Animal histories of the Civil War era / edited by Earl J. Hess.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hess, Earl J., editor.

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Series:

Conflicting worlds

Conflicting worlds: New dimensions of the American Civil War

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

United States.

Animals--War use--United States--History--19th century.

Animals.

Animals--United States--History--19th century.

Animals--War use.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

vii, 270 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2022]

Summary:

"Animal Histories of the Civil War Era introduces the concept of animal history to Civil War studies. Until now, the field of animal history has paid little attention to the Civil War, and Civil War scholars have paid almost no attention to animals. This volume serves as an intersection of these two critical fields of scholarly inquiry. In thirteen essays, ten by Civil War historians and three by animal history scholars, the contributors illuminate an important but largely ignored aspect of the war-its animal participants. The topics covered are wide-ranging. One essay examines camels in the American South and Southwest before the war, highlighting the involvement of camels in illegal efforts to import slaves into the United States. Essays on horses during the war explore the process of procuring equines for military service, the training of horses for use by artillery units, and the impact of horse supply problems on hopes for Confederate military success. Two essays cover wildlife in the Civil War, focusing on bees. An essay on hogs in the Confederacy and another on the culture of meat-eating examine animals as food during the war. Two essays on dogs in the South during and after the war illustrate how pets and farm animals influenced slavery and the prosecution of the Confederate war effort. An essay on regimental animal mascots during the war analyzes how veterans incorporated them into their post-war lives. Another essay explores the effort to create a national zoo in the 1880s, a task that underscored the persistence of sectional division after Reconstruction. The final essay likewise examines sectional division and the resonance of enslavement as seen in the career of an ex-slave and his unusual show horse. Through the process of broadly writing animals into Civil War history, the contributors demonstrate the many ways in which animals of all kinds played roles in the sectional history of America during the middle and late nineteenth century. Most of the essays incorporate animal history theory and concepts to bring added meaning to their topics. Even those essays that do not explicitly cross-disciplinary boundaries provide a deep understanding of how particular animals influenced the shape and contour of Civil War history. Was the deadly conflict of 1861-1865 a watershed in animal awareness and advocacy among Americans? The authors suggest that the answer may well be an emphatic yes"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: I. ANIMALS IN THE ANTEBELLUM ERA

Antebellum Camel Capers and the Global Slave Power / Michael E. Woods

II. MOBILIZING EOUINES IN THE CIVIL WAR

As Much a Military Supply as a Barrel of Gunpowder: Horses and Mules as Nineteenth-Century Engines of War / David J. Gerleman

The Artillery Horse as Warrior / Earl J. Hess

War Horses: Equine Perspectives on the Confederacy / Abraham Gibson

III. INTERACTION WITH WILDLIFE DURING THE CIVIL WAR

Wildlife and the Civil War / Earl J. Hess

All the Buzz: Why Bees Mattered in the Civil War / Mark Smith

IV. ANIMALS AS FOOD IN THE CIVIL WAR

Root Hog or Die: Southern Pigs and Confederate Independence / Jason Phillips

Meat-Eating in the Civil War: A Vegetarian Perspective / Earl J. Hess

V. DOGS DURING AND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

The Dogs of War: Canine Exploitation in the American Civil War / Joan E. Cashin

"The Dogs Ought to Be Exterminated": Dogs, Slavery, and the Consequences of Emancipation / Lorien Foote

VI. ANIMALS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

"Has He Not Been in the Service of His Country?": Union Regimental Mascots in War and Peace / Brian Matthew Jordan

The Sectionalism of the National Zoo, 1888

1891: Animals, Language, Politics, and Laughter / Daniel Vandersommers

Jim Key and Jim Crow: African American Animal Advocacy, Equine Performance, and Civil War Memory / Paula Tarankow.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Animal histories of the Civil War era

ISBN:

9780807176917

0807176915

OCLC:

1281650317