Talking about the Civil War

One of the comments frequently read or heard about Shakespeare's "Henry V" is that it is a play about war. In fact, it is really a play about talking about war. There are far more battle scenes in "Henry IV, Part I," and/or the three "Henry VI" plays. Actually after having just seen "Twelfth Night," I would say that the comic duel scene in that play is more like fighting than what we seenin "Henry V."

This came to mind as I was thinking about my ongoing interest in the Civil War especially as I work on some of the short biographies of prominent New Jerseyans of the Civil War era. My interest in the Civil War goes back at least as far as high school (which happened during the Centennial observations) and like most people, my focus was pretty much on the battles. Now even though I have written a history of New Jersey Civil War regiment, I find that while I am still interested in the experience of New Jersey's soldiers, I am much more interested in the non-military aspects of the war - must be my pacifist conscience speaking.

As I have worked on these biographies, I have realized the important things that were taking place on the home front during those years and the diverse group of people who were involved. Take for example, Edward N. Fuller (picture above) who was the editor of the Newark Daily Journal, the Democratic paper of New Jersey's largest city. Fuller was vehemently anti-Lincoln, anti-war and probably quite racist as well. He was naturally detested by the Republicans, but, in fact, many of the Democrats came to loathe him as well. Fuller finally went too far when he advocated resistance to the 1864 draft which led to his arrest, but wisely not his martyrdom.

Another example is David Morrill who was the chaplain of the 26th New Jersey. Morrill helped recruit the nine month regiment and volunteered to serve as its chaplain. It didn't take long for him to become disillusioned by the incompetent leadership that plagued much of the Union army in the 1862-63 period. Unlike most people, however, Morrill had a pulpit (albeit not a wooden one) for his feelings - his role as a correspondent to the Newark Daily Advertiser. He wrote with frequency about his frustrations which resulted in severe criticism from New Jersey Republicans who tried to have him removed from his position. Fighting back, Morrill stressed the truth as an important value especially when men were risking their lives for their country.

Both of these stories give a sense of the complexity of life in New Jersey during the Civil War. It doesn't denigrate the contributions of the soldiers in any way to claim the importance of all of this in understanding New Jersey's Civil War history which can, in turn, help us to understand New Jersey today.