Civil War Dynasty

November 5, 2012
Leading up to and during the Civil War, Thomas Ewing and his three sons had a heavy hand in local and national politics, and were influential in the Union's effort to win the war. Today, the family is largely forgotten, overshadowed by the legacy of their unofficially adopted son, Gen. William T. Sherman. In a cracking good tale set against the bloody conflicts of the Civil War, the dramatic political struggles between proslavery Union supporters and abolitionists, and the growing pains of a young nation moving westward, historian Heineman (God Is a Conservative) details the life and times of the Ewing family, from the patriarch's career as a statesman and lawyer, to his sons' rise to glory as military and political leaders. Heineman follows the exploits of the elder Ewing and his sons as they fight "three Civil Wars"âNorth against South, Union forces versus guerrilla insurgents, and in-fighting among Democrats over the necessity of the war. Heineman's fast-paced narrative brings to life a now-neglected American family as they come into their own against the complex backdrop of a nation struggling to overcome political and social differences. Photos & illus.

October 15, 2012
A thorough, revealing history of an important political and military family from Ohio during the Civil War. Rising from an impoverished family, Thomas Ewing Sr. (1789-1871) became a man of wealth and connections, a lawyer, a senator, a wise international political mind (he counseled Lincoln not to antagonize Britain as the Civil War loomed), a real estate developer and secretary of the Treasury and Interior. In a state riven by the debate over abolition, he took a middle road in hopes of saving the Union. He finally hewed to the North, as did his sons, all of whom became key military figures and one a chief justice. The family was certainly a dynasty, and Heineman (History/Angelo State Univ.; Put Your Bodies Upon the Wheels: Student Revolt in the 1960s, 2001, etc.) examines it with a low-key, intimate touch, graceful but unvarnished and with a nose for honesty. The author ably captures this momentous time in American history, drawing the big picture with a practiced ease, particularly the military activities on the battlefield and the political maneuvering on the slavery question in the territories and in Washington. He also handles the more personal details related to Ewing and his children. His daughter married William Tecumseh Sherman (who was Ewing's foster child, and whom he groomed to generalhood); his son Hugh was a free spirit (not to mention a general) who saved Sherman from charges of insanity; Charles was another war hero (and another general); and Thomas Jr. was yet another general, though he was besmirched by an early episode of ethnic cleansing (forced removal) of Southerners from Missouri. As warm and enticing as an oral history, with lots more footnotes.

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