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March 2, 2005
 
BOOK REVIEW: 'Freedom Rising' Vividly Re-Creates Life in Nation's Capital During the Civil War
 
Reviewed by David M. Kinchen
Huntington News Network Book Critic
 
Hinton (HNN) — "Freedom Rising: Washington in the Civil War" (Knopf, 480 pages, 16 pages of illustrations, 3 maps, $30) completes a pair of books by Ernest B. Furgurson begun in 1996 with the publication of "Ashes of Glory: Richmond at War."
 
I reviewed "Ashes of Glory" and found it to be a vivid depiction of the capital of the Confederacy under siege and facing imminent invasion. The actual capture of the Rebel seat of government didn't occur until April 3, 1865, almost four years after the war began, but it was threatened many times before Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled by train to Danville, Va. — Furgurson's hometown — when the city 100 miles from Washington was captured by troops led by Maj. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel.
 
Drawing on primary and secondary sources, Pat Furgurson lives up to his reputation as a superb storyteller in "Freedom Rising." He admits in the preface that he was at first daunted about the task of portraying Washington at war — "scared off" by Margaret Leech's "Reveille in Washington," published in 1941 and the winner the following year of a Pulitzer Prize for history. Encouraged by the reception of "Ashes of Glory" and his books about the battles of Cold Harbor and Chancellorsville, he went ahead.
 
History buffs should be glad this veteran newspaperman – he was Washington correspondent for the Baltimore Sun for more than three decades – decided to apply his journalistic story telling and his adherence to proper historical documentation and crediting — something we can't take for granted but appreciate when we see it — to the chronicling of plotting, spying, everyday life and political intrigue in a city that was often on the front lines of the long and bloody war.
 
At the time of Lincoln's election in November 1860, Washington wasn't a big city — its population was 61,122 in 1860, not counting the then separate city of Georgetown and the rural parts of the District of Columbia.
 
Georgetown had 8,733 residents and the rural parts of the District had less than 6,000. It was filled, as could be expected given its location next to Maryland and Virginia, with Southern sympathizers.
 
Furgurson's cast of characters is huge, starting with President Abraham Lincoln and his family and including a cabinet that was often at odds with a man many cabinet officers considered to be uncouth and unsophisticated. They did so at their peril, because Lincoln's innate political skills had been honed by years of practice as a successful and very prosperous railroad lawyer in Illinois.
 
Among the many fascinating people in "Freedom Rising" was Thomas U. Walter, architect of the Capitol, who worked to complete the cast-iron dome of the unfinished Capitol Building. His struggles to obtain workers and materials to complete the project run like a thread from the beginning of the book to the very end. He was a driven workaholic — just the kind of person needed to complete the dome and install the statue of Freedom, designed by Rome-based American artist Thomas Crawford.
 
More so than Leech, Furgurson tells the stories of black Washingtonians, including Elizabeth Keckley, a skilled dressmaker to both Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis. Keckley was a friend who comforted Mary Lincoln, especially when tragedy struck with the death of her young son Willie and when her husband was assassinated. Another strong-willed former slave was Sojourner Truth, who foreshadowed another black woman almost a century later — Rosa Parks — in her efforts to obtain equal treatment on the capital city's primitive public transportation system.
 
Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, of course plays a prominent role in "Freedom Rising." The talented actor was vocal in his support of the Confederacy, but not to the point of joining its armed forces, Furgurson emphasizes. Booth had originally planned to kidnap Lincoln and take him across the Potomac to Richmond, but the events of April 1865 changed his plans and led to Lincoln's assassination on Friday night, April 14, 1865 at Ford's Theater on 10th Street.
 
Women played a prominent role in Civil War Washington, from journalists like Minnesotan Jane Grey Swisshelm to spies for the Confederacy like Rose Greenhow and the seductive Antonia Ford, later to marry Joseph C. Willard of the Willard Hotel family. Physician and feminist Mary Walker and Superintendent of Nurses Dorothy Dix also struggle against the male chauvinists of the era.
 
There's no reference to Abe Lincoln's possible bisexuality in "Freedom Rising," but there's no doubt about the homosexuality of poet and male nurse Walt Whitman, who figures prominently in the book. Whitman's efforts were appreciated by the wounded men he served, but the authorities — including Dix — were often bemused by his actions.
 
"Freedom Rising" is beautifully written history that brings to life the muddy or dusty streets of the capital city; the only battle of the Civil War fought in the District at Fort Stevens on the far northwest side in 1864; the stockyards and slaughter pens on the grounds of the partially completed Washington Monument and the sadness that enveloped the city and nation following the assassination.
 
Publisher's Web Site: www.aaknopf.com
 
HNN is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
 
More Book Reviews by David M. Kinchen
— 10/28/04 BOOK REVIEWS: Bill Kurtis on the Death Penalty; Ms. Moffett Becomes a Teacher
— 11/15/04 BOOK REVIEW: Roth Envisions a Frightening 'What If?' in 'The Plot Against America'
— 11/24/04 BOOK REVIEWS: Bush, Blair and Iraq; A Shrink at Nuremberg; Updike's Sexy Geek; Potomac Fever Smites an Academic
— 12/15/04 BOOK REVIEWS: 'Past Imperfect' Covers Complexities of History, Plagiarism Issues; 'His Excellency' Reveals George Washington's Accomplishments
— 12/29/04 BOOK REVIEWS: ‘de Kooning’ Chronicles Rise of American Art Supremacy; ‘Adams vs. Jefferson’ Shows That Controversial Presidential Elections are Nothing New
— 01/17/05 BOOK REVIEW: Max Hastings on Germany's 'Armageddon' as Allies from West, East Conquer Third Reich
— 01/24/05 BOOK REVIEW: ‘Images of America: Huntington’ Displays Glorious Architecture of West Virginia’s First Planned City
— 01/29/05 BOOK REVIEW: ‘Auschwitz’ Personalizes Horror That Should Never Be Forgotten
— 01/31/05 BOOK REVIEWS: ‘Election 2004’ Shows How Bush Won; ‘Santa Cruz’ is Captivating Picture History of California’s Laid-Back Resort town
— 02/06/05 BOOK REVIEW: 'French Women Don't Get Fat' is a Delightful Way to Read Yourself Thin; Monsieurs: There's No Reason Why It Won't Work for You!
— 02/14/05 BOOK REVIEW: ‘Irish Milwaukee,’ ‘Italian Milwaukee’ Capture Flavor of One of America’s Best Cities — And Best Kept Secrets
— 02/17/05 BOOK REVIEW: ‘Freedom Rising,’ Vividly Re-Creates Life in Nation's Capital During the Civil War
— 02/21/05 BOOK REVIEW: ‘ Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?,’Economist Says There's No Danger of Housing Melt-Down; Says Media Exaggerates 'Bubble'

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