A Most Unsettled State: First-person Accounts of St. Louis During the Civil War

by NiNi Harris

During the Civil War, St. Louis was under martial law. The city was divided to the core. A Most Unsettled State conveys this precarious dynamic through the pens of those who experienced it. Author NiNi Harris collects memoirs, letters, sermons, and accounts that reveal a critical time in a volatile place. Learn firsthand about the women who nursed wounded soldiers, the ministers who were appalled by slavery, and Southern sympathizers whose resentment grew as the Union gained control of St. Louis. The book contains eyewitness accounts of significant events that occurred in the streets, not to mention the writers insights and observations. Learn firsthand how Julia Dent Grant responded to the news about the Siege of Vicksburg and how her neighbors were all Southern in sentiment and could not believe that [she] was not. Experience Camp Jackson through the eyes of then-civilian William Tecumseh Sherman, who, with his seven-year-old son Willie at his side, heard the balls cutting the leaves above our heads, and saw several men and women running in all directions, some of whom were wounded.

Genres: Nonfiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2013

Reviews

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great way to understand history. I purchased this book from the author during a tour of the Campbell House Museum. It's easy to read and gave amazing insight into what it was like to be in St Louis during the Civil War.

[Sarah Hanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great account of St. Louis during the Civil War.

[Timons Esaias · Rating 5 out of 5]

My latest completed work is a volume of Civil War history: NiNi Harris's A Most Unsettled State. I'm not sure whether Harris should be referred to as the editor or the author, because the book is essentially a selection of primary sources from Missouri (mostly from its main city at the time, St. Louis) regarding the Civil War years. There's a great deal of apparatus, however, to give context and continuity to the sources. First she gives a summary of each year of the War, as seen from St. Louis. Then she gives background for each selection during that year, including connecting material when large chunks of the original are omitted.
Since I have to teach from such primary source collections, I'm aware that the ratio of apparatus to primary text, and the design of the apparatus, are choices fraught with difficulty. It's easy to provide contextual information that is just as confusing as the text would be alone. (Oh, I see that a lot.) Many editors overwhelm the page with their own recapitulation of the history, and bury the primary text to the point that it's only a footnote. And in both cases the readability of the work goes right out the window.
I have to say that this volume is a model of how to present primary texts to illuminate a historical event or period. I'm quite impressed. Those annual summaries are just two or three pages in length. The introductory one, "St. Louis on the Eve of the Civil War," is only four pages. She discusses both the personality of the writers, as well as explaining the content, while still giving most of the page to the primary text. This book could easily be a hundred pages longer (I'm sure there was enough material) without cloying; but I also felt that it was the right length. For those who want more, the citations of the sources are all there.
I was also very impressed by the content of the selections. She favored first-person accounts (diaries, letters, memoirs) over official reports and newspaper accounts; though there's a judicious sample of those, as well. And the book contains many different points of view: German immigrant, slave-holder, slave, abolitionist, Unionist, businessman, tradesman, and nurses. Women are well represented, including General Grant's wife.
Disruption and social friction are two subjects that are focused on, and which give the reader lots to think about. What's it like to be anti-slavery in a town with slave dealerships? What to do when old friends end up on the other side of an ugly divide? How does one cope when the whole purpose for a city's existence (in this case the down-river trade) disappears??
I should disclose that the author/editor is a relative, but she has a long and distinguished publishing history on the subject of St. Louis. This volume should, I expect, be in print for a very long time. Frankly, the idea should be franchised, since most cities could produce a similar treasure trove of material. St. Louis, though, is one of the most riven during that period, and it's lucky for us that the tale is now so artfully and efficiently displayed.

[Kirk Dobihal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent first hand accounts of the civil war from St. Louis.