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| From the 1913 2 volume biography of General Stonewall Jackson, signed by Lt. Col. W. Green 25th Virginians |
WHAT'S SO FASCINATING ABOUT OLD BOOKS AND THOSE WHO COLLECT THEM?
OR MAYBE IT'S JUST THE SPIN OF A COLLECTOR TO JUSTIFY AN OBSESSION
IF YOU'RE NOT A LOVER OF BOOKS, THERE'S NOT MUCH I CAN SAY OR WRITE, THAT WOULD CONVINCE YOU, TO ALL OF A SUDDEN, BECOME A BIBLIOPHILE. I HAD A FASCINATION WITH BOOKS AS A CHILD. FOR MOST BIBLIOPHILES, THOSE INTERESTS DID BEGIN AT A YOUNG AGE. I DIDN'T HAVE MANY STORY BOOKS, BUT THE ONES I DID OWN, LIKE THOSE CLASSIC FAIRY TALES, WERE IN CONSTANT USE FOR RAINY DAY AND SICK DAY ENJOYMENT. THROUGHOUT MY CHILDHOOD, I WAS INTERESTED IN ACQUIRING SPORTS BOOKS, AND THE CLASSICS, LIKE "TOM SAWYER," AS WELL AS ANYTHING NON-FICTION. IT MARKED THE BEGINNING OF MY LONG RELATIONSHIP WITH NON-FICTION, WHICH NOW MAKES UP NINETY-FIVE PERCENT OF MY SHOP INVENTORY.
BUT FUNNY THING, THAT, DESPITE YEARS OF TRYING, I COULD NEVER FULLY ENGAGE IN WHAT MY MATES WERE COLLECTING AND ENJOYING AT THE SAME TIME. I LIKED COMIC BOOKS, AND THE WHOLE COMIC BOOK CULTURE; YET DESPITE COUNTLESS FORAYS, TO SEE IF I COULD BECOME A COMIC-BOOK-GUY, BY IMMERSION, EACH TIME, AFTER A MONTH OF TRIAL AND ERROR WITH TITLES I THOUGHT INTERESTING, I'D FALL AWKWARDLY OUT OF THE SKY IN DISGRACE. I JUST COULDN'T WRAP MY HEAD AROUND SUPERHEROES, THE WAY SOME OF MY MATES COULD, AND BE SO HAPPILY OCCUPIED READING THEM, WHILE OTHERS WERE GETTING TOGETHER GAMES OF BASEBALL AND HOCKEY. EVEN INTO ADULTHOOD, IT HAS NEVER PROVEN SUCCESSFUL. COMICS FRUSTRATED ME, WITH THEIR PRINT AND DIALOGUE FORMAT, AND I JUST COULDN'T GET INTO THE CULTURE THAT WAS NECESSARY, TO MAXIMIZE THE EXPERIENCE IN RETURN. I WATCH "BIG BANG THEORY," REGULARLY, AND AT TIMES, EVEN NOW, I WISH IT HAD BEEN POSSIBLE TO IMBED IN THE COMIC-PASSION. BUT IT HAS BEEN OBVIOUS FOR THE PAST FIFTY YEARS OF TRYING, THAT IT'S TIME TO ADMIT I DON'T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES. I NEVER DID. I HATE ADMITTING THIS, BECAUSE MILLIONS OF COMIC BOOK COLLECTORS ARE HAVING A BLAST, AND I'M MISSING OUT. I THINK ABOUT GOING TO THEIR CONVENTIONS, BUT YOU SEE, THAT IS THE CLEAR DIVIDING LINE. I WOULD LIKE THE PARTY ATMOSPHERE, BUT HATE THE FACT PEOPLE WERE DRESSING UP AS THEIR FANTASY HEROES. I CAN'T EXPLAIN IT BEYOND THIS. POSSIBLY IT COMES DOWN TO THE FACT I LIKE DISAPPEARING INTO AN AUDIENCE, NOT BEING ONE OF ITS HIGHLIGHTS. SOMETHING MUST HAVE HAPPENED TO ME IN THE EARLY YEARS OF COLLECTING, THAT LEFT ME WITH A SLIVER TO FESTER, ABOUT THE GENERAL WORTH OF COMICS TO MY PHILOSOPHY. AND THAT'S WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO, MORE SO, THAN FINDING THE COMIC BOOK FORUM BENEATH ME. THAT'S SIMPLY NOT TRUE. I CAN LIST TWENTY OR SO FIELDS OF COLLECTING, THAT I WANTED TO PURSUE INITIALLY, LIKE BUILDING A COLLECTION OF DINKY TOYS, OR HOT WHEELS, THAT COULD NEVER BE FULFILLED, BECAUSE MY INTEREST WOULD START FAILING AFTER A COUPLE OF MONTHS. BOOKS WERE DIFFERENT RIGHT FROM THE START.
