General | Vicksburg Campaign | Red River Campaign | Primary Sources
Archives and Museums | Electronic Media | Research Support
General Research
Q: Did you develop an overall strategy as you conducted research on Chicago's Battery Boys?
A: I believe that successful Civil War research is a combination of extensive planning and then being alert to capitalize on opportunities uncovered during the research process. It goes with the saying that "luck is when preparation meets opportunity." I also equate the process to my biotech field. The scientists with whom I work develop a hypothesis about discovering a potential new drug and proceed to prove or disprove it. After reaching that rule in/rule out stage they go on to the next hypothesis. I use the same concept in my Civil War research.
Q: What did you find to be particularly effective in collecting key information on the Mercantile Battery?
A: I personally derive a great deal of pleasure in tracking down previously unpublished first-hand accounts. The soldiers' stories are what draw many enthusiasts to study the Civil War, delve into genealogy, collect memorabilia, and participate in reenactments. I also strongly believe in going to the battlefields and walking where the soldiers fought. Gaining access to insights from experienced historians is also important in interpreting a battle or campaign. The soldiers' accounts, battlefields, and historians are our "guides" to better understand our Civil War legacy.
Q: What about the use of published materials for conducting research?
A: One of the first things I did was to study published accounts of Vicksburg and Mansfield as well as other key battles and events that occurred during the Mercantile Battery's service. I reviewed about 200 books, many of which are rare regimental histories.
Q: In the process of doing research, did you acquire key references yourself or use books from a library?
A: Local libraries have been a wonderful source of information for this project, either with books on hand or those obtained via interlibrary loan. Additionally, I have assembled an extensive Civil War library that includes basic references like Battles and Leaders, Dornbusch's Military Bibliography of the Civil War, and Dyer's A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Long's The Civil War Day by Day is an invaluable resource since he lists major events for each day of the year, in both the East and West. Warner's Generals in Blue and Generals in Gray are excellent for finding succinct biographies of generals. I also have the entire 128-book collection of the Official Records, which includes almost all of the known battle reports, correspondence, telegrams, etc. from the Civil War.
Q: What published summaries of the Civil War did you find to be helpful in getting a broad perspective?
A: Shelby Foote's trilogy is an essential general history. It is a magnificent balance of interconnected facts and well-written prose. His work has been truly inspirational to me. I'm thankful that I was able to have dinner with Shelby Foote in 1995 at a Civil War preservation event for Brice's Crossroads. I had my picture taken with him and keep that in my office as an encouragement to do my small part to enhance the historiography of the Civil War. Additionally, I am fortunate that Shelby Foote replied to a letter from me before he died. He encouraged me to pursue my writing projects and gave me these tips: "I don't think that what academics call "creative writing" can be taught; it has to be absorbed - by writing and rewriting, and above all, by reading and rereading. When you know where a writer is going, you can see better how he got there." I'm still saddened by his death. Men like Shelby Foot, Ed Bearss, Douglas Southall Freeman, et al. have been veritable "history titans" who have left their imprimatur on the study and preservation of the Civil War.
Q: Are there other overviews of the Civil War that you would recommend?
A: Bruce Catton's books are especially good for the Eastern Theater. James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom and David Eicher's The Longest Night are two other indispensable single-volume histories that cover the entire war. (FYI: Ed Bearss believes that it is important to study both the Eastern and Western Theaters so you can understand the implications of what is happening beyond the particular area that you are studying.)
Q: What about books written by the veterans themselves?
A: Included in my personal library are a large number of unit histories, biographies, battle histories, and eyewitness accounts. There are some caveats, however, with using books written after the war. For example, officers often had hidden agendas in the battle histories that they wrote. The same was true with soldiers and their unit histories. Also, one generally accepted principle in piecing together a Civil War account is that the more contemporaneous the book is the greater the accuracy. Many of the Civil War books were written long after the war ended when the officers and soldiers had retired from their occupations and had time to write. As we all know, time can play tricks with our memories. Unit histories are still invaluable for studying the war.
Q: What about letters and diaries?
A: Letters can sometimes be biased and limited to the immediate experience of the officer or rank-and-file soldier. They often wanted to sugar-coat what was happening so as not to unduly alarm their loved ones. There are, nevertheless, some outstanding books of letters. Diaries are frequently just lists of what the soldier had to eat and drink, complaints about illnesses, weather forecasts, and what time they got up and went to bed. One advantage, however, is that diaries can provide unvarnished, candid insights.
