Book Review: The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks

The Widow of the South

By Robert Hicks

Reviewed by Tom Carrico

(Blogger Note: This review was previously published in LAMLight, the physician newsletter of the Lynchburg Academy of Medicine and was referenced in a previous blog post book review of Devil's Dream by Madison Smartt Bell.)

      Just when you think there could be no more untold stories of the American Civil War, along comes a gem of a book: Robert Hicks’ The Widow of the South.  This book is set in Franklin, Tennessee, the sight of a brutal battle five months before Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.  The Battle of Franklin has been described by some as the bloodiest five hours of the Civil War.  Confederate General John Bell Hood decides to attack well entrenched Unions troops led by Major General John Schofield in an attempt to recapture Nashville.  Over the protests of other officers, including Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest, General Hood orders an ill-advised open field uphill infantry charge reminiscent of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg.  This leaves thousands of dead soldiers and many more severely wounded.  The battle descriptions are very vivid and well told. (Indeed they are the equal of Charles Frazier’s descriptions of the Battle of the Crater in “Cold Mountain”.)  This novel is much more than a war story, however.  It is the narrative of war’s effects on the country, the soldiers and the citizens who are swept up in its enormity.

      

     The main character of the book is Carrie McGavock.  She is the mistress of a failing plantation known as Carnton (interestingly enough, from the Gaelic for “place of the dead”).  We meet her pre-battle as she suffers from severe melancholy, having never emotionally recovered from the premature death of three of her children from various fevers.  Her husband John is a dysfunctional gentleman farmer who has never adapted to the “changes” brought on by the War and cannot deal with Carrie’s depression.  He has invested heavily in “the Cause” and suffers financial defeat and loss of his lifestyle and livelihood. 

     The mansion at Carnton is commandeered as a Confederate field hospital by General Forrest and Carrie springs to life in her new role.  The hundreds of wounded and dying soldiers who arrive on her doorstep following the Battle of Franklin enable her to find a purpose for her life beyond grieving her losses.  One particular soldier catcher her eye.  He is Sergeant Zachariah Cashwell from Arkansas.  He somehow survives the charge up the hill as a color bearer, only to be taken prisoner and then shot while trying to escape.  He has a potentially mortal thigh wound but is saved when Carrie triages him to the front of the surgery line and a high leg amputation is performed.  Zachariah is initially resentful of his survival and Carrie’s role in it, preferring death over life as a crippled amputee.  Their relationship grows from one of anger and distrust to one of mutual respect and admiration and finally, love.  This continues until Zachariah is well enough to be taken away from Carnton as a prisoner of war. 

     The rest of the book relates the story of Franklin after the War.  The town is repaired, train lines are extended, freed slaves become small business owners and farms are reclaimed, however there lingers much despair and bitterness over personal losses suffered during the War.  One citizen who owns the land which was the Franklin battlefield decides to plow over the field, disrespecting the final resting place of thousands of Confederate soldiers.  Carrie fights a verbal and political battle over this decision.  Finally, Carrie and John and a corps of volunteers exhume all of the bodies and re-bury them in the Carnton garden adjacent to the graves of the dead McGavock children.  Carrie catalogues the identity and location of each body.   She then dedicates the remainder of her long life to the maintenance of this cemetery and communication with each of the families involved, hence, obtaining the title of “The Widow of the South”.   The inevitable late-life reunion with Zachariah Cashwell is poignant and brings this novel to a satisfying conclusion.

     This book is made even more remarkable by the secondary characters who are wonderful in their own rights.  These include Mattie, Carrie’s slave (a childhood “gift” from her father) and Mattie's son Theopolis.  Mattie is the “heart” of Carnton, organizing and basically running the household for the inept McGavocks.  The dilemma of the freed slaves is played out by these characters who have never known another life.  Mattie decides to stay at Carnton with Carrie following the War and receives criticism from other former slaves including her own son.  Theopolis opts to move to town and becomes a very successful cobbler. 

     This is a novel of war for sure, but it is much more.  It is a story of grief and despair, hope and faith and discovery of life’s purpose.  Trying times forge character and cement relationships which last a lifetime. 

     This is a work of fiction, but the characters of Carrie and John McGavock as well as  Mattie and Theopolis are real.  Carnton exists and survives today with its adjacent cemetery thanks to the work of a non-profit organization.  The author is a Board member of this organization and his passion for and dedication to this project shines through on every page.  This is a startlingly good story which is incredibly well told.

