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Confederate Veteran

The original Confederate Veteran magazine was published for 40 years, from 1893 to 1932. It’s original editor, S. A. Cunningham, was himself a Confederate veteran who fought out west. Cunningham died in 1913, and his secretary Edith Pope kept the magazine going until 1932. Given the unfortunate political environment we see at the dawn of the 2020s, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that critics of this set believe many of these accounts are laced with Lost Cause rhetoric so that I am not accused of being a “Lost Causer.”  In addition, the length of time between the war and when these accounts were written as well as the potential desire of writers to make themselves look better also calls into question the accuracy of many accounts.

The Ulster-Nashville Blog leads off an article on Cunningham with the following:

Sumner Archibald Cunningham was the founder, publisher and editor of the Nashville publication The Confederate Veteran. The magazine was one of the most influential publications of the New South and made Cunningham a central figure in the ‘Lost Cause’ movement of the late 19th century.

A review of the magazine at Civil War Books states:

“The largest collection of personal experiences, anecdotes, battle footnotes, tall tales and biographical sketches for the Confederate side. . .”

An almost complete run in PDF form is listed at The Online Books Page. The Library of Virginia has a searchable index for those interested.

Articles pertaining to the Siege of Petersburg are scattered throughout the 40 volumes. They will begin to appear here as I have time to transcribe and edit them.

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