Now the Drum of War: Walt Whitman and His Brothers in the Civil War

by Robert Roper

Walt Whitman's work as a nurse to the wounded soldiers of the Civil War had a profound effect on the way he saw the world. Much less well known is the extraordinary record of his younger brother, George, who led his men in twenty-one major battles, almost to die in a Confederate prison camp as the fighting ended. Drawing on the searing letters that Walt, George, their mother Louisa, and their other brothers, wrote to each other during the conflict, and on new evidence and new readings of the great poet, Now the Drum of War chronicles the experience of an archetypal American family-from rural Long Island to working-class Brooklyn-enduring its own long crisis alongside the anguish of the nation. Robert Roper has constructed a powerful narrative about America's greatest crucible, and a compelling story of our most original poet and one of our bravest soldiers. "Together, the brothers Whitman define the complementary aspects of a full human response to a catastrophe like the Civil War. One is on the side of nurturing and empathy, a lover-figure who becomes a tender friend or father; the other more in line with classical definitions of masculine virtue, a man who protects his fellow-fighters while resolutely destroying the enemy...The Whitmans did not arrive at their vocations independently, or out of nowhere; their family's stalwartness in terrible trials, especially their mother's, and their own continuing awareness of each other as the war darkened, year by year, for both of them, awoke in both a kind of greatness."

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

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part, I enjoyed the book. The author did a great job outlining Walt Whitman's care of the wounded soldiers during and after the Civil War, and gave us brief glimpses into the lives of his brothers. I was a bit put off by the amount of time the author spent on shining a light on Mr. Whitman's sexuality. I'm sure that he thought it played a role in his nursing of the soldiers, but I think Walt was simply a caring person. Life and expressions of affection were given much differently in the mid-19th century than they are today, and I feel that much of Walt's correspondence has been mis-interpreted. I believe he was, indeed, gay, but not everything he wrote about was colored by his sexuality; and not every expression of love and affection was proof of his lifestyle. He was a beautiful, caring man, and that should be enough.

[Robert Knox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for learning about social history in New York in the decades just before the Civil War and in Washington, DC during the war when Whitman served as a volunteer nurse then. Whitman's father, a carpenter, and then Walt himself, and then a younger brother, all acted as "developers," building a house, living in it for a short while, then selling it. Just like today. So American. Roper uses the Civil War period to suggest some insights into the work of America's first great poet (and still the greatest), especially its limitations after that period. It made me want to read and study these poems, and learn more about his later life.

[Bill Freil · Rating 5 out of 5]

very well researched book that is part social history and part literary history. it discussed not just the history of Walt Whitman but also his fath er. mother and siblings using their writings and letters.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

What stuck me most was the closeness of the Whitman Family. They live together sharing cramped quarters, business problems and paychecks. Louisa Van Veldor Whitman keeps the home fires burning as her children go off into the world, always writing them letters and welcoming them home. The title gives her short shrift, but she is as central to this story as the brothers.

The author, Robert Roper, doesn't say much about Walt's political view of the war, his feelings about slavery or secession. For this, I recommend "Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography" which shows Walt as a staunch defender of the Union and someone who accepted of slavery since abolishing it would tear the Union apart. George is the family's contribution to preserving the Union, Walt is too old to fight, brother Jess is unable and brother Jeff pays for a substitute.

This family is has deep emotional ties and supports itself communally. Walt is the first son to take on the family construction business and seems to do better at it than his father before him. George becomes the family's economic mainstay, joining it to and solidifying it in the middle class. As a union officer he earns $105/month at a time when a serviceable house can cost as low as $400. Union privates earned $13/month, and brother Jeff gets $40 for his work at the NYC waterworks.

Walt's famous hospital volunteerism grows out of his family ties. When George is injured Walt visits him and sees the suffering of the wounded. During the war, Walt is in and out of the family home, but life there goes on, seemingly as usual, a bit relieved of financial stress via George's paycheck. Towards the end of the war, George is captured and the family uses all its resources to find and free him.

Walt's famous work in the hospitals takes on a whole new light when Roper views it through a lens of homosexuality. Roper takes letters, texts and poetry of the time to illustrate this different perspective on Walt's service. He handles this content well, and in no way diminishes the difficult work of visiting the wounded in hospitals filled with trauma, unsanitary conditions, stench and general misery that the average person would rather not think about, let alone see.

While most of the book was good, towards the end it became a chore to finish. I'm not sure why, but there seems to be more and longer quotes from poems and review sources towards the end. For that I held back a star.

[Cheryl Gatling]

I think a subtitle for this book might be: Help. I've Started Doing Research, and I Can't Stop. I imagine the author started out looking up things about Walt Whitman, but ended up learning about Walt's brother George, who was a soldier, retiring at Major, and then all of George's battles, and then the whole Civil War, and the whole Whitman family. There were numerous brothers and sisters, and Mrs. Whitman, the matriarch, held them all together, at the center of a complex web of letter writing. Anything that involves the family gets in the book-- financial difficulties, moves, the background of battles, politics, and friends. It is, therefore, somewhat sprawling. It is something like stepping into a period of time, and falling into its rabbit hole.

