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Total War by Other Means

Just when it looks as though the Civil War has been done to death, scholars find ways to resuscitate it. Not long ago, “memory” studies became the hot ticket. They now constitute something of a subfield for the war. Environmental historians would like to duplicate that success, and judging from some recent work, they deserve a hearing. The field has interested the general historical community for a good many years. Environmental History, first published in 1996, evolved from the much earlier Environmental Review, which debuted in 1976. Jack Temple Kirby, well known for his work on the rural South, goaded Civil War historians into tackling the environment in 2001, the same year that memory studies first grabbed our attention. Kirby’s thought-provoking essay, “The American Civil War: An Environmental View,” caused only a modest stir at the time, but environmental interpretations of the war have steadily gained traction.1 Going beyond long-standing interest in how the war affected Southern agriculture, this new departure has explored aspects of the weather, ecology, deforestation, geology, wildlife, and disease. Two historians deeply involved in its development are Lisa M. Brady and Kate Megan Nelson. Both have published previously on the environment and the war, and while quite different in their interests and interpretive frameworks, their new books distinguish them as leading authorities in the nascent field. Brady’s work comes closest to what might be called “traditional” Civil War history in that it explores the impact of Union military strategy on the environment. She begins with the well-known scenario of a stalled Union war effort in 1863. The Northern public and politicians were restless; Abraham Lincoln