Congratulations to my friend, Barton Myers, who just found out that his new book, Executing Daniel Bright: Race, Loyalty, and Guerrilla Violence in a Coastal Carolina Community, 1861-1865, has won LSU’s Jules and Frances Landry Award. Barton recently graduated from the University of Georgia and is now a Postdoctoral Associate/Visiting Professor at Cornell University. The book is not slated for release until October, but there has been a buzz about it for some time. Over the past few years I’ve listened to Barton present various chapters at conferences so it will be interesting to see how it has all come together. Keep in mind that this book is his M.A. thesis. Barton is truly one of the rising stars in the profession. Last year he was awarded a Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, which came with a generous check of $20,000. Keep an eye out for his dissertation, Rebels Against a Rebellion: Southern Unionists in Secession, War and Remembrance, which I have no doubt will be published in the near future.
I’ve said before that I do not see any significant change in the high quality of Civil War studies. Young historians such as Barton guarantee that we will have much to learn and mull over in the coming years.
I will definitely have to read this one. Just finished War of Another Kind by Wayne Durrill. This book sounds like it will continue my education of northeastern nc.
Richard,
Durrill’s book is a great example of a regional study and is one of the best sources on northeastern North Carolina. I have no doubt that you will find it in Meyers’s bibliography.
Hey Barton,
Savor the moment, dude.
I know I did when my work came out last year, after 14 years of researching (8 and 6 split – 8 to thesis (2001) plus 6 to monograph (2007) – of course working full time slowed me down some…). Like you say, it takes time to piece it all together and build an interpretive narrative. Look forward to seeing your take on all those pieces. And I am glad to having someone else studying my hometown and surrounds. With any luck, we can make northeastern North Carolina a new focal point of studies yet to come.
Best,
Chris
Hi Charlie and Chris,
The records you both are citing are indeed the same man. I don’t want to spoil too much of the story, but I do want to commend you for finding these. It took several years for me to piece it all together, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story when it comes out.
Its likely the same Daniel Bright (17th Company A, 32nd Company B (1st organization). Just prior to secession he was also added on to the slave patrol for his section of Pasquotank County. Many of these men were captured at Hatteras Inlet and sent to Governor’s Island NY and then Ft Warren MA. Most were paroled after Roanoke Island fell (Feb 1862). Although sources in the OR claim he was in the 62nd GA Company L, no records of the company indicate that he was. Bright claimed at his court martial that he was a deserter from the GA regiment looking to recruit guerrillas. And Griffin, in command of the GA unit, claimed Bright – he just never listed him on a muster roll that I have been able to find. With apologies to Barton, I happen to be the other guy who has written about this area.
I got interested in Daniel Bright’s story and I am planning on reading this book. I believe I found his Confederate Service Records on our site.
http://go.footnote.com/results.php?vs=1&category=civil-war-hp
That would be interesting if it was the same person. According to what I found he was a prisoner of war for a time in Mass. I am looking forward to reading the book and then trying to determine if that is him.
Thanks for the short review and sparking my interest!
The History Man
http://wwwhistoryman.blogspot.com/
Nice to hear from you Barton. Enjoy the last few weeks of summer and I will see you in Louisville in November.
Kevin, I deeply appreciate your kind words. This was certainly a big surprise when Rand Dotson contacted me with the news. I’m humbled by it. Thanks again, for all your hard work this summer keeping all of us thinking and informed. Your blog has, in my opinion, become the gold standard.
Congratulations, indeed. Last January I served on an AHA panel that Barton Myers organized, a retrospective on Georgia Lee Tatum’s work, and he is indeed an impressive young scholar.