Collection of personal narratives, anecdotes, tall tales, and fables convey the courage, imagination, and humor of the Civil War era
Book
A Civil War Treasury
of Tales, Legends, and Folklore
Warren Chappell, Illustrator
Random House (January 1, 1960)
Promontory (March 23, 2006)
B. A. Botkin was one of the greatest American folklorists. With his students he crisscrossed the country to record the stories we tell one another. From the most enduring of American events, the Civil War, come tales of bravery, cunning, pathos, humor, and faith. True or fanciful, these accounts endure because they express authentic reactions and have the power to explain, counsel, and console. Here are the stories of military leaders—Lincoln, Lee, Jackson, Sherman—as told in the ranks and at home, by freedmen, women, poets, deserters, patriots, and resisters from both sides. As important as what actually "happened," these tales reveal the true picture of how Americans felt and spoke about the war.