I AM INSPIRED TO BE AROUND BOOKS. I HAVE AN INSATIABLE DESIRE TO READ, AND TO USE THEM FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES. I'VE USED HUNDREDS OF BOOKS, FOR REFERENCE, EVEN WHILE WRITING THESE BLOGS OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS. THEY'RE A JOY TO BE AROUND. BUT IT IS AN ACQUIRED TASTE, AND TODAY, OBVIOUSLY, INTEREST IN BOOKS IS DECLINING, OR AT LEAST ONES THAT ARE PREPARED THE OLD FASHIONED WAY; OF INK ON PAPER, WITH A NICE BINDING. I WON'T READ MY BOOKS ON AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE. I'M A GREAT BELIEVER IN TECHNOLOGY, AND IT'S NICE TO BE ABLE TO READ A BOOK, WITHOUT HAVING TO CHOP DOWN TREES, AND TURN THEM INTO PULP. BUT IN THIS REGARD, I AM STUCK IN THE WELL OF HISTORY, AND IT WORKS FOR ME; TO SET MY HANDS ON THE GENUINE ARTICLE, AND GO THROUGH IT PAGE BY GLORIOUS PAGE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO REMIND ME ABOUT THE CLUTTER OF HAVING TOO MANY BOOKS. THEY HAVE BECOME MY FORTRESS MANY TIMES IN LIFE, WHEN I WAS ABLE TO BUILD STRENGTH, FROM WHAT VIRTUES OF SOUND MORAL PHILOSOPHY THEY SO GENEROUSLY POSSESSED. I HAVE COUNTED MANY GREAT WRITERS AS MY CONFIDANTS, FROM CHARLES DICKENS, WASHINGTON IRVING, TO JOSEPH CONRAD AND JOHN STEINBECK. IF I'VE HAD A WEAK SPIRIT, AT TIMES, IMMERSION IN THEIR WORK, HAS GIVEN ME THE PASSION TO POKE BACK INTO THE REAL WORLD, AND CARRY ON THIS SURVIVAL AND FULFILLMENT THING. YEA, I KNOW. IT SOUNDS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME AS CELEBRATING SUPERMAN, BATMAN, IRONMAN AND ALL THE OTHER GLORIOUS SUPER HEROES FROM COMIC CULTURE. WE COLLECTORS CONTRADICT OURSELVES ROUTINELY, TO SUPPORT HOW WE OCCUPY OUR TIME AND ENERGY; AND SPEND OUR MONEY.
THE FIRST EDITION OF THE CIVIL WAR BIOGRAPHY, "STONEWALL JACKSON AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR," BY COLONEL G.F.R. HENDERSON, WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE LATE, RIGHT HONORABLE VISCOUNT GARNET JOSEPH WOLSELEY, (BRITISH ARMY, ATTENDED TO LOUIS RIEL DURING THE REBELLION IN MANITOBA) WAS PUBLISHED IN TWO VOLUMES IN AUGUST 1898. DUE TO ITS POPULARITY AND DEMAND, IT WAS PUT INTO A SECOND EDITION, LESS THAN A YEAR LATER. THE BOOKS THAT HAVE MOST SIGNIFICANT VALUE, OBVIOUSLY, ARE THE FIRST AND SECOND EDITIONS. PARTLY, BECAUSE OF PRINTING NUMBERS. THE FIRST EDITIONS, OF MOST BOOKS, GENERALLY SPEAKING, WERE TRIAL BALLOON VENTURES, TO SEE HOW THE MARKET WOULD REACT. IF, LIKE ME, YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SIGNED EDITIONS, THE FIRST PRINTING IS THE ONE MOST LIKELY TO BE AUTOGRAPHED AND INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, AND SIGNIFICANT OTHERS RELATED TO THE BOOK; INCLUDING CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS WHO MAY HAVE PURCHASED THE TWO VOLUME SET, BECAUSE THERE WAS MENTION OF THEIR BRIGADE OR DIVISION, AS PART OF JACKSON'S CHRONICLE OF BATTLES FOUGHT. IT'S NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION TO FIND SIGNED SECOND AND THIRD EDITIONS, ESPECIALLY HAVING THE SIGNATURES OF FORMER SOLDIERS, WHO MISSED OUT ON THE FIRST AND SECOND GENERAL PUBLICATION. THE FIRST EDITIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN QUITE EXPENSIVE WHEN RELEASED IN 1898, BUT THE COST LIKELY REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY BY TIME THE 1913 SET WAS PUBLISHED. THE NUMBERS OF TEXTS PRINTED, USUALLY GOES UP AS THE REPRINTS CONTINUE, TO MEET THE ACTIVE MARKET DEMAND.
