Bearss, Edwin C. 1923- (Edwin Cole Bearss)

PERSONAL:

Surname rhymes with "farce"; born June 26, 1923, in Billings, MT; son of Omar E. and Virginia Bearss; married Margie Riddle, July 30, 1958; children: Sara Beth, Edwin Cole II, Mary Virginia. Education: Georgetown University, B.S., 1949; Indiana University, M.A., 1955.

CAREER:

U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, Washington, DC, research historian, 1956-72, supervisory historian, 1972-81, chief historian, 1981-95; historian emeritus, 1995—. Commentator on television documentaries, including The Civil War and Civil War Journal. Tour guide to Civil War battlefields. Ex-officio member, Civil War Sites Advisory Commission. Military service: U.S. Marine Corps, 1942-46; received Purple Heart and Southwest Pacific Theater ribbon with four battle stars.

MEMBER:

Company of Military Collectors and Historians (fellow), Mississippi Historical Society, Indiana Historical Society, Montana Historical Society, Civil War Round Tables of Mississippi, Chicago, New York, Indianapolis, and Washington.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Harry S Truman Award for meritorious service in Civil War history, 1961; Vicksburg Man of the Year, 1963; Nevins-Freeman Award, Chicago Civil War Roundtable, for contributions to Civil War scholarship, 1980; Distinguished Service Award, Department of the Interior, 1983; commendation from secretary of the army, 1985.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

Texas at Vicksburg, Texas State Historical Survey Committee (Austin, TX), 1961.

Decision in Mississippi, Mississippi Commission on the War Between the States (Jackson, MS), 1962.

The Siege of Vicksburg, May to June, 1863, National Park Service (Washington, DC), 1963.

Rebel Victory at Vicksburg, Vicksburg Centennial Commemoration Commission (Vicksburg, MS), 1963.

Hardluck Ironclad: The Sinking and Salvage of the Cairo, Being a First-hand Account of the Discovery of the Torpedoed Union Gunboat and of Operations to Raise Her from the Bottom of the Yazoo, Together with a Description of Artifacts Found on Board; Including a History of the Western Flotilla of Which She Was a Part, with Numerous Illustrations, and Maps, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1966, 2nd edition, 1980.

Steele's Retreat from Camden and the Battle of Jenkin's Ferry, Arkansas Civil War Centennial Commission (Little Rock, AR), 1967.

(With A.M. Gibson) Fort Smith: Little Gibraltar on the Arkansas, University of Oklahoma Press (Norman, OK), 1968, 2nd edition, 1979.

The First Two Fort Moultries; A Structural History; Fort Sumter National Monument, U.S. Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation (Washington, DC), 1968.

Battery Jasper, Fort Sumter National Monument, Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, U.S. Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation (Washington, DC), 1968.

The Battle of Sullivan's Island and the Capture of Fort Moultrie; A Documented Narrative and Troop Movement Maps, Fort Sumter National Monument, South Carolina, U.S. Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation (Washington, DC), 1968.

Fort Moultrie, No. 3, Fort Sumter National Monument, Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, U.S. Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation (Washington, DC), 1968.

General Background Study and Historical Base Map: Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland-Virginia, U.S. Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation (Washington, DC), 1968.

Historical Base Map and Ground Study: Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, West Branch, Iowa, U.S. Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation (Washington, DC), 1968.

The P.T. Smith House, Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, West Branch, Iowa, U.S. Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation (Washington, DC), 1969.

(Editor and author of notes) William H. Tunnard, A Southern Record: The History of the Third Regiment, Louisiana Infantry, Morningside Bookshop (Dayton, OH), 1970.

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Montana-Wyoming; History Basic Data, U.S. Office of History and Historic Architecture (Washington, DC), 1970.

George Rogers Clark Memorial; Historic Structures Report and Historical Data, U.S. Office of History and Historic Architecture (Washington, DC), 1970.

Andersonville National Historic Site; Historic Resource Study and Historical Base Map, U.S. Office of History and Historic Architecture (Washington, DC), 1970.

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site: Buildings in the Core-Area and Jesse Hoover's Blacksmith Shop; Historical Data, archeological data by Wilfred M. Husted, U.S. Office of History and Historic Architecture (Washington, DC), 1970.

Proposed Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Historic Resource Study, U.S. Office of History and Historic Architecture (Washington, DC), 1970.

Eisenhower National Historic Site; Historic Resource Study and Historical Base Map, Eisenhower Farm, 1762-1967, U.S. Office of History and Historic Architecture (Washington, DC), 1970.

The Hoover Houses and Community Structures, Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, West Branch, Iowa; Historical Data, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1971.

