The Better Angel: Walt Whitman in the Civil War PDF
Preview The Better Angel: Walt Whitman in the Civil War
The Better Angel: Walt Whitman in the Civil War Roy Morris, Jr. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS THE BETTER ANGEL ALSO BY ROY MORRIS, JR. Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company The Devil's Dictionary (editor) The Better Angel WALT WHITMAN IN THE CIVIL WAR Roy Morris, Jr. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2000 OXPORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris Sao Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 2000 by Roy Morris, Jr. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Morris, Roy. The better angel: Walt Whitman in the Civil War / Roy Morris, Jr. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-512482-0 i. Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. 2. Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892—Views on war. 3. United States—History—Civil War, 1861-1865— War work. 4. Poets, American—I9th century—Biography. I. Title. PS3232.M67 2OOO 8n'.3—dc2i [B] 99-086210 Book design by Adam B. Bohannon 1 3 5 7 9 0 8 6 42 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Leslie, with love "You had me at 'Hello.'" This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Acknowledgments, ix INTRODUCTION The Medicine of Daily Affection 3 CHAPTER ONE New York Stagnation 9 CHAPTER TWO A Sight in Camp 48 CHAPTER THREE The Great Army of the Sick 75 CHAPTER FOUR The Real Precious & Royal Ones of This Land 124 CHAPTER FIVE The Melancholy Tide 161 CHAPTER SIX Retrievements Out of the Night 201 EPILOGUE Lose Not My Sons 238 Notes, 245 Bibliography, 259 Index, 263 Illustrations appear after page 160 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Walt Whitman has never lacked for biographers, beginning with his friend John Burroughs in 1867 and continuing through the millennium. Until now, however, no one has seen fit to devote more than a passing chapter, at best, to Whitman's Civil War years, a time that the poet himself considered "the greatest priv- ilege and satisfaction" of his life. With this book I hope to re- dress that somewhat surprising historical imbalance and to put, whenever possible, a human face on a most inhuman tragedy. To all those earlier biographers I offer my thanks. I would like to cite particularly the work of the late George L. Sixbey, whose pioneering doctoral dissertation, "Walt Whitman's Mid- dle Years: 1860-1867," is an invaluable guide to Whitman's often murky existence in the years immediately preceding the Civil War. Thanks also to my agent, Tom Wallace, for his kindness and encouragement; to my editor, Peter Ginna, for his patience, tact, and insightful advice; to my father-in-law, G. Burton Pierce, for his unfailing generosity; and to my wife, Leslie, for teaching me each day for the past twenty years how to be a better person. I don't know how well the lessons have taken, but I couldn't have asked for a more willing—or winning—teacher. ~: ix :~
The list of books you might like