WHAT IS SOMEWHAT UNUSUAL, IS THAT A MUCH LATER REPRINT, IDENTIFIED IN THIS CASE, AS A "NEW IMPRESSION," WOULD CARRY THE SIGNATURE OF SOMEONE WITH A VESTED INTEREST IN THE TEXT. IN THE CASE OF MY RECENTLY ACQUIRED 1913 NEW IMPRESSION, VOLUME ONE ONLY, OF THE "STONEWALL JACKSON," BIOGRAPHY, THERE ARE TWO SIGNATURES ON THE INSIDE COVER PAGE, THAT FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE AS A BOOKMAN, ARE ORIGINAL TO THE PERIOD. I HAVE SHOWN AN IMAGE OF THESE SIGNATURES PREVIOUSLY IN THIS BLOG, SHORTLY AFTER I ACQUIRED IT, ON A BOOK HUNT BACK IN EARLY MARCH. THE SIGNATURE ABOVE, IS THAT OF "W.J. GREEN, LT. COL. 25 REGT." THE SIGNATURE BELOW, IS MOST LIKELY THAT OF A SON, AND MAY BE "J.F. GREEN," ALTHOUGH I MAY BE READING THE INITIALS INCORRECTLY. WHEN I WROTE ABOUT THE AQUISITIION OF THIS BOOK, PREVIOUSLY, I MENTIONED THAT THE WORK HAD JUST BEGUN, TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THIS WAS A LEGITIMATE SIGNATURE, OF A CIVIL WAR SOLDIER, EVEN AS LATE AS 1913. AND WHY WAS IT SO LATE, THAT IT WAS SIGNED, CONSIDERING THE BOOK HAD BEEN AVAILABLE, IN PROGRESSIVELY LARGER NUMBERS, AS FAR BACK AS THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, AFTER SEVERAL PRINTINGS IN THE LATE 1800'S. FROM THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR, IN 1865, IT WAS 48 YEARS LATER THAT THIS TWO VOLUME REPRINT EDITION WAS RELEASED. SO IT IS POSSIBLE THAT LT. COLONEL GREEN WAS STILL ALIVE, IN ORDER TO SIGN THIS RE-ISSUE. IF HE HAD BEEN THIRTY AT THE END OF THE WAR, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN EIGHTY-EIGHT IN 1913. THIS IS JUST PART OF WHAT WE HAVE TO PROVE, IN ORDER TO VALIDATE THE SIGNATURE. IN TERMS OF VALUE, IT COULD BE SUBSTANTIAL. IN TERMS OF "I REALLY LIKE OWNING THIS BOOK," PROVING, WITHOUT DOUBT, THAT IT IS A LEGITIMATE SIGNATURE, IS A TEN OUT OF TEN FOR A BOOK COLLECTOR. BUT THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE LENGTHY WORK IT TAKES TO PROVE THE PROVENANCE OF A BOOK, OR ANTIQUE GENERALLY. WE DON'T JUST BUY THIS STUFF, AND ARRIVE BACK AT OUR PLACES OF BUSINESS, AND SLAP ON PRICE TAGS, WITH A THREE HUNDRED TO FIVE HUNDRED PERCENT MARK-UP. AFTER WE DO THE WORK, WELL, IT COULD ALL BE A WASTED EFFORT, AS WE PROVE OR DISPROVE THE ASSUMPTION WE BEGAN WITH; ALL PART OF THE DEALER'S DUE DILIGENCE. IN A MONETARY PROFILE, THE ONE VOLUME WITHOUT PROVENANCE, WITH SOME STAINING, WOULD BE WORTH ABOUT TWENTY BUCKS. I PAID FOUR DOLLARS. WITH PROVEN PROVENANCE, IT COULD BE VALUED, AMONGST COLLECTORS, AT A HUNDRED DOLLARS OR SLIGHTLY MORE. THE MORE PROVENANCE WE CAN FIND, THE GREATER THE VALUE. IT'S A SIMPLE CASE THAT TO SATISFY A BUYER, WE NEED THE WHOLE STORY TO QUALIFY THE ASKING PRICE. SO IF WE DON'T PROVIDE FOLLOW-THROUGH, WE LOSE VALUE ON THE BOOK. NO ONE THEN TO BLAME BUT OURSELVES. IF WE FUDGE-IT, AND DON'T PROVIDE PROOF THE SIGNATURE IS LEGITIMATE, WE COULD BE ACCUSED OF MISREPRESENTING THE BOOK. UNLESS, THAT IS, WE PRICE IT, AS IF