John F. Marszalek | |
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| Born | July 5, 1939 |
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| Discipline | Historian |
| Sub-discipline | American Civil War history |
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John F. Marszalek is an American historian who served as Executive Director and Managing Editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Association and The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant project from 2008 to 2022.
Marszalek was born in Buffalo,New York. He received his bachelor's degree from Canisius College in 1961. [1] He received a Master's Degree in 1963 and his Ph.D. in 1968,both from the University of Notre Dame. [2]
Marszalek taught at Canisius College and Gannon University before moving to Mississippi State University for the remainder of his career. After 29 years as a professor,Marszalek retired in 2002 to become Professor Emeritus. [1] In 1994 he was appointed the William L. Giles Distinguished Professor. From 1998 to 2012,he served as the Director of the Mississippi State University Distinguished Undergraduate Scholars Program. [1]
After John Y. Simon's death in July 2008,Marszalek became the Executive Director and Managing Editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Association and The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant project. [1] He was instrumental in the move of Grant's papers from Southern Illinois University Carbondale to Mississippi State University. With Anne Marshall's appointment as his replacement in 2022,Marszalek was named Executive Director Emeritus of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. [3] [4]
Over the course of his career,Marszalek has published more than 300 articles and book reviews and written or edited 13 books. [1] [5] His research has primarily focused on the American Civil War,specifically Civil War generals Ulysses S. Grant,William T. Sherman,and Henry Halleck,but he has also written on local Mississippi history,the history of racial conflict at West Point,and the Eaton affair.
Marszalek's book Sherman:A Soldier's Passion for Order was a finalist for the 1993 Lincoln Prize. [6]
The Mississippi Historical Society awarded Marszalek the Richard Wright Literary Award for lifetime achievement by a Mississippi author and the B.L.C. Wailes Award for national distinction in history,the society's highest award. [7]
On April 13,2018,Marszalek won the Nevins-Freeman Award,the most prestigious honor given by The Civil War Round Table of Chicago. [8] [9]
Showtime made Marszalek's book Court Martial:A Black Man in America,into the motion picture Assault at West Point:The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker . [7]
As of 2022,Marszalek serves on the Executive Committee of The Lincoln Forum. [10]
| External videos | |
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 Booknotes interview with Marszalek on The Petticoat Affair,March 8,1998,C-SPAN | |
| Presentation by Marszalek on The Petticoat Affair,November 17,1998,C-SPAN |
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy,which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union. The central conflict leading to war was a dispute over whether slavery should be permitted to expand into the western territories,leading to more slave states,or be prohibited from doing so,which many believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction.
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier,businessman,educator,and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865),earning recognition for his command of military strategy but criticism for the harshness of his scorched-earth policies,which he implemented in his military campaign against the Confederate States. British military theorist and historian B. H. Liddell Hart declared that Sherman was "the most original genius of the American Civil War" and "the first modern general".
The siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers,Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate Army of Mississippi,led by Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton,into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg,Mississippi,leading to the successful siege and Confederate surrender.
Henry Wager Halleck was a senior United States Army officer,scholar,and lawyer. A noted expert in military studies,he was known by a nickname that became derogatory:"Old Brains". He was an important participant in the admission of California as a state and became a successful lawyer and land developer. Halleck served as the General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States from 1862 to 1864,and then became Chief of Staff for the remainder of the war when Ulysses S. Grant was appointed to that position.
The Vicksburg campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg,Mississippi,a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of the Tennessee under Major General Ulysses S. Grant gained control of the river by capturing this stronghold and defeating Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's forces stationed there.
The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War,named for the Tennessee River. A 2005 study of the army states that it "was present at most of the great battles that became turning points of the war—Fort Donelson,Vicksburg,and Atlanta" and "won the decisive battles in the decisive theater of the war."
General Order No. 11 was a controversial Union Army order issued by Major-General Ulysses S. Grant on December 17,1862 during the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. The order expelled all Jews from Grant's military district,comprising areas of Tennessee,Mississippi,and Kentucky. Grant issued the order in an effort to reduce corruption among Union Army personnel and stop the illicit trade in Southern-produced cotton,which he perceived as being run "mostly by Jews and other unprincipled traders". During the war,the Lincoln administration had authorized licensed traders to do business with the Union Army,which created a market for unlicensed ones. Union Army commanders in the South were responsible for administering the trade licenses and trying to control the black market in Southern cotton,in addition to their regular military duties.
