Was Union Support in the Confederacy Actually Widespread? The Alabamans Who Fought for Sherman Say 'Yes'

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2024

⏱️ 54 minutes

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Summary

As the popular narrative goes, the Civil War was won when courageous Yankees triumphed over the South. But an aspect of the war that has remained little-known for 160 years is the Alabamian Union soldiers who played a decisive role in the Civil War, only to be scrubbed from the history books. One such group was the First Alabama Calvary, formed in 1862. It went on raids that destroyed Confederate communications and also marched with Sherman’s forces across the South. They aided the fall of Vicksburg and the burning of Atlanta.

Today’s guest is Howell Raines, author of “Silent Cavalry: How Union Soldiers from Alabama Helped Sherman Burn Atlanta—and Then Got Written Out of History.” As Raines has pieced together, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s decisive effort to burn Atlanta was facilitated by an unsung regiment of 2,066 yeoman farmers and former slaves from Alabama—including at least one member of Raines’s own family.

So why have the best-known Civil War historians, including Ken Burns and Shelby Foote, given only passing – or no – attention to this regiment of southerners who chose to fight for the North – a regiment that General Sherman hailed as one of the finest in the Union? We explore this question through an account of Alabama’s Mountain Unionists and their exploits, along with investigating why they and others like them were excised from the historical record.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Scott here with another episode of the History Unplugged Podcast.
0:08.0	After the Civil War ended 160 years ago, Southern historians crafted a narrative that the North only won the Civil War due to the overwhelming
0:15.7	material and manpower advantage over brave Southerners.
0:18.9	For decades, revisionist historians have pushed back, arguing that the Civil War was won when Courageous
0:23.4	Yankees triumped over the South. But one aspect to the war that has remained
0:27.4	little known since its end is a number of Southern Unionists who played a
0:31.3	decisive role in the Civil War. One such group was the first
0:34.4	Alabama cavalry, formed in 1862. They mostly consisted of Jacksonian
0:39.4	southerners who lived in Appalachia and didn't feel a strong kinship to southern plantation culture.
0:44.6	The first Alabama cavalry went on raids that destroyed Confederate communications and also
0:48.4	marched with Sherman's forces across the south.
0:50.8	They aided in the fall of Vicksburg and the burning of Atlanta.
0:53.4	Today's guest is How Raines, author of Silent Cavalry, how Union soldiers from Alabama
0:58.2	helped Sherman burn Atlanta and then got written out of history.
1:01.3	He pieced together the fact that Union General William
1:03.3	to come to Sherman's decisive effort to Burn Atlanta was facilitated by a
1:07.2	regiment of over 2,000 Yaleman farmers and former slaves from Alabama including
1:11.8	at least one number of Rainzone family.
1:13.4	We look into why some of the best known Civil War historians, including Shelby Foote,
1:17.6	gave only passing or no attention to this regiment of southerners who chose to fight for
1:21.8	the North,
1:22.5	Regiment that Sherman hailed as one of the finest in the Union,
	...

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