THERE WAS NO VALUE WHATSOEVER TO THE SIGNATURE. SOMETIMES THIS HAPPENS. THERE ARE CASES WHEN RESEARCH JUST HITS THE PROVERBIAL BRICK WALL, AND WE HAVE TO LEAVE IT TO THE NEXT OWNER TO CARRY IT FURTHER ON THEIR DIME. THE BOOK EVEN WITH THE BASE PROVENANCE IT POSSESSES, REGARDLESS WHETHER IT WAS SIGNED BY THE LT. COLONEL, DOES MAKE IT A CURIOUS BOOK, BECAUSE IT STILL CARRIES WITH IT THE LIKELIHOOD, IT ONCE BELONGED TO THE GREEN FAMILY DIRECTLY. SO IT IS AN INTIMATE CONNECTION TO A CIVIL WAR LEGACY IF NOTHING ELSE. PLUS IT'S A REALLY GOOD BOOK TO READ. I'M NOW SEARCHING FOR THE SECOND VOLUME, TO MAKE IT COMPLETE. I WILL HAVE TO SHOP THROUGH THE ADVANCE BOOK EXCHANGE, ONLINE, TO FULFILL THIS WISH.
READING THROUGH THE BOOK CAREFULLY, (AND IT IS LOADED WITH BATTLE DETAILS), WHICH IS NECESSARY DURING SUCH A SEARCH FOR VALIDATION, TURNED UP NOTHING ABOUT MR. GREEN, SPECIFICALLY, BUT DID GIVE US SOME IMPORTANT BACKGROUND. THERE WERE QUITE A FEW "W. GREENS" IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY, FOLLOWING A BASIC INTERNET SEARCH. THE PARTICULAR "LT. COLONEL GREEN", ATTACHED TO THIS BOOK, WAS UNDER GENERAL JACKSON'S OVERALL COMMAND, BUT UNDER GENERAL EWELL'S DIVISION. THE LT. COLONEL, AS PART OF THE 25TH VIRGINIA REGIMENT, WAS UNDER THE DIRECT COMMAND OF GENERAL ELZEY; WHO AT THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER, HAD HIS BRIGADE IN SUPPORT OF GENERAL EWELL'S ATTACK. A PARAGRAPH, EARLIER IN THE TEXT, NOTES THAT, "JACKSON HAD WITH HIM, ON THE TURN-PIKE, FOR THE MOST PART SOUTH OF KERNSTOWN, HIS OWN DIVISION, SUPPORTED BY THE BRIGADES OF SCOTT AND ELZEY, AND BY NINE BATTERIES." AS WELL, "(GENERAL ELZEY'S MEN) WERE ORDERED TO TURN THE ENEMY IN THE FLANK," AT THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER, ON MAY 25TH, 1862.
"WHENEVER IT WAS POSSIBLE, SUNDAY WAS ALWAYS SET APART FOR A DAY OF REST; AND THE CLAIMS OF THE DAY WERE SELDOM ALTOGETHER DISREGARDED. ON THE MORNING OF CROSS KEYS, IT IS RELATED THAT A LARGE PORTION OF ELZEY'S BRIGADE (POSSIBLY INCLUDING LT. COLONEL W. GREEN) WERE AT SERVICE, AND THAT THE CRASH OF THE ENEMY'S ARTILLERY INTERRUPTED THE 'THIRDLY' OF THE CHAPLAIN'S SERMON." THIS IS NOTED ON PAGE 443 OF THE BOOK. FURTHER BACK, ON PAGE 340, THERE IS THE FOLLOWING REFERENCE TO THE BRIGADE; "(BATTLE OF WINCHESTER VIRGINIA), THEN, AS TAYLOR RESUMED HIS ADVANCE, THE STONEWALL REGIMENTS, WITH ELZEY IN CLOSE SUPPORT, ROSE SUDDENLY FROM THEIR COVERT, AND THE WHOLE LINE SWEPT FORWARD ACROSS THE RIDGES. THE BRIGHT SUN OF THE MAY MORNING, DISPERSING THE MISTS, WHICH VEILED THE FIELD, SHONE DOWN UPON 10,O00 BAYONETS; AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE VALLEY, 'THE REBEL YELL,' THAT STRANGE FIERCE CRY WHICH HERALDED THE SOUTHERN CHARGE, RANG HIGH ABOVE THE STORM OF BATTLE." ON THE MAP OF THE BATTLE GROUND, GENERAL ELZEY IS NOTED AS BEING IN RESERVE, NEAR THE TOLL HOUSE, AND MILITARY MILLS, AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTION.
