Authors: Adam Goodheart
At the Wylie Agency, I thank Andrew Wylie, Sarah Chalfant, Scott Moyers, Jacqueline Ko—and especially the indomitable, indefatigable Jin Auh. Zoe Pagnamenta guided me expertly to a publisher. At Knopf, I have been lucky indeed to work with George Andreou, who wields his editorial rapier with the elegance of a Carolina duelist, and with his trusty second, Lily Evans. Thanks, too, to designer Michael Collica for his role in putting my words onto these pages.
Last of all, but actually first of all, the Goodhearts—Mom, Dad, Harry, Mark, Danielle, Avery, T.K., Herb, Karen, and David, as well as the no-less-good-hearted Lauren Krenzel and Natalie Levant—I love you more than words, printed or otherwise, can say.
•
I feel privileged every time I walk into the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress, a room that Henry James said “crowns itself with grace.” James—who found little else to admire in Washington—is no longer there, but the room is, little changed, and it’s where I wrote much of this book. I owe a debt to those who have preserved its splendor and its soul in the midst of this most un-Jamesian age.
Outside, much has changed in Washington, and in the rest of the country, even since I began to write. I remember leaving the library late one afternoon
in January 2009. I walked down the front steps, and right in front of me, lit by the setting sun, was the Capitol: the dome with its statue of Freedom that a slave forged, the steps where Lincoln spoke of mystic chords of memory, the wide expanse where the Zouaves played baseball on the grass beneath the chestnut trees. The grass is gone now, and the chestnut trees: the historic landscape was replaced several years ago by a sterile and soulless plaza, and by a visitor center that allows people to “experience” our great national edifice without actually going inside. But I’d like to think that the old place is still there, somewhere beneath.
Location numbering in
italics
refer to illustrations. Location numbering beginning with nts or nts1 refer to endnotes.
abolition, abolitionists,
prl.1
,
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
2.1
,
2.2
,
2.3
,
2.4
,
2.5
,
2.6
,
2.7
,
2.8
,
3.1
,
3.2
,
4.1
,
4.2
,
7.1
,
8.1
,
8.2
,
9.1
,
9.2
,
nts.1
in Boston,
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
2.1
,
3.1
,
4.1
Academy of Music,
4.1
Adams, Charles Francis, Jr.,
2.1
,
3.1
,
nts.1
Adams, Charles Francis, Sr.,
1.1
,
2.1
,
6.1
,
nts.1
Adams, Henry,
1.1
,
2.1
,
3.1
,
6.1
,
6.2
,
nts.1
Adams, Sam,
6.1
Africa, black resettlement in,
1.1
,
2.1
,
8.1
,
nts.1
Alaska,
6.1
Albany, N.Y.,
2.1
,
3.1
,
3.2
,
5.1
,
8.1
Albany Journal,
nts. 1
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII),
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
nts.1
Germans’ consumption of,
6.1
,
6.2
,
6.3
Alcott, Bronson,
1.1
Alexandria, Va.,
2.1
,
5.1
,
7.1
,
7.2
,
7.3
,
8.1
,
9.1
,
bm1.1
Confederate flag in,
7.1
,
7.2
,
7.3
,
7.4
Marshall House in,
7.1
,
7.2
,
7.3
,
7.4
,
7.5
American Agriculturalist,
8.1
American Anti-Slavery Society,
bm1.1
American Indians,
see
Native Americans
American Revolution,
prl.1
,
prl.2
,
prl.3
,
prl.4
,
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
1.4
,
3.1
,
3.2
,
4.1
,
5.1
,
5.2
,
5.3
,
6.1
,
8.1
,
8.2
,
9.1
,
9.2
,
nts.1
“America’s Dream; or, the Rebellion of ’61” (drama),
8.1
,
8.2
Anderson, Eba Clinch,
prl.1
,
4.1
,
nts.1
Anderson, Robert,
prl.1
,
prl.2
,
3.1
