Secret Yankees: The Union Circle in Confederate Atlanta

by Thomas G. Dyer

An intriguing story of loyalty and patriotism, Secret Yankees brings to life the adventures of Atlanta Unionists during the Civil War, offering a perspective on the conflict that previous accounts have ignored. ("There were no Unionists in Gone with the Wind, " Dyer points out.) Dyer draws on previously unpublished sources―including a long-lost diary and a work of purported fiction based closely on the experience of Cyrena Stone, a Vermont native- to recreate the drama, deprivation, and suspicion that marked the experience of the Union in the closing, and increasingly desperate, years of the war. Arrested on suspicion of spying (the penalty was death) but released by Southern authorities, her house destroyed by Union shelling during the vividly rendered fall of Atlanta, Cyrena Stone survived the war to see the triumph of the cause for which she had risked her life. More than the story of heroic individuals, Secret Yankees provides an illuminating account of personal travail in the Civil War and a thought-provoking exploration of the nature and meaning of national loyalty in wartime.

Genres: American Civil War, Civil War, History, War

408 pages, Paperback

First published March 11, 1999

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some books would if great, if only they didn't (insert major flaw here). Secret Yankees is one of those books. Thomas Dyer did a great job dredging up accounts of the lives of Unionists living in Atlanta before, during, and after the Civil War. The stories of these men and women are interesting and compelling, and Dyers analysis of how complicated loyalties and survival could be in the Civil War South is great. There's just one major, glaring flaw to this book.

Despite all of the other sources that Dyer has dug up for this book, he insists on treating a post Civil War novel that is supposedly based on the wartime Atlanta diary of the author's sister. We're given real factual information on Cyrena Stone (one of the Atlanta Unionists), alongside conjecture about her from the "fictional Cyrena" in the novel. This presentation distracts hugely from the book, and in my opinion detracts seriously from it's credibility.

If the rest of the material not related to the "fictional Cyrena" wasn't so good, I wouldn't be giving this book even 3 stars, but it is really good. I was just torn between being fascinated by the good material and writing, and practically rolling my eyes every time I saw the novel brought up in the narrative. Secret Yankees was good, but it could have been great.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the American Civil War a circle of Union spies and sympathizers operated in Atalanta, Georgia. This in depth analysis is based on the diaries of two sisters and other sources. It is a good addition to the Civil War library.

[carl theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yankee sympathizers maintaining their beliefs while living in Atlanta
during the war. Interesting insights and perspectives from the other
side of 'Gone with the Wind'.

[Jim Moffett · Rating 1 out of 5]

06-99

[Luanne Coats · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's okay--fascinating information about Unionists in Civil War Atlanta, but kinda dry reading.