Miserable Little Conglomeration

A Social History of the Port Hudson Campaign

Christopher Thrasher

• Publisher: University of Tennessee Press
• Year: 2023
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781621907923
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

"The essential starting point to understand the experiences of the soldiers, enslaved people, and civilians involved in the Port Hudson campaign." —H-Net Reviews

While Vicksburg and Gettysburg tend to receive the most attention among Civil War battles, it is Port Hudson that holds the record for the longest-running siege in American history. During the summer of 1863, US soldiers fought in the infamous heat and damp of Louisiana for forty-eight grueling days, having severely underestimated the Confederates’ determination to win.

Previous accounts of these events have rested on the leaders, well-known figures, and familiar faces of the Civil War. Here, social historian Christopher Thrasher draws from a robust collection of archival sources to tell the story of the common people’s experience throughout the Port Hudson Campaign: the soldiers who fought, the civilians who persisted, and the men who persevered, for those long days.

With more than forty illustrations and maps depicting the battles of Port Hudson and the defenses of the place itself, Miserable Little Conglomeration builds upon previous scholarship to present a social history of this campaign through the eyes of the people who lived, fought, and died within it.

Filling a long-empty gap within Civil War scholarship, Thrasher’s fresh approach to the Port Hudson campaign will be of interest to Civil War scholars, students of Louisiana history, and younger learners who are interested in the voices of American history.
 

Table of contents

• Contents
• Illustrations
• Foreword by Michael P. Gray
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Prepared for Anything: The War Comes to Louisiana
• 2. We Are Obliged to Stay and Fight: The Confederacy Prepared to Defend Port Hudson
• 3. My Thoughts Are Always of You: The Federal Advance Stalls
• 4. I Should Have Resigned Long Ago: Federals Grow Impatient
• 5. Gorgeous Yet Horrible: The Union Navy Bombards Port Hudson
• 6. Tired and Sick of Soldiering: The Spring Stalemate
• 7. It Failed: The Battle of May 27, 1863
• 8. Miserable in the Extreme: The Siege of May 28-June 13
• 9. A Hell of a Fellow Long Enough: The Battle of June 14, 1863
• 10. We Lay in the Ditches: The Siege of June 15, 1863-July 9, 1863
• 11. The First Time I Felt Sorry for the Brave Fellows: The Surrender
• Conclusion: Let the Battles of Port Hudson Tell It
• Appendix: Orders of Battle
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index