The Better Angel: Walt Whitman in the Civil War

289 Pages·2000·1.69 MB·English

by  Roy Morris

The Better Angel:
Walt Whitman in the
Civil War
Roy Morris, Jr.
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
THE BETTER ANGEL
ALSO BY ROY MORRIS, JR.
Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan
Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company
The Devil's Dictionary (editor)
The Better Angel
WALT WHITMAN
IN THE CIVIL WAR
Roy Morris, Jr.
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2000
OXPORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Oxford New York
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Copyright © 2000 by Roy Morris, Jr.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
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without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morris, Roy.
The better angel: Walt Whitman in the Civil War / Roy Morris, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-512482-0
i. Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892.
2. Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892—Views on war.
3. United States—History—Civil War, 1861-1865— War work.
4. Poets, American—I9th century—Biography. I. Title.
PS3232.M67 2OOO
8n'.3—dc2i
[B]
99-086210
Book design by Adam B. Bohannon
1 3 5 7 9 0 8 6 42
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Leslie, with love
"You had me at 'Hello.'"
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments, ix
INTRODUCTION
The Medicine of Daily Affection
3
CHAPTER ONE
New York Stagnation
9
CHAPTER TWO
A Sight in Camp
48
CHAPTER THREE
The Great Army of the Sick
75
CHAPTER FOUR
The Real Precious & Royal Ones of This Land
124
CHAPTER FIVE
The Melancholy Tide
161
CHAPTER SIX
Retrievements Out of the Night
201
EPILOGUE
Lose Not My Sons
238
Notes, 245
Bibliography, 259
Index, 263
Illustrations appear after page 160
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Walt Whitman has never lacked for biographers, beginning with
his friend John Burroughs in 1867 and continuing through the
millennium. Until now, however, no one has seen fit to devote
more than a passing chapter, at best, to Whitman's Civil War
years, a time that the poet himself considered "the greatest priv-
ilege and satisfaction" of his life. With this book I hope to re-
dress that somewhat surprising historical imbalance and to put,
whenever possible, a human face on a most inhuman tragedy.
To all those earlier biographers I offer my thanks. I would
like to cite particularly the work of the late George L. Sixbey,
whose pioneering doctoral dissertation, "Walt Whitman's Mid-
dle Years: 1860-1867," is an invaluable guide to Whitman's often
murky existence in the years immediately preceding the Civil
War. Thanks also to my agent, Tom Wallace, for his kindness and
encouragement; to my editor, Peter Ginna, for his patience, tact,
and insightful advice; to my father-in-law, G. Burton Pierce, for
his unfailing generosity; and to my wife, Leslie, for teaching me
each day for the past twenty years how to be a better person. I
don't know how well the lessons have taken, but I couldn't have
asked for a more willing—or winning—teacher.
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