Description
The Ticonderoga Historical Society invites the public to its free program on Friday, July 21 at 7 p.m. Featured speaker will be Ticonderoga native, author and professor Frank Varney who will present a program and sign copies of his book General Grant and the Rewriting of History: How the Destruction of General William S. Rosecrans Influenced Our Understanding of the Civil War.
In 1885, a former president of the United States published one of the most influential books ever written about the Civil War. An entire generation of Americans had eagerly awaited his memoirs and it has remained so popular that it has never gone out of print. Historians–then and now–have made extensive use of Grant's recollections, which have shaped how we understand and evaluate not only the Union army's triumphs and failures, but many of the war's key participants. The "Memoirs" of Ulysses Simpson Grant may be a superbly written book, Frank P. Varney persuasively argues in General Grant and the Rewriting of History, but it is so riddled with flaws as to be unreliable.
“This is a program of tremendous significance not only to those interested in the American Civil War, but to anyone concerned about the manner in which we interpret and accept our history,” said THS President Bill Dolback. “We are fortunate that Dr. Varney has accepted our invitation, as his academic credentials are outstanding and his book is quite fascinating.”
General Grant was an outstanding soldier and, so we have long believed, a good man. History's wholesale acceptance of his version of events has distorted our assessment of Rosecrans and other officers, and even of the Civil War itself. Grant intentionally tried to control how future generations would remember the Civil War, and in large measure he succeeded. The first of two volumes on this subject, General Grant and the Rewriting of History aptly demonstrates, however, that blindly accepting historical "truths" without vigorous challenge is a perilous path to understanding real history.
THS Program: Gen. Grant
7/9/2017
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Frank Varney earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University. He regularly leads student groups to Civil War battlefields and makes frequent speaking appearances before Civil War Roundtables and historical societies. Professor Varney is currently developing a course to be taught on-site at Gettysburg, and will do the same for a course on Chickamauga. He teaches U.S. and classical history at Dickinson State University of North Dakota. This is his first book.
Specific information regarding this and other historical society programs and events can be obtained by calling the Historical Society at 518-585-7868, by checking Facebook or the THS website at ticonderogahistoricalsociety.org.
Founded in 1897 and chartered in 1909, the Ticonderoga Historical Society advances the preservation and interpretation of history through its collections, programs and community outreach. The Historical Society makes area history an integral part of community life by connecting past and present.