(With Lenard E. Brown) Arkansas Post National Memorial Arkansas; Structural History Post of Arkansas, 1804-1863, and Civil War Troop Movement Maps, January, 1863, U.S. Office of History and Historic Architecture (Washington, DC), 1971.

Montgomery's Tavern and Johnston and Armstrong's Store, Arkansas Post National Memorial, U.S. Office of History and Historic Architecture (Washington, DC), 1971.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Site, Blanco & Gillespie Counties, Texas; Historical Data, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1971.

Protecting Sherman's Lifeline; the Battles of Brices Cross Roads and Tupelo, 1864, U.S. National Park Service (Washington, DC), 1971.

(Editor) Ephraim McDowell Anderson, Memoirs: Historical and Personal, Including Campaigns of the First Missouri Confederate Brigade, Morningside Bookshop (Dayton, OH), 1972.

(Editor) A Louisiana Confederate: The Diary of Felix Pierre Poche, Louisiana Studies Institute, Northwestern State University (Nachitoches, LA), 1972.

(Researcher) Raymond F. Baker, Andersonville; the Story of a Civil War Prison Camp, U.S. National Park Service (Washington, DC), 1972.

Blacksmith Shop: Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Site, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1973.

Primary Department of the West Branch School and Jesse Hoover's Blacksmith and Wagon Shop, Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, West Branch, Iowa, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1973.

Historical Base Map, Shiloh National Military Park & Cemetery, Shiloh, Tennessee, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1973.

Fort Point, Historic Data Section Fort Point National Historic Site, California, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1973.

The Battle of Wilson's Creek, George Washington Carver Birthplace District Association (Diamond, MO), 1973.

Fort Moultrie HECP-HDCP, Fort Sumter National Monument, South Carolina, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1974.

(With Michael Adlerstein) Howser House, Kings Mountain National Military Park, South Carolina, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1974.

Ewing (Snell) and ML Ranches, and Hillsboro: Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Montana-Wyoming, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1974.

(Author of notes) Your Affectionate Husband, J.F. Culver, edited by Leslie W. Dunlap, Friends of the University of Iowa Library (Iowa City, IA), 1978.

Forrest at Brice's Cross Roads and in North Mississippi in 1864, Morningside Bookshop (Dayton, OH), 1979.

Historic Resource Study, Fort Hancock 1895-1948, Gateway National Recreation Area, New York/New Jersey, U.S. National Park Service, 1981.

(With Warren Grabau) The Battle of Jackson, May 14, 1863, The Siege of Jackson, July 10-17, 1863, and Three Other Post-Vicksburg Actions, Gateway Press (Baltimore, MD), 1981.

Fort Hancock, 1948-1974, Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway National Recreation Area, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1982.

(Coauthor) Building 198, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1982.

History Basic Data: Redwood National Park, Del Norte and Humboldt Counties, California, U.S. Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation (Washington, DC), 1982.

Fort Barrancas, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1983.

The Sandy Hook Defenses, 1857-1948, Gateway National Recreation Area, New York and New Jersey, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1983.

Fort Pickens, 1821-1895: Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida/Mississippi, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1983.

Fort Jefferson, 1846-1898: Fort Jefferson National Monument, Monroe County, Florida, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1983.

(With John C. Paige) Historic Structure Report for Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, St. Johns County, Florida, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1983.

Historic Resource Study: The Sandy Hook Proving Ground, 1874-1919, Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway National Recreation Area, New Jersey, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1983.

San Juan Fortifications, 1898-1958: San Juan National Historic Site, Puerto Rico, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1984.

Fort on Ship Island (Fort Massachusetts) 1857-1935: Gulf Islands National Seashore, Harrison County, Mississippi, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1984.

Historic Resource Study, Ship Island, Harrison County, Mississippi, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida/Mississippi, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service (Denver, CO), 1984.

Charlestown Navy Yard, 1800-1842: Boston National Historic Park, Massachusetts, U.S. National Park Service, 1984.

(With Chris Calkins) Battle of Five Forks, 2nd edition, H.E. Howard (Lynchburg, VA), 1985.

The Campaign for Vicksburg, three volumes, Morningside Bookshop (Dayton, OH), 1985-86.

Historic Structure Report: Texas White House, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, Texas, U.S. National Park Service (Santa Fe, NM), 1986.

First Manassas Battlefield Map Study, H.E. Howard (Lynchburg, VA), 1991.

(With Jay Wertz) Smithsonian's Great Battles & Battlefields of the Civil War: A Definitive Field Guide Based on the Award-winning Television Series by MasterVision, foreword by James M. McPherson, Morrow (New York, NY), 1997.

Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War, National Geographic Society (Washington, DC), 2006.