There was lots of interesting stuff here. This book addresses the issue of Walt's sexuality more head-on than other books I have read about him. He apparently cruised the city looking for young men, and wrote down their names and salient details in a notebook.

There is great detail about Walt's work in the hospitals. I had previously heard it said that Walt was a nurse in the Civil War. He would assist with procedures when needed, but he was more of a friendly visitor, bringing soldiers little gifts, writing letters for them, and sitting with them. This was an act of charity, certainly, but it also served his fascination with beautiful young men.

Brother George's unit, the 51st, fought in most of the major battles of the war. George was wounded at Fredericksburg, and Walt came to check on him, which was how he got started visiting in the hospitals. George was healed, and went back. There is much description of George's battles, where he experienced amazing luck, having bullet holes shot through his coat, but never being killed. Eventually he was taken prisoner, and the whole Whitman family rallied to plead (successfully) for his release. So there is then a discussion of the conditions in Civil War prison camps.

The end of the book is about the death of Lincoln, and how Walt put that into his poetry.

We tend to think of great poets, and other great artists, as men who work in glorious isolation. It is good to see a great man in the complexity of his natural habitat, loving and beloved of many. Walt Whitman was what he was, and his mother, and brothers, and sisters, and friends were all a part of making him what he was.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It might be that I just read this book at the right time (i.e. am fasting and preparing for the Orthodox Easter) - I simply loved how it made me feel inside: peaceful, calm, relaxed. This book is more than a simple account of how the Whitman brothers supported eachother during the trying times of the Civil War and beyond. It brings forth, inherently, passages of the Whitman poetry, the themes of love, life and death - addressed in characteristic Whitman fashion, with an emotion that is candid, authentic.

It was this emotion - that was given to me at the right time - that made me thoroughly enjoy reading this book. Self serving interests aside, what remains at the end of the Whitman saga is a gift for humanity, words that paint human feelings in ways not many other poets were ever able to do.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book concentrates, as the title implies, on the Civil War and Walt's and his brother George's actions during the conflict. Verses of Walt's poetry are interspersed and discussed but the book also discusses Walt's fondness for men. Walt did not serve in the military as did his brother George, but he had visited George in some of the Army camps. However, Walt spent a good deal of the Civil War in Washington, DC visiting the sick and wounded in the many hospitals that sprung up to take care of the casualties. Walt's brother Jeff paid for a replacement instead of going into the army. Much of the information in the book is from or about the letters the brothers wrote to each other and to their mother.

[Michael Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

All about the Whitman brothers, Walt and his two lesser known siblings, and how they fared during and after the Civil War. Turns out two of the brothers- not Walt- served the Union and saw battle and glory and gore aplenty, and Walt worked as a volunteer in the hospitals in and around DC and points South. I knew a little of how his time in and around the War- it was not unusual for him to visit the battlefields as or just after the fight- affected his poetry, but until this book I had no idea he was so obviously and almost openly gay.

[Kate K. F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Roper shows how to write a book about history and literature that takes advantage of the wealth of material available about the Whitman family. Now the Drum of War is the story of the Whitman family through the lens of the Civil War in their own words. The record of letters written amongst the family and Walt's manuscripts and notes combined with Roper's research into the era provide a full and fascinating glimpse into how America looked like on the battlefield, in the home and how Walt Whitman brought them together in his words.

[Donna Jo Atwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never knew too much about Walt Whitman, other than a smattering of his poetry and that he had served as a nurse during the Civil War. This book places him and his family in the context of history in a most intimate way--through letters written from the front by his brothers. This is an interesting way to learn more history--the author, Robert Roper, can give us the big picture, but the letters contain the little details.

Read for 2009 Spring Challenge 10.8

[Straw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Editor? Is there an editor for these people that try to take small ideas and make them too big? I really could have read 150 pages about whitman and his brother during the war. Instead I got over twice that...

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The connection between Whitman and his brothers was unique because they never lost it as some families do. Also their relationship with their mother was powerful to the end of her life. This was the reason I choose to read the book but it was a little too poetic for me.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow this book manages to make the Civil War and Walt Whitman's place in it dull reading. It is useful in that it provides biographical information on Whitman's brothers and mother. The author's knowledge of American history also appears quite spotty at times.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exploration of each of the Whitman brothers and how they fared during the war. I was most interested in Walt and his volunteer work in the DC hospital and how his interaction with wounded soldiers and how it affected his poetry.

[Jerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I expected so far. I thought it would be more of a review of his literature tied with his experiences of the war.

[Comaskeyk001 · Rating 3 out of 5]

good narration in most parts an intereting poetic perspective at other points a dry listing of walts possesions

[Jeanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe another time. I am not a fan of nonfiction especially when it's characters in history and there are references to relatives and there is no continuity, but bits and pieces of a life.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book about the Whitman's.

I would have rated it higher but felt that read smoothly, rather jumped about in time and left me, at times, wondering where I was chronologicaly.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't finish, but not the book's fault. Learned a lot.

[Rob Couteau · Rating 5 out of 5]

An empathic and insightful study of America's greatest poet and the profound effect of the war on his life and work.