack of realism in the early novels profoundly affected this category. The novels of this period were not written to portray life at war, but to provide light and vicarious adventures for young readers. A protagonist's first encounter in battle was an opportunity for the author to depict a hero not a person with human frailties. Protagonists in the second and third periods showed little harm from this tramautic experience. The characters during these periods were seldom close to the reader, who was not given access to their thoughts. Responses to the battle were often more calculated than spontaneous. Risks were rarely taken by novelists in the first two periods of the study, and the depiction of a vulnerable protagonist would have been a huge risk. It is perplex­ ing that authors of the first two periods must have been veterans of the war who had lost arms and legs, but continued to display only heroism in battle. Perhaps, the horror was too close for these writers. 163

War novels without the reality of war persisted for nearly

100 years. Exceptions were few, and these did not necessarily involve combat. The difficulty of depicting a war that ravaged an entire generation was solved by creating action rather than people. The lack of characterization was a major cause of the disturbingly soft view of war. Protagonists were safe as they did not accept the danger the novelist contrived for them. An author's depiction of a character's response to his first battle is a strong indicator of the degree of realism in a novel. The first battle is the likely choice for a heroic action, but if the author resists this temptation it is likely that the novel will have a measure of realism.

It is when battles begin to frighten protagonists that a true indicator of realism in the novels has been found. Fear of the first battle is palpable in characters of several recent novels, and there is now precedent for the protagonist to succumb to the fear. Early novels often portrayed the protagonist as being troubled by greater concerns than himself, but these responses were seldom personal or genuine and probably convinced few readers. Authors have always had the potential of using first encounters in battle to provide 164 assistance in developing characters, but its use has traditionally been to move the plot along. As writers become more concerned with characterization, the potential for a scene describing a first encounter in battles expands and becomes more meaningful. Decisions the author makes with the first battle often continue to have impact on the novel. There is irony in that the first major action that drives the plot of the story also provides a unique opportunity to develop characters.

Research Question 4

4. How have feelings toward the enemy evolved in both

Northern and Southern characters in Civil War novels

written from the 19th century to the 1980s?

Bitterness between characters of opposing sides is easily found in the novels, but there is also a strong competing desire for reconciliation. The novels are filled with anecdotes of the warmth expressed between the warring sides. This is often forced into the narrative as is evidenced by novels from nearly every period. Bitter feelings are often expressed more naturally, as would be expected in a civil war.

The reconciliation theme was common in adult literature, but its appeal to authors with a young audience is particularly strong.

To teach young readers that both sides were good was difficult for 165 many writers to resist. The result was often abrupt and uncon­ vincing changes in characters who had earlier expressed partisan feelings. It is significant that the realistic novels of the final period were free of major reconciliation themes.

Most of the war was fought in the South, and this meant

Yankee soldiers were often camped near Southerners' homes. The interaction between Southern civilians and Yankee soldiers created the most bitterness among characters in Civil War novels. Young protagonists were generally found on the homefront, and were positioned to receive the dreaded Yankees. Authors realized that children in this setting could stir strong emotions.

There may not be as much bitterness expressed in the early novels because with few exceptions they were written by Northerners.

It was the South who bitterly left the Union because they believed their rights were threatened. Fear of the North can easily be traced as far back as the Missouri Compromise of 1820, but the novels are prone to express the resulting bitterness as a caricature consisting of wooden issues rather than emotions.

The movement toward more realistic characterization does not compromise partisan characters. Of course, this would not be true of partisan characters who have not been developed. It is the deep 166 divisions inside the people and their country that make Civil

War novels attractive.

Reconciliation has been a theme that writers of the war novels have continued to explore. Expressions of this theme in early novels may have had practical origins. Southern novels that made peaceful overtures in the 19th century may have been responding to the power of the North. Southern novels had little choice but to be published by Northerners, and the expression of bitterness over the war was not popular in the North.

Research Question 5

5. How have authors used military and homefront themes in

Civil War novels written from the 19th century to the

1980s?

The vast majority of Civil War novels written in the 19th century were set on the battlefield. The protagonist performs heroically after brief and perfunctory bouts with fear. The final period ending in the 1980s reflects the movement toward more realistic characters who have significant encounters on the battle­ field.

The ubiquitous hero of the 19th century Civil War fiction commonly moves from one adventure to another with little time for the characterization necessary for a realistic depiction of military 167 life. The early homefront novels were more entertaining than their military counterparts, but realism did not reach these novels either.

Novels that include both themes have often been successful.

The homefront is often used in novels to develop the characters before the action moves to the battlefield. The methods of inte­ grating the themes have varied, but placing the battle in the protagonist's hometown has been an interesting phenomenon. The integration of the themes is nearly unavoidable for the author who creates an environment which includes a town and a nearby battle­ field.

