Black Flag over Dixie : Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil War

"Black Flag over Dixie: Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil War" highlights the central role that race played in the Civil War by examining some of the ugliest incidents that played out on its battlefields. Challenging the American publicOCOs perception of the Civil War as a chivalrous family quarrel, twelve rising and prominent historians show the conflict to be a wrenching social revolution whose bloody excesses were exacerbated by racial hatred.a a Edited by Gregory J. W. Urwin, this compelling volume focuses on the tendency of Confederate troops to murder black Union soldiers and runaway slaves and divulges the details of black retaliation and the resulting cycle of fear and violence that poisoned race relations during Reconstruction. In a powerful introduction to the collection, Urwin reminds readers that the Civil War was both a social and a racial revolution. As the heirs and defenders of a slave societyOCOs ideology, Confederates considered African Americans to be savages who were incapable of waging war in a civilized fashion. Ironically, this conviction caused white Southerners to behave savagely themselves. Under the threat of Union retaliation, the Confederate government backed away from failing to treat the white officers and black enlisted men of the United States Colored Troops as legitimate combatants. Nevertheless, many rebel commands adopted a no-prisoners policy in the field. When the UnionOCOs black defenders responded in kind, the Civil War descended to a level of inhumanity that most Americans prefer to forget. a In addition to covering the warOCOs most notorious massacres at Olustee, Fort Pillow, Poison Spring, and the Crater, "Black Flag over Dixie "examines the responses of Union soldiers and politicians to these disturbing and unpleasant events, as well as the military, legal, and moral considerations that sometimes deterred Confederates from killing all black Federals who fell into their hands. Twenty photographs and a map of massacre and reprisal sites accompany the volume.a a The contributors are Gregory J. W. Urwin, Anne J. Bailey, Howard C. Westwood, James G. Hollandsworth Jr., David J. Coles, Albert Castel, Derek W. Frisby, Weymouth T. Jordan Jr., Gerald W. Thomas, Bryce A. Suderow, Chad L. Williams, and Mark Grimsley. a "

Black Flag over Dixie: Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil War highlights the central role that race played in the Civil War by examining some of the ugliest incidents that played out on its battlefields. Challenging the American public’s perception of the Civil War as a chivalrous family quarrel, twelve rising and prominent historians show the conflict to be a wrenching social revolution whose bloody excesses were exacerbated by racial hatred. 

 

Edited by Gregory J. W. Urwin, this compelling volume focuses on the tendency of Confederate troops to murder black Union soldiers and runaway slaves and divulges the details of black retaliation and the resulting cycle of fear and violence that poisoned race relations during Reconstruction. In a powerful introduction to the collection, Urwin reminds readers that the Civil War was both a social and a racial revolution. As the heirs and defenders of a slave society’s ideology, Confederates considered African Americans to be savages who were incapable of waging war in a civilized fashion. Ironically, this conviction caused white Southerners to behave savagely themselves. Under the threat of Union retaliation, the Confederate government backed away from failing to treat the white officers and black enlisted men of the United States Colored Troops as legitimate combatants. Nevertheless, many rebel commands adopted a no-prisoners policy in the field. When the Union’s black defenders responded in kind, the Civil War descended to a level of inhumanity that most Americans prefer to forget.

 

In addition to covering the war’s most notorious massacres atOlustee, Fort Pillow, Poison Spring, and the Crater, Black Flag over Dixie examines the responses of Union soldiers and politicians to these disturbing and unpleasant events, as well as the military, legal, and moral considerations that sometimes deterred Confederates from killing all black Federals who fell into their hands. Twenty photographs and a map of massacre and reprisal sites accompany the volume. 

 

The contributors are Gregory J. W. Urwin, Anne J. Bailey, Howard C. Westwood, James G. Hollandsworth Jr., David J. Coles, Albert Castel, Derek W. Frisby, Weymouth T. Jordan Jr., Gerald W. Thomas, Bryce A. Suderow, Chad L. Williams, and Mark Grimsley.

