Lt. Spalding in Civil War Louisiana

A Union Officer's Humor, Privilege, and Ambition

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877)
Cover of the book Lt. Spalding in Civil War Louisiana by Michael D. Pierson, LSU Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Michael D. Pierson ISBN: 9780807164419
Publisher: LSU Press Publication: November 2, 2016
Imprint: LSU Press Language: English
Author: Michael D. Pierson
ISBN: 9780807164419
Publisher: LSU Press
Publication: November 2, 2016
Imprint: LSU Press
Language: English

In July 1862, Union Lieutenant Stephen Spalding wrote a long letter from his post in Algiers, Louisiana, to his former college roommate. Equally fascinating and unsettling for modern readers, the comic cynicism of the young soldier’s correspondence offers an unusually candid and intimate account of military life and social change on the southern front. A captivating primary source, Spalding’s letter is reproduced here for the first time, along with contextual analysis and biographical detail, by Michael D. Pierson. Lt. Spalding in Civil War Louisiana lifts the curtain on the twenty-two-year-old’s elitist social attitudes and his consuming ambition, examining the mind of a man of privilege as he turns to humor to cope with unwelcome realities.

Spalding and his correspondent, James Peck, both graduates of the University of Vermont, lived in a society dominated by elite young men, with advantages granted by wealth, gender, race, and birth. Caught in the middle of the Civil War, Spalding adopts a light-hearted tone in his letter, both to mask his most intimate thoughts and fears and distance himself from those he perceives as social inferiors. His jokes show us an unpleasantly stratified America, with blacks, women, and the men in the ranks subjected to ridicule and even physical abuse by an officer with more assertiveness than experience.

His longest story, a wild escapade in New Orleans that included abundant drinking and visits to two brothels, gives us a glimpse of a world in which men bonded through excess and indulgence. More poignantly, tactless jests about death, told as his unit suffers its first casualties, reveal a man struggling to come to terms with mortality. Evidence of Spalding’s unfulfilled aspirations, like his sometimes disturbing wit, allows readers to see past his entitlement to his human weaknesses. An engrossing picture of a charismatic but flawed young officer, Lt. Spalding in Civil War Louisiana offers new ways to look at the society that shaped him.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In July 1862, Union Lieutenant Stephen Spalding wrote a long letter from his post in Algiers, Louisiana, to his former college roommate. Equally fascinating and unsettling for modern readers, the comic cynicism of the young soldier’s correspondence offers an unusually candid and intimate account of military life and social change on the southern front. A captivating primary source, Spalding’s letter is reproduced here for the first time, along with contextual analysis and biographical detail, by Michael D. Pierson. Lt. Spalding in Civil War Louisiana lifts the curtain on the twenty-two-year-old’s elitist social attitudes and his consuming ambition, examining the mind of a man of privilege as he turns to humor to cope with unwelcome realities.

Spalding and his correspondent, James Peck, both graduates of the University of Vermont, lived in a society dominated by elite young men, with advantages granted by wealth, gender, race, and birth. Caught in the middle of the Civil War, Spalding adopts a light-hearted tone in his letter, both to mask his most intimate thoughts and fears and distance himself from those he perceives as social inferiors. His jokes show us an unpleasantly stratified America, with blacks, women, and the men in the ranks subjected to ridicule and even physical abuse by an officer with more assertiveness than experience.

His longest story, a wild escapade in New Orleans that included abundant drinking and visits to two brothels, gives us a glimpse of a world in which men bonded through excess and indulgence. More poignantly, tactless jests about death, told as his unit suffers its first casualties, reveal a man struggling to come to terms with mortality. Evidence of Spalding’s unfulfilled aspirations, like his sometimes disturbing wit, allows readers to see past his entitlement to his human weaknesses. An engrossing picture of a charismatic but flawed young officer, Lt. Spalding in Civil War Louisiana offers new ways to look at the society that shaped him.

More books from LSU Press

Cover of the book Crucible of Reconstruction by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book John Pendleton Kennedy by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book Tumult And Silence At Second Creek by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book Wide Awake in the Pelican State by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book Edna Ferber's America by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book Theater of Memory by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book On the Front Lines of the Cold War by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book The Cottoncrest Curse by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book For the Lost Cathedral by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book Counterfeit Justice by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book Black Africans in the British Imagination by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book Faulkner's Imperialism by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book The Children of Africa in the Colonies by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book Notorious Woman by Michael D. Pierson
Cover of the book Marc-Antoine Caillot and the Company of the Indies in Louisiana by Michael D. Pierson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy