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Friday, December 16, 2016 - 07:00
I'm fairly picky about which animated movies I see because there are some common tropes that grate on me. And Disney movies that "trespass in someone else's garden" (to use the Alpennian saying) face a high hurdle. I'd seen enough advance discussion and critical evaluation of this movie from people with roots in Polynesian culture to have confidence that, although not without flaws, Moana took cultural representation issues seriously and had worked to have creative staff and consultants from within the culture. (That's not a guarantee of success, of course, but it's a start.) I'm not going to review issues of represenation, because that's not my call to make. I'll just be talking about how this works for me as a story.
The title character is the teenage daughter of a chief (but not a "princess," as she explicitly tells the other major character) on a not-entirely-idyllic Pacific island, who has some sort of mystic connection with the ocean that has been suppressed due to her people's strangely fearful relationship with the waters outside their island's reef-rimmed lagoon. Backstory is supplied by the story-telling of her beloved grandmother who serves the role of mentor and provides the encouragement for Moana to embark eventually on her quest. It seems the folk-hero Maui, in the process of doing Great Feats to Benefit Mankind, angered/damaged the earth goddess Te Fiti by stealing her "heart", a small carved green stone. The not-entirely-idyllic conditions worsen as the mystic blight resulting from this event starts spreding to the island. Moana's grandmother gives her three key things: the heart stone, which she has kept since the ocean delivered it to Moana as a toddler; directions to the hidden cavern where the great ocean-crossing ships of her ancestors have been stored (and where a vision shows her a glimpse of their forgotten art of wayfinding); and hope that Moana can protect her people best by seeking out Maui and convincing him to return the heart to Te Fiti.
Things I loved about the movie:
- The loving relationships between all the characters. Even Moana's father's attempt to suppress her love for the ocean comes entirely from a place of love and has nothing to do with gendered expectations or suppressing dreams and ambitions. And the relationship--both as family and mentor--between Moana and her grandmother is incredibly powerful and individual, rather than fulfilling some archetypal template.
- Moana's grandmother. I'll make this a separate "thing I loved." It's entirely too rare to get an older female character as powerful, nuanced, and plot-critical as this. Can we have an entire movie about Moana's grandmother?
- The complete absence of any sort of romantic plot. Moana doesn't simply say "romance isn't the end-all be-all" the way Frozen did; romance doesn't even come into the question. Moana's relationshp to Maui is entirely one of independent equals, allies, and eventually friends. (Maui may be a demi-god but Moana is in every way his equal--with a little help from a personified ocean, mind you.) Even their teasing banter never felt like it had any whiff of flirtation, to me. (Maui may have expected adulation, but it was in no way romantic in flavor.)
- The way the obstacles and challenges were solved by wits every bit as much as by strength. Maui did a fair amount of addressing problems by clobbering them, but in the end, simple physical strength alone would never have succeeded.
- The way representations of Polynesian visual arts were used to signal shifts in the storytelling framing. (Ok, Maui's animated talking tattoos were more than a bit corny, but as a representation of his internal dialogues with himself, I suppose they worked.)
- The way the story structure, the challenges, and the solutions derived from the cultural context as presented. I particularly like the details about wayfinding and all the details about sailing and boat handling.
- The true nature of the final challenge. (No spoilers. I'll just say it felt very right.)
Things I was less enthusiastic about:
- Ok, ok, I get that the "goofy non-human companion" is a Disney Thing. And I can see the various story functions that the rooster Heihei performs. Even his apparently disfunctional eating habits are a key plot point. And I've dealt with chickens--we aren't talking about highly intelligent creatures at the best of times. But I was uncomfortable with the depiction of intellectual disability for comic purposes. Even in a chicken.
- Disney movies always draw from contemporary pop music. This is a fixed thing. I get it. But some of the songs just felt very jarring in musical style for the setting. It's not that I expected the entire show to use authentic Polynesian musical stylings (though I loved the bits that were incorporated) but some were more jarring than necessary. The giant glitter-crab's song is a salient example.
- Given the historic context of the Polynesian exploration and colonization of an immensely far-flung spread of islands, the starting point of "Oh, we're going to isolate ourselves here on this one island, with no contact with other regions and people, and never cross the ocean again," felt a bit disrespectful. In order to set up the structure of a "hero's journey" for Moana, they evidently felt it necessary to create a single trigger-point for her success. As a plot structure, it works, but it feels like a distortion of the historic/cultural context.
Overall, far more to love than to dislike. Highly recommended. But I want to add some things I don't normally include in movie reviews. I went out looking for some recommendations of children's literature based in Polynesian and Hawaiian culture from an "own voices" perspective, as a "where do I go next" for those (especially children) who enjoyed Moana. This is not an extensively researched or exhaustive list--just an hour of intense googling--and it's entirely possible that I may step on a land mine or two in compiling it, but it's an attempt.
HUIA Bookshop specializes in Maori-related books, including children's and YA literature.
Hawaiian-based SFF author Kate Elliott graciously pointed me at a wealth of resources for Hawaiian culture, and in particular for traditional sailing and navigation techniques. Here's a selection:
Polynesian Voyaging Society -- the "gold standard" website for traditional sailing and navigation.
Educational programs aimed at children on Hawaiian history and culture
An essay on the Hawaiian Renaissance by George S. Kanahele (May 1979)
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Thursday, December 15, 2016 - 06:45
There's something about adding new bells and whistles to the website that makes me go all gooey inside. And unlike the early development worksessions, when we'd sweat over complex problems that might mean we could make progess next time, now we're tidying up a lot of little to-do items and it feels like we're getting all sorts of things done. So here's what this weekend's work session accomplished (excluding the scary under-the-hood stuff that my web designers took care of):
- Added a page listing all my various publication series
- Tweaked the automated comment filtering system. I'm not yet trusting it to throw away spam comments entirely unreviewed, but now obvious non-spam comments shouldn't have to wait on manual approval. It would be lovely to test it some more with actual reader comments! I get plenty of data in how well it identifies spam, alas, but not so much of the other. Now that there should be no delays for manual approval, it's even possible we might get conversations going.
- Set up comments to request an e-mail address (non-public) so I won't have to panic after future giveaways when I don't hear back from my winners immediately!
- Set up automatic cross-posting of the blog to LiveJournal. Yay! There are a couple of awkward aspects to this. If I want to add cut-tags to very long posts (like the Civil War Diaries), I'll have to follow up manually. And the Lesbian Historic Motif posts will be a teaser and link, because they have an odd internal structure. In essence, they're a blog post "envelope" with the LHMP content embedded in it. And it simply isn't practical to try to send it to LJ as a single unit, so all that will be sent is the "envelope". This means that people who want to follow the LHMP need to click through to the Alpennia site if they're reading elsewhere. Sorry, but that's how I gain some of the other functionality.
- We fixed several minor issues with the RSS feed, like, giving it a more informative name than "blog"! We also changed it to feed the full content rather than a teaser-and-link. (Although I believe it will have the same issue as the LJ cross-post, i.e., LHMP material will only have the "envelope" and the reader will need to click through.)
- Fixed an assortment of curious problems (some e-book links that didn't display properly, not having pager navigation on the tag-search pages).
And here are the things that are in progress and/or should go live sometime soon:
- Pretty much every page associated with the LHMP will have a set of links for the four tag indexes. This is an easy way to explore the content by topic rather than by publication. My dream version includes the possibility of using time-period and geographic tags to do filtering, but that's not possible with the current set-up so it's set aside for now.
- A similar purpose is served by the "tag essays" that I'm in the middle of drawing up. These not only include thematic lists of tags, but explain the logic behind them and give tips for using them. The tag essays will eventually be added to the LHMP drop-down menu.
It looks like the current webiste to-do list has two clumps of remaining tasks: an assortment of items related to social media (buttons for following me, and buttons for sharing posts), and a whole bunch of notes of the form "Make X prettier." And then I can sit back and just enjoy the site for a while.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016 - 07:00
May 1864 seems to be a bit of a lull in the action for Abiel. There's no particular movement toward getting him into a new regiment, though much of his activities involve helping assemble companies to more to the front. I've added a couple of cross-references to Wikipedia on battles and persons, but I haven't had the time to do a really systematic annotation of his references to the war. Abiel hears of significant battles and troop movements almost as they happen, but it's still "news" and not "life" at this point.
(It has occurred to me that I should include the full heading, including copyright information when posting these.)
The Diary and Letters of Abiel Teple LaForge 1842-1878
Transcribed, edited, and annotated by Phyllis G. Jones (his great-granddaughter)
Copyright © 1993, Phyllis G. Jones, All rights reserved
May 1864
[PUNCTUATION AND SPELLING ARE COPIED FROM THE ORIGINALS. EDITORIAL COMMENTS ARE IN BOLD TYPE.]
Diary: May 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22
Letter: May 22, 1864 - News of a new nephew
Diary: May 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31
Sunday "May day" 1864
Clear but a pretty good wind blowing from the north east. I went up on the hill near Fort Richardson to take a sketch. The wind blowed so I could not keep my paper in its place, so I had to give it up. 2000 cavalry went by on the Fairfax road while I was there. They had, I should judge, three days rations with them and were on their way to the front. Grant will soon be making a big move there.