Familial surroundings allow the author to develop characters on the homefront, while the writes cf military novels commonly must bring characters from different backgrounds together. Novelists sometimes address this concern by having characters develop rela­ tionships before moving to a military setting. The trend towards more realistic novels has coincided with characters being more fully developed at home.

The homefront theme is difficult to avoid when the protagonist is under 12 years of age or female. Life at home must sustain these novels, although the war is usually close by in novels with adolescent female protagonists. Children often have a large amount 168

•of freedom on the homefront. The characters may play with friends

of siblings, have a brush with the war or live great adventures.

Adolescent male protagonists are also given much freedom on the

homefront. It is only the adolescent female protagonist whose

role is narrowed by the confines of history.

Choices made by the author are often predicated on his

decision where to place the story. A novel that does not begin on

the homefront makes greater demands on the author's ability to

develop characters, while the battlefield is a chief source for

action in the novel. Many successful novels published recently

contain a strong measure of both.

Conclusions

Authors face a difficult task in writing a novel about the

past. A successful Civil War novel must remain within the known

• record and entertain the reader. As the novels have evolved the

expectation of realistic characters has been added, along with an

awareness of pertinent research. The novels are more difficult to

write today, but they are closer to reaching what might be referred

to as good historical fiction.

A study of Civil War novels addresses every issue that

troubles the genre of historical fiction. The most difficult

concern of the genre is that it must be wary of being too 169 successful. A novel that would be "perfect" for the teaching of history would be suspect as a piece of literature. The mixing of history and fiction cannot take place without compromises, although stories that focus on personal struggles rather than war issues make fewer compromises and better fiction.

Authors who wrote immediately following the war were often unable to get beyond the overwhelming proximity of the war. Those writing a century after peace was made are challenged to bring the heat of the war to children with little if any knowledge of the conflict. Readers of Civil War novels today must not only enter the story, but also make sense of the kindness, hatred, and prejudice that embodied the times.

The limitations of Civil War novels of the 19th century were compounded by the series novel. A few authors were responsible for the majority of Civil War novels published in the 19th century, and this contributed to the lack of innovation in the stories. Each of the 19th century novelists was a white male. The war novels are written by a greater variety of authors today, although black writers were nearly absent from the study.

Specific conclusions from the study include the following:

1. Authors of Civil War novels today are challenged to create stories with realistic characters and an adherence to 170 documented history. The quality of Civil War novels has grown as the demands have increased.

2. The evolution from heroic characters to realistic characters is the single greatest change in the creation of Civil

War novels.

3. Protagonists who are 12 and under are vital to Civil

War fiction, and they are trustworthy when created by authors who are sensitive to the realities of the character's age.

4. The lack of black characters depicted from a perspective that represents their lives during the war period is a major deficiency in the Civil War novels.

Impli cations

1. Story is the context within which historical fiction is written. Classroom teachers interested in simply illuminating facts and dates through fiction will find themselves and their students frustrated when they decontextualize this information from the story. Successful Civil War fiction takes the reader back in time by its creation of a story; when obtaining factual information is the primary goal the power of the novel is lost. Classroom teachers, librarians and others selecting and discussing historical fiction with young readers must focus on the story while demanding historical accuracy. A good story with developed characters is 171 the key to moving beyond the stereotypes. It is important for young readers to realize that while history cannot be changed; it can be viewed from multiple perspectives.

2. The study of how Civil War novels have evolved removes any thought of the past being static. Contemporary authors come to the story with their own perspectives, and are often interested in the "common" person rather than the well researched conventional history of great men. The war provides the author with a rich vein of material, but the author is able to turn in his own direction. The talented author may write with power and freedom when creating a piece of historical fiction.

3. Research has become an important component of the writing of Civil War novels. While this has strengthened many books about the war, it has the potential to stifle novelists. A reliance on research may create a problem similar to that seen in

19th century Civil War novels. That is, writers heavily research­ ing an event may lose the distance that was never available to

19th century writers.

4. Young protagonists under 12 appear in recent novels, and face problems similar to those faced by children today.

Nearly every fifth grade classroom in this country teaches United

States History, and students would easily identify and find 172 relevant these struggling protagonists. These novels could pro­ voke classroom discussions created by critical readers with in-^ sights into the young protagonist.

Suggestions for Further Research

1. A comparison of black characters in Revolutionary War novels. Civil War novels, and of the two World Wars would help to reveal if changes in time and setting are reflected in the charac­ terization or if stereotypical images prevail. This study could also include novels written about the recent war in Vietnam.

2. There is a need for a study of the influences of research on historical novels written for young people. The recent emphasis on research is exemplified by recent collaborations between children's writers and historians. How has this emphasis on research affected the historical novel for young readers?

3. Protagonists in Civil War novels were found to evolve towards more realistic representations in the present study. A study of protagonists in different genres of children's literature over the past century would help to illuminate the similarities in characterization across genres as well as helping to reveal what is distinctive about protagonists in the different genres. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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