Booknotes: Our People Are Warlike

New Arrival:

• Our People Are Warlike: Civil War Pittsburgh and Home-Front Mobilization by Allen Christopher York (U Tenn Press, 2023).

When you operate a book review site for nearly two decades, you really notice how faddish Civil War publishing can be. While the popularity of Civil War urban studies may have faded a bit from wider view, examples continue to pop up on occasion. One released last year is Allen York's Our People Are Warlike: Civil War Pittsburgh and Home-Front Mobilization.

As the subtitle suggests, emphasis is placed on the city's mobilization of people and resources. According to York, Pittsburgh was united in its "overwhelmingly pro-Union fervor—which cut across class, ethnic, and gender lines" and "mobilized the city for the war effort."

From the description: "From its establishment as a frontier village, Pittsburgh evolved on a cultural path divergent from that of both the Northeast and the towns developing farther west. The city entered the war with close economic ties to the East, West, and South, yet also stood apart from them—too small to assume the political positions of cities like New York or Philadelphia that represented greater ethnic and class conflict and much greater tension over secession—yet large enough to manifest the complex institutions and systems of an urban center."

At less than 150 pages of main narrative, the volume is of readily digestible size. It is organized by theme, its seven chapters comprising "an exploration of Pittsburgh's reaction to the secession crisis of 1860-1861, the presence of soldiers and the threat of invasions, wartime industries, the introduction of conscription and emancipation to the war, the care of soldiers on the home front and front lines, and the devastating loss experienced throughout the war" (pg. 8).

More: "This book represents a significant contribution to the scholarship of both the Civil War and the city of Pittsburgh, adding to the growing historiography of regional and community studies of the war. With abundant illustrations of local people and places, research on Pittsburgh’s geographic importance and extensive industrial output, this book also provides compelling details on Black citizens’ efforts to oppose slavery, ultimately through their service in the Union Army. Civil War Pittsburgh was unique: its distinctive geography, politics, and economy set the conditions for ordinary citizens to directly participate in the war in myriad ways that connected the experiences of the battlefield and the home front."