WE KNOW, FROM ONLINE RESEARCH, THAT THERE WAS A W. GREEN IN GENERAL ELZEY'S BRIGADE, BUT IT WILL TAKE MANY HOURS YET, TO PROVE IT BEYOND DOUBT, AND ADDITIONALLY, WHEN THE LT. COLONEL DIED. IF HE DIED IN BATTLE, WE HAVE A BOOK THAT WAS ONLY A FAMILY MEMORIAL, HIS NAME BEING SIGNED INSIDE BY RESPECTFUL KIN FOLK, AND NOT BY THE CIVIL WAR SOLDIER HIMSELF. SOMETIMES IT'S EXHILERATING, AND OFTEN IT'S DISAPPOINTING, WHEN NEW INFORMATION IS PULLED FROM HUNDREDS OF DOCUMENTS SEARCHED, AND HOURS OF TIME INVESTED. THIS ONE IS WORTH THE ADDED EFFORT, BECAUSE I WOULD BE THRILLED TO OWN SUCH A RELIC OF CIVIL WAR HISTORY, OF WHICH I AM FASCINATED. IF MY OLD FRIEND, TOM BROOKS, A CIVIL WAR RE-ENACTOR, AND NOTED HISTORIAN, FORMERLY OF GRAVENHURST, WAS AROUND TODAY, I WOULD BE MEETING WITH HIM RIGHT NOW. HE WOULD KNOW ALL THE RESEARCH AVENUES TO GO THROUGH, TO PROVE WHETHER OR NOT IT IS A LEGITIMATE SIGNATURE OF A CIVIL WAR VETERAN. TOM PASSED AWAY LAST YEAR AFTER A SHORT ILLNESS. TOM WAS WELL KNOWN, BECAUSE HE RODE A WHITE HORSE THROUGH OUR TOWN, ALMOST DAILY, WEARING REPLICA-WEAR OF A MOUNTED CONFEDERATE SOLDIER. HE TURNED A FEW EYES IN HIS DAY. TOM HAD ALSO BEEN A PART OF THE WELL KNOWN MOVIE, "GETTYSBURG," AND LOVED TELLING THE STORY, OF HOW HE HAD BEEN SHOT AND KILLED TWICE IN THE MOVIE, IN TWO SEPARATE ASSAULTS ON LITTLE BIG TOP, AS PART OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY UNDER GENERAL LEE. ONE DAY, AT HIS LEISURE, HE EVEN CAME TO OUR HOUSE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, ON HORSEBACK, WHERE WE EXCHANGED FAVORS. THE NEIGHBORS WERE FREAKING OUT, THINKING THEY MUST HAVE GONE THROUGH SOME TIME PORTAL, AND WOUND UP BACK IN THE DAYS OF THE CIVIL WAR. TOM LOVED WHEN THAT HAPPENED. I GAVE HIM ONE OF THE HERITAGE BOOKS I WROTE, ABOUT THE NAMING OF THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE AND GRAVENHURST, AND HE SIGNED OUR COPY OF THE MOVIE, "GETTYSBURG." IT'S STILL ONE OF MY TREASURES. TOM WAS AN EXPERT ON THE BRITISH, AND CANADIAN CONTRIBUTION OF SOLDIERS, TO BOTH THE FEDERAL AND CONFEDERATE SIDES, WHICH WAS IN THE MANY THOUSANDS, CONTRARY TO WHAT MOST OF US BELIEVE OF THE CIVIL WAR. MY FONDEST MEMORY, WAS THE DAY I WAS ABLE TO CONVINCE HIM TO SPEAK AT THE MUSKOKA LAKES MUSEUM, IN PORT CARLING, AND HE GAVE A MEMORABLE LECTURE ABOUT THE BRITISH AND CANADIAN CONTRIBUTION, TO THE MADE-IN-AMERCIA WAR. HE HELD THE AUDIENCE SPELL-BOUND FOR THREE HOURS. AT THE TIME, I WAS ALSO AN ASSOCIATE NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST WITH TOM, FOR A PUBLICATION KNOWN AS "MUSKOKA TODAY," OPERATED BY MARK AND HUGH CLAIRMONT OF GRAVENHURST. IT WAS QUITE A SIGHT, SEEING TOM ON HIS HORSE, (SPIDER WAS ONE OF THEM), AT THE MCDONALD'S DRIVE-THROUGH. A COFFEE FOR TOM AND A CARROT FOR THE HORSE. WHAT A PICTURE. I MISS THE GUY. WE HAD SOME GREAT HISTORICAL CHATS WHENEVER WE MET; AND THAT COULD INCLUDE THE LINE-UP AT THE POST OFFICE, OR IN THE PARKING LOT OF THE LOCAL GROCERY STORE. HE WROTE A WELL RESPECTED BOOK ON THE LOUISIANA REGIMENT OF WHICH HE WAS A PART, AS A RE-ENACTOR. IT SOLD OUT BECAUSE IT WAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT, AND WELL DOCUMENTED HISTORY.
