Loyalty and Loss: Alabama's Unionists in the Civil War and Reconstruction

Abstract

While recent scholarship on Southern Unionism has effectively built upon a number of earlier strong works, Margaret M. Storey's book represents the first new study to trace this group in a single state before, during, and after the Civil War. Storey's analysis of Unionism over the course of this much more extended period and its enhanced focus on the role of white women and African Americans provide new and valuable insights. Like most previous studies of Unionism, this book relies heavily on the Southern Claims Commission records to identify those individuals who supported the Union cause. Storey draws on the testimony of 405 loyal Alabamians as well as information she has gathered on these men and women in the federal manuscript census to construct twelve tables revealing diverse socioeconomic characteristics. Appendices 1 and 2 feature an especially helpful discussion of the Southern Claims Commission records. The author's finding that many of the claimant's testimonies are found not in their county of residence, but in other Alabama communities, is particularly valuable.