Q: Which first-hand accounts did you find to be the most valuable for your book?
A: The acquisition of Capt. Pat White's service documents and his postwar reminiscences was what got me started on this Chicago Mercantile Battery journey. The discovery of the entire William Brown letter collection at the Chicago Historical Society was spectacular. The diaries of Lt. Henry Roe, Sgt. James Sinclair, and Bugler Florison Pitts were a delight to study and from which I could extract key information on the artillerists' experiences. Lt. Pinckney Cone's diary, Lt. Throop's letters, and Corporal Charles Haseltine's memoir were especially valuable in filling in gaps. The Brown letters and my unpublished White memoir, however, formed the core of my manuscript. I incorporated the first-hand accounts - including two letters I received as the book was being completed from a friend, David Ray, whose relative was a Battery Boy - into the succinct narrative I developed so readers can seamlessly follow the Battery Boys throughout the war.
Q: How valuable are the plethora of contemporary books that are being published each year on the Civil War?
A: New first-hand accounts are being discovered all of the time, like the material I found on the Chicago Mercantile Battery. And there are always fresh theories and hypotheses being raised. Of particular interest are the less well known battles and campaigns that are being addressed by authors today.
Q: What books about Vicksburg did you find to be the most helpful?
A: Ed Bearss' trilogy entitled The Vicksburg Campaign is an incredible work and I cannot imagine that it will ever be superseded. Ed's level of detail is extraordinary. Several times I came across conflicting information written about various Vicksburg issues but, upon checking the Official Records and accurate primary sources, I always found that Ed was right. In fact, I came up with a saying during my writing and footnoting: "When in doubt, go with Bearss." Terry Winschel's books and magazine articles have been very helpful, too. One of their long-time friends, Warren Grabau, came out with a book four years ago - Ninety-Eight Days - that offers not only a solid one-volume Vicksburg summary but also elucidates many of the geographical and topographical issues related to that campaign.
Q: Is there much information available on the Red River Campaign?
A: For forty years, the primary source of information on the Red River Campaign was a book written by Dr. Ludwell Johnson who is a retired faculty member of the College of William and Mary. Professor Johnson's Red River Campaign covered not only Gen. Nathaniel Banks' 1864 campaign but also addressed the implications of cotton trading and politics on this Union disaster in the West. I was thrilled to have Professor Johnson write the following comments for my book: "Chicago's Battery Boys is a very worthwhile contribution to our knowledge of the Civil War in the Western Theater. I found this book about the Chicago Mercantile Battery to be well-written and well-researched and the letters interesting and judiciously edited. It's reassuring that the Red River still flows on." Several recent books, such as Gary Joiner's One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End, William Brooksher's War along the Bayous, and Richard Lowe's Walker's Texas Division, C.S.A., have provided new insights into the Red River Campaign. Two years ago, Ted Savas and Gary Joiner also published an anthology of articles on this campaign.
Researching the Vicksburg Campaign
Q: How did Ed Bearss and Terry Winschel help you during your preliminary research into the Chicago Mercantile Battery at Vicksburg?
A: During the 1998 tour of Vicksburg, Ed led me to most of the exact spots where the battery had been positioned throughout Grant's pivotal campaign. Additionally, he and Terry informed me that no history had been written about Pat White and his men from Chicago. They encouraged me to play "history detective" and conduct primary research on the unit. To get started, Terry allowed me to spend two days studying at the park's archives and also directed me to the Battery Boys' markers and their monument that is situated at the park's entrance.
Q: What did you learn during this initial phase of your research?
A: Terry had a file on the Mercantile Battery including correspondence between Capt. White and one of park's first commissioners, Capt. William T. Rigby from Iowa. Those letters revealed many details about the Union's May 22, 1863, assault on the Confederates' 2nd Texas Lunette fort. There was also information about how White was involved in placing the unit's monuments and markers for the opening of the park in 1906.
Q: What else did you discover while conducting this early research at Vicksburg?
A: First, I confirmed the accuracy of Pat White's unpublished reminiscences. Second, I learned that the Mercantile Battery was one of the most decorated units during Grant's campaign against Pemberton; yet nothing definitive had ever been written about the Chicagoans. Finally, Terry allowed me to stray from the park's interpretive course to retrace the path that White and some of his men took as they hauled a bronze Napoleon smoothbore cannon - weighing almost a ton - up a steep ravine to fire pointblank into the Confederates' 2nd Texas Lunette fort. For this feat, the Irish captain and five of his surviving Mercantile Battery artillerists received the Medal of Honor in 1895. As I reached the crest of the ravine, I stumbled upon not only markers about the incident but also a large portrait monument of Capt. White!