The Battle of Fort Pillow,also known as the Fort Pillow Massacre,was fought on April 12,1864,at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River in Henning,Tennessee,during the American Civil War. The battle ended with Confederate soldiers commanded by Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest massacring Union soldiers attempting to surrender. Military historian David J. Eicher concluded:"Fort Pillow marked one of the bleakest,saddest events of American military history."
There is widespread disagreement among historians about the turning point of the American Civil War. A turning point in this context is an event that occurred during the conflict after which most modern scholars would agree that the eventual outcome was inevitable. The near simultaneous Battle of Gettysburg in the east and fall of Vicksburg in the west,in July 1863 is widely cited as the military climax of the American Civil War. Several other decisive battles and events throughout the war have been proposed as turning points. The events are presented here in chronological order with only the positive arguments for each given.
The Battle of Jackson was fought on May 14,1863,in Jackson,Mississippi,as part of the Vicksburg campaign during the American Civil War. After entering the state of Mississippi in late April 1863,Major General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army moved his force inland to strike at the strategic Mississippi River town of Vicksburg,Mississippi. The Battle of Raymond,which was fought on May 12,convinced Grant that General Joseph E. Johnston's Confederate army was too strong to be safely bypassed,so he sent two corps,under major generals James B. McPherson and William T. Sherman,to capture Johnston's position at Jackson. Johnston did not believe the city was defensible and began withdrawing. Brigadier General John Gregg was tasked with commanding the Confederate rear guard,which fought Sherman's and McPherson's men at Jackson on May 14 before withdrawing. After taking the city,Union troops destroyed economic and military infrastructure and also plundered civilians' homes. Grant then moved against Vicksburg,which he placed under siege on May 18 and captured on July 4. Despite being reinforced,Johnston made only a weak effort to save the Vicksburg garrison,and was driven out of Jackson a second time in mid-July.
The Civil War:A Narrative (1958–1974) is a three volume,2,968-page,1.2 million-word history of the American Civil War by Shelby Foote. Although previously known as a novelist,Foote is most famous for this non-fictional narrative history. While it touches on political and social themes,the main thrust of the work is military history. The individual volumes include Fort Sumter to Perryville (1958),Fredericksburg to Meridian (1963),and Red River to Appomattox (1974).
Brooks Donohue Simpson is an American historian and an ASU Foundation Professor of History at Arizona State University,specializing in American political and military history,especially the American Civil War and Reconstruction eras and the American presidency.
Leonard Fulton Ross was an American lawyer,probate judge,and stock raiser who served as a first lieutenant in the Mexican-American War and as a brigadier general during the American Civil War.
Events from the year 1863 in the United States.
John Younker Simon was an American Civil War scholar known for editing the papers of Ulysses S. Grant.
On the onset of the American Civil War in April 1861,Ulysses S. Grant was working as a clerk in his father's leather goods store in Galena,Illinois. When the war began,his military experience was needed,and congressman Elihu B. Washburne became his patron in political affairs and promotions in Illinois and nationwide.
During the American Civil War,the state of Illinois was a major source of troops for the Union Army,and of military supplies,food,and clothing. Situated near major rivers and railroads,Illinois became a major jumping off place early in the war for Ulysses S. Grant's efforts to seize control of the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers. Statewide,public support for the Union was high despite Copperhead sentiment.
The Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps concerns both the actual stamps and covers used during the American Civil War,and the later postage celebrations. The latter include commemorative stamp issues devoted to the actual events and personalities of the war,as well as definitive issues depicting many noteworthy individuals who participated in the era's crucial developments.
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th president of the United States (1869–1877) following his success as military commander in the American Civil War. Under Grant,the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and secession,the war ending with the surrender of Robert E. Lee's army at Appomattox Court House. As president,Grant led the Radical Republicans in their effort to eliminate vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery,protect African American citizenship,and pursued Reconstruction in the former Confederate states. In foreign policy,Grant sought to increase American trade and influence,while remaining at peace with the world. Although his Republican Party split in 1872 as reformers denounced him,Grant was easily reelected. During his second term the country's economy was devastated by the Panic of 1873,while investigations exposed corruption scandals in the administration. Although still below average,his reputation among scholars has significantly improved in recent years because of greater appreciation for his commitment to civil rights,moral courage in his prosecution of the Ku Klux Klan,and enforcement of voting rights.
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