The Copperhead

by Harold Frederic

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Genres: Fiction, Classics

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1893

About the author

Frederic was born in Utica, New York, to Presbyterian parents. After his father was killed in a train accident when Frederic was 18 months old, the boy was raised primarily by his mother. He finished school at fifteen, and soon began work as a photographer. For four years he was a photographic touch-up artist in his hometown and in Boston. In 1875 he began work as a proofreader for the Utica Herald and then the Utica Daily Observer. Frederic later became a reporter, and by 1882 he was editor of the Albany Evening Journal.

Two years later he went to live in England as London correspondent of the New York Times. He retained this job for the rest of his life. He was soon recognized for his ability both as a writer and as a talker. He wrote several early stories, but it was not until he published Illumination (1896), better known by its American title, The Damnation of Theron Ware, followed by Gloria Mundi (1898), that his gifts as a novelist were fully realized. Jonathan Yardley called Damnation "a minor classic of realism".

Frederic married Grace Green Williams in 1877, and they had five children. Sometime between 1889 and 1890, he met Kate Lyon, who became his mistress. Frederic and Lyon established a second household, living openly together; they had three children. Lyon was a Christian Scientist who, when Frederic suffered a stroke in 1898, tried to cure him through faith healing. After his death, she was tried on charges of manslaughter and acquitted. Frederic was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica, New York. (Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

LIke others, I read this short novel after seeing the beautiful 2013 movie and being fascinated by the contrarian view it offered of the North during the CIvil War. To have Lincoln portrayed (in the North) as a despot, abolitionists as bloodthirsty war-mongers and those against the war as peace-seeking, conservative, constitution-loving good citizens was, for me, a little disorienting.

I read the Kindle edition which was digitized by the University of North Carolina and is simply awful with random, nonsensical punctuation and paragraph separation along with numbers and symbols popping up in the middle of sentences for no apparent reason. That, along with numerous archaic terms and the thick written brog of several characters made it a somewhat difficult read. But what do I expect for a buck?

Written in 1893 by Harold Frederic (be sure to read his interesting bio on this site) and taking place in 1862, the book is a first person narrative from 12 turning to 13 year old Jimmy who is an abandoned (or orphaned?) boy taken in by the hard working farming family of Abner Beech. "Farmer" Beech intensely opposes Lincoln and the CIvil War despite living in upper New York state. Jmmy is treated decently by Abner and his rigid spouse, M'rye, but certainly not as they treat their only son, Jeff.

Jeff falls in love with the local school teacher Esther Hagadorn, who is the daughter of his abolitionist nemesis Jee Hagadorn. Jee was the main proponent behind Abner's ostracism from their "Union" church and various local governmental boards of their tiny crossroads of Four Corners. Jeff, chaffing from his father's disapproval of his relationship with Esther and wishing to prove his manhood, enlists and goes off to war to end up fighting at bloody Antietam. Abner's fall from the grace and favor of his neighbors, and the added humiliation of his only son joining the hated Union army, makes him a bitter man and even more stubborn in his political persuasion.

To this point the novel is in sync with the movie (if it matters to you) other than the actors chosen to play Abner and Jee are completely different in their physical characteristics as described in Frederic's novel. However midway through plot points begin to depart with the novel having a considerably different ending. The novel, due to its age I suppose, is more glowing in the resolution which occurs in the end. But I enjoyed both endings pretty much equally, as both spoke to forgiveness on several fronts as well as being able to see other viewpoints than your own.

Description of the farm life of that time was interesting, as was the portrayal in the movie. Little do we appreciate how hard farm life of that time was. I do need to warn readers that their are several offensive and/or racist words used for blacks and abolitionists (which made Abner's character less sympathetic to me but I suppose would not raise an eyebrow in the 1890's.) Sigh.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written novella, set in upstate NY during the civil war, published in 1894 by an expat American living in London at the time of writing and publication.

A copperhead is a "peace Democrat," a person against the US Civil War. Often pro-union, but also opposed (or maybe indifferent) to slavery. This story humanizes the home front in Northern NY farm county during the US Civil War in ways that are no longer typically taught in schools.

