Silas Chandler Makes the Cover of Civil War Times

Civil War Times (February 2012)

I just received my author copies of the latest issue of Civil War Times, which should hit newsstands any day now.  As you can see Silas Chandler made the cover.  I love the fact that he is pictured alone and out from behind the shadow of Andrew Chandler.   It’s powerful.  Kudos to whoever made this decision.  What Myra Chandler Sampson and I tried to do in this short article was tell as much of the story from Silas’s perspective as possible rather than the mythical story that has come to dominate popular memory.  That narrative’s treatment of Silas as a loyal slave and/or soldier is little more than a self-serving attempt to ignore or minimize the place of slavery and race in the Confederate war.  He has a much more interesting story to tell if we are only willing to listen.

Myra and I want to thank Dana Shoaf and the rest of the editorial staff for their hard work and for their agreeing to take on this manuscript.  I have no doubt that their inboxes will be flooded in a matter of weeks.  I can already anticipate the reaction.  This is my third feature article in CWT in the last year and I have nothing but the highest praise for the work they do.  Finally, congratulations to Civil War Times on this their 50th anniversary.  Included in this issue are articles by Harold Holzer, Scott Patchan, and Jacqueline G. Campbell.  They also published an essay by Glenn Tucker on James Longstreet that originally appeared in their very first issue, which I think is a great idea.

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18 comments… add one
  • John Maass Dec 2, 2011 @ 5:58

    Looking frwd to seeing it; we get the magazine here at CMH.

  • Pat Young Nov 30, 2011 @ 13:23

    Is that the sound of distant guns?

  • Rob Baker Nov 30, 2011 @ 12:43

    I am looking forward to the read Mr. Levin and congratulations on the publication. Mind if I advertise it a bit to some of my cohorts?

  • Christine M. Smith Nov 30, 2011 @ 9:20

    50 years of CWT! Wow! I can remember first seeing it on the magazine shelf at our local grocery and it was in a newspaper format. Somewhere I still have some copiies of that! Now it’s just a subscription away. I’ve always liked it best, and am looking forward to getting my copy so I can read the article.

    • John Cummings Nov 30, 2011 @ 12:38

      The first issue of CWT, in the newspaper format, was April 1959, so the publication is really fifty-two years old. April of 1960 was the first issue in the true magazine format.

      • Kevin Levin Nov 30, 2011 @ 12:41

        According to Dana Shoaf the “magazine was begun in newspaper format in the late 1950s, and relaunched [magazine format] as Vol. 1, in April 1962.”

        • John Cummings Nov 30, 2011 @ 14:34

          Sorry to disagree, this is not the point of your post, I know, however, the magazine relaunched in April 1962 with the expanded name: “Civil War Times Illustrated”. The magazine today, once again, recently relaunched as: “Civil War Times”, (don’t have that issue in front of me to give the exact date), is entitled to fifty-two years of publishing history. The physical issues of the publication, as artifacts, attest to this as fact. Dana and I had this discussion some time ago, and I gather it is just too much trouble to change the masthead.

          That notwithstanding, congratulations on your publication, Kevin. I look forward to reading it. With our Borders store now closed I will have to seek a copy somewhere outside of my neighborhood. I did see the previous issue, with its binding change from saddle stitch to perfect binding, in Gettysburg during Remembrance Day weekend. It looked great.

          • Kevin Levin Nov 30, 2011 @ 15:04

            OK

  • BorderRuffian Nov 30, 2011 @ 8:48

    KL-
    “What Myra Chandler Sampson and I tried to do in this short article was tell as much of the story from Silas’s perspective as possible rather than the mythical story that has come to dominate popular memory.”

    Does this mean you have documents (letters, etc) written by Silas telling of his experiences during the war?

    • Kevin Levin Nov 30, 2011 @ 8:51

      Unfortunately, we don’t have any personal letters, but we made use of a number of documents that allowed us to sketch what we believe to be a more complete picture of his wartime experiences. Instead of getting all defensive about it why not first take the time to read it. Of course, after reading it you may disagree with some of our conclusions. That is the nature of the discipline.

  • Will Stoutamire Nov 30, 2011 @ 8:36

    Congrats, Kevin. I’ll have to pick up a copy!

    • Myra Chandler Sampson Nov 30, 2011 @ 9:42

      Wow! Out of the shadow of Andrew. Awesome, I love it. Hopefully my copy will arrive today.

      • Kevin Levin Nov 30, 2011 @ 9:50

        This has been a very good year for Silas. 🙂

      • Margaret D. Blough Nov 30, 2011 @ 22:02

        Mrs. Sampson-Congratulations to both you and Kevin.!

        • Kevin Levin Dec 1, 2011 @ 2:36

          Thanks, Margaret.

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