,
4.1
,
4.2
,
4.3
,
4.4
,
4.5
,
4.6
,
4.7
,
9.1
,
bm1.1
,
bm1.2
,
nts.1
field artillery instruction manual of,
4.1
in move to Sumter,
prl.1
,
prl.2
,
prl.3
,
1.1
,
2.1
,
2.2
,
2.3
,
4.1
,
4.2
secession crisis and,
prl.1
,
prl.2
,
prl.3
,
1.1
,
2.1
,
2.2
slavery and,
prl.1
,
prl.2
,
4.1
,
nts.1
as Southerner,
prl.1
,
prl.2
,
prl.3
Annapolis, Md.,
8.1
anti-Semitism,
prl.1
Anti-Slavery Bugle,
3.1
Anzeiger des Westens,
6.1
,
6.2
,
6.3
Army, U.S.,
prl.1
,
4.1
,
4.2
,
4.3
,
4.4
,
5.1
,
6.1
,
7.1
see also
Union armies
Army Corps of Engineers,
prl.1
Arthur, Chester,
bm1.1
Atlantic Monthly,
1.1
,
2.1
,
6.1
,
7.1
,
7.2
,
8.1
,
8.2
,
9.1
Austria, Austrians,
3.1
,
6.1
,
6.2
Bagby, Lucy,
3.1
,
3.2
,
bm1.1
,
nts.1
Baker, Edward D.,
6.1
,
6.2
,
6.3
,
bm1.1
Baker, Frank,
8.1
,
8.2
,
8.3
,
8.4
,
bm1.1
Ballo in maschera, Un
(Verdi),
4.1
Baltimore, Md.,
1.1
,
1.2
,
2.1
,
4.1
,
4.2
,
6.1
,
7.1
Bancroft, George,
5.1
Baton Rouge, La., U.S. Arsenal in,
6.1
Bayne, Julia Taft,
9.1
Beauregard, Pierre G. T.,
4.1
,
4.2
,
4.3
,
4.4
,
4.5
,
4.6
,
4.7
,
nts.1
Beecher, Henry Ward,
4.1
,
6.1
,
6.2
,
8.1
Belmont, August,
2.1
Bennett, James Gordon,
1.1
,
1.2
,
5.1
,
8.1
,
9.1
,
9.2
,
nts.1
Benton, Thomas Hart,
2.1
,
6.1
,
6.2
,
6.3
,
6.4
,
6.5
,
6.6
,
6.7
Berlin Wall,
8.1
Bibb, John B.,
2.1
Bierstadt, Albert,
6.1
Black, Jeremiah,
nts.1
Black Hawk, Chief,
4.1
Black Jaegers,
6.1
Black Point (San Francisco),
6.1
,
6.2
,
6.3
,
6.4
,
6.5
,
6.6
,
6.7
,
bm1.1
alleged inferiority of,
1.1
,
2.1
,
3.1
,
3.2
,
8.1
resettlement of,
1.1
,
2.1
,
6.1
,
8.1
,
8.2
,
8.3
,
nts.1
see also
contrabands
;
free blacks
;
slavery, slaves
Blair, Francis Preston “Frank,” Jr.,
6.1
,
6.2
,
6.3
,
6.4
,
6.5
,
6.6
,
6.7
,
9.1
St. Louis Arsenal and,
6.1
,
6.2
,
6.3
Blair, Montgomery,
4.1
,
4.2
,
4.3
,
6.1
,
8.1
,
8.2
Butler’s correspondence with,
8.1
,
8.2
Blakely gun,
4.1
Blandowski, Constantin,
6.1
Blenker, Max,
9.1
Boernstein, Henry (Heinrich Börnstein),
6.1
,
6.2
,
6.3
,
6.4
,
6.5
,
6.6
,
6.7
,
6.8
,
6.9
,
6.10
Border Ruffians,
6.1
Boston, Mass.,
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
1.4
,
3.1
,
4.1
,
6.1
,
6.2
,
6.3
,
8.1
,
nts.1
abolitionism in,
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
2.1
,
3.1
,
4.1
Beacon Hill in,
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
1.4
,
1.5
newspapers in,
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
1.4
,
1.5
,
1.6
,
2.1
,
3.1
Boston & Maine Railroad,
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
6.1
Boston Courier,
2.1
Boston
Daily Advertiser,
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
1.4
Boston Evening Transcript,
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
6.1
,
6.2
Boston Post,
1.1
“Briarwood Pipe, The” (Homer),
nts1.1
Brooklyn, N.Y.,
4.1
,
5.1
,
7.1
,
nts.1
Brown, Harvey,
8.1
Brown, John,
1.1
,
1.2
,
2.1
,
3.1
,
5.1
,
8.1
,
8.2
,
8.3
Harper’s Ferry raid of,
5.1
,
5.2
,
7.1
,
8.1
Browning, Orville,
8.1
,
8.2
,
8.3
,
9.1
Bryant, William Cullen,
1.1
,
2.1
,
nts.1
Buchanan, James,
prl.1
,
prl.2
,
1.1
,
2.1
,
2.2
,
3.1
,
3.2
,
4.1
,
6.1
,
6.2
,
6.3
,
8.1
,
9.1
,
bm1.1
,
nts.1
Lincoln compared with,
3.1
,
3.2
,
4.1
,
9.1
,
nts.1
Lincoln’s inauguration and,
3.1
message to Congress of,
2.1
,
2.2
,
2.3
New Year’s levees and,
2.1
,
nts.1
Bull Run, First Battle of,
3.1
,
3.2
,
7.1
,
7.2
,
9.1
,
9.2
,
bm1.1
Bunker Hill,
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
6.1
,
6.2
Burch, John,
6.1
Burke, Edmund,
3.1
Burnside, Ambrose E.,
nts.1