A Review of John S. Wise's book: "The End of an Era"
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Date Published: November 3, 2024
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“John S. Wise, in his entertaining volume, ‘The End of an Era,’ says of the laborers he found filling the streets of Richmond in the month after the surrender [of the Confederacy]: ‘Many of them I knew well—men of as good social position as my own; soldiers come home and resolved not to be idle, but to work for an honest living in any way in which they could make it.’ ”
“Disbanding of the Confederate Army,” Ida M. Tarbell, April 1901
A Review of “The End of an Era” by John S. Wise
- Reviews of the Day: 1899, 1901
- Selected Insights and Excerpts from “The End of an Era” by John S. Wise
- This Author’s Thoughts on “The End of an Era” by John S. Wise
Reviews of the Day: 1899, 1901
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Because the “Era” that is discussed as ending is the “Southern Era,” it seems that for this topic it is appropriate to do as I have done with some other books such as Booker T. Washington’s works: categorize the “Reviews of the Day” by the Southern press and the Northern press.
“ ’The End of an Era’—the old South era—is among the most interesting of historical epochs. There is none other of such close interest to the people of this section [the South], and Mr. Wise’s book should find a large sale in the South.
"The light and engaging style in which narration is pursued makes it very readable. “It is valuable to preserve among other records of the Civil War.” “Some New Books,” The Nashville Banner, November 4, 1899
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“The book before us is brilliantly written. It has the free, bold, incisive strokes of genius, and the word-painting is at times marvelous. The character sketching has all the strength and clearness of steel engravings, and the undercurrent of humor and sarcasm is irresistibly fascinating. The book, however, will never be popular with the masses. As history, it is far too tinged with the personal antagonisms of the author; as a story it is far too sadly lacking in the peach and cream ambrosia so dear to the hearts of modern literary democracy. …
“As the son of Henry A. Wise [former Governor of Virginia], John S. Wise had exceptional advantages for ‘seeing and hearing things’ of importance, and that he has improved every opportunity there can be no question.”
“As the son of Henry A. Wise [former Governor of Virginia], John S. Wise had exceptional advantages for ‘seeing and hearing things’ of importance, and that he has improved every opportunity there can be no question.”
“John S. Wise’s Book,” The Richmond Times Dispatch, January 1901
- “Northern” Press Reviews
“From beginning to end, this volume is perfectly delightful. … Perhaps its most attractive feature consists in its spirited and vivacious accounts, full of life and color and novelty, of Virginia life in the years between 1853 and 1865. …
“ ‘The End of an Era’ is unrivalled as a picture of Virginia life just before and during the Civil War.”
“ ‘The End of an Era’ is unrivalled as a picture of Virginia life just before and during the Civil War.”
“The End of an Era,” The Boston Herald, November 11, 1899
“ ‘The End of an Era’ is a very interesting book. The story is told with simplicity and directness and with a vividness of style that holds the reader’s attention. It pictures a long ago time … and these pictures have a permanent value … for they are drawn from the lips of one of those who were in and one of those who witnessed history’s marvelous shifting and changes, and the number of individuals with such knowledge grows smaller with each passing year.
“The larger the number of narratives of this sort that are written now the easier will be the task of the future historian who shall tell the story of the first century of the United States.”
“The larger the number of narratives of this sort that are written now the easier will be the task of the future historian who shall tell the story of the first century of the United States.”
“In the Bookroom,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 29, 1899
“ ‘The End of an Era,’ by John S. Wise, is one of the notable books of the year [1899]. … It will not be laid aside, when begun. The view that it gives of Southern life and feelings before and during the war does more than hold the attention; it fascinates the reader. … Mr. Wise had exceptional opportunities for meeting the confederate leaders and his descriptions of prominent persons constitute a valuable part of the work.
“Mr. Wise is especially fortunate in his combination of the personal with the historic, and his contrasts of the grim tragedy on the firing line with the lighter side of existence in the waning days of the confederacy is markedly effective. …
“The concluding chapters are full of action.”
“Mr. Wise is especially fortunate in his combination of the personal with the historic, and his contrasts of the grim tragedy on the firing line with the lighter side of existence in the waning days of the confederacy is markedly effective. …
“The concluding chapters are full of action.”
“The New Publications,” The Hartford Courant, November 1899
Selected Insights and Excerpts from “The End of an Era” by John S. Wise
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Several of the selected excerpts from the book are too long to include within this review, but can be accessed through these links: The Reaction of Confederate Soldiers to Lincoln’s Assassination, John Wise Attendance at a Slavery Auction as a Youth, and John Wise’s Thoughts on the Actions and Character of General Robert E. Lee.