Q: Where exactly is White's monument located?
A: It sits at the base of today's Anshe Chesed Cemetery, which is the Jewish cemetery that was established at the fort's site one month after the Rebels surrendered Vicksburg. The cemetery is within a short walking distance - about 20 yards - from the park's visitor center.
Q: Is the site of the Mercantile Battery's bravery a major focal point for today's tours of Vicksburg?
A: No. Because of the Jewish cemetery, the park historically has had visitors bypass that part of Grant's attack. Consequently, very few people have ever even seen the portrait monument of White and the site of his artillerists' heroic actions. Gen. A. J. Smith, who was the Mercantile Battery's commander at Vicksburg, maintained after the war that Capt. White's voluntary rescuing of his fellow infantrymen trapped in front of the 2nd Texas Lunette was one of the most laudable demonstrations of bravery he had witnessed.
Researching the Red River Campaign
Q: So you decided to delve further into the history of the Chicago Mercantile Battery?
A: Yes. In between the Gettysburg show and my Vicksburg tour in the fall of 1998, I had gone to visit the Mansfield battlefield in northwestern Louisiana. Ted Savas provided me with an entrée to meet Park Ranger Scott Dearman and Curator Steve Bounds at the Mansfield Historical Site. Interestingly, I learned that Capt. White and his men were featured by park personnel in their interpretation of the Battle of Mansfield.
They in turn introduced me to a local tour guide, Jim Kilhorn, who took me on a private tour of the 1864 Red River Campaign.
Q: Did Ted Savas hook you up with any other Louisiana historians?
A: Ted also referred me to Daniel Graves, the archivist of a small museum in Natchitoches, which is a beautiful town located along the Cane River 30-mile oxbow lake. The battery had stopped at Natchitoches on their way to Mansfield and helped to produce an impromptu Union newspaper. Ted wanted me to meet with Gary Joiner, too. However, I was not able to meet him on that initial trip to Mansfield.
Q: Did you go back to Mansfield?
A: During my next trip, I further mapped out the Mercantile Battery positions at Mansfield. Ranger Scott Dearman also took me to see the atrocious, and shameful, desecration of the area outside of the park boundaries. The Civil War Preservation Trust has preserved a major portion of the battlefield and continues to try to stop its destruction by a local strip-mining company.
Q: Did you go on any tours of the Red River Campaign?
A: In the fall of 2000, I attended a week-long Ed Bearss tour of not only the Red River Campaign but also Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks' 1863 Teche Campaign. While on the Red River tour, I was granted permission from Ed to give a brief talk to my fellow Civil War enthusiasts on what I had learned at that point about the Chicago Mercantile Battery. Their positive feedback was a strong confirmation that I was working on a Civil War story that needed to be told. On that same tour, I was also able to meet Gary Joiner who has become one of the leading experts on Banks' failed Red River Campaign.
Q: How did you come across Brown's letter collection?
A: I was conducting research at the Chicago Historical Society and found a book from the Civil War centennial that listed all of the primary source material in the state of Illinois. It stated that there were 132 letters from Quartermaster William Brown. I requested to see the collection but was given a folder with only a few photocopied letters. None of the librarians knew anything about an entire collection of letters.
Q: What happened next?
A: Upon my request, the librarians sent someone to hunt for the full set of documents. After a long delay, the assistant came back with an ornately decorated, blue-leather-bound volume that contained 400 pages of the weekly Sunday letters that Will Brown had sent home to his father in Michigan. As a postwar gift, Brown commissioned a bookbinder to mount each of the pages onto customized parchment papers.
Q: What interested you about this Chicago Historical Society collection?
A: I knew I had stumbled upon a treasure trove of unpublished information. From my initial research into the Mercantile Battery, I knew that there had been no history written about this highly acclaimed artillery battery from Chicago. Few people knew anything about the entire Brown collection since it had been sequestered for years in a safe storage area and was unavailable to the general public.
Q: Was there anything else that caused you to want to edit and publish the Brown collection?
