Q&A with author of Civil War book

Stephen Davis is a historian and author who received his Masters in American History from UNC in 1973. Next week, he will publish his third book, "A Long and Bloody Task: The Atlanta Campaign from Dalton through Kennesaw to the Chattahoochee, May 5- July 18, 1864." Staff writer Leah Moore talked with Davis about the new book, the importance of history, and his personal connection to the Civil War. 

Daily Tar Heel: What is your new book about?

Steve Davis: The Atlantic Campaign. The book takes place in the Civil War, from May of 1864 when General Sherman started out south of Chattanooga, to his capture of the city September 2. The one coming out next week is the first half of the Atlantic Campaign, carrying Sherman from the Chattanooga area down to the Chattahoochee river. 

DTH: What are some interesting, not well known details about the Civil War?

SD: I’ll answer that this way — our knowledge of the war continues to expand, as incredible as that may be. When I was growing up as a teenager here in Atlanta, in the 1960s, 618,000 was the commonly accepted number of federal and confederate soldiers who died during the war. Nowadays, 50 years after that, we add in at least another 25, sometimes 50, thousand civilians who died as a result of the war. Moreover, a few years ago, a statistician projected that 750,000 soldiers died, perhaps even more, based on some data from that time. All of this has come out in the last couple of years. What we thought we knew continues to evolve.

DTH: How does sense of place inform your new book, since you grew up in Atlanta?

SD: I’ve lived in Atlanta since the age of three, and early on developed a keen interest in the fighting around here. The Civil War was just all around Atlanta — roadside markers, battlefields close-by. I’ve been a Civil War buff since the fourth grade; it’s a lifelong passion of mine.

DTH: Why do you think history matters in the present day?

SD: I think it happens to shape American world views. I took my master’s at Chapel Hill, studying under the late Professor Klingberg. If we don’t do something to preserve our history, talk about it, make it relevant, then we become unmoored and unhinged as a civilization. 

DTH: In what ways are the problems that led to the Civil War and the problems that came about as a result of the Reformation still relevant to us today?

SD: The issue of American racism continues to figure prominently in our national dialogue. Racism, prejudice, the effects of slavery, the lingering biases against African-Americans — all that dialogue has evolved, but it is part of the nation’s long history with slavery. We’ve been free of slavery for just over 150 years. However, this country has been a slave country longer than it has been an emancipated country when you include the colonial period of our history.

DTH: Do you think the American Civil War was different than civil wars in other nations?

SD: Because I’m only a dabbler in world history, I will only offer an opinion. For at least thirty years before the war, Northerners and Southerners had begun to characterize the other in the most demonic and hated terms. Moreover, each side associated itself with American values — it’s just that Southerners saw American values as including slavery. How else would you be able to explain 618,000 Americans dying during the war? They hated each other. Roughly 1 in 5 Yanks and Rebs died during the war. You don’t get the same kind of widespread volunteerism unless there are deep seeded concepts of nationalism. The South believed that they were truly a different country from the North at that time.

DTH: What is your favorite part about the process?

SD: The actual joy of researching writing is a rush that is not equaled by any other pastime that I have. I just love the act of researching. When you called, I was researching why the Battle of Atlanta came to be called the Battle of Atlanta for a talk I’m giving. I’m going back through the records and I’m trying to answer this tiny little question. And then, there’s the pride of authorship. When that book comes out next week, I’ll look at it like it’s a newborn baby!

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