We are admittedly a bit late in reviewing this catalogue, but since most of the entries are around 150 years old, a few extra months is not that important. The catalogue is number 429 from The George S. MacManus Co., In Tall Cotton. Of course, “In Tall Cotton” is the most famous bibliography of the American Confederacy. This is not that “In Tall Cotton.” Instead, it is a selection of 207 items in MacManus' inventory that appeared in the original “In Tall Cotton.” These are stories about the “Lost Cause,” mostly from the time before the Confederates realized their cause was lost. They hung on as long as they could, and even after it was lost, they still did their best to justify the cause. Unfortunately, the Confederate cause suffered from one momentous shortcoming that made its defeat a moral necessity, and wasted the lives of so many young southern men. Such is war. These are a few selections.
This is one of the more thorough looks at the Confederate military considering it consists of 12 volumes. The title is Confederate Military History. A Library of Confederate States History, edited by Clement A. Evans, published in 1899. It has volumes for each state, with this set including the expanded West Virginia and Maryland volume. They were written by “Distinguished Men of the South,” which is to say, the volumes had different authors expert in their particular states. The bibliographic In Tall Cotton describes this as “A still excellent reference work for the embattled Confederacy.” Item 51. Priced at $900. Other copies without the expanded volume and in lesser condition are available for $100.
For an account of the Confederacy that is guaranteed not to be remotely objective, there is no better source than the Confederate President himself, Jefferson Davis. He remained obstinate to the end in his belief in the justness of his cause and his interpretation of the Constitution with regard to secession. He just couldn't let go. His book is The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, published in, of all places, New York, in 1881. In Tall Cotton says, “Conceals more than it reveals of the inner history of the Confederacy; mainly an argumentative dissertation on secession and states' rights.” Item 32. $4,000. Other copies are available for $1,000 and $2,000.
This next book is a legendary Confederate rarity, the highlight of any such collection if you are lucky enough to find a copy. Well, here is one. The title is Fourteen Hundred and 81 Days in the Confederate Army. The author was W. W. Heartsill. He served mostly with W. P. Lane's Rangers of Texas. He experienced just about the entire war, entering on April 19, 1861, and serving until May 20, 1865. He writes of his experiences as well as his thoughts on generals such as Braxton Bragg, Stonewall Jackson, and Albert Sidney Johnston. He describes the battles of Chicamauga and Vicksburg, and of being a prisoner of the Union Army. He was held in Virginia until released in a prisoner exchange. He then traveled back to Texas, after spending some time in Richmond, participating in the Battle of Chikamauga, then back through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. He then guarded Union prisoners in Tyler, Texas, before finally returning the rest of the way and being released from service. It is a good account by an ordinary ranger, but there is more that makes this book special and a great rarity. Heartsill did not have a publisher nor even a printer. He purchased a small novelty press and printed it himself, one page at a time, creating 100 copies in two years of his spare time. But, that was not all. He then solicited photographs from his fellow rangers, 61 of them, which he has named and mounted in each copy. He added a list of the rangers that had died between the date of their discharge and July 1876. William Williston Heartsill survived until 1916. Jenkins described this book as “the rarest and most coveted book on the Civil War.” Apparently, very few of the 100 copies have survived. In recognizing the difficulty of his task, Heartsill announces in the preface, that along with his bad grammar, “...a 'Second Edition' of this journal will never be printed by the undersigned on an Octavo Novelty Press.” However, there have been a few reprints in the second half of the twentieth century. Item 95. $55,000.
This is Martin Hardwick Hall's account of Sibley's New Mexico Campaign, published in 1960 by the University of Texas Press. Henry Hopkins Sibley led the Confederates farthest penetration into the West. He had big plans. He would lead a group of Texas volunteers on a mission up the Rio Grande from Texas to Santa Fe, and then capture Fort Union near the Colorado border on the Santa Fe Trail. That would enable him to capture the unguarded gold fields of Colorado, to refill the South's depleted treasury, and then move on to California where he would open a port on the Pacific. This was important as the Confederates had no access to any ocean ports because of the Union blockade in the East. Sibley's forces met little resistance as they marched up the Rio Grande to Albuquerque, then Santa Fe, and on to Glorieta Pass, which would open up an easy route to poorly manned Fort Union. However, a contingent of Colorado volunteers trying to protect their land joined Union forces at Glorieta Pass, realizing this was their last opportunity to stop the invaders. It was a long, fierce battle, but Confederate forces gradually gained the upper hand. However, the Union side came up with a plan Sibley was not prepared for. A group of Union men managed to climb down dangerous cliffs on the other side of the pass unseen. They then attacked Sibley's unguarded supply train from the rear. They burned the 80 supply wagons, spiked the canon, and killed or drove off 500 horses and mules. With no supplies, the Confederates could go no farther. They were forced to retreat, making a ragtag run back to Texas while Union soldiers attacked them from ridges along the Rio Grande. The Confederates never attempted to go farther west again. Item 87. $125.
The Union blockade of southern ports did more than just keep arms from reaching the Confederates and interfere with cotton shipments. It denied the South access to basic products needed in everyday life. They needed some alternatives. Francis Peyre Porcher was there to lend a hand. His book is Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests, Medical, Economical, and Agricultural. Being also a Medical Botany of the Southern States; with Practical Information on the Useful Properties of the Trees, Plants, and Shrubs. It was published mid-war, in 1863. Porcher was called on by the Confederate Surgeon General to identify medicinal plants found in the South. The result was this work. Item 158. $5,000.
The George S. MacManus Co. may be reached at 610-520-7273 or books@macmanus-rarebooks.com. Their website is www.macmanus-rarebooks.com.