Sumter: First Day of Civil War

by Robert Hendrickson

Offers a detailed look at the firing on Fort Sumter, including its historical background, and decribes the ironies of the event

Genres: Civil War, History

286 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Bob R Bogle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Hendrickson's 1990 book Sumter: The First Day of the Civil War tells a vitally important story from that much-discussed and (usually) poorly recalled era in American history. The scholarship on display here is remarkable, and Hendrickson presents it in an electric prose that keeps us moving at an impressive clip. Importantly, he anchors his story fully in the context of its time. It is the plenteous detail of that context which is all too often missing from books which treat with an historical subject such as this one. There is never any doubt that any of the characters and subjects on either side of the dividing line are living, breathing, honest-to-goodness human beings and not stock cut-outs snipped from the musty volumes of the past. Hendrickson's animated book is on the ball.

I have no doubt that this book has received rave reviews. (I never read other reviews until after I've written my own.) I'm sure it's (mostly) deserving of that acclaim. If you are interested in the American Civil War, or if you are interested in this incident alone, or in the Charleston of yesteryear, or if you are a casual reader who by hook or by crook has somehow acquired a copy of this book, by all means I'd recommend that you read it. But . . . and of course there was a "but" coming . . .

BUT this book is not a history book, which is a true shame.

In the first paragraph of his preface Hendrickson tells us exactly why he has declined to include footnotes (or, more properly, endnotes) in his book, quoting John Barrymore: "A footnote is like running downstairs to answer the doorbell during the first night of marriage." This may seem true to some, maybe; to dedicated readers of the genre, hardly so; to everyone else, it's really no stumbling block at all to elide over tiny footnotes if they don't interest you. This is nothing but an act of deliberate dumbification to placate the yahoos. Hendrickson's argument, or defense, lacks credibility. So far as I can tell (alas, I can't check his facts since he omits sources!) this omission of essential citations is Hendrickson's Great Sin in this book, which otherwise I would have praised as a kind of masterpiece. Without sourcing for his superabundance of factual material and the exceptionally fine minutiae providing local color, the book ceases to be history ― which it properly should have/could have been ― and becomes a pop culture book. Sure there's a bibliography attached at the end, but with no direct connection to the preceding content it's as meaningful, or meaningless, as any list of American Civil War books which anyone might generate. A bibliography in a book like this is not a compromise. It's useless.

I should like to have rated this book as being only fair because of the lack of proper sourcing. However, the book is otherwise so remarkably good that I must give it a better rating even despite this poison pill.

Now, my dear, patient reader, you're free to return to the rave reviews others have no doubt submitted about The First Day of the Civil War.

P.S. When those of us who read a good deal of books about the American Civil War see a review praising a book as reading more like a novel than like a history book, that's not considered a Good Thing.

[Andrew Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good alternative to W.A. Swanberg’s First Blood: The Story of Fort Sumter. Hendrickson punctures several Sumter myths, foremost among them that loud-mouth fire-eater Edward Ruffian pulled the lanyard that fired the first shot of the War.

[Bill V · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid read about the battle that began the American Civil War. About the only fact that surprised me was that no one died in the actual fighting where thousands of shells were fired. The length of the book seems appropriate given a large part of it deals with the events and politics that led to the confrontation. Mr. Hendrickson is a competent writer.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I have a much better understanding of the first shots of the Civil War and the Southern states breaking away from the Union after reading this book. If you are ever going to visit Charleston, SC and see Fort Sumter I would highly recommend this book prior to your trip. It will make it that much more worth it.