Gideon Lincecum's Sword: Civil War Letters from the Texas Home Front.Edited by Jerry Bryan Lincecum, Edward Hake Edward Hake (fl. 1579), English satirist, was educated under John Hopkins, the part-author of the metrical version of the Psalms. He dwelt at Gray's Inn and Barnard's Inn, London. Phillips, and Peggy A. Redshaw. (Denton: University of North Texas Press The University of North Texas Press (or UNT Press), founded in 1987, is a university press that is part of the University of North Texas. External link
abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 1-57441-125-X.) Gideon Lincecum (1793-1874), a self-taught physician and naturalist with a keen, wide-ranging mind, expressed his opinions openly and forcefully. In 1848, having made a fortune in botanic medicine in Mississippi, he bought 1,800 acres of prairie land in Texas, founded the community of Long Point, and moved his large family there. From that base he sent botanical specimens to museums, published in both scholarly and popular journals, and corresponded with numerous American and European naturalists. When the Civil War interrupted what he considered an idyllic life, he turned his energies to supporting the Confederacy Confederacy, name commonly given to the Confederate States of America (1861–65), the government established by the Southern states of the United States after their secession from the Union. and helping Texas on the home front. This new book provides a rich sampling of Lincecum's Civil War-era letters from 1857 to 1866, organized chronologically and skillfully edited. (The same editors previously published Science on the Texas Frontier: Observations of Dr. Gideon Lincecum [College Station, Tex., 1997]), a collection of Lincecum's natural history letters, essays, and publications.) Almost sixty-eight at the time the war began, Lincecum was a zealous supporter of the Confederacy. His prewar pre·war adj. Existing or occurring before a war. prewar Adjective relating to the period before a war, esp. before World War I or II Adj. 1. letters showed a growing hatred of northerners who criticized southern institutions, especially slavery, and of religious leaders, who, he asserted, led gullible gul·li·ble adj. Easily deceived or duped. [From gull2.] gul people to become abolitionists. Lincecum firmly believed that blacks were an inferior race, suited only for slavery. He began canceling his subscriptions to northern periodicals, though he was reluctant to end correspondence with northern scientists, and continued, until the war actually started, to collect specimens for northern institutions. Lincecum was an optimistic supporter of secession, believing the South could be a strong independent country, and he had total confidence in the ability of Confederate soldiers to preserve southern liberties. He never lost his faith in-ordinary soldiers, but, by the end of the war, he was blaming fraud, corruption, and poor southern leadership for Confederate losses. Lincecum resourcefully used his scientific and technological skills to further the war effort, urging self-sufficiency. As shortages increased, he proposed new types of munitions mu·ni·tion n. War materiel, especially weapons and ammunition. Often used in the plural. tr.v. mu·ni·tioned, mu·ni·tion·ing, mu·ni·tions To supply with munitions. , wove wove v. Past tense of weave. wove Verb a past tense of weave wove, woven weave blankets of Spanish moss Spanish moss, fibrous grayish-green epiphyte (Tillandsia usneoides) that hangs on trees of tropical America and the Southern states, also called Florida, southern, or long moss. , and found ways to make paper, cloth, dyes, and necessary tools out of available material. When the war ended, Lincecum had used most of his money and other resources in support of the Confederacy. He began to rebuild his farm, resumed his scientific correspondence, and collected for the Smithsonian. The editors include thoughtful introductions to each letter and thoroughly researched notations that identify the individuals and events mentioned. They provide references to additional sources of information, an appendix describing some members of the Lincecum family, and an extensive bibliography. Their collection of Lincecum's colorfully written letters is a valuable addition to Civil War literature, showing how one extended Texas family supported the Confederacy and managed life on the home front. SYLVIA W. MCGRATH Stephen F. Austin State University |
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