Miss Ravenel's conversion from secession to loyalty / John W. De Forest ; edited with an introduction and notes by Gary Scharnhorst.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

De Forest, John William, 1826-1906.

Contributor:

Scharnhorst, Gary.

Series:

Penguin classics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Fiction.

United States.

History.

Women--United States--Fiction.

Women.

Genre:

Fiction.

Historical fiction.

Physical Description:

xl, 497 pages ; 20 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Penguin Books, 2000.

Summary:

Drawing on his own combat experience in the Union forces, John W. De Forest crafted a war novel like nothing before it in the annals of American literature. As a captain in the 12th Connecticut Regimental Volunteers, De Forest joined in the battles of Georgia Landing and Bisland and in the siege of Port Hudson in Louisiana in 1862-63, and he saw action in Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign in 1864. His firsthand knowledge of "the wilderness of death" made its way onto the pages of his riveting novel with devastating effect. Whether depicting the tedium before combat, the unspoken horror of battle, or the grisly butchery of the field hospital, De Forest broke new ground, anticipating the realistic war writings of Hemingway, Mailer, and Tim O'Brien.

A commercial failure in its own day, De Forest's story was praised by Henry James and William Dean Howells, who, comparing it favorably to War and Peace, acclaimed the book "one of the best American novels ever written."

Contents:

Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty

I. Mr. Edward Colburne becomes acquainted with Miss Lillie Ravenel 3

II. Miss Ravenel becomes acquainted with Lieutenant-Colonel Carter 14

III. Mr. Colburne takes a Segar with Lieutenant-Colonel Carter 27

IV. The Dramatic Personages go on a Pic-nic, and study the Ways of New Boston 36

V. The Dramatic Personages get News from Bull Run 50

VI. Mr. Colburne sees his Way clear to be a Soldier 61

VII. Captain Colburne raises a Company, and Colonel Carter a Regiment 72

VIII. The Brave bid Good-bye to the Fair 86

IX. From New Boston to New Orleans, via Fort Jackson 98

X. The Ravenels find Captain Colburne in good Quarters 110

XI. New Orleans Life and New Orleans Ladies 125

XII. Colonel Carter befriends the Ravenels 140

XIII. The Course of True Love begins to run rough 154

XIV. Lillie chooses for herself 169

XV. Lillie bids Good-bye to the Lover whom she has chosen, and to the Lover whom she would not choose 180

XVI. Colonel Carter gains one Victory, and Miss Ravenel another 193

XVII. Colonel Carter is entirely victorious before he begins his Campaign 206

XVIII. Doctor Ravenel commences the Reorganization of Southern Labor 219

XIX. The Reorganization of Southern Labor is continued with Vigor 232

XX. Captain Colburne marches and fights with Credit 245

XXI. Captain Colburne has Occasion to see Life in a Hospital 258

XXII. Captain Colburne re-enforces the Ravenels in Time to aid them in running away 271

XXIII. Captain Colburne covers the Retreat of the Southern Labor Organization 285

XXIV. A desperate Attack and a successful Defence 298

XXV. Domestic Happiness in spite of adverse Circumstances 309

XXVI. Captain Colburne describes Camp and Field Life 322

XXVII. Colonel Carter makes an Astronomical Expedition with a dangerous Fellow-traveller 332

XXVIII. The Colonel continues to be led into Temptation 345

XXIX. Lillie reaches the Apotheosis of Womanhood 360

XXX. Colonel Carter commits his first ungentlemanly Action 372

XXXI. A Torture which might have been spared 384

XXXII. A most logical Conclusion 396

XXXIII. Lillie devotes herself entirely to the Rising Generation 413

XXXIV. Lillie's Attention is recalled to the Rising Generation 426

XXXV. Captain Colburne as Mr. Colburne 440

XXXVI. A Brace of Offers 453

XXXVII. A Marriage 465.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0140437576

OCLC:

41886172