AS FOR BOOKS, I DIGRESS. OF THIS, I OFFER A BELATED APOLOGY. AS WE LIKE TO ADMIT AND BOAST OF OUR STRENGTHS, WE MUST ALSO CONFESS TO OUR MORTAL WEAKNESSES. FOR ME, IT'S HISTORY, OF WHICH BOOKS OFFER SUCH AN EXPANSIVE, WONDERFUL POR
TAL. THEN WHY, OH WHY, IS IT THUSLY CONSIDERED A WEAKNESS? WELL, GOSH, I DON'T SEEM TO BE ABLE (OR WILLING) TO CLIMB OUT. NOW THAT IS A CONUNDRUM.
Note: Both my friends, Charlie Wilson and Tom Brooks have passed away; Tom since I wrote this original blog back in 2011. Both men taught me a great deal about historical sleuthing and particularly about the events of the Civil War. Charlie Wilson never got the chance to meet Tom Brooks but I told him many stories about our own Confederate Soldier up here in the Canadian wilds.
WHAT CHARLIE WILSON TAUGHT ME ABOUT HISTORY - CHALLENGE, CHANGE AND THE CIVIL WAR
I so very much wanted to arrange a meeting between my old historian-friend Charlie Wilson, of Wilmington Delaware, and my historian-buddy, Tom Brooks, of Gravenhurst. Charlie was enthralled by the study of the American Civil War, and I often regaled him with stories about discussions I’d enjoyed with Tom Brooks, a truly dedicated and accomplished Civil War historian, living in our midst here in Gravenhurst. I hold Tom in high esteem, as both a writer and historian, and I would have loved the opportunity to sit in the middle of a conversation between these two “storied” gentleman. Now that would have been “historic” even for an historian like me! As a journalist Charlie had front line experience dealing with many breaking news events, covering a wide range of actuality, from race conflicts to large scale protests, politics and just about anything else a reporter on the beat might find front page material. In his elder statesman years he became a stalwart archivist.....and a good one. And he loved to talk about his latest research projects. I just salivated at the opportunities he was being offered, to go deeper and deeper into his state’s heritage.
Charlie and I got together as researchers, originally on a topic far from the battle for Little Round Top at Gettysburg. In fact, we were pulled together by a mutual friend / employer. It was back in the mid-1990's when I was employed with Charlie to help research a sports biography of Roger Crozier, of Bracebridge, formerly of the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and the Washington Capitals. I had written a small feature publication on Roger’s hockey career, back in 1994 or so, and it appealed to the folks where the former all-star goalie was working at the time. Roger invited me to participate on the larger book project. It was being promoted by MBNA, where Roger was a senior executive. Charlie, a well respected former journalist, outstanding researcher, was also put on the project from the Wilmington side. For a couple of years we corresponded three or four times each week, and after the research was completed, we still kept up our calls and emails. When Charlie did come up for a visit, we didn’t have much time to do anything but work, not enough time to pull together a decent social meeting with Tom. I thought Charlie would be a regular visitor up here. Things happen, you see. Unfortunate things that change our plans.
While we were supposed to be working on Roger’s bio, we did borrow a bit of time to talk about history, journalism and particularly the heritage of the Civil War. Suzanne and I have long been smitten by the movie “Gettysburg,” of which Tom played a re-enactment role, on the side of the South (Tom’s soldier character is actually mortally wounded twice in battle .....but that’s Hollywood.) He signed our copy of the video. I’m not an expert on the Civil War but I love listening to historians speak of the battles, and events that changed the direction of the war......and the course of history. One evening I was able to arrange for Tom to speak as part of the lecture series, at the Muskoka Lakes Museum, in Port Carling, and I can honestly say, the audience was spellbound.....learning just how many British subjects, Canadians, had enlisted in the American battle between the North and the South. I love an event, as such, when people appear to be honestly amazed by what they hear, and learn about......miles upon miles from the truth they had long believed about Canadians,......which they had wrongly assumed were only reading about the conflict from afar. Versus being hale and hardy soldiers in the great marches and charges, having participated in so many landmark battles. I’ve never run into Tom that he hasn’t engaged me in some short, meaningful discussion, that I think to myself, when we part, I need to know more. Much more. And if, like my critics argue, I am pompous and arrogant as an historian, he is so much the opposite; so much more accomplished and confident with the vast amount of information he possesses of life and lives past in that Civil War context. It is what any historian should aspire to, and be willing to dedicate to research, and understanding, for any subject of special interest.
