United States History - 19th Century - Civil War, United States History - Southern Region
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Overview
In 1864 William Tecumseh Sherman led a throbbing, hooting, violent river of 62,000 soldiers through the heart of the American South, looting, pillaging, trailing plunder, stealing animals, and dazing civilians. The raucous swath of devastation stretched from Atlanta to the sea at Savannah and brought the Confederacy to its knees.More than a hundred years later, Jerry Ellis, inveterate traveler, storyteller and adventurer, set off to walk from Atlanta to Savannah using Sherman's route as his guide. Searching for the living, breathing artifacts of a nation's most bitter war, Ellis was also a man in search of his own South. He knew the South as a place of complexities and contradictions, of manners and blood-grudges, of change and timelessness.
In today's South, Ellis not only found living memories of the Great Lost Cause - and, in one case, of General Sherman himself - but a vibrant American culture of blacks and whites, of young people and old timers grappling with such issues as racism and social justice. His many experiences, from meeting folk heroes to sleeping by cemeteries, helped him realize that what he was looking for was all around him.
A touching memoir that unflinchingly examines the historical, philosophical, and emotional issues that we inherit from our past, Marching Through Georgia recounts the author's journey from Atlanta to Savannah, retracing General Sherman's march, examining the scars left by the Civil War, and answering questions about what it's like to be Southern.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Ellis, author of previous books on long walks (Walking the Trail, about the Cherokee Trail of Tears; Bareback!, about the route of the Pony Express) here follows the route of William T. Sherman's Civil War march through Georgia. Ellis's purpose is to reestablish his Southern roots and reconnect with his late father. He offers a series of anecdotes and vignettes that focus on the people he encounters along the way, seasoned with occasional references to the Union presence over a century ago. The result is a book about seemingly ordinary people who do seemingly ordinary things, from drinking whisky to tending goats, that under Ellis's deft stylistic touch and wry sense of humor become extraordinary. Some of the vignettes reinforce Southern gothic stereotypes; nevertheless, this is a work to be savored. (Oct.)Library Journal
Ellis (Bareback, LJ 9/15/93) shares his new adventure-following Sherman's 1864 March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah-undertaken to honor his dead father and to get close to the heart of the South. Whether he is chatting with storekeepers as he rests along his journey or with his hosts at a home filled with Civil War furniture and relics, the author collects tales of the Old South. As each person shares his or her story and hospitality, we are given a peek into that individual's life, as much in the present as in the past. Ellis intersperses among the stories historical facts about the Civil War. Besides experiencing the war, we discover what it meant and still means to be a Southerner. This book sheds new light on an important part of our history. Recommended for general collections.-Lucille Corbo, MLS, Scranton, Pa.Jay Freeman
Ellis, who is part Cherokee, walked 900 miles along the fabled Trail of Tears, the banishment route for that tribe in 183839. His 1989 trek resulted in "Walking the Trail", a widely acclaimed memoir. Now Ellis has attempted to "reconnect" with his southern heritage by walking the route Sherman took from Atlanta to the sea as he cut a swath of destruction through the southern heartland. Ellis blends historical nuggets, family history, and personal insights into a delightfully intimate narrative. Along his route we encounter a cast of charming characters with their own personal histories. Ellis does a fine job of integrating their experiences with his own. What emerges is a portrait of a land and people still holding fast to a sometimes bitter heritage, even in the face of rapid change and so-called progress.Book Details
Published
November 1, 1995
Publisher
New York : Delacorte Press, 1995.
Pages
320
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780385311823