Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives; Four Women Who Influenced the Civil War—for Better and for Worse by Candice Shy Hooper

Abstract

Reviewed by: Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives; Four Women Who Influenced the Civil War—for Better and for Worse by Candice Shy Hooper Amy Laurel Fluker Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives; Four Women Who Influenced the Civil War—for Better and for Worse. Candice Shy Hooper. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2016. ISBN 978-1-60635-278-6. 432pp., cloth, $39.95. Civil War historians, like other scholars, often dedicate their research to spouses or partners in recognition of their help and moral support. Until now, however, historians have had very little insight into how romantic relationships shaped the careers of the Union army’s most renowned generals. Candice Shy Hooper’s unique and well-researched book, Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives, details the lives of Jessie Benton Frémont, Mary Ellen Marcy McClellan, Eleanor Ewing Sherman, and Julia Dent Grant, illustrating their influence not only on their famous husbands but on the fortunes of the Union army as well. Although each woman has figured in Civil War scholarship before, no other biographer has treated them quite like this. Hooper styles her book a “layered biography,” one in which she explores the relationships among the individual women, their husbands, families, and their political friends and rivals, including President Abraham Lincoln (13). The virtue of this approach is that it demonstrates the impact each woman had not only within her own private sphere but also on the political and military history of the Civil War era. In Hooper’s narrative, her subjects emerge as [End Page 334] conventional “true women” of the nineteenth century—domestically minded wives and mothers. At the same time, Hooper depicts them as important historical actors who informed their husbands’ decisions at critical moments in the Civil War, thereby making them essential parts of the history of the Union army. Jessie Benton Frémont, for example, passionately defended her husband John C. Frémont’s controversial order to emancipate the slaves of Missouri rebels, going so far as to personally confront Lincoln and demand his endorsement. Unfortunately, this only succeeded in giving the commander in chief reason to doubt the Frémonts’ judgment and rescind the order. Placing party loyalty before her own wounded pride, however, Jessie helped ensure Lincoln’s 1864 reelection by convincing her husband to concede the Republican nomination. In this way, Hooper argues, Jessie contributed in no small part to Union victory and to emancipation. Unlike Jessie Frémont, Mary Ellen “Nelly” McClellan never publically intervened in the career of her husband, George B. McClellan. By persuading McClellan to join the Presbyterian church, however, she molded his leadership style. According to Hooper, Nelly’s conviction that God predestined McClellan for greatness fed his delusions of grandeur and encouraged his intransigence. These traits strained his relationship with Lincoln and contributed to his dismissal as general in chief. Ultimately, Hooper believes Nelly enabled all that was petty and egotistical in McClellan, jeopardizing not only his command but the success of the Union army. Eleanor “Ellen” Sherman, conversely, felt secure in offering her husband and childhood friend William Tecumseh Sherman both sincere criticism and unflinching support. For instance, she challenged rumors about Sherman’s insanity in the press and solicited support from his superiors, including President Lincoln. Her poise helped reaffirm Lincoln’s faith in the mercurial Sherman and spared him further public embarrassment. Ellen succeeded where Jessie failed: she kept her husband in command and in the Department of the West, where he and Ulysses S. Grant soon formed one of the most important partnerships of the war. Of all the women in Hooper’s biography, Julia Grant was perhaps most essential to her husband’s success. Her husband suffered from lifelong depression, exacerbated by loneliness, and lost confidence without reassurances of Julia’s love and support. As a result, Hooper says, Julia went to great lengths to remain in the field with him throughout the war. Her presence stabilized [End Page 335] Grant and gave him the self-confidence he needed to focus on victory. Equally important, Julia fostered the close friendship between her husband and President Lincoln. Despite her own notoriously difficult relationship with the First Lady, Julia helped cement trust between the Union’s...