The Whartons' War: The Civil War Correspondence of General Gabriel C. Wharton & Anne Radford Wharton 1863–1865 ed. by William C. Davis and Sue Heth Bell (review)

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• The Whartons' War: The Civil War Correspondence of General Gabriel C. Wharton & Anne Radford Wharton 1863–1865 ed. by William C. Davis and Sue Heth Bell
• Jonathan A. Noyalas (bio)

The Whartons' War: The Civil War Correspondence of General Gabriel C. Wharton & Anne Radford Wharton 1863–1865. Edited by William C. Davis and Sue Heth Bell. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2022. ISBN: 978-1-4696-6829-1, 456 pp., paper, $45.00.

Near the end of his life, former Confederate general Gabriel Wharton took time to reread the wartime correspondence he had exchanged with his wife, Nannie. After revisiting the 524 letters the two sent to each other between March 8, 1863, and June 21, 1865, Wharton penned a simple note instructing his heirs to destroy the correspondence upon his death. While no one, fortunately, carried out Wharton's instructions, the content-rich letters resided in obscurity until by Sue Heth Bell, one of Wharton's descendants, discovered them recently.

While historians interested in military operations in the Old Dominion, particularly southwestern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, will find much useful material throughout these letters, smartly edited by Bell and William C. "Jack" Davis, one of the most prolific Civil War historians of our time, this volume offers significantly more than a recounting of military events, weather conditions, and war's impact on the landscape.

Foremost, these letters reveal the difficulties married couples confronted during the conflict. Married on May 14, 1863, the two spent considerably little [End Page 84] time together during their first two years. Loneliness, fear, and frustration consumed both. Sometimes those emotions compelled one to lash out at the other. For instance, on December 15, 1864, Nannie expressed anger over her husband's inability to get away from the army and spend time with her and their infant son, William, born on June 11, 1864. She threatened to cease communicating with Gabriel until he spent time with them. However, she soon realized the folly of her ultimatum and apologized for threatening to cut off the only means the two had of building their relationship.

Additionally, and perhaps most significantly, this collection offers an intriguing case study of the limits of Confederate patriotism. While the Whartons might not be representative of the entire Confederacy, their letters clearly demonstrate that battlefield success, lack of recognition for duty well performed, and the Confederacy's political landscape affected one's devotion to the Confederacy. While Gabriel expressed more optimism than Nannie about the South's prospects, even in the aftermath of catastrophic defeats, the honest and candid exchanges between the two clearly demonstrate that as defeats became more frequent, casualties mounted, and Gabriel did not receive the promotions he deserved, their support waned. On various occasions, both expressed a desire to abandon the Confederacy and move to a place where they could live peacefully. The Confederate government's policy of impressment further chipped away at the couple's loyalty.

Throughout her letters, Nannie held nothing back in criticizing some of the Confederacy's top military figures. For example, in the aftermath of the Army of Northern Virginia's defeat at Gettysburg, Nannie expressed her disdain for Gen. Robert E. Lee. Perhaps this was one of the reasons General Wharton desired the letters be burned after his death, as he possessed much admiration for Lee and counseled his wife to fully support the man. Sometimes, however, the Whartons agreed about the abilities of Confederate officers, most notably Lt. Gen. Jubal Early. While Wharton, who commanded a division in Early's corps believed Early worthy of every praise following his advance to Washington's outskirts in mid-July 1864, both Nannie and Gabriel thought it time for Early's resignation following a string of disasters in the Shenandoah Valley in the autumn of 1864.

While the collection's core offers important perspectives on the limits of Confederate patriotism and how couples navigated war's myriad challenges, the letters offer insight into other topics of interest to historians, most notably the experiences of enslaved people. Through mentions of Emiline and Tim, two people whom the Whartons enslaved, the letters reveal how enslaved people balanced their desire for freedom...