The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered

Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War

by Thomas G. Clemens (Contributor), Charles W. Mitchell (Editor), Jean H. Baker (Editor)

Introduction, Jean H. Baker and Charles W. Mitchell

“Border State, Border Fighting for Freedom and Slavery in Antebellum Maryland,” Richard Bell

“Charity Folks and the Ghosts of Slavery in Pre–Civil War Maryland,” Jessica Millward

“Confronting Dred Scott : Seeing Citizenship from Baltimore,” Martha S. Jones

“‘Maryland Is This Day . . . True to the American Union’: The Election of 1860 and a Winter of Discontent,” Charles W. Mitchell

“Baltimore’s Secessionist Conservatism and Political Networks in the Pratt Street Riot and Its Aftermath,” Frank Towers

“Abraham Lincoln, Civil Liberties, and Maryland,” Frank J. Williams

“The Fighting Sons of ‘My Maryland’: The Recruitment of Union Regiments in Baltimore, 1861–1865,” Timothy J. Orr

“‘What I Witnessed Would Only Make You Sick’: Union Soldiers Confront the Dead at Antietam,” Brian Matthew Jordan

“Confederate Invasions of Maryland,” Thomas G. Clemens

“Achieving Emancipation in Maryland,” Jonathan W. White

“Maryland’s Women at War,” Robert W. Schoeberlein

“The Failed Promise of Reconstruction,” Sharita Jacobs Thompson

“‘F––k the Confederacy’: The Strange Career of Civil War Memory in Maryland after 1865,” Robert J. Cook

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

470 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2021

Reviews

[Mark]

I loved this collection of essays about the Civil War in Maryland. Collectively they show mounting evidence of Lost Cause distortions of the state's role before, during, and after the war. Powerful elites controlled the narrative through concerted efforts for generations, but documentary reappraisal shows a state that while conflicted not exactly evenly split with most Marylanders staying--and fighting--loyal. My favorite chapter was the simple one on the Confederate invasions of the state, which shows they did nothing but ransack and ransom Maryland- leading to little to no support other than in slaveholding regions in the south of Maryland and the Eastern shore. Even the famous Baltimore Riot at the start of the war is contextualized as part of painting a complex but clarifying picture. I loved the super-current ending in which, along with statues to white supremacists, a lame centennial plaque in the state house is removed for feigning indifference about which side was right: we know right from wrong now, and most in the state always did, even if some support was lukewarm, fueling historical ambiguity. The overdue analysis in this book is intricate and appreciated.

[Timothy R. Snyder]

Although this book has some great essays generally, I cannot give it a 5-star rating. Some of them have flaws and lack critical analysis. For example, many of the authors conclude that because 54.2% of the state’s citizens voted for one of three “Union” parties for president, Maryland was a Union state. The Southern Rights candidate, John C. Breckinridge did not, however, run on a secession platform. Additionally, in Virginia, the state with which Maryland had the most in common, its citizens gave 55.4% of its votes to the three “Union” candidates yet, after Ft. Sumter and Lincoln’s call for 75,000 volunteers, its sovereign convention voted to secede, which was affirmed by a citizen’s referendum. The editors and authors in this volume fail to even mention this, let alone explain how or why Maryland would have followed another course. They also fail to address the impact of three significant events on the state’s loyalty: 1. the exodus of many its citizens to fight for the Confederacy; 2. the Federal occupation of Baltimore; 3. and the Union suppression of voting rights to those deemed disloyal. A balanced account of Maryland's loyalty to the Union has yet to be written.

[Scott Martin]

(4.5 stars) Trying to read up on my Maryland history, since this state will play a larger role in my life in the months ahead. Finally got around to finishing this work, which calls into question many assumptions about the way that the Civil War and associated history are portrayed in Maryland. Until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, most of the history associated with Maryland and the Civil War was more sympathetic to the Confederacy. Most of these essays account for that, but they also tear academic holes in those older arguments. Good perspectives on Taney and some good deals about the under-reported Jubal Early raid that nearly got Washington D.C. off-guard in 1864. Overall, good, readable history about the Civil War in Maryland for many to consider.

[emily]

i’ve been a civil war buff ever since my dad raised me on history channel documentaries, so when i spotted this at the library i had to pick it up! it definitely focused more on contextualizing the political situation in MD surrounding the war & all the related issues tangled up therein (with a few chapters diving into actual military engagements), but i learned a lot and i appreciated reading a local perspective. / 4 stars

[Christal]

While the title of the book leads one to think it will talk about the Civil War experience across the state, it really should have been title the Civil War in Baltimore. Rarely were details included from outside the Baltimore or eastern shore region of the state.