Charlie Wilson came into my life, at a time, when I was admittedly at that proverbial crossroads. I realized that I needed to possess the enthusiasm, to invade a subject area, live it, chase it down, devour it. If, that is, I wanted to know my topic in its most intricate and dimensional sense. Not just from one angle or two but from every conceivable vantage point. I had to drop pre-conceived notions. I had to appreciate fully that my understanding of certain historical events could be drastically over-thrown by in-depth, no-holds barred research, time and education. Both Tom, without knowing it, and Charlie, who must have suspected he was actually tutoring me, with all my questions, taught me about the relevance of total immersion,...... in order to truly understand something as amazing and complicated as the battles of the Civil War. A lot of what I had done, to that point, was history by sideline reporting. I was good at pouring through the books and documents. There were so many aspects of history that had to be experienced by standing on the spot, where for example, soldiers fell by the hundreds, and rapid-fire explosions tore open the earth. Places where flags fell and were raised again, drums kept the cadence of the charge, and death and heroics were more often than not, one and the same. I had, you see, been an armchair historian to that point. These two gallant gents, who understood the battle cry, the charge, the fallen, the victors, and the victory, had very much influenced me to become involved in the history I was writing and representing.
I took projects, like the study of artist Tom Thomson, back to the lakes of Algonquin. Traversing the same waters as Thomson did, until his death in July 1917 (Canoe Lake). Hiking the same portages, fishing in the same bodies of water.....even standing on the rocks below the Tea Lake dam, to witness some of the wild splendor he’d experienced in those Algonquin years. I stood on points of land where Thomson had been known to stop and sketch, and I sat out on cold autumn nights watching the Northern Lights, just as he had sketched out in the open, being romanced, haunted by the elements he was trying to capture on his paint boards. I went to the location on the lake where his body was found, and I stood up by the memorial cairn, on Hayhurst Point, at Mowat, where he was known to paint. There was nothing written, researched, or illustrated, that could have been more poignant an experience, than being part of that Algonquin spirit, in order to understand what motivated his creativity.....what stirred his emotion. I would stay out as long as I could, during a legendary Algonquin storm, to feel the fear and trembling awe inspires, when the tumult of black clouds, gale force wind and cauldron whitecaps boiled on the lake. Lightning flashes went crashing deep into the earth.
I know Tom Brooks has stood, like Charlie Wilson did in his life, on some of the most memorable pieces of American landscape, important to the events of the Civil War. If there are such things as ghosts, then these two historians would have known them intimately, as the spirited, poetic remnants of a terrible war. And with their immense knowledge, could hear the distant thunder of a long ago battle.....see the same field strewn with the colors of two armies, the bodies of the fallen, the dead and wounded, and the great vision of catastrophe.....of a hell on earth. It was sharing their knowledge of the Civil War, and War in general, that changed my approach, my opinion, about the responsibilities of an historian to abandon arrogance and stubbornness, to respect, and learn instead from the ongoing discoveries of others.......and to never resign oneself that every shred of information has been revealed. The book must remain a work in progress.
I got a call one day, while writing at this same keyboard. It was another friend from MBNA who told me Charlie had passed away suddenly, the evening before. An important mentor was gone. The meeting I had hoped to instigate could never happen. Of this I was devastated. I wondered later, if this had been selfish of me. It was a meeting for my benefit I supposed, because of my admiration for these two military historians, and the wisdom they possessed. I do think they would have become good friends over time, even though their viewpoints and interpretations may have widely differed. While I’ve been an active Muskoka historian for more than thirty years, I know that in their company, I would have been a mere student.... but an attentive one. Appreciating now just how much I didn’t know......and how deficient I was as a result......and how fettered it made me feel, as an historian, to be so lacking in knowledge of these important world events. The Civil War was a glaring example. I was astonished at how little I knew when I first met these chaps. I was a good local historian but crappy in all places beyond. Muskoka’s history was hinged to all other histories. I had some upgrading to do!
