- 320 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
J. Matthew Ward's Garden of Ruins serves as an insightful social and military history of Civil War–era Louisiana. Partially occupied by Union forces starting in the spring of 1862, the Confederate state experienced the initial attempts of the U.S. Army to create a comprehensive occupation structure through military actions, social regulations, the destabilization of slavery, and the formation of a complex bureaucracy. Skirmishes between Union soldiers and white civilians supportive of the Confederate cause multiplied throughout this period, eventually turning occupation into a war on local households and culture. In unoccupied regions of the state, Confederate forces and their noncombatant allies likewise sought to patrol allegiance, leading to widespread conflict with those they deemed disloyal. Ward suggests that social stability during wartime, and ultimately victory itself, emerged from the capacity of military officials to secure their territory, governing powers, and nonmilitary populations. Garden of Ruins reveals the Civil War, state-building efforts, and democracy itself as contingent processes through which Louisianans shaped the world around them. It also illustrates how military forces and civilians discovered unique ways to wield and hold power during and immediately after the conflict.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Introduction: Ground between the Millstones
- 1 To Rid the Community of Suspicious Persons: The Militant Confederate Community in Secession-Era Louisiana
- 2 Disorder and Dominion: Benjamin Butler and His War of Occupation
- 3 Administering (Re)Union: Coercion and Policy in the Ranks of Union Occupation
- 4 Sentinels of the Household War: Black and White Women Confront Occupation
- 5 Small Pieces of Ground: Black Families and Freedom under Occupation
- 6 Partial though Disputed: Democracy, Power, and Occupation in Confederate Louisiana
- Conclusion: Democracy Delayed
- NOTES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX
- Images