Duty, Honor and Country

Brothers John and William Black were 22 and 19 years old respectively and both attending Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, when the Civil War broke out. On April 14, 1861, the brothers enlisted in the 11th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, commanded by future Major General Lew Wallace. When their three-month term of service expired, they returned home to Danville, Illinois, to help in the recruiting of a new regiment, the 37th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, also known as the Frémont Rifles. John was elected captain of Company K, William became First Lieutenant. By the time the 37th was mustered John had advanced to Major of the regiment and William became Captain of Company K. John was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, then Colonel of the regiment thanks to notable acts of bravery and leadership on the battlefield, rising to command of the 37th in November of 1862. William Black aspired to higher rank, but regimental politics kept him in his role as commander of Company K. Both brothers distinguished themselves on the battlefield, and they are one of the few sets of brothers to have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor: William for single-handedly holding off a line of charging Confederates at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas (March 7, 1862), and John for his leadership at the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas (December 7, 1862) (the awards were not made until 1893). After the war, both brothers returned to higher education and became lawyers. John Black served as the U.S. District Attorney at Chicago, President of the United States Civil Service Commission for nine years, and the U.S. Commissioner of Pensions (1885-1889). He was elected to the U.S. Congress (1893–1895), and became the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1903, serving for two years. William had a successful corporate law practice in Chicago, which he selflessly placed in jeopardy in 1886, when he agreed to represent the anarchist defendants at the famous Haymarket Riot Trial. John Black died in 1915 in Chicago, and was buried in Danville; his brother followed him in 1916, and was buried in Chicago. Being educated young men, both brothers wrote home often during their service with the 37th Illinois. William’s body of correspondence is the more complete and more intellectually interesting than John’s, therefore it forms the basis of this, our sixth volume in the series “Unwritten Chapters of the Civil War West of the River.” A total of one hundred and nineteen letters are presented in this volume, covering a multitude of subjects from the Battles of Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove, Arkansas, to operations in Louisiana and Texas. William’s letters are straightforward, well-written, and informative. Editor Michael Banasik has added his usual exhaustive historical annotation, and he has compiled the most detailed roster of the 37th Illinois Infantry ever published. The book is further enhanced by other useful appendices, including, for the first time since its publication in the St. Louis Daily Missouri Democrat, January 1, 1863, the infamous Prairie Grove letter by officer “F” of the 37th, in which the bravery and leadership of Colonel John Black at Prairie Grove is impugned. The scandalous letter led to the Court Martial of its author, the unpopular Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Frisbie.

512 pages, 6 x 9 inches, with 7 maps and 24 photographs and illustrations, notes, appendices, bibliography, and index. ISBN 1-929919-10-7. $24.95, plus $4.00 p/h.

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