It has taken me quite a few years to write about Charlie Wilson. He died not long after another chum / mentor of mine, Dave Brown......I adjusted to the news of his passing by writing a biography. For Charlie, suffice to say that I have been left with many fond memories. Remembrance of so many in-depth discussions about war and peace. Especially the appreciation of how keen he was to learn more, and see everything he could of life. I have known few visionaries in my life thus far but his fascination for continuous learning, with rare future-mindedness, was a characteristic I have embraced whole-heartedly..
When at times my opinions seem harsh and holier than thou, and my embrace of historic precedents and events seems staunchly entrenched, and unmovable, in respect to my mentors in this field, in reality, I am never beyond correction or re-education on any subject.....and welcome new information about any subject. I would rather embrace truth and reality, no matter how shocking and opinion re-setting, than remain perpetually fettered by ignorance. If I am particularly hard on those I have faith in, to lead and represent us, whether on a municipal council or a particular committee, it comes with good intent. The failure to embrace reality in favor of delusion, is a demon I’ve had to face many times. The way to move forward constructively is to companion with a critical approach......that commands a full appreciation of all sides of an equation, a problem, an initiative, in order to understand its true dynamic. I see this often in public life, when elected officials and civic representatives, prefer to position themselves away from uncomfortable realities, versus confronting them and making corrections based on sensible proportion. It’s the clear result from hearing what they want to hear, seeing things as they prefer, and positioning themselves in a safe zone as a means of self protection. Reality, as time, waits for no one. I’ve never known propaganda to have ever won over the rigors of truth and reality.
I wish for all those officials, who embrace status quo, to appreciate that it is impossible to find safe haven for long, from issues that will define us in the future. While the kind of change I write about, must seem dramatic and almost crazy to some, it seems to me a far greater ill, to refuse to budge when the flood of change arrives at our doorstep......as the first drops now appear.
I’ve spent a lot of time studying this town. I’ve watched a huge change in the home district since we arrived here, as a family in 1966. Some of it has been frightening. Some of it has been welcome, and a boon to the local economy. Other development has adversely changed the landscape for decades and longer. Maybe it is a battle with the future that I see, from my front-line experiences, and what I fear, is that while we should be prepared for development surge, we are still mired in petty squabbles, and fettered ridiculously by hard feelings and a long antiquated status quo.
I have studied for decades as an historian. I am my own harshest critic. I pay attention to those I believe know more, and are better informed. I am a messenger. Not a philosopher. I sometimes see our town as a future battlefield of values......economic, environmental, where there will be many future clashes about the transition of Muskoka into a new suburbia.....a trend, that to some watchers, has already had a twenty year head-start. Huge new urban stresses will challenge political, economic, and environmental will in the coming ten years. The problems of the downtown business sector will pale in comparison, to the behemoth of new investment initiatives that will be coming from the urban jungle. As I’ve written about before, there is no alternative to enlightenment. As Charles Dickens prophetically noted, the new vested interest of the expanding industrial revolution, would change the world forever......and those who opted to remain loyal to the old ways, would die out with them. Time waits for no man!
This may seem a far stretch from an opening discussion of the American Civil War, and the kindnesses bestowed this historian by two knowledgeable chaps.....but it is my own guidepost in ongoing work as a local historian......and while it is not the study of war.....it is the examination of the rigors of change upon us all, that affect our actions and re-actions; our disconnect at times with what can happen when reality is of lesser concern than a protocol respected. Reality needs to be embraced in this town before it’s too late, and an even greater wave of change is forced upon us.......
I don’t expect local politicians and committee executives, to all of a sudden embrace a local historian, and thank them for all the due diligence they’ve performed for all of these decades......the kind of work that ensures we have knowledge of how history has etched and sculpted who we are today, and the character of the town and district in which we dwell. But believe me, one of the most interesting conversations you can have, is with someone who has a passion for knowledge, and has never equated money with the ambition....... to be good at the task of respecting and representing times past. And if you ask them, well, they can predict the future.....based on their knowledge from then to now and beyond.
My lack of respect for certain outdated protocols, my bluntness, and unapologetic high regard for criticism, doesn’t make me a cuddly, “says nice things” member in good standing of any mutual admiration society. Seeing as I’m not the flattering sort, just to make others feel good with pleasant chatter, I don’t get invited to parties.....ever. I’m good with that! Yet every now and again, I will run into a kindred spirit, (also not invited to parties) who knows the allure of the unknown, and the rabid curiosity of discovery. Folks who would like to re-enact history a lot, because they feel bloody short-changed about missing such important world events.......just because they were born too late.
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