George Bernard: 12th Virginia Infantry

A few years ago a collection of papers belonging to George Bernard was uncovered.  I remember hearing about it from someone down at the Petersburg National Battlefield Park, but at the time it was not known who had discovered the papers or what was being done with them.  The collection looks to be a set of talks along the lines of his 1892 War Talks of Confederate Veterans – perhaps a second volume.  Well, yesterday I was contacted by an individual who is organizing the material for publication.  I have yet to speak to him, but I have to say that this is very exciting news for those of us interested in Mahone’s division and specifically the Crater.

War Talks is one of the most important sources on the Crater.  The book is essentially a collection of talks presented to the A.P. Hill Camp of Confederate Veterans in Petersburg, Virginia along with various appendices of newspaper clippings about various battles.  The section on the Crater easily comprises the largest section of the book.  In 2003 Morningside Press issued a reprint of the book.  Unfortunately, the reprintlacks an introduction which is absolutely necessary if one is to understand Bernard’s goal.  The book’s publication in 1892 followed very intense debate among Mahone’s veterans surrounding his role at the Crater.  Mahone’s foray into politics and his leadership of the Readjuster Party split his former command, including David Weisiger who commanded the Virginia brigade at the battle and later became one of his most vociferous critics.  Many of Mahone’s critics argued that he was not with his men on the field and that he did not order the famous counterattack.  Bernard’s main goal was to show that Mahone was in fact on the battlefield on July 30 1864 and gave the order to charge the Federals who were hugging a perimeter not much larger than the outline of the Crater itself.  In addition to debate among Virginia’s veterans there was also an on-going debate between veterans from Virginia, Alabama, and Georgia over who could claim responsibility for victory at the crater.  [My forthcoming essay in The View From the Ground analyzes this debate along with Bernard’s account.]  Bernard’s War Talks focused on solidifying the victory for Mahone’s Virginia brigade.  While he acknowledged the presence of the Alabama and Georgia brigades, according to Bernard, the charge of the Virginians was responsible for retaking the Crater.  Without any background surrounding these debates it is impossible to understand why Bernard chose to concentrate on these specific themes of the battle.

The book proved to be very influential in organizing the 1937 Crater reenactment.  Douglas S. Freeman used it for his narrative that accompanied the event and the National Park Service used War Talks for their battlefield markers.  I look forward to learning what exactly is contained in this collection of papers, whether they were being organized by Bernard for publication and when. 

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