Rethinking the “Old Line State” in the Civil War

The events in the Spring of 1861 and Lee’s two invasions of the state aside, Maryland is treated rather poorly in the literature of the Civil War. This collection of over a dozen essays by various specialists in the history of the state in the period successfully throws more light on Maryland’s role and experiences in the war.

Several papers address various aspects of the influence of slavery and abolition on the state’s society, culture, and politics, the secession crisis, including the Pratt Street riot, Lincoln’s actions to prevent its secession, and Union recruiting in Baltimore.

Three papers deal with the war in Maryland, one on the troops’ perception of the slaughter at Antietam, one on the Confederate invasions of the state, and one on the role of the state’s women in the war. The collection concludes with a paper on Reconstruction and one on the evolution of collective memory in the state.

The collection would have benefited from a paper on Confederate recruitment in Maryland, even if only to review how the subject has been treated in earlier works.

A volume in the LSU series “Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War”, The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered is a valuable addition to the literature on the war and the state’s role in it.

---///---

Note: The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered is also available in several e-editions.

StrategyPage reviews are published in cooperation with The New York Military Affairs Symposium

www.nymas.org

https://www.nymas2.org/