“The real war will never get in the books.”
The quote—and the story behind it—might be familiar to most Civil War enthusiasts. After learning that his brother, a soldier in the Union army, had been wounded in battle, famed poet Walt Whitman raced from New York to Washington, D.C., in hopes of finding him in one of the capital’s many military hospitals. After he did (his brother’s injury was not as serious as he had feared), Whitman remained, so affected by the extensive scenes of suffering that he volunteered to be a nurse. Later, when reflecting on his experiences, Whitman feared that the story of the war he had witnessed—not the romanticized tales of battlefield glory or heroics, but those of the conflict’s vast human cost—would not be told.
In one sense, Whitman was right. For decades after the guns fell silent—and at times still today—many authors of the war’s popular histories papered over the conflict’s less savory or controversial elements, opting instead to tell simplified, sanitized, or sentimental tales of a chivalrous contest fought by strictly honorable men. The Civil War, in such histories, is presented through a rose-colored lens, void of context and absent any attempt at understanding its causes and consequences, let alone the times in which it was fought.
But as Whitman learned firsthand, the Civil War was an undeniably complex and untidy event, one whose impact stretched far beyond the battlefield. And, thankfully, recent decades have witnessed a new and growing generation of scholars and enthusiasts who have dedicated themselves to telling stories of the “real” war—not just shedding new light on well-known battles and leaders, but also highlighting the many subjects and participants long ignored by the war’s chroniclers.
Our goal at The Civil War Monitor is to advance this important work. In every issue, you’ll find original articles and new perspectives by leading historians and authors. Meanwhile, on our website, we’ll be making use of the new and exciting possibilities the digital age has to offer—from blogging to social media to video—in an effort to bring the full drama and meaning of our nation’s greatest conflict to life.
We’ll be counting on you, our readers, to help us in our efforts. Please, let us know what you think about our premier issue—as well as what topics you’d like to see covered in our pages.
