Rebel Salvation - (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War) by Kathleen Zebley Liulevicius (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Kathleen Liulevicius's 'Rebel Salvation' provides an in-depth look at the process of Reconstruction in Tennessee by using the unique documentary resource of pardon petitions from former Confederate soldiers and sympathizers. In doing so, she reveals the dynamics at work between multiple parties: former rebels, Unionists, Governor William G. Brownlow, and the U.S. Army officers responsible for ushering the state back into the Union. Since most pardon applicants wrote their petitions in 1865 and 1866, these letters vividly reveal the reality of the politically and emotionally charged immediate post-Civil War environment in Tennessee. Not only were the wealthy and the former political and military elite forced to sue for pardon, but also many otherwise ordinary Tennesseans who had in any way supported the Confederacy by performing a civic function or expressing pro-Confederate sentiments. All had to request pardon and amnesty from the President of the United States to regain the right to vote, hold office, practice law, operate a business, and buy and sell land. ... In their applications, former Confederates shaped narratives about the motivating factors prodding them to side with the Confederacy, chronicled their alleged actions during the Civil War, expressed repentance, and pledged to return allegiance to the Federal Union and obey the Constitution. ... a wealth of information about Tennesseans from an array of social and economic backgrounds and include[s] details about many residents who would otherwise be absent from the historical record. ... Since President Johnson wanted the opinion of each state governor as to the suitability of granting a pardon, Tennessee Governor Brownlow read each pardon petition, letters of recommendation, and commented on each file before forwarding the papers to Washington. 'Rebel Salvation' shows that peace would have to grow organically in Tennessee's formerly divided communities with the pardoning of former Confederates becoming a communal process in which neighbors, acquaintances, and the state's governor urged or discouraged President Johnson's clemency"--

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Tennessee History Book Award

In Rebel Salvation, Kathleen Zebley Liulevicius examines pardon petitions from former Confederate soldiers and sympathizers in Tennessee to craft a unique and comprehensive analysis of the process of Reconstruction in the Volunteer State after the Civil War. These underutilized petitions contain a wealth of information about Tennesseans from an array of social and economic backgrounds, and include details about many residents who would otherwise not appear in the historical record. They reveal the dynamics at work between multiple factions in the state: former Rebels, Unionists, Governor William G. Brownlow, and the U.S. Army officers responsible for ushering Tennessee back into the Union. The pardons also illuminate the reality of the politically and emotionally charged post-Civil War environment, where everyone--from wealthy elites to impoverished sharecroppers--who had fought, supported, or expressed sympathy for the Confederacy was required by law to sue for pardon to reclaim certain privileges. All such requests arrived at the desk of President Andrew Johnson, who ultimately determined which petitioners regained the right to vote, hold office, practice law, operate a business, and buy and sell land.

Those individuals filing petitions experienced Reconstruction in personal and profound ways. Supplicants wrote and circulated their exoneration documents among loyalist neighbors, friends, and Union officers to obtain favorable endorsements that might persuade Brownlow and Johnson to grant pardon. Former Rebels relayed narratives about the motivating factors compelling them to side with the Confederacy, chronicled their actions during the war, expressed repentance, and pledged allegiance to the United States government and the Constitution. Although not required, many petitioners even sought recommendations from their former wartime foes.

The pardoning of former Confederates proved a collaborative process in which neighbors, acquaintances, and erstwhile enemies lodged formal pleas to grant or deny clemency from state and federal officials. Indeed, as Rebel Salvation reveals, the long road to peace began here in the newly reunited communities of postwar Tennessee.

Review Quotes

"Rebel Salvation tackles an immensely important topic: the legal status of Confederates in the wake of the Civil War. Tracing the tenuous and often unpredictable process of pardoning and amnesty in Tennessee, Liulevicius highlights the local and communal nature of Reconstruction.
Perhaps most importantly, this meticulously researched account helps us to better grasp the limitations and shortcomings of Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction plan."

--Caroline E. Janney, author of Remembering the Civil War: Reunion and the Limits of Reconciliation

"An important analysis of early Reconstruction. . . . Liulevicius's Rebel Salvation makes important contributions to understanding Reconstruction in Tennessee."--Journal of Southern History

"Probing the pardoning process in Tennessee not from the top but from the bottom, Dr. Liulevicius's pioneering study exposes in all its complexity peacetime Reconstruction's first, fatal step: the pretenses, promises, aspirations, and rationalizations of those seeking to restore their old ties to a government that they had striven to destroy. It will make essential, dismaying reading."--Mark Wahlgren Summers, author of Ordeal of the Reunion

About the Author

Kathleen Zebley Liulevicius received her PhD in nineteenth-century United States history at the University of Tennessee. She has taught at the State University of New York-Geneseo, the University of North Carolina-Pembroke, and the University of Tennessee.