A Bohemian Brigade: The Civil War Correspondence - Mostly Rough, Sometimes Ready - Hardcover

Perry, James M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471320099 ISBN 13: 9780471320098

Verlag: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2000

Inhaltsangabe

Book by Perry James M

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Reseña del editor

"Like the war itself, this is a story of remarkable personal drama." - New York Times Book Review "Highly engaging ...Perry has a special feel for his topic and a keen eye for detail." - Wall Street Journal The Civil War was the world's original instant--news war, made possible by the telegraph and steam power, which fueled the new big presses and the locomotives that transported journalists and armies at unheard--of speeds. James M. Perry examines the war, a free press, and the inevitable impact each had on the other. Focusing on the self--proclaimed "Bohemian Brigade," Perry assesses the performance of a ragtag band whose professional descendants remain controversial to this day. By turns deeply insightful and slyly amusing, here is an altogether new perspective on the Civil War through the lens of the colorful band of reporters who covered it. James M. Perry (Alexandria, VA) is Senior Political Writer Emeritus for the Wall Street Journal and author of Arrogant Armies (0--471--11976--8) (Wiley). He is a recipient of the prestigious Fourth Estate Award from the National Press Club for lifetime achievement in American journalism.

Contraportada

Much of our understanding of the American Civil War is based upon newspaper dispatches written under horrific battlefield conditions, and journalists? memoirs penned under more reflective moments after the war?s end. A Bohemian Brigade is the masterful account of the true nature of combat correspondence its probable accuracy and ultimate accountability during the Civil War years. In this even-handed survey, James M. Perry examines a civil war, a free press, and the inevitable impact each had on the other. Focusing on the self-proclaimed "bohemian brigade" whom General William Sherman vilified as "the buzzards of the press" Perry assesses the performance of a ragtag band whose professional descendants remain controversial to this day.

The tales Perry tells are entertaining, sometimes hard to believe, but always historically accurate. Competition led reporters to file stories prematurely as they raced to be the first to get their accounts on "the lightning" their name for the telegraph. The headline of the New York Herald on July 22, 1861, erroneously proclaimed the Union Army?s rout at the first battle of Bull Run a "BRILLIANT UNION VICTORY!"

Army commanders on both sides distrusted a free press they could not control. Thomas Knox?s critical accounts of Union campaigning at Vicksburg so provoked General Sherman that he ordered a court-martial to prosecute this civilian reporter as a spy!

Yet the press also made invaluable contributions to each side?s cause. For instance, neither army had any procedure for publishing casualty lists. After a battle, reporters would collect the names of the dead and wounded. At times, their efforts became heroic.

Bradley Osbon, an experienced seaman, covered the Union?s capture of New Orleans by signing aboard fleet officer David G. Farragut?s flagship, the Hartford, as a clerk. Upon learning of Osbon?s maritime exploits in the Far East from Osbon himself, Farragut promoted the reporter to the rank of fleet signal officer.

And in reporting General Ulysses S. Grant?s engagement against General Robert E. Lee at the battle of the Wilderness, reporter Henry Wing also delivered a personal message from Grant to his commander in chief, President Abraham Lincoln: "Whatever happens, there is to be no turning back." Lincoln kissed the reporter on the forehead for relaying these stirring words of hope.

With a dry wit and keen eye for detail honed by his four decades of journalistic experiences, Perry provides a fresh understanding of how the reporting of a war can affect the trajectory of war itself.

Advance Praise for A Bohemian Brigade

"In this masterfully crafted book, A Bohemian Brigade, Perry takes us behind the lines and behind the scenes to meet reporters from America?s most difficult war who risked imprisonment and often their lives to get the story straight and get it in the paper. With his usual skill, Perry makes you feel like you are there with them."—Ken Bode, Dean of the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University

"Civil War reporters were a colorful breed: rough, rowdy, courageous, competitive?occasionally even accurate. Jim Perry, a great reporter himself, recognizes these bohemian adventurers and brings them vividly to life in this entertaining and eye-opening look at the men who crafted the rough draft of our history."—Tony Horwitz, author of Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War

"They were rowdy, biased, took themselves too seriously, got it dead wrong a lot of the time, yet often showed real courage under fire. Sound familiar? No, not today?s reporters. The ones who covered the Civil War. This is their story and it?s a good one, told as only a working reporter could tell it."—Bob Schieffer, Chief Washington Correspondent, CBS News

"A Bohemian Brigade is a joyous account of a time when reporters did not take themselves seriously?nor di

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0471320099
• ISBN 13: 9780471320098
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 305