“It introduces views of Southern life and feelings and civilization, prior to and during the war, which possess an unflagging interest for the American people; and it tells the true story of several striking events which preceded our civil strife, and many episodes of the great war. …
“Besides these, it gives accurate descriptions not heretofore published of the appearance and actions and sayings of many distinguished participants on the Confederate side. … It is the death of that era—a death which began with my birth, and was complete before I attained manhood—that is to be chronicled in the following pages.” |
A Short Biography of John Sergeant Wise.
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- John S. Wise’s Father’s View on the Union
“Nobody loves the Union better than I do. Nobody has better cause to love and honor and cherish it.
“I was reared in the home of a grandfather who fought for it by the side of Washington; I was taught from my earliest infancy to venerate the flag of the Union. My manhood, at home and abroad, has been dedicated to its service; and God grant that the Union may never be rent asunder in my day by the fanaticism of the North or the passion of the South.”
“I was reared in the home of a grandfather who fought for it by the side of Washington; I was taught from my earliest infancy to venerate the flag of the Union. My manhood, at home and abroad, has been dedicated to its service; and God grant that the Union may never be rent asunder in my day by the fanaticism of the North or the passion of the South.”
- John S. Wise’s View on the End of Slavery
“This book is penned in the firm belief that someday, while brooding upon the happiness, the wealth, the culture, the refinement possessed by the South before the war, and to a large extent lost to her now, you may realize that all these—delightful as they were, did not justify the curse and misery of human slavery.
“I seek to make you realize, if not admit, that its abolition was a greater blessing to us even than to the slaves, and that emancipation was worth all we surrendered, and all the precious lives that were destroyed; to bring you to confess, the brave and generous men I know you to be, that the time has come at last when, through our tears, and without disloyalty to the dead, in the possession of freedom and union and liberty, true Confederates, viewing it all in the clearer light and calmer atmosphere of today, ought to thank God that slavery died at Appomattox.”
“I seek to make you realize, if not admit, that its abolition was a greater blessing to us even than to the slaves, and that emancipation was worth all we surrendered, and all the precious lives that were destroyed; to bring you to confess, the brave and generous men I know you to be, that the time has come at last when, through our tears, and without disloyalty to the dead, in the possession of freedom and union and liberty, true Confederates, viewing it all in the clearer light and calmer atmosphere of today, ought to thank God that slavery died at Appomattox.”
- John S. Wise on “Political Crazes”
“In American politics, we have recurring periods of political “crazes.” Of late years we have witnessed several. The Greenback craze, the Granger craze, the Silver craze, have each in its turn arisen, and, for the time being, made whole communities drunk with excitement.
“Friends of many years are estranged by these ephemeral issues. They are carried into business, into church, into the household, everywhere, until entire commonwealths are so wrought up that even women and children take part until election day, and after that we hear no more about them.
“Such commotions are like brushfires, which, igniting instantly, burn and crackle and fill the whole heavens with smoke, as if the world was on fire, and then die out as suddenly as they sprung up.”
[Might one not express this as a characteristic of democracy in general?]
“Friends of many years are estranged by these ephemeral issues. They are carried into business, into church, into the household, everywhere, until entire commonwealths are so wrought up that even women and children take part until election day, and after that we hear no more about them.
“Such commotions are like brushfires, which, igniting instantly, burn and crackle and fill the whole heavens with smoke, as if the world was on fire, and then die out as suddenly as they sprung up.”
[Might one not express this as a characteristic of democracy in general?]
- Links to Three Excerpts from "The End of an Era"
These are three wonderful insights from "The End of an Era" that a reader may enjoy but are rather lengthy. Links are provided to these excerpts as they are too long to provide directly on this page: (1) Attending a Slave Auction, (2) Tribute to Robert E. Lee, and (3) On Lincoln's Assassination.
This Author’s Thoughts on “The End of an Era” by John S. Wise
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The one thought that kept surfacing as I read this book was, “How accurate are these facts that are being described.” The detail and description of the accounts was wonderful but I know that I could not recollect such details from my life; but of course my life did not include the Civil War!
Charles Francis Adams was the great grandson of John Adams, the second President of the United States, and the grandson of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. He was the son of a distinguished diplomat who represented the United States in this country from 1861 to 1868—a lifetime lived in an atmosphere of political thought. He is a credible source for grounding historical information. Charles Francis Adams compared what could have happened after the Civil War with what was currently playing out in the Boer War if General Robert E. Lee had not seen it as his responsibility to surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox.
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John S. Wise (pictured lower right) as a guest speaker with Secretary of War—and future U. S. President, William Taft, two governors and a senator.