It should not be surprising that during the Civil War many people felt strongly about the issues of times, but did not fully understand the central issue to be specifically and solely about slavery. Of course we know abolitionists saw the civil war in this way. Yet abolitionists, as a portion of the US, measured only as high as about 20 percent of the country during the hey day of the Republican prosecution of the war. In these days cities such as New York and Boston had reached immigrant populations as high at 50 percent -- few of whom would have had a clear daily familiarity with the slave trade. As such, draft riots are one way in which we know that not all of the country were persuaded to lay down their life for the fat-cat, barron-masters of the king-cotton farming aristocracy. Desertions among soldiers, for both the Union and the Confederacy, were at an all-time high to this day in US military history, further emphasizing the lack of strong agreement about the extant populations willingness to die for their union.

In the 2020 present, we commonly believe the entire nation felt strongly, in a binary sense, about the civil war. In reality, many felt strongly, but in a much more nuanced, complex manner than we imagine when we look back. The term copperhead -- a largely forgotten term, today -- was used to refer to one segment of this nuance. This novel gives life to community disagreement among the most populous and quotidian family farming sectors of society (North or South), and serves to illustrate a most tumultuous time in US history.

Copperhead is a very interesting story, that eventually serves as the primary skeleton script for a 2013 Hollywood production. Author Harold Frederic has been largely forgotten but not due to a lack of quality descriptive fiction and narrative. The story flows with a surprising heart and non-maudlin sentiment. Only the ending comes on a bit too saccharine, feeling a bit rushed to tie up loose ends as if to meet publisher deadlines rather than artistic integrity. But, generally, a very enjoyable read with several full featured and well rounded characters. Beyond it's historical interest, the novella has a nice flow where the reader can easily feel a connection to familial and community sturm and drang.

[Anjali K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Were The Northerners Truly What We Thought They Were?

The Copperhead, by American novelist and journalist Harold Frederic, is a historical novel set during the Civil War about the grave dangers people experienced who didn’t support the war in the North. The book is about a family of farmers who believe that the Union should make peace with the Confederates, instead of waging war. During the Civil War, Copperheads were a section of Democrats in the Union that wanted a peace settlement with the Confederates (“Copperhead”). The book is narrated in the first person perspective by a young boy named Jimmy Beech who is the adopted son of Abner Beech, a Copperhead farmer. He lives with Abner’s frigid wife, and Jeff, Abner’s son. Before the war, Abner was well respected in the community, but then later becomes a disgrace because he does not share the same abolitionist views as his community. The Copperhead is an engaging and eye-opening book, but certain parts of the book could be confusing and ambiguous.

The Copperhead provides us with a new and astonishing perspective on the Northerners during the Civil War because it shows us how the Beech family was treated just because they had different views about the war. There were many circumstances in which Abner’s friends had turned on him and endangered his family by attempting to burn their house down or tar and feather them (Frederic 137). The abolitionists in Abner’s community had twisted his views and to make it seem he wanted the Confederacy to win, but in reality, he wanted the Union to make peace with the Confederacy to prevent war. They called him a copperhead because in twisting his views, it made it seem as if he was a Confederate. In previous history classes, it is taught that the Northerners, or abolitionists, are the always incredible people, and the Southerners, or Confederates, are the horrible people with no integrity. Frederic has given the readers an eye-opening perspective on the Northerners during the Civil War that not the majority of people know about.

Although Frederic gives us a whole new perspective on the Northerners, the way that he organized his story makes the reader have to re-read the certain passage multiple times, making it confusing. There are many different characters that are discreetly introduced into the story but play an important part in the understanding of the plot. Frederic gives us a minimal description of some characters at the beginning of the story but does not formally introduce them until a later part of the book. For example, Frederic vaguely introduces Esther Hagadorn, the daughter of an abolitionist, towards the beginning of the book, but does not reintroduce her into the plot line until towards the end of the book, when she is the primary reason why Jeff and Abner despise each other (84). Frederic poorly organized his character introductions, which forces the reader to have to constantly flip back and forth to obtain a better understanding of the story. This can make The Copperhead confusing and unclear at certain times.

