Julian Scott: Artist of the Civil War and Native America (review)

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS233 Speaking in Congress against the compromise measures of 1 850, Stevens noted that "I hope with some fear that the race of dough faces is extinct" (108). About political enemies he could be brutal. Two of his favorite targets were StephenA. Douglas of Illinois and fellow Pennsylvania James Buchanan. In 1 856 he called Douglas a "northern traitor," while Buchanan he denominated "a bloated mass of political putridity" (154). In 1858 Stevens charged that Buchanan as President was "the greatest despot we have ever had" (157). By early 1861 he decided that Buchanan was not simply a despot but a "traitor" (172). In Stevens's colloquies before and during the Civil War with Southern congressmen or opponents of the war like Ohio's Clement Vallandigham, he asked for no quarter, and gave none. Stevens's exegesis of the lower South's response to Lincoln's election powerfully conveys his hatred of the "slave power" (19091 ). Throughout the war Stevens pressed President Lincon to broaden his aims. For Stevens, there could be no compromise on issues relating to fundamental human rights, and it was unacceptable to view the great conflict as a simple struggle to preserve the union. In rescuing Stevens material from scattered and often obscure archives and organizing them in this volume (a second volume, covering 1 865-68, is in press) the editors have performed a signal service. There are deficiencies. The introduction is perfunctory, headnotes to sections are overly terse, and one can quarrel with specific sources cited in the annotations. Fortunately, these flaws do not detract seriously from an impressive editingjob which brings to life, at long last, an American original. Michael J. Birkner Gettysburg College Julian Scott: Artist ofthe Civil War and Native America. By Robert J. Titterton. (Jefferson, N. C: McFarland & Co., 1997. Pp. ix, 315. $48.50.) The art of Julian Scott (1846-1901) is little known today, and this admirably researched book, the first full-length study of the artist, is a valiant and serious attempt to lift the artist out of obscurity. Drawing upon some fifteen hundred of the artist's letters and illustrating his text with ninety-seven of Scott's paintings, drawings, and photographs, Robert J. Titterton narrates the story of Scott's life and achievements in exhaustive detail. Unfortunately, Scott's story doesn't make for particularly interesting reading. Titterton is not to blame for this: except for Scott's Civil War experiences early in his life and his important work on Indian reservations in Oklahoma, New Mexico, andArizona in his late years, Scott for the most part led a dull and largely misspent life. Born in the northern Vermont town of Johnson, one of eight children of a jeweler and watchmaker, Scott at fifteen years old lied about his age and enlisted in the Third Vermont. Too small for soldiering, he became a drummer in Company E, which took part in the Battle of Lee's Mills during the Peninsular 234CIVIL WAR history Campaign. Exercising his duty as a non-combatant, Scott braved heavy fire to save nine wounded men, an act ofheroism for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor, thus earning the first citation for an individual act of battlefield courage in the Civil War. At the Battle of White Oak Swamp Scott was severely wounded in the hip by a Minie ball and was sent to a hospital on Long Island Sound for a long period of recovery. (The Civil War took its toll on the Scott family: Julian's brother Charles, who served as a bugler, suffered a serious head wound, which disabled him for the rest of his life, and brother Lucian was captured and spent the last months of the war in Richmond's Libby Prison, where he almost starved to death.) While Julian was convalescing he was noticed by a visitor, who took a liking to him and supplied the youngster with drawing materials. When Scott was back on his feet, he was introduced to New York City, and many of the city's leading artists, by his newfound sponsor. Following his discharge in the spring of 1863, Scott met still another important friend and patron, the businessman...