Reviews
Dr. David Blight:
In this beguiling, important novel, Carl Eeman reinvents a world of 1912-14 in which our tortured struggle with Civil War memory and race relations might have had different outcomes. He imagines Civil War veterans, their language, their identities, their sense of place and honor as they have never been portrayed in fiction. And the story of the spectacular Gettysburg Reunion of 1913 is rendered in new terms by the presence of 5,000 black veterans. Every serious student and reader of history has wondered “what if?” In Eeman’s haunting characters and dialogues, and in his textured storytelling, Americans can see the genuine tragedy in our story of Civil War remembrance.
David W. Blight is a Yale University historian and author of Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory
midwest
Midwest Book Review:
War is divisive, but racism seems to be more so. “Encampment” is a take of alternative history. In real history, 1913 was a year where tens of thousands of veterans of Gettysburg from both the North and South met in a field that was meant to bury the hatchet between the two factions. But all of the veterans that showed were white, and Carl Eeman takes an alternative history look as a black man dares to show, as differing opinions and racist views collide. “Encampment” is a fascinating look at the waning lives of those who fought during the Civil War, and the progress of equality.
nyjournal
New York Journal of Books:
July 1913 was the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Fifty-four thousand white veterans from both sides of the battle met in what was called the Encampment.
The gathering was publicized across the nation as a gesture of reconciliation between North and South. Virtually 100,000 civilians visited the site daily and attended the various ceremonies alongside the veterans.
But not all Union soldiers were welcomed. While Congress funded the reunion with a million-dollar appropriation, President Wilson’s Secretary of the Army issued an order making it very clear that colored Union veterans would not be welcomed.
Not everyone agreed with this decision, however. In this historical novel, our author, Carl Eeman tells us of a different reunion; one in which Union veterans of colored units did attend. He first reminds us that race relations had not changed all that much in Savannah, Georgia, or Rutland, Vermont, since the Emancipation was proclaimed. The author allows us to see the preparations, the actual integrated reunion and the aftermath through the eyes of three men.
Former Union Major Calvin Salisbury, a retired Vermont judge addresses his comrades of the Rutland Grand Army of the Republic: “Our national shame was preaching and denying liberty at the same time.” He reminded them. Then he led an effort to include colored Union veterans. He even met with the governor of his state. He thanked the governor for the financial assistance the Vermont legislators committed to the event: “The bill passed unanimously. The appropriation makes sure all of you (veterans) will be going.”
Salisbury replied, “But it is doubtful if any of Vermont’s 150 colored troops will be welcomed in Tent City, Governor.”
“Then, I guess it’s time for us to pick up the torch. What do you suggest, Judge?”
And so, a groundswell of support in the North grew. Fundraising by members of GAR posts and Negro churches all over the nation raised funds to support an integrated encampment.
In Savannah, Georgia, we meet a veteran of the Georgia 8th Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, Zacharia Hampton. He lives with his daughter, Emily and his son-in-law, Lee. She wasn’t very understanding of her father’s United Confederate Veteran organization: “Every month there’s some bourbon-splashed regimental something.”
It was fifty years since Zacharia had been at Gettysburg. On occasion his arm still ached from the wound he received there. And he could still almost hear the noise of battle, taste the gunpowder and smell the gun smoke. Nevertheless, he looked forward to this all-white reunion of those who fought there.
Lucius Robinson of Savannah had a different goal. He had served as a First Sergeant in the 2nd Carolina Union Volunteers, an all-colored unit. He had been denied the opportunity to march in the Washington, D.C., Grand Parade in 1865. He did not want to miss the encampment celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. He was determined to attend.
Contributors from all over the nation made the trip possible. Tents, cots, blankets, and other gear came from Northern National Guard units. Camp Lincoln was established on donated ground in Gettysburg for the colored veterans of the War Between the States.
During the week of the Encampment it is estimated that at least 100,000 civilians joined the 54,000 white veterans each day. Mr. Eeman’s novel adds to that number 7,000 colored men, veterans of the Union Army.
It was during the week of the reunion that these three veterans met one evening, and unexpectedly bonded. And so did the thousands of visitors who joined them, both blue and gray, white and colored, in reconciliation and celebration.
The author has created a believable and fascinating tale with well-developed characters. This reviewer recommends Mr. Eeman’s novel Encampment as a good read to all Civil War enthusiasts who want to take a look at what might have been.
Reviewer Dr. Michael J. Deeb is the author of Duty and Honor, Duty Accomplished and Honor Restored.
Fredrick County Civil War Table:
A new review… from the Fredrick County Civil War Round Table can be read here.
Bookflurries at Daily Kos:
The fiction story of the reunion of Civil War Veterans in 1913 at Gettysburg begins in 1912 as the characters are hearing about it and groups are raising money to send their veterans. We get to know two families in Savannah, Georgia; Zachariah Hampton who is a white veteran, his daughter Emily and her husband Lee, and Lucius Robinson who is a Black veteran and his children and grandchildren.
We also meet Calvin Salisbury and his wife Eleanor who live in Rutland, Vermont. Eleanor and other ladies had taught Black people in Port Royal, South Carolina, during the war. We meet a Black veteran named Ashton Melo. There is a trouble maker in both cities, Dooley Culpepper in Savannah and Josiah Trimble in Rutland.
The amount of research by the author is immense and that makes the difference in making the story both interesting and authentic. There are many things going on in each city as well as the encampment preparation. There are ladies participating in demonstrations for the vote. There is a family building a Sears Kit House.
One chapter is amazing as it describes an historical event. We are drawn into the event by a careful description of what is occurring, bit by bit, until we understand at last what is happening. (pgs. 34-36) This was really well done.
I think my favorite thing in the book was the sermon that Calvin overhears at Gettysburg when he is standing outside St. Paul’s African Methodist Episcopal Church. I have not been big on sermons in the past, but this one was perfect for what was happening at the reunion. (pgs. 123-126). I think this sermon was worth the price of the book. :)
The fun of the book begins for me when the veterans reach Gettysburg and begin to walk around. Since I have visited there three times, it is especially interesting. Zachariah visits the Rose Farm and Wheatfield area where my great-grandfather in the Union Army was taken prisoner on July 2nd. It made me shiver to hear the fiction characters discussing the battle. I have stood there at the small sign and looked across the fields. There is a statue there to honor my great-grandfather’s 145th Regiment of the PA Volunteer Infantry.
On pages 221, 222, we see the speeches of President Wilson and W.E.B. DuBois juxtaposed which is very interesting.
The author describes Marian Anderson singing at the Encampment and the shaking of hands by Confederate and Union soldiers across the wall where Pickett’s men charged and were stopped. The author explains how that felt on page 203:
Who can describe the sound of brothers meeting for the first time as brothers, knowing for the first time they are brothers? Who can describe forgiveness, acceptance, and welcome galvanized in human flesh? The overwhelming thousands who saw the embrace saw the Civil War end before their eyes. In the same heartbeat they also felt and knew in themselves what Lincoln had called “the better angels of our nature” here on Gettysburg’s ground.
We see a grand finale on the last day and then the veterans wend their way home. Several of them are changed by their time and experiences at the reunion. But in Savannah, there is trouble. ”New battle, same War,” says one character because the white children’s school has burned down and the Black children are supposed to give up their school for the year while the white children use it. Other troubles both in the North and the South are present as the story continues into 1914.
To read the rest of the review, click here.
