Awaiting the Heavenly Country: The Civil War and America's Culture of Death

263 Pages·2008·9.881 MB·English

by  Mark S. Schantz

awaiting the heavenly country

awaiting the heavenly country
The Civil War and America’s Culture of Death
mark s. schantz
cornell university press
ithaca and london
Title page: George N. Barnard,
“Battle of New Hope Church, Georgia, No. 2.”
Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign (1866).
Courtesy of the Library Company of Pennsylvania.
Copyright © 2008 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a
review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced
in any form without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House,
512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2008 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schantz, Mark S. (Mark Saunders), 1955–
Awaiting the heavenly country : the Civil War and
America’s culture of death / Mark S. Schantz.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–8014–3761–8 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—
Casualties—Social aspects. 2. Death—Social aspects—
United States—History—19th century. 3. War and society—
United States—History—19th century. I. Title.
E468.9.S33 2008
973.7'1—dc22
2007048089
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responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible
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Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
for nancy and mary-candler
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter One. “Emblems of Mortality” 6
Chapter Two. “The Heavenly Country” 38
Chapter Three. “Melancholy Pleasure” 70
Chapter Four. “A Voice from the Ruins” 97
Chapter Five. “Better to Die Free, Than to Live Slaves” 126
Chapter Six. “The Court of Death” 163
Epilogue 207
Notes 211
Index 237
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List of Illustrations
1. Emblems of Mortality . . . Imitated from a Painting in the Cemetery of the Dominican
Church at Basil, Switzerland 7
2. Joseph Ward, Death of Lieut. Col. Henry Clay, Jr., of the Second Kentucky
Volunteers. At the Battle of Buena Vista, Feb. 23, 1847 27
3. Frontispiece, Richard Alsop, The Echo, with other Poems, 1807 41
4. Certifi cate for the members of the New-Jersey Society for the
Abolition of Slavery, ca. 1810 42
5. Nathaniel Currier, certifi cate for the Missionary Society
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, ca. 1835 43
6. Thomas Sparrow, advertisement for John Ashton, Importer
and Manufacturer of Musical Instruments, ca. 1830 44
7. Alexandre & Cesar la recovient dans les cieux, ca. 1821 45
IX
X ILLUSTRATIONS
8. Washington Welcoming Lincoln into Heaven, 1865 68
9. The Desperation of a Mother, from The Anti-Slavery Record,
September 1835 134
10. The Resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia, who escaped from Richmond,
Virginia in a box 3 feet long 2½ ft. deep and 2 ft. wide, 1850 136
11. From Refl ections on Slavery; with Recent Evidence of its Inhumanity.
Occasioned by the Melancholy Death of Romain, A French Negro,
by Humanitas, 1803 145
12. From Jesse Torrey, Jun., Physician, Portraiture of Domestic
Slavery, in the United States, 1817 147
13. From William Wells Brown, Clotel; or, the President’s Daughter:
A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States (1853) 149
14. James Baillie, In Memory of . . . , ca. 1845–1847 164
15. James Baillie, To the Memory of . . . 169
16. Nathaniel Currier, In Memory of . . . 170
17. Benjamin F. Nutting, To the Memory of . . . , 1837 171
18. James Baillie, The Mother’s Grave, 1848 174
19. Nathaniel Currier, To the Memory of . . . 175
20. Currier & Ives, The Soldier’s Grave, 1862 176
21. Elizabeth Louisa Foust with her dead child on
her lap, ca. 1853 183
22. Alexander Gardner, “A Burial Party, Cold Harbor, VA.,
April, 1865” 185