Book Review: Devil's Dream by Madison Smartt Bell

(Blogger Note: This review was published in the October, 2011 issue of LAMLight, the newsletter of the Lynchburg Academy of Medicine)

  This is a fascinating historical novel depicting the life of Nathan Bedford Forrest.  As a Virginian all of my life, the American Civil War has always been an interest.  I guess it can be forgiven if as a child growing up during the Civil War Centennial I thought the majority of the war was fought in Virginia, with the occasional foray into Maryland and Pennsylvania.  Spending eighteen years in Richmond reinforced that notion.  Driving past the statues of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jeb Stuart every morning on Monument Avenue makes one think that all of the major personalities fought or died in Virginia.  It has been almost astonishing to me to learn that the “War of Northern Aggression” was fought fiercely all over the South and that there were major players elsewhere that deserve historical mention alongside Lee, Stuart, Longstreet and Jackson. 

   Madison Smartt Bell is a native of Tennessee (I wonder if he thinks the whole war was fought in his state?) and received his M.A. from Hollins College.  He now lives in Baltimore and teaches at Goucher College.  He is known for meticulously researched historical fiction and his eighth novel,   All Soul’s Rising, was a finalist for the National Book Award in the 1990s. 

   Nathan Bedford Forrest is an intriguing figure.  He came from modest means and made a fortune before the war with land investment and as a slave trader.  He enlisted in the Confederate army as a private and rose to the rank of Lieutenant General by war’s end. He had no military training but devised aggressive cavalry techniques and maneuvers.  He often argued with his better trained superiors over tactics.  The most famous disagreement was with General John Bell Hood preceding the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, ground covered very well in The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks.

  The author does an outstanding job of capturing the contradictions in Forrest’s life.  He shows him courting his high society wife and treating her with great respect while abusing his female slaves.  Forrest showed great admiration for many blacks, including several as his closest advisers during the war and yet could sell and beat these same fellow humans seemingly without remorse.  He is alleged to have allowed a massacre of black Union soldiers at the Battle of Fort Pillow rather than take them prisoner, although this novel makes it seem as if the massacre was beyond Forrest’s control. 

   The author uses a second main character, a free black named Henri who encounters Forrest at the beginning of the war, to tell much of the story.  Henri is a Haitian who came to New Orleans with the intention of igniting a slave revolt.  Henri serves Forrest as a scout and soldier until he is killed at the Battle of Chickamauga.  Through Henri’s eyes we see Forrest go berserk in the heat of battle:  charging into enemy lines with a double edged sword in one hand and a six shooter in the other.  He often had multiple horses (often as many as three or four) shot out from under him during these reckless charges.  We see Forrest shot, stabbed, beaten and starved.  In one memorable scene, Forrest is confronted by another general who Forrest has accused of cowardice.  The second general pulls a gun and shoots Forrest at point blank range.  Henri sees Forrest fall, assumes he’s dead and then watches in amazement as Forrest jumps up and runs after his would-be assassin yelling “Nobody kills Nathan Forrest and deserves to live!”

   The secondary characters are important and abundant in this novel as well.  Nathan’s wife Mary Ann is attracted to her husband’s audacity and brashness but is equally embarrassed by his occupation as a slave trader and by his not so subtle indiscretions with his slave mistresses.  Mary Ann’s mother lives with the couple for some time and acts as an over-bearing and outspoken conscience.  She repeatedly stirs up ill feelings within the extended Forrest family.  Forrest’s many brothers play significant roles, both at home in Memphis and as battlefield advisors.

    I have only two criticisms of this book.  The first criticism is the chronology (or lack thereof) with which it is written.  It’s like the author wrote the story in proper sequence but then cut and pasted the individual chapters in a random order.  A chapter describing intense fighting in Franklin, Tennessee is likely to be followed by a chapter describing Forrest first meeting Mary Anne and her mother while rescuing them from a wagon trapped in a creek bed.  I tried to decipher the reason the author did this, but I couldn’t figure it out.  It becomes very confusing when the battle sequences are presented out of date order.  The second criticism is that the author does not include or even mention Forrest’s post-war life.  The fact that he survived is unbelievable.  How Forrest rallied against carpetbaggers  became the first Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan would certainly (in my opinion) have added a lot to this character’s life story.  But, this is not a biography and the author had to stop somewhere, so maybe this isn’t a valid criticism. 

  Devil’s Dream is a superbly written historical novel with a fascinating and enigmatic main character.  History and Civil War buffs should really enjoy this book.