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  • An Environmental History of the Civil War by Judkin Browning and Timothy Silver
  • Rachel K. Deale
An Environmental History of the Civil War. By Judkin Browning and Timothy Silver. Civil War America. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2020. Pp. x, 261. $30.00, ISBN 978-1-4696-5538-3.)

Judkin Browning and Timothy Silver's An Environmental History of the Civil War reimagines the Civil War as a crucial "biotic or biological event" in the American environment (p. 4). According to Browning and Silver, the Civil War altered human interaction with the physical environment and its microbes. By combining traditional military history with scientific studies, the authors persuasively demonstrate how sickness, weather, food, animals, death and disability, and terrain affected how Union and Confederate soldiers fought and how Americans remember the war. In doing so, Browning and Silver provide a comprehensive interpretation of the Civil War as they present the conflict as a watershed event in environmental history.

Building on Jack Temple Kirby's work, Browning and Silver emphasize that people share a natural community, in which the environment affects human activity and humans alter the environment. The authors argue that it is important not to separate the actions of commanders from the natural environment. While military historians have long attributed the failure of George B. McClellan's 1862 Peninsula campaign to his overcautiousness, Browning and Silver demonstrate that McClellan's lack of understanding of the topography of the Virginia Peninsula and the violent thunderstorms the troops experienced also contributed to the campaign's outcome. The authors are nevertheless cautious not to overstate the environment's role in McClellan's failure to take Richmond. Although the rains delayed the Union advance by making roads impassable, and the flooded Chickahominy River prevented Union forces from unifying, the authors admit that McClellan's poor decision making still contributed to the campaign's lack of success. [End Page 341]

Browning and Silver also show that Union and Confederate soldiers fought an invisible enemy that "brought immediate and profound changes" to the environment (p. 9). As military units gathered for training, soldiers became sick with diseases such as measles, salmonella infection, cholera, typhoid, dysentery, diarrhea, typhus, malaria, smallpox, and yellow fever. Disease spread rapidly as infected soldiers passed bacteria into streams, groundwater, and cooking stations. By the spring of 1862, the conflict "had already created a new and distinct pattern of microbial exchange," as contagious infection common in the North spread to the South and the Midwest (p. 37). Ultimately, the contaminated water supply led to dehydration, electrolyte abnormalities, and heat exhaustion because few soldiers were able to consume enough water to endure long sun exposure.

Throughout the war, large armies traveling with thousands of animals moved through small rural communities. In doing so, soldiers smashed fences, depleted the food supply, slaughtered hogs, chickens, cattle, and sheep, and defecated and urinated wherever they pleased with no regard to health hazards. The animals that accompanied the troops brought blowflies and spread diseases such as hog cholera.

Topography also played an important role during the conflict. Terrain shaped command decisions as commanders used dense forests and naturally made trenches for cover. During battles, shells destroyed trees, and minié balls damaged tree bark, leaves, and the surrounding terrain. Forests were also depleted, as men cleared wooded areas to grow crops. After battles, small towns were filled with decaying bodies and dead animals, which released bacteria, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, methane, and other gases and various harmful fluids into the soil.

An Environmental History of the Civil War is recommended for historians, students, and those interested in Civil War, military, or environmental history. The book is organized chronologically in thematic chapters. Overall, it is a well-argued book that succeeds in providing "a more holistic way of thinking about the Civil War" (p. 7). The book's length, readability, and fresh perspective would make it a great addition to any Civil War or environmental history course.

Rachel K. Deale
Barton College
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