| LOYALTY
ON THE FRONTIER
Sketches of Union Men of the South-West with Incidents and
Adventures in Rebellion on the Border
A. W. Bishop
Edited by Kim Allen Scott
Rare
contemporary account of the plight and
patriotism of a Southern Unionists
First
published in 1863, this book has the immediacy, passion, and
intimacy of its wartime context. It tells the remarkable story
of Albert Webb Bishop, a New York lawyer turned Union soldier,
who in 1862 accepted a commission as lieutenant colonel in
a regiment of Ozark mountaineers. While maintaining Union
control of northwest Arkansas, he collected stories of the
social coercion, political secession, and brutal terrorism
that scarred the region.
His
larger goal, however, was to popularize and inspire sympathy
for the South’s Unionists and to chronicle the triumph
of Unionism in a Confederate state. His account points to
the complex and divisive nature of Confederate society and
in doing so provides a perspective that has long been absent
from discussions of the Civil War.
“Recounts
sometimes harrowing, often fantastic tales. . . . As an essential
document that is made even more valuable by Scott’s
incisive editing, this is both a good read and a valuable
resource.”
—Civil War Book Review
“This is the Civil War as a participant saw and lived
it. . . . Highly recommended.”
—The Civil War News
“Partisan, strident, and uncompromising, but remarkably
non-vindictive, especially considering the truly vicious nature
of the guerrilla conflict he experienced.”
—William Garrett Piston, author of Lee’s Tarnished
Lieutenant: James Longstreet and His Place in Southern History
“Everyone will applaud this reissue of Albert W. Bishop’s
Loyalty on the Frontier. His writing is partisan, strident,
and uncompromising, but remarkably non-vindictive, especially
considering the truly vicious nature of the guerrilla conflict
he experienced. Editor Kim Allen Scott provides an excellent
introduction and copious notes. This is important reading
not only for students of the war in the Trans-Mississippi,
but also for those who wish to understand the human cost of
a civil war.”
—William Garrett Piston, co-author of Wilson’s
Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who
Fought It
Kim Allen Scott is Special Collections Librarian
for The Libraries, Montana State University, Bozeman. He is
the author of many articles on the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi
and has supplemented his research through active participation
in Civil War–battle reenactments.
NOW
IN PAPER!
March 2007
6 x 9, 256 pages, index
$19.95 (s) paper
978-1-55728-840-0 | 1-55728-840-2
2003
6 x9, 200 pages
$29.95, cloth
978-1-55728-757-1 | 1-55728-757-0
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