UNMADE: AMERICAN MANHOOD IN THE CIVIL WAR ERA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Michael E. DeGruccio _________________________________ Gail Bederman, Director Graduate Program in History Notre Dame, Indiana July 2007 UNMADE: AMERICAN MANHOOD IN THE CIVIL WAR ERA Abstract by Michael E. DeGruccio This dissertation is ultimately a story about men trying to tell stories about themselves. The central character driving the narrative is a relatively obscure officer, George W. Cole, who gained modest fame in central New York for leading a regiment of black soldiers under the controversial General Benjamin Butler, and, later, for killing his attorney after returning home from the war. By weaving Cole into overlapping micro-narratives about violence between white officers and black troops, hidden war injuries, the personal struggles of fellow officers, the unbounded ambition of his highest commander, Benjamin Butler, and the melancholy life of his wife Mary Barto Cole, this dissertation fleshes out the essence of the emergent myth of self-made manhood and its relationship to the war era. It also provides connective tissue between the top-down war histories of generals and epic battles and the many social histories about the “common soldier” that have been written consciously to push the historiography away from military brass and Lincoln’s administration. Throughout this dissertation, mediating figures like Cole and those who surrounded him—all of lesser ranks like major, colonel, sergeant, or captain—hem together what has previously seemed like the disconnected experiences of the Union military leaders, and lowly privates in the field, especially African American troops. for my father, a gentle soul ii CONTENTS Acknowledgments................................................................................................................................v Introduction: The War That Made You and Me............................................................................1 Chapter 1: Tears for Uncle Tom......................................................................................................33 Cole’s Boy Major ..................................................................................................................33 A Good Deal of Trouble.....................................................................................................52 The Charming, Bright, Healthy Boy ..................................................................................54 Chapter 2: The Usher ........................................................................................................................62 Chapter 3: Below the Beast...............................................................................................................88 Into the Army of the James ................................................................................................90 The Beast ...............................................................................................................................96 Laying Pipe, Pulling Wires................................................................................................ 109 “The Test of Rewards….” ............................................................................................... 123 Chapter 4: Bottled up with the Beast ........................................................................................... 133 Chapter 5: No longer “the Play-Thing of Fate” ......................................................................... 144 Sleeping through Antietam............................................................................................... 163 Richmond at Last!.............................................................................................................. 182 A Foot-ball of Passion and Accident.............................................................................. 190 Chapter 6: The “Inflammatory Stimulus” ................................................................................... 207 The Un-Closing of War .................................................................................................... 207 Mutiny ................................................................................................................................. 213 Hearth-made Men.............................................................................................................. 229 Chapter 7: Home............................................................................................................................. 240 A Soldier’s Reward ............................................................................................................ 244 The Gravest Suspicions .................................................................................................... 250 Chapter 8: Cole’s Body and the Imagined War .......................................................................... 258 Fog of War.......................................................................................................................... 261 The Symbolism of Wounds ............................................................................................. 270 iii Amputations and Invisible Wounds ............................................................................... 277 Wounds of Shame ............................................................................................................. 284 Self-Inflicted Wounds ....................................................................................................... 288 Chapter 9: “First as a Private, and Last as a Major General” ................................................... 296 Self-Medicating Man ......................................................................................................... 301 Chapter 10: Educating Cole (the Long Shadow of the Revolution)....................................... 307 The Revolutionary Legacy of Ambition......................................................................... 322 Post Heroic Cole?.............................................................................................................. 330 Conclusion: “Don’t Fear my Manhood”..................................................................................... 339 Bibliography..................................................................................................................................... 353 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Because I have written a dissertation about “wire-pulling” and patronage, I feel especially obligated to confess my chronic dependence on others. My wife’s parents, Boyd and Jo Robertson have regularly sent sorely-needed money to help our family keep the mortgage paid and the jalopies running. As we squeaked by on a graduate student’s meager stipend others helped too. My mother, Eileen DeGruccio, has flown our sprouting family out to the West Coast so that we could maintain our roots. Anonymous saints from our church have slipped money into pockets and diaper bags. My dear friend Brad Haag put me up several times while I researched in DC. Linda and Clyde Morse allowed me to use their house on one trip to the National Archives. My cousin Mark Thomas allowed me to interlope in his newlywed apartment while I spent several days in Santa Monica to sift through the archives at UCLA. On other trips I learned how much family matters when I found myself sleeping in cars behind the Chevron and taking “navy showers” at rest stops. As for my academic debts, I have been deeply in the red since I began college. My benefactors, despite owing me nothing, have given up their time and intellectual property. The dream team in Notre Dame’s inter-library loan department has consistently tracked down obscure articles, newspapers, and books. Thank you! Myrtle Doaks covered my back dozens of times throughout graduate school, making sure every form was signed and handed in. Many others—though I was a stranger—piped in useful information through the electronic galaxy: Edward Boots, Doug Huggett, George Levy, Mark Lause, Edward v Longacre, William Griffing “Griff”, Merrill McLoughlin, Pat Whipple, and Susan Stewart Turnbull. Dee Maguire and Sally Clarke freely shared their own family history through dozens of email communications and mailing off genealogical papers. Cornelia McLoughlin, in her 80s, corresponded via a hand written letter. At a community college in California, Bill Wrightson inspired me to become a historian. At UC Davis, Krystina von Henneberg took my writing and research seriously, and encouraged me to do the same. Through his own work and personal advice Elliot Gorn impressed upon me the need for historians to find good narratives. My friends in Notre Dame’s Gender History Group endured my lumpiest chapters, helping me pare them down. From the Notre Dame Gender Studies Program I was fortunate to receive a generous grant that helped me start this project. I want to thank my dear friends whose companionship, insight, and humor helped me get through the grad school maze: Tommy Kidd, Bryan Bademan, Matt Grow, Darren Dochuk, Bryan Smith, Bryan Pickett, Ben Huff, Miranda Wilcox, Clint Elison, Yury & Caryn Colton, John & Alicia Young, Kirsten Christenson & Teddy “where’s my sandwich” Warren, Adam Greenwood, and Pat Mason & Melissa DeLeon Mason. My head hit the pillow after 2am, and my lunches slipped into