KIRKUS REVIEW:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/charles-e-farnsworth/whirlwind-and-storm/
A scholarly biography of a midlevel Union officer’s short, dramatic life.
This spotless debut is a personalized account of the Civil War years and a work of significant original scholarship. Farnsworth is a lawyer by training, but if this were a thesis, his meticulous analysis of previously unexplored primary source materials and extensive background research could earn him a degree in history. He mines a family heirloom, the papers of his great-grandfather Lt. Col. Charles “Charlie” Farnsworth, born in 1836. Charlie, an ambitious young Norwich, Connecticut, resident, skipped college to pursue business and gold prospecting. After war came, Charlie volunteered and used family connections—his father was Gov. William Buckingham’s personal physician—to win promotions. He led a battalion, was wounded and recovered, rebuilt an Army base in Baltimore, returned to battle and was captured. After eight months in Richmond’s Libby Prison, he was paroled, demoted and honorably discharged. He broke off an engagement, married his true love, and used connections to President Abraham Lincoln to become one of the first Northern investors to enter Reconstruction Georgia, where he started a commodities exchange and rice plantation. In 1867, with his wife seven months pregnant, he drowned at age 31. Charlie’s impetuous temperament, outspoken manner, social position and extensive documentary record create a unique lens through which to view the times. Numerous books stitch together “voices” culled from soldiers’ letters, but few capture entire lives. Full biographies usually feature top military or political leaders. Yet Charlie, though he ranked high enough to have well-known connections, still retains a sense of the Everyman. Farnsworth’s supple narrative of Charlie’s life, including black-and-white photos, illustrations and maps, takes up less than a third of the book. The rest includes the appendix, nearly 500 footnotes, a bibliography of 100 secondary sources and an index. Farnsworth consistently places Charlie’s travels and observations in the context of contemporaneous events and mainstream historical opinion, all while telling the story unsentimentally, highlighting strengths and flaws. The entire trove of 135 personal letters, diary entries, and other documents by or about Charlie appear in the appendix, with Farnsworth’s comments about each. Reading them makes his preceding synthesis all the more impressive.
First-rate research, writing and presentation.
BLUEINK REVIEW:
http://www.blueinkreview.com/book-reviews/whirlwind-and-storm-a-connecticut-cavalry-officer-in-the-civil-war-and-reconstruction/
Much is known about the Civil War, but it is always a special privilege to delve inside the thoughts, passions and driving forces of one who served as a leader during the conflict. This captivating biography of a Connecticut cavalryman, penned by his great grandson, does just that with skill and flair, exploring not only the young man’s war experiences but his business adventures, loves and personal struggles.
The author, a lawyer and former Marine officer, had oft heard about his relative’s heroics. He felt driven to pen the book after sifting through a special box containing an intimately detailed personal diary and 135 letters written by Lieutenant Colonel Charles (Charlie) Farnsworth to his family. The book’s tale begins in 1856, when an ambitious and sometimes reckless 20-year-old Charlie begins pursuing potential fortune through various ventures, including prospecting out West.
After war breaks out in 1861, he volunteers for military duty in the Union Army, rising through the ranks. The book records his emotional pain and concerns for fellow soldiers during capture and imprisonment, offering intriguing details, such as hollowed-out cakes sent by relatives that smuggled in letters and gold coins. Charlie also invents a code (since broken) to secretly express his love for another although he is engaged. His post-war Reconstruction-era business ventures in Georgia also are detailed before his untimely death.
The book’s first part is a short, impartially written and straightforward narrative that melds Charlie’s words with historic detail to recreate the chronology of the young man’s life. This is followed by Charlie’s vividly written, entertaining and intimate letters, as well as his diary notations and various documents, accompanied by the author’s brief, explanatory comments. The book is professionally assembled, with a table of contents, bibliography, index to texts and comments, and a list of illustrations.
Overall, this rich biography not only fascinates, it holds important historic documentation that will be of interest to anyone delving into the Civil War era.
FOREWARD REVIEWS:
https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/whirlwind-and-storm/
Primary sources from the Civil War bring a unique voice to this biography of an officer and his era.
Whirlwind and Storm by Charles E. Farnsworth is a portrait of a multifaceted, adventurous Civil War officer. The book follows Charles Farnsworth (the author is the subject’s great-grandson) from his boyhood in Connecticut to his death—but his time in the Civil War and the Reconstruction are most compelling.
Farnsworth left home at age twenty and headed west, first to Chicago and then to seek fortune in the Pikes Peak gold rush. The dawn of the war found him back at home, and he eventually enlisted, initially more for adventure than for ideological agreement with the Union. As fighting progressed, Farnsworth grew discontent with the poor leadership, suffered grave injuries, and ended up a prisoner of the Confederacy. The author’s comparison of different accounts of the capture gives insight into Farnsworth’s character and the conditions of war. After his release from the prison and later from the cavalry, Farnsworth secured a handwritten pass from President Lincoln allowing him to travel to newly defeated Savannah and get a jump start on the Reconstruction while “General Sherman’s troops were still encamped at Savannah and preparing to put South Carolina to the torch.” While he traversed familiar realms of history, his imprisonment and southern migration set him apart.
The book begins with seven chapters that summarize Farnsworth’s life chronologically. They are clear and smoothly paced. The longest section of the book (more than 250 pages), technically an appendix, is Farnsworth’s letters, diary, and other documents pertaining to his life. This is where the voice of this “brash, opinionated, proud, impulsive, and demanding…highly-disciplined, perceptive, purposeful, and dependable” man shines through. The documents are interspersed with the author’s comments and interpretation of the historical and personal significance of the letters. These insights are built on the author’s extensive historical knowledge, study of the documents themselves, and familial knowledge of Farnsworth. The appendix, like the biography, is chronological.
The author’s respect for Farnsworth as a man and family legend is clear, but he doesn’t dodge his flaws, like his impulsiveness or his overzealous driving of his cavalry unit preceding their capture. While the author clearly has an ancestral connection to the subject of the book, he keeps the book’s tone and content neutral. This authorial integrity is a strength, but the biographical chapters feel dry and encyclopedic at times—perhaps a more narrative than expository approach could bring a better balance.
The cover matches the historical tone of the biographical section but would be more inviting if it matched the liveliness of the letters. The interior images are clear; some are a bit dark, but not so much that they detract from their purpose in supporting the text.
Whirlwind and Storm adds a vibrant voice to Civil War history. History lovers, especially those interested in the Civil War era, will enjoy sifting through the details and becoming engrossed in an eyewitness account.