States Rights Gist: A South Carolina General of the Civil War by Walter Brian Cisco

by Walter Brian Cisco

"An excellent biography of a lesser-known Confederate general. . . . This book gives us an interesting overview of how an untrained politician becomes an effective military leader."

—%iLibrary Journal%r



"Cisco's %b%iStates Rights Gist%r is a perfect match for the man, who has deserved a good biography and has one at last."

—William C. Davis, author of %iJefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour%r



"The great strength of Cisco's book is the author's exemplary story-telling abilities. His clear, evocative explanations of the political and social psychology of the antebellum South are superb. Cisco is a major new talent."

—%iCharleston (SC) Post and Courier%r

Genres: Biography, Civil War

Hardcover

First published November 1, 1991

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cisco is undoubtedly pro-Southern, and as such the book is a bit one sided. There is no detailed discussion of the battles Gist fought. Yet, the writing is clear and crisp. Best part was Gist's role in secession. He presented a letter to the governors of Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana about what they would do if South Carolina left the union. Their answers undoubtedly were a major reason for South Carolina's fateful decision.

[Mike Zickar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was motivated to read a book about States Rights Gist after visiting the Confederate Museum in Greenville SC and wanted to learn more about the Confederate General whose name was actually States Rights.

Frankly, I found this book disappointing on several levels. First off, this is a pro-Southern history. I realize that no history is truly unbiased, though I at least appreciate when authors try to understand the other side, and/or fully explain their own personal bias. Cisco does neither of them. It's kind of embarrassing to read a line like "The growth of abolitionism was far more sinister" in a book published in 1991.

Second, General Gist comes across in this book as sort of a cardboard personality. . . I never felt like I truly got a sense of who he was. Perhaps there just isn't much original source material to base a characterization of him, but in this book he comes across as a very competent taskmaster but with no more depth of understanding. Frankly, I think, the most interesting aspect of States Rights Gist is his name. He played an important but secondary role within the Confederate Army, seemingly penalized by political decisions beyond his control.

I did enjoy reading the summary of events and the descriptions of the battles and learned a lot about life during the Confederacy but felt like this book was unsatisfying to me. It was a quick read though.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprised that Brigadier General States Rights Gist was “a real personage- and not an odd name merely,” the Civil War diarist Mary Chestnut sums up my feelings on the subject very well.

I found this book in a bookstore in Charlottesville, VA, and bought it mostly because I thought it was fascinating that someone was named States Rights. The General led an interesting life and fought in many important battles, although he died about five months before General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox.

His final fight, the Battle of Franklin, was a suicide mission executed by General Hood, who’d previously replaced the more discerning General Joseph Johnston and subsequently lost the Battle of Atlanta. Who can say if things would’ve gone better under Johnston? I certainly think so, but despite the disaster, at least Hood made it out alive.

Anyway, this book provides interesting insight into South Carolinian politics and military both before and during the war. Obviously, the General’s father was a huge proponent of states rights, and that carried on to his son despite his receiving higher education in the North. We see States Rights’ suffer from being passed over promotions, and hints that he may have felt that Confederate President Jefferson Davis favored Tennesseans, ultimately leading to States Rights remaining a Brigadier General “only”.

While its strength remains within the setting of the “Palmetto State”, once the General leaves his home land, we get cameos of other leaders within the war. Understanding his relationships with men I’d heard of previously was interesting.

The account of States Rights’ death is haunting on its own. We know what he last ate (chicken, hominy, and a biscuit), the details of his final fight, and we know the last word he spoke (“take me to my wife”). He was well loved in his state, including among government officials, and was eventually reburied with a marble statue.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than just a man with an interesting name, known as "States" by his family, States Rights Gist was a South Carolina lawyer and militia officer turned Civil War general that served both in the Eastern theater and the Western theater. Serving through Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and the Atlanta campaign, but struck down in the carnage at Franklin, Gist actually seemed to get along with Braxton Bragg, no small feat. This work is an easy read that provides a southern-leaning view of Gist, his family upbringing and the characteristics of the general, but is by no means a battle or campaign study. Readers looking for tactical treatment of the key western battles Gist was involved in will not find that here.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to the author, States Rights Gist: A South Carolina General sets out to show readers that S.R. Gist (in the words of diarist Mary Chestnut), "is a real personage - and not an odd name merely." Cisco does fairly well at this objective, although a little more depth would have been nice (the book is less than 200 pages long).

The author's portrait of Gist is an admiring one, but not obnoxiously so. Cisco is frank about the times and environment that shaped S.R. Gist in his formative years. He was very much a product of the South Carolina up-country elite, and his family was at the forefront of the nullification and later secession movements in the state. Gist had every advantage of birth and family connection, but also worked hard and ambitiously to educate himself and eventually to rise to the upper reaches of the pre-Civil War South Carolina Militia.

Gist's Civil War career receives workman-like coverage by the author. The narrative is readable, and interesting, but could have used more fleshing out. The author sometimes makes broad claims that he doesn't support in his text (about John B. Hood in the 1864 Tennessee campaign, for example), which is an unfortunate blemish. More and better citation or annotation would also have been helpful. One source that the author does utilize is an usual, though interesting one, to be sure. Cisco includes material from the memoir of Gist's personal servant (slave), Wiley! While Wiley is certainly not unflattering to his master's memory, it is a perspective not usually included (or probably even usually available) for the biography of a Confederate general.

Cisco's book does a good job shedding some light on the life and career of S.R. Gist, one of many young Confederate generals who seemed to show promise, but never had the opportunity to rise to the higher levels of command. While there is understandably less material available on Gist that someone like Lee or Longstreet, more depth and analysis would have been nice, and occasional gaffes in the narrative give away the amateur (non-professional historian) nature of the author. Still, the narrative is a pleasant, easy read, it just could have been better.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fascinating book about the General who's only known for his peculiar name.