True Crime in the Civil War: Cases of Murder, Treason, Counterfeiting, Massacre, Plunder & Abuse

by Tobin T. Buhk

Overview

Crime did not take a holiday during the Civil War, far from it. As Tobin Buhk shows in this fast-paced narrative, the war created new opportunities to gain profits from illegal activities, to settle old scores against personal enemies under the cover of fighting the nation's enemies, to pillage, plunder, and murder amid the carnage and destruction that seemed to offer license to legitimize such crimes. Students of the Civil War will find new information in this readable account. —James M. McPherson, Author of Battle Cry of Freedom
• Examines criminal cases during the conflict
• Cases include currency counterfeiting, tyrannical actions of Gen. Benjamin Butler, the murder of Gen. Earl van Dorn, raids by William Quantrill's Bushwhackers, the Fort Pillow Massacre, the horrific prison conditions at Andersonville, the fate of Lincoln the assassination conspirators, and more

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811710190
Publisher:	Stackpole Books
Publication date:	02/16/2012
Series:	True Crime Series
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,070,623
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Tobin T. Buhk is a freelance writer who lives in Jenison, Michigan, and is coauthor with Stephen D. Cohle of Skeletons in the Closet: Tales from the County Morgue (978-1-59102-603-7) and Cause of Death: Forensic Files of a Medical Examiner (978-1-59102-447-7).

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction The Criminal State of the Union 1

Chapter 1 Inside Castle Thunder, Notorious Richmond Prison 13

Chapter 2 Sam Upham's Counterfeiting Scheme 24

Chapter 3 Benjamin Butler, Beast of New Orleans 31

Chapter 4 The Sack of Athens and the Court-Martial of Col. J. B. Turchin 45

Chapter 5 Feuding Generals: The Murder of Bull Nelson and the Walker-Marmaduke Duel 58

Chapter 6 The Faulkner Outrage and Detroit's Draft Riot 74

Chapter 7 The Slaying of the Beckham Family 85

Chapter 8 The Lawrence Massacre and the Not-So-Civil War of Quantrill, Anderson, and the James Brothers 109

Chapter 9 The Murder of Gen. Earl Van Dorn 125

Chapter 10 No Quarter: Bedford Forrest and the Fort Pillow Massacre 136

Chapter 11 Manhattan Burning: The Rebel Arson Plot 148

Chapter 12 Sue Mundy, Terror of Kentucky 161

Chapter 13 The Trial of the Lincoln Assassination Conspirators 180

Chapter 14 Fifty-Three Counts of Murder: Champ Ferguson's Private War 206

Chapter 15 Murder or Misadventure? Temperance Neely Kills Her Former Slave 219

Chapter 16 The War Crimes Trial of Andersonville's Controversial Commandant 240

Chronology 265

Endnotes 267

Bibliography 293

Index 301

Editorial Reviews

"A rare novelty in the profusion of writing about the Civil War, a volume that takes a different approach."

Joplin Independent - Susan Branch

"Buhk wrote an engaging, well-documented collection of tales . . . It is his efforts at mediating the sources, the "voices," that elevates True Crime in the Civil War above a simplistic version of Cops. . . . Both Civil War aficionados and fans of crime dramas will find much to enjoy.

Armchair General - Neil West

A rare novelty in the profusion of writing about the Civil War, a volume that takes a different approach.
— Susan Branch

Joplin Independent

Buhk wrote an engaging, well-documented collection of tales . . . It is his efforts at mediating the sources, the "voices," that elevates True Crime in the Civil War above a simplistic version of Cops. . . . Both Civil War aficionados and fans of crime dramas will find much to enjoy.
— Neil West

Armchair General

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