A: I was also interested in the Brown letters personally. Like Will Brown, I had kept in touch with my father on Sundays. At the time that I discovered the Brown collection, I had been gone from home for 25 years - during that time I had spoken almost every Sunday evening by phone with my father. As he learned more about my idea for a book project, my father became my biggest advocate and cheerleader. He read through the initial draft outline for my book and provided comments that precipitated my adding a narrative to augment the first-hand accounts I had tracked down. Unfortunately, my father passed away two years ago and will miss the publication of Chicago's Battery Boys.
Q: What was so special about the letters themselves that compelled you to edit and publish them?
A: Brown's letters fit several key criteria that I had learned from Ed Bearss and others to be important. The letters were well written and reflected Brown's comprehensive education. His unit was highly acclaimed and played a pivotal role in major Western Theater battles. Will made cogent observations about his company, as well as the battles he participated in and the commanders he encountered. He avoided the trivial topics that populate many Civil War letters. Minimal attention therefore was paid to the weather and food. His letters primarily focused on military, political, and business issues and were often like having a news correspondent "in the field."
Q: What were some of the topics Brown covered?
A: Will shared ongoing assessments with his father about both the Northern and Southern newspapers that he voraciously read. He carried on a written dialogue about national topics from the perspective of a Union soldier stationed in occupied Southern cities and towns. Some examples of the issues that Will addressed included the Copperhead peace movement, conscription and recruiting policies, and Confederate businesses, as well as reactions to Lincoln's emancipation and amnesty proclamations, McClellan's Democratic candidacy, and reconstruction controversies.
Q: How did you convince the archivists at the Chicago Historical Society that, as an unpublished author, you could bring their Brown collection to print?
A: The first thing I had to do was demonstrate my credibility. I spent considerable time at their institution delving into background materials on the Chicago Mercantile Battery. As I progressed with the project, I also kept them apprised of the in-depth research I was conducting at history repositories all around the country.
Q: How did you transcribe the mammoth collection of Brown letters when you were living in California at the time?
A: Since the Chicago Historical Society's volume of letters was so fragile, the curators did not want to photocopy the material and risk damaging the binding and letters. Thus, I was forced to fly from San Francisco and spend three long days reading each of the 132 letters into a tape recorder. Upon returning home, I transcribed all 400 pages of the letters. I am grateful that I received approval from the Chicago Historical Society to edit and publish the Brown letters as part of my history on the Mercantile Battery. The staff there has been a great help throughout the process and is to be commended for doing such a fine job of preserving Chicago's Civil War history.
Q: What was Capt. Pat White's background?
A: Pat White was a powerfully built, six-foot Irishman whose family had moved to Chicago in 1850. Like many other immigrants, White was forced to take on unskilled-labor jobs and worked in a meat-packing plant. In his spare time, Pat White served in a militia battery, the prestigious Chicago Light Artillery. When the war broke out, he joined Taylor's Battery, a Chicago artillery unit commanded by his relative, Ezra Taylor. His militia experience enabled him to have an immediate positive impact as a first lieutenant in Taylor's Battery.
Q: How did White end up as captain of the Chicago Mercantile Battery?
A: Ulysses Grant had kept his eye on Pat White as he distinguished himself at the battles of Belmont, Ft. Donelson, and Shiloh. The Mercantile Battery's original captain had been ineffective and Grant arranged for White to take over as commander. At age 31, White was older than most of his new artillerists and, along with his militia and battle experience, immediately gained the respect of the Battery Boys. He called himself "the poor man's captain in a rich man's battery."
Q: Who was William Liston Brown?
A: Will Brown was the quartermaster for the Chicago Mercantile Battery. He was originally from St. Joseph, Michigan, which is across Lake Michigan from Chicago. His father Hiram was a businessman involved in shipping commercial goods between Chicago and the Northeast.
Q: How did Will Brown end up in Chicago?
A: At 6 years of age, Will moved with his family to Chicago during the 1848 economic downturn in Michigan. His father capitalized on the business opportunities offered by Chicago's rapid improvements in rail and water transportation along with its explosive growth in commerce. Hiram returned to St. Joseph as the war broke out.
Q: Did Will Brown remain in Chicago even though his family went back to Michigan?
A: After he graduated from a prestigious Chicago academy at the age of 15, Will began working as a clerk in one of the Board of Trade companies near the Chicago River. In August 1862, when Lincoln made his call for another 300,000 volunteers to help him to squelch the Confederate rebellion, Will was working as a clerk for a wholesale grain merchant. Along with many of his friends, Will decided it was time to enlist in the Union army. He chose to enter the Chicago Mercantile Battery that was funded by Chicago businessmen, many of whom had sons and employees in the elite battery.