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In October 1901, Charles Francis Adams, in an addendum to his speech presented to the American Antiquarian Society on the topic of “Lee’s Momentous Choice” read the following which helped quell my concerns with the book’s accuracy and balance: “I am disposed to consider this [John S. Wise account of his father’s encounter with General Robert E. Lee] reliable historical material as … I am able to supplement it by similar testimony from another quarter.”
General Robert E. Lee on Traveler. Select image to read article by Charles Francis Adam on the character and impact of General Lee’s handling of the surrender at Appomattox.
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This information “from another quarter” was from General E. P. Alexander, Chief of Artillery, who described a similar encounter with General Lee.
Lee told the general: “You must remember we are a Christian people. We have fought this fight as long as, and as well as, we knew how. We have been defeated. For us, as a Christian people, there is now but one course to pursue: We must accept the situation; these men [our soldiers] must go home and plant a crop, and we must proceed to build up our country on a new basis.” That “new basis” was to ignore the wishes of Jefferson Davis and have his men rejoin, rebuild and help reestablish the Union—a republic of independent states. Charles Francis Adams then said to his audience: |
“And I take it there is not one solitary man in the United States today, North or South, who does not feel that the General decided right!”
- A Few Recommended Chapters To Read in “The End of an Era”
Four chapters stand out in this book:
- Chapter VI: “Behind the Scenes”
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This is a very enlightening read for anyone that hasn’t truly studied the culture, environment or history of pre-Civil War Virginia. Mr. Wise writes, “In the clay of which I write, Virginia, among the States of the Union, was, in territorial area, second only to Texas.”
To a native Texan such as I, this was an unknown insight. After the geographic history, this native Virginian unwinds even more clairvoyant insights into the early culture of the State of Virginia. It was no backwater land filled with country hicks as so many would like to paint it. It was the home of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Marshall. Need more be said to get a person to at least consider more research on the topic of slavery in the south prior to the outbreak of a civil war? |
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This chapter was also a most compelling read into all sides of the slavery issue.
John Wise closes out this chapter witnessing a slavery auction where he has the same reaction that Abraham Lincoln did when the former President of the United States experienced a sale in New Orleans. [See Footnote #1]
Mr. Wise writes that after talking with his father, brother and uncle about what he saw, he felt “much relieved and proud of them … because they all agreed that a system in which things like this were possible [what he experienced at the slave auction] was monstrous; and that the question was, not whether it should be abolished and abolished quickly, but as to the manner of its abolition.”
John Wise closes out this chapter witnessing a slavery auction where he has the same reaction that Abraham Lincoln did when the former President of the United States experienced a sale in New Orleans. [See Footnote #1]
Mr. Wise writes that after talking with his father, brother and uncle about what he saw, he felt “much relieved and proud of them … because they all agreed that a system in which things like this were possible [what he experienced at the slave auction] was monstrous; and that the question was, not whether it should be abolished and abolished quickly, but as to the manner of its abolition.”
- Chapters XXIV, XXV and XXVI: The last three chapters of the book focusing on “The End:”
One press review notes the action captured in these three chapters: “The Beginning of the End,” “The End in Sight,” and “The End.” Another press review noted the action and the insights into the character traits of some great individuals conducting the war.
There is no doubt that the book’s action is packed into these three chapters!
Enjoy the read.
Cheers,
- Peter E.
There is no doubt that the book’s action is packed into these three chapters!
Enjoy the read.
Cheers,
- Peter E.
[Footnote #1] When Mr. Wise writes of experiencing the “shocking cruelty and degradation” of the open-air slave markets, he was having a similar reaction to that of Abraham Lincoln.
Ida M. Tarbell wrote the following in “The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Volume I:"
Ida M. Tarbell wrote the following in “The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Volume I:"
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“One morning in their rambles over the city [New Orleans] the trio passed a slave auction. A vigorous and comely mulatto girl was being sold. She underwent a thorough examination at the hands of the bidders; they pinched her flesh, and made her trot up and down the room like a horse, to show how she moved, in order that, as the auctioneer said, ‘the bidders might satisfy themselves whether the article they were offering to buy was sound or not.’
“The whole thing was so revolting that Lincoln moved away from the scene with a deep feeling of ‘unconquerable hate.’ Bidding his companions follow him, he said: ‘Boys, let’s get away from this. If ever I get a chance to hit that thing (meaning slavery), I'll hit it hard.’ … “It should be said that the better class of slave-holders of the South, who looked on the institution as patriarchal, and who guarded their slaves with conscientious care, knew little of this terrible traffic. The transfer of slaves was humane, but in the open markets of the city, slavery was attended by shocking cruelty and degradation.” |
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