The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History

The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War HistoryEdited by Gary W. Gallagher and Alan T. NolanNine distinguished historians debunk the myth of the Lost Cause.The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History posits the notion that the Confederacy was doomed from the start in its struggle against the superior might of the Union, but its forces fought heroically against all odds for the cause of states' rights. In reality, this was and is an elaborate and intentional effort on the part of Southerners to rationalize the secession and the war itself. Unfortunately, skillful propagandists (beginning with Jubal Early) have been so successful in promoting this romanticized view that the Lost Cause has assumed a life of its own, leaving truth in the dust. Misrepresenting the war's true origins and its actual course, the myth of the Lost Cause distorts our national memory. The controversy currently raging in South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas over the display of Confederate symbols illustrates the power and saliency of this myth. In The Myth of the Lost Cause, nine historians describe and analyze the Lost Cause, identifying the ways in which it falsifies history. They have created a thoughtful and provocative volume that makes a major contribution to Civil War historiography.Gary W. Gallagher is Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He has written and published numerous books on the Civil War, including Lee and His Generals in War and Memory, Lee the Soldier, and The Confederate War.Alan T. Nolan (1923-2008) is author of Lee Considered and The Iron Brigade and editor of Giants in Their Tall Black Hats, the latter two books published by Indiana University Press.ContentsIntroduction, Gary W. GallagherThe Anatomy of the Myth, Alan T. NolanJubal A. Early, The Lost Cause and Civil War History, A Persistent Legacy, Gary W. GallagherIs Our Love for Wade Hampton Foolishness?: South Carolina and the Lost Cause, Charles J. HoldenThese Few Gray-haired, Battle-Scarred Veterans: Confederate Army Reunions in Georgia (1885-1895), Keith S. BohannonNew South Visionaries: Virginia's Last Generation of Slaveholders: The Gospel of Progress and the Lost Cause, Peter J. CarmichaelJames Longstreet and the Lost Cause, Jeffrey D. WertContinuous Hammering and Mere Attrition: Lost Cause Critics and the Military Reputation of Ulysses S. Grant, Brooks D. SimpsonLet the People See the Old Life as It Was: Lasalle Corbell Pickett and the Myth of the Lost Cause, Lesley J. GordonThe Immortal Confederacy: Another Look at Lost Cause Religion, Lloyd A. Hunter