Q: What role did the historical repositories play in your research?
A: I visited key archives and museums that might have information on the Mercantile Battery. It is important to allow yourself enough time to spend at each historical repository. A mistake that I made early on was to "buzz in and out" of an archive. Conducting quality research takes time. I also needed to spend sufficient time networking with the archivists who, upon determining that I was a serious researcher, would provide me with extra guidance on my specific project. Good upfront work on the Internet or via phone can make the research trips more productive. Not everyone, however, has the good fortune to be able to visit archives and museums in person. I often was able to tie my history-detective visits into my business trips and vacations - I estimate that I traveled about 50,000 miles doing onsite research. One last point: take good notes regarding everything that you review, especially material you think that you will be citing.
Q: Are there basic reference books that list US historical repositories?
A: Yes, there are some excellent reference books that list most of the Civil War libraries, archives, and museums in the country. At these institutions, there are often not only books with information about other places to focus your work on but also published books on Civil War letter and diary collections.
Q: How did you select the archives to visit?
A: I started first with the broader history repositories such as the United States Army's Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA, near Harrisburg. When I went to visit my son who was attending Dickinson College there, I scheduled extra time so I could explore the Institute's significant collection of primary source material that is arranged by unit. The other major starting point is the National Archives in Washington, D.C. My goal there was to find the Battery's basic material. It was a thrill to handle Capt. White's orders and the Battery's daily log book and rosters. One of my favorite archives is the Confederate Research Center in Hillsboro, Texas, which was run by Dr. Buddy Patterson who befriended me during my research.
Q: What did you do at the National Archives?
A: I began my work at the National Archives by obtaining the service records for Capt. White and the other officers. You need to obtain both the service and pension records. The service records are often just copies of muster rolls that list monthly service dates and government payments. They are valuable for verifying promotions as well as participation in major battles.
Q: What about pension records?
A: Pension records include the soldier's application and validation of injuries and/or illnesses incurred during his service in the Civil War. In the applications there are usually lists of key war-time dates and events for the soldier. Sometimes nestled in these pension folders, or in the service records, are other documents such as letters. I remember, for example, looking through Pat White's pension record and finding a long letter written by Major General John McClernand about their service together at Ft. Donelson prior to White being promoted to become the Battery Boys' captain. The process is like putting together a puzzle except that the pieces are century-old documents that are scattered around the country. It could also be likened to the scavenger hunts we went on as kids.
Q: Did you use the Internet to narrow your search?
A: The Internet is one of those world-changing and life-enhancing revolutions that, while in the midst of it, you really do not understand the full impact. To be able to put in queries to a search engine like Google or Yahoo and to instantaneously find relevant information is incredible. That is the good news. The bad news is that new information is always being added, which means a researcher has to keep doing ongoing Internet searches until the book project is completed. The other bad news is that authors have to be careful not to accept unsubstantiated information.
Q: What about software programs?
A: Having an electronic copy of the Official Records is valuable for strategic searches. Some of the other standard Civil War reference materials are also now available on CD-ROM. While I love having access to these computer programs, I still am a bit old-fashioned and prefer going through a book myself. I have made many serendipitous discoveries looking for one thing in a book and finding something else.
Q: Did you conduct all of the research for Chicago's Battery Boys by yourself?
A: I conducted much of the onsite research at archives in the Midwest and South by myself. In the East, I used a freelance researcher, Steve Zerbe who lives near Philadelphia, to augment my work. Steve tracked down pension and service records that I could not access during my trips to D.C. from San Francisco. He also discovered the Lt. George Throop letters at the Library of Congress. I had asked him to check into some microfilm on Throop's father that I had heard about. Amos Throop had been a high-profile politician in Chicago. During the process, Steve found George Throop's letters nestled in among his father's material.
Q: Did you enlist the support of any other researchers?
A: At the end of the project, I hired a freelance researcher, Rosanne Butler, who had retired after spending 25 years working at the National Archives. She helped me to complete my Epilogue, which traced what William Brown and Patrick White did after the war. Rosanne also tracked down missing references and leads, and took charge of gaining permissions from the various archives and museums whose primary materials I had cited in my book. That was a huge undertaking. Additionally, Rosanne found photos and illustrations for the book from around the country. One of her most important discoveries was a set of postwar photos of William Brown. Rosanne also played an invaluable role during the editing process. I could never have completed this project on time without her assistance.