Contributor to books, including A History of Mississippi, University Press of Mississippi, 1973; Nine Months to Gettysburg: Stannard's Vermonters and the Repulse of Pickett's Charge, Countryman Press, 1997; and A War of the People: Vermont Civil War Letters, University Press of New England, 1999. Contributor of articles to journals.

SIDELIGHTS:

Longtime National Park Service historian Edwin C. Bearss has been a prolific writer on the U.S. Civil War and other topics in American history. He has often lent his expertise to television programs, such as Ken Burns's enormously popular 1990 documentary miniseries The Civil War. He also has won acclaim for his tours of Civil War battlefields, treks on which he dramatically delivers commentary that is as entertaining as it is educational. His tours of fourteen key sites are the basis of the book Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War. It takes readers from the war's beginning at Fort Sumter to its conclusion at Appomattox, with stops along the way including Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg. The text, drawn from transcripts of Bearss's on-site narration, describes the personalities and military tactics involved. The work is extensively illustrated with photographs and maps.

Fields of Honor offers a taste of what makes a Bearss battlefield tour such a distinctive experience, according to some reviewers. From the transcripts of Bearss's "incomparable observations and narrative spiel" comes "definitive commentary" on these battlegrounds, related Andrew Ferguson in the Weekly Standard. Ferguson continued: "Fields of Honor captures his fluency, along with his learning, his offhand humor, and his facility in making a half-dozen narrative strands come out together at the end." In a similar vein, Civil War News contributor Blake A. Magner remarked that Bearss's "amazing knowledge of the terrain and cast of characters, amusing comments and asides, all come through here…. As a general primer to these particular battles, this is one of the best volumes I have read."

Matthew I. Wayman, writing in Library Journal, had some reservations about the book. He found its detail sometimes overwhelming and thought that "Bearss's folksy you-are-there approach loses something on the printed page," but added: "Nonetheless, it is a boon to have this legendary guide's expertise in book format." A reviewer for California Bookwatch had only unqualified praise, calling Fields of Honor "a ‘must’ for any avid Civil War student." Magner concluded by saying: "If you have even the least little bit of interest in the Civil War I strongly suggest you pick up this book and peruse its pages. Your time will be well rewarded."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Book Collector, summer, 1968, review of Hardluck Ironclad: The Sinking and Salvage of the Cairo, Being a First-hand Account of the Discovery of the Torpedoed Union Gunboat and of Operations to Raise Her from the Bottom of the Yazoo, Together with a Description of Artifacts Found on Board; Including a History of the Western Flotilla of Which She Was a Part, with Numerous Illustrations, and Maps, p. 5; November, 1969, review of Fort Smith: Little Gibraltar on the Arkansas, p. 45.

American Historical Review, February, 1971, review of Fort Smith, p. 194.

Booklist, March 15, 1967, review of Hardluck Ironclad, p. 762; May 1, 2006, George Cohen, review of Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War, p. 66.

California Bookwatch, August, 2006, review of Fields of Honor.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries. January, 1968, review of Hardluck Ironclad, p. 1309; December, 1969, review of Fort Smith, p. 1470; April, 2007, R.G. Lowe, review of Fields of Honor, p. 8.

Civil War Times, March/April, 2007, Jerry Holsworth, review of Fields of Honor, p. 66.

Educational Leadership, September, 1967, review of Hardluck Ironclad, p. 72.

Journal of American History, September, 1967, review of Hardluck Ironclad, p. 412.

Kliatt, winter, 1981, review of Hardluck Ironclad, p. 43.

Library Journal, May 1, 1997, Grant A. Fredericksen, review of Smithsonian's Great Battles & Battlefields of the Civil War: A Definitive Field Guide Based on the Award-winning Television Series by MasterVision, p. 129; May 1, 2006, Matthew J. Wayman, review of Fields of Honor, p. 97.

National Geographic, June, 2006, review of Fields of Honor, p. 158.

New York Times Book Review, March 19, 1967, review of Hardluck Ironclad, p. 37.

Pacific Historical Review, November, 1970, review of Fort Smith, p. 534.

Reprint Bulletin Book Reviews, March 30, 1979, review of Forrest at Brice's Cross Roads and in North Mississippi in 1864, p. 31.

Weekly Standard, October 16, 2006, Andrew Ferguson, "Man o' War: Up and Down the Battlefields with Edwin Bearss."

ONLINE

Civil War News,http://www.civilwarnews.com/ (April 2, 2008), Blake A. Magner, review of Fields of Honor.

National Park Service Web site,http://www.nps.gov/ (April 2, 2008), brief biography.

Smithsonian Journeys,http://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/ (April 2, 2008), "Historian and Smithsonian Study Leader Ed Bearss speaks with Smithsonian Journeys Program Coordinator Patrick Wagner."