Although The Copperhead could be slightly confusing at times, Frederic provides us with an eye-opening perspective about the Northerners that people may have never known about. Frederic shows us the harsh life of copperheads living in the North during the Civil War, including their hardships. After deciphering the unclear parts of the book, it is enjoyable to read and understand how copperheads in the north during the Civil War handled life. This book should not be recommended to history students who are just beginning to learn about the Civil War because then it might be too complex for them to comprehend. This book should be recommended to young history students who are seeking a new and different perspective on the Northerners during the Civil War.

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this! It was every bit as great as The Damnation of Theron Ware. Harold Frederic creates rich characters and writes with a dark humour that I just can't get enough of.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

War can destroy a city without the first shell falling on it. Such was nearly the fate of Four Corners, New York, a small farming community in its upper reaches. Far removed from the battlefields of the Civil War, the village nonetheless suffered its injuries. So far as Abner Beech was concerned, the world consisted of the Four Corners; the South was a distant land, its problems those of its own people. Before the crisis erupted, he was not alone in his sentiment: most of his neighbors were kindred spirits, one Methodist lunatic excepting. That was Jee Hagadorn, from a long and illustrious line of puritanical scolds. He is, among other things, an Abolitionist, and once the war begins he ascends from the fellow everyone avoids to spearheading the town's support of the war effort. Abner Beech is astonished at how quickly his neighbors become enthusiastic about the prospect of great hordes of young men lining up to kill one another, and scandalized by the impending doom that lays in store for the Constitution in the wake of Abe Lincoln's assumption of war powers, and widespread support of it. Beginning the book as a pillar of the community, Abner quickly falls from grace to become a pariah, spurned at church and forced by his own contrariness to keep to himself on his own farm. Matters worsen as his own child marches off to war, wooed by the lunatic warmonger's daughter, and eventually he is subjected to a torchbearing mob outside his home. Although the original novel's Beech is not nearly as sympathetic as his dramatized counterpart in Copperhead (the viewing of which prompted me to read this), he is nonetheless heroic in both holding on to his principles, and his in being easy to forgive. The story ends on a happy note, indeed far happier than the movie's. Modern readers will find Beech prickly, but the enduring lesson has not changed regardless. War is a sinister thing, able to turn friends into bitter enemies simply for holding the wrong opinion.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abner Beech "was a stalwart, thick-shouldered, big man, with shaggy dark eyebrows shading stern hazel eyes, and with a long, straight nose, and broad, firmly shut mouth. His expansive upper lip was blue from many years of shaving; all the rest was bushing beard, mounting high upon the cheeks and rolling downward in iron-gray billows over his breast." Abner was as staunch in his convictions as he was fearsome in his looks. When the Civil War breaks out, Abner disagrees with his neighbors. Because he is a northerner who sympathizes with the southern states, he is called a copperhead, but the conflict doesn't stop with name-calling. This story is about the war at home, within communities and families, about the rights of free speech and free opinion, about the reconciliation of diametrically opposed philosophies.

Well-written, moving, thought-provoking.

[BookAddict · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting Civil War tale about a different viewpoint of the war - a northerner in favor of slavery, which is something you don't hear about much. Written in the 1800s it has a written voice entirely different from modern literature yet also not as over blown as so much Victorian literature is. Not great but not bad either.

[Jane Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

New York/American Historical Fiction. the author is actually Harold Frederic.

This is an interesting, important part of American History - New York State during Civil War. The Copperhead is a respected townsman who is not for abolishing slavery. He remains levelheaded, calm with his arguments, tensions with other townsfolk who strongly disagree and have family members fighting for the Union.

[Ann Bergeron · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting glimpse into the Civil War era life in the rural northeast. If you've seen the movie you haven't really gotten the story. Do yourself a favor and read the book. Very thought-provoking.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book, but I felt like it was over before it started.

[Lisa Burt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this novella, but not the screenplay. I saw Ron Maxwell’s 2013 very thoughtful film based on Frederic’s novella. In this instance I preferred the movie over the book.