In this display, the American Civil War was refracted through the prism of the National Library of Scotland's collections. Ran from 21 January to 29 March 2015.
Echoes of Union and Confederate voices resonated in a National Library of Scotland display commemorating the end of the American Civil War.
'Yankee cries and Rebel yells' presented items from the Library's collections that draw our attention to the conflict and its extraordinary legacy, which divides people even today.
And alongside American voices were those of Scots who were involved in both sides of the fight.
Slavery, battle cries and cultural legacy
In 1861, the bitter four-year struggle began that split America and claimed the lives of an estimated 620,000 soldiers.
But the American Civil War also resulted in legislation that abolished slavery and emancipated four million people.
Material selected from thousands of items in the Library's collections illustrated the three main themes of the display:
- Slavery, campaigners and influential Scots
— exhibits include accounts of slaves, an advertisement for the sale of slaves, and abolitionist propaganda - Battle cries
— exhibits include letters from a Union Colonel and the diary of a Union private - Culture and the conflict
— how the war has been remembered and interpreted.
Highlights from the collections
The display included correspondence, political pamphlets, newspapers and memoirs from the period.
All the items — whether voicing the 'battle cries' of civilians or soldiers, academics or film-makers — gave insight into the Confederates' howling Rebel Yell and the Union cries of freedom heard 150 years ago.
Highlights on show included:
- Deed of sale of enslaved woman and child, Edgecombe County, NC, 1829:
A document stating ownership of Lettice and her daughter, Whinny, by planter Theophilus Parker. - Advertisement for sale of sugar plantation, Bellechasse, LA, 1852: Attorney Judah P Benjamin sold Bellechasse Plantation in Louisiana and became a Senator. Plantation ownership played a key role in the state's politics and economy. An illustration of the St Louis Hotel Rotunda shows a slave auction in progress.
- Union soldier's pocket diary, May-September 1862:
The author of this diary, whose name is unknown, was a Union private fighting in Confederate Virginia near the James River, probably in the Peninsula campaign and its culmination — the Seven Days Battles. In brief daily entries, the soldier records his march toward Richmond and retreat to Yorktown as 'Rebels' drove Union regiments south. On picket duty, breaking up a railroad, or engaged in 'hard fiting'(sic), the soldier notes the weather, sending letters and pay home, when whisky is issued, and, when there is 'One tear in [my] nice quilt'. - Request for discharge, 17 December 1864, endorsed by Abraham Lincoln:
Signed by President Lincoln, this note allows Confederate soldier Tom Price to be discharged from Union prison Camp Douglas on taking the Oath of Allegiance. Price's release was requested by fellow Kentuckian Charles Eginton, who occasionally wrote to Lincoln asking for the release of young captives from his community. Eginton was a Southern Unionist and believed the men were misguided in fighting for the Confederacy and would reform. - Two letters of Col Charles J Paine to Francis G Richards, 1863 and 1864:
During his service, Charles Paine, aged about 30, rose from Union Captain to Brigadier General. From his post in Louisiana, Paine often wrote to a close friend, Frank. His letters are characterised by a desire for news from home and forceful opinion on the war's progress. - 'Gone with the wind', signed first edition, Margaret Mitchell, 1936:
Academics suggest Mitchell's story shapes understanding of the war far more than historical studies. The novel as a romance of the South, and its treatment of race, gender and class, may account for its enduring popularity. The story relays the downfall of the South through the struggles of planter's daughter Scarlett O'Hara. In the opening pages Scarlett proclaims: ' … the Yankees are too scared of us to fight. There won't be any war, and I'm tired of hearing about it.' One of her admirers replies: 'Why, honey, of course there's going to be a war'.
Find out more
- Read song lyrics and a public notice about slavery in America in our broadsides website
- Scotland and the slave trade — resources at the Library
- YouTube: Video about American Civil War items / resources at the Library