 

Georgia Historical Quarterly

In the not too distant past, almost all Civil War publications seem to have consisted of rehashes of selected major battles and leaders. Sadly, some scholars would like to see this genre return to those good old days and avoid such topics as slavery, women, internal political, dissention, (real) intelligence gathering, etc. However, the story of these other Civil Wars will not be denied.
This particular work looks at the subject of military racial atrocities during the Civil War; it is a collection of essays ranging from Albert Cas­tel's 1958 article on the Fort Pillow massacre to works prepared specifi­cally for this volume. The title refers to the traditional symbol for no quarter being offered. In a war about racism and slavery, the use of black soldiers, many of them former slaves, raised numerous issues in the op­posing armies but especially about the treatment of black prisoners of war and their white officers. Some of the eleven chapters, such as Bryce Suderow's piece on the killing of black soldiers in the Battle of the Crater, seem exceptionally concise, but all of these contributions represent in ­depth research and balanced conclusions.
This book also has remarkable scope for such a compact work. Howard Westwood discusses the aftermath of the battle at Charleston made famous in the movie Glory and David Frisby joins Castel in looking at the Fort Pillow massacre. However, Anne J. Bailey, David J. Coles, Gre­gory J. W. Urwin, and Chad L. Williams look at far less-well-known inci­dents, such as the battles of Plymouth and Olustee, in Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, and other theaters that have lacked adequate study. James G. Hollandsworth, Jr.'s contribution discusses the executions of white officers of black troops, and Mark Grimsley draws conclusions on the broad topic.
Black Flag Over Dixie does have limits that hopefully future volumes will address, as hinted at by some of the above essays. For example, Geor­gia's Colquitt's brigade had the distinction of fighting black soldiers in battle in Florida, South Carolina, and Virginia. How this unique experi­ence affected the men of this unit from often anti-war North Georgia would make an interesting topic. The treatment of the largely Georgian black Forty-fourth United States Colored Infantry following the fall of Dalton, Georgia, in October 1864 deserves a place on any roster of Civil War racial atrocities. However, that list should also include the actions by black soldiers under the fanatical abolitionist Gen. Edward Wild in Wilkes County, Georgia, and elsewhere.
This reviewer looks forward to the volumes that will expand on the excellent work begun here, although they will have a tough act to follow.

— Robert Scott Davis

Annotation Black Flag over Dixie: Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil Warhighlights the central role that race played in the Civil War by examining some of the ugliest incidents that played out on its battlefields. Challenging the American publics perception of the Civil War as a chivalrous family quarrel, twelve rising and prominent historians show the conflict to be a wrenching social revolution whose bloody excesses were exacerbated by racial hatred. Edited by Gregory J.W. Urwin, this compelling volume focuses on the tendency of Confederate troops to murder black Union soldiers and runaway slaves and divulges the details of black retaliation and the resulting cycle of fear and violence that poisoned race relations during Reconstruction. In a powerful introduction to the collection, Urwin reminds readers that the Civil War was both a social and a racial revolution. As the heirs and defenders of a slave societys ideology, Confederates considered African Americans to be savages who were incapable of waging war in a civilized fashion. Ironically, this conviction caused white Southerners to behave savagely themselves. Under the threat of Union retaliation, the Confederate government backed away from failing to treat the white officers and black enlisted men of the United States Colored Troops as legitimate combatants. Nevertheless, many rebel commands adopted a no-prisoners policy in the field. When the Unions black defenders responded in kind, the Civil War descended to a level of inhumanity that most Americans prefer to forget. In addition to covering the wars most notorious massacres at Olustee, Fort Pillow, Poison Spring, and the Crater, Black Flag over Dixieexamines the responses of Union soldiers and politicians to these disturbing and unpleasant events, as well as the military, legal, and moral considerations that sometimes deterred Confederates from killing all black Federals who fell into their hands. Twenty photographs and a map of massacre and reprisal sites accompany the volume. The contributors are Gregory J.W. Urwin, Anne J. Bailey, Howard C. Westwood, James G. Hollandsworth Jr., David J. Coles, Albert Castel, Derek W. Frisby, Weymouth T. Jordan Jr., Gerald W. Thomas, Bryce A. Suderow, Chad L. Williams, and Mark Grimsley If the prevalence of Civil War reenactments, glossy magazines, admired documentaries, and hundreds of books published on the subject each year are any indication, one of America's darkest historical periods is also its most popular. But, as the essays in this provocative collection bring to mind, military history regularly takes precedence over social history, and the contemporary Civil War community too often ignores an integral part of the conflict: African Americans. Black Flag over Dixie: Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil War highlights the central role that race played in the Civil War by examining some of the ugliest incidents that played out on its battlefields. Challenging the American public's perception of the Civil War as a chivalrous family quarrel, twelve rising and prominent historians show the conflict to be a wrenching social revolution whose bloody excesses were exacerbated by racial hatred. Edited by Gregory J. W. Urwin, this compelling volume focuses on the tendency of Confederate troops to murder black Union soldiers and runaway slaves and divulges the details of black retaliation and the resulting cycle of fear and violence that poisoned race relations during Reconstruction In June 1863, when Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's army bottled up the Confederates in Vicksburg, the Union campaign to gain control of the Mississippi River moved into its final stage.