Industry and Infantry: A Review
By
James Wudarczyk
Industry and Infantry: The Civil War in Western Pennsylvania, edited
by Brian Butko and Nicholas P. Ciotola. Pittsburgh: Historical Society of
Western Pennsylvania, 2003. ($19.95)
In the last 20 years of so, we have seen the proliferation of smaller
historical agencies, genealogical societies, and Civil War Round Tables. Prior
to 1980, the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania was virtually the only
agency dedicated to the preservation of local history, and its main publication
– The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine – was a highly respected
publication.
Although Industry and Infantry is a very slim volume of approximately
125 pages, the editors have pulled together eight articles relating to the role
of Western Pennsylvania in the War of Rebellion. More importantly they have
canvassed eight decades of the magazine’s numerous articles and compiled a list
of sixty articles relating to the Civil War. (Anyone who has researched the war
from a local perspective knows that the material is fragmented and greatly
scattered. Thus, this helps to consolidate data for future researchers.) In
addition, each article is amply footnoted, which will enable one to trace back
the original source.
Of particular interest to Lawrenceville researchers are two articles: one
deals with General James Scott Negley who is buried in Allegheny Cemetery, and
the other on Camp Wilkins, the first Union training facility in Pittsburgh, was
written by the late Joseph Borkowski, the Honorary President of the LHS.
In his introduction to the collection, Arthur B. Fox notes that there are
over 100,000 books and articles about the Civil War but very little material
relating to this region’s role in the conflict. Thus, one would have to agree
with Fox’s assessment that this edition is a boost in helping fill the great
void.