Thursday May 5th
Day warm & clear. Men who came from the front today say that the regiments were ordered to strike their tents and move [the] night before last. Some at 12 0.C. midnight & some at 3 A.M. If this is true, there will soon be a big fight down there. I took a squad of 200 men--56 of them deserters--down to Alexandria to go to Fortress Monroe. Williamm W. Hibbard, the fellow who was in Head Quarters when I first came in camp and got his discharge just after moving over to this place, was in the squad of Deserters. His grandfather died and left him some money, and of course [he] had to get on a spree before he got through with it. He enlisted for the 85 again. [Note: perhaps $85 enlistment fee? Need to confirm this. I can find a reference to Congress authorizing a $100 enlistment bounty, so $85 would at least be in the right ballpark and the context strongly suggests that money is being discussed. Per a comment by Helen S, this is much more likely to mean "enlisted in the 85th regiment. She provides a link to a William W. Hibbard in the 85th Regiment New York Infantry.] He was sent to Elmira, from there went home without leave, and was arrested and sent here. An advance was made across the Rapahannoc today. The rebs made but little resistance. The whole army is reported arcross. Look out for news.
Saturday May 7th 1864
Clear & warm. A fight is going on at Chancellorsville. No particulars are known great excitement. No more men can be sent to the Army of Potomac for the present. We have received orders to organize them into provisional Brigades, arm them, have proper officers put over them, issue arms and Shelter tents, have them go into camp near us, and be at all times ready to take the field at a moments notice. They are to draw their stores from this post. I have been at the Commissary Papers today.
[Note: Despite Abiel's reference to Chancellorsville, this was not the "Battle of Chancellorsville, which occurred almost exactly a year previous. Based on the date and location, this appears to be the "Battle of the Wilderness" fought May 5-7, 1864.]
Sunday May 8th
Clear and hot. Themometer 100° in the sun. Yesterday it was 92° in the coldest room of this office. A big battle has taken place and we are reported as being successful. 7000 of our men and 3000 rebels are wounded [and] have been sent back to Alexandria. The enemy are reported in full retreat and Grant in pursuit. This has been the most busy Sunday I have seen in a long time. Over three hundred men came in, in squads of from one to one hundred. The railroad is open to Rappahannock Station Station [sic, possibly a transcription error?] but no men are sent out. 3,000,000 [three million] rations were sent out to the front today
[Note: On May 8, 1864 a son, Oscar Abiel Potter, was born to Joseph and Susan (LaForge) Potter.]
Monday May 9th
A.M. Clear & hot. P.M. cloudy & ditto. (ditto means hot). The Provisional Brigade were marched out and went into camp just below the Railroad Bridge half a mile from this place. They have shelter tents. I took another squad to Alexandria to go to Fort Monroe. A Veteran Reserve Corps officer takes charge of them but Captain Crawford thinks a squad is never properly started unless I superintend getting them off, so I took a horse and went with them to the boat. The officer walks, of course. A thunder storm is upon us, the second of the season. Wrote to O.L. Barney.
[Note: the parenthetical comment "ditto means hot" appears to have been part of the original diary and not Phyllis's editorial comment.]
Tuesday May 10th
Clear and warm. Every thing looks finely. Spring is certainly the finest season of the year. 150 officers reported here today. Orders have been issued to send all officers coming to Alexandria (for transportation to the front) up here to be assigned to the Provisional Brigade. Some did not like to come and stayed in town, but yesterday an order was issued that all officers found in Alexandria tonight should be arrested and sent here under guard. This brought them out with a vengence. Some of them have rueful faces enough while other[s], devil-may-care style, are all right.
Wednesday May 11th
Warm & cloudy A.M. Rained pretty hard P.M.
J. Campbell & W. Melvin of the 9th Pennsylvania Reserve Corps went home today. Their regiment has went home to be mustered out. Brave Sedgewick & Hays are both lying in state over in the city. Died nobly in the service of their country. Our troops are driving the rebs in all parts of Virginia. We have lost in Arkansas & North Carolina, but that is of small importance compared with the fight on Rappahannock. Before this fight is over it will be the most bloody of modern times. We have already 35,000 placed hors du combat.
[Note: Sedgewick would be Major General John Sedgewick, killed by a sniper on May 9th at the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, and famous for his last words, "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." I haven't tracked down who Hays would be.]
Thursday May 12th
Rained nearly all day. Bad for the army. Received a letter from my sister. Josey is quite well again so that he can walk about some.
[Note: for estimating postal times, this letter of the 12th clearly was written before his sister had her baby on the 8th. The letter notifying Abiel of the birth is mentioned below as arriving on the 22nd--2 weeks after the birth--but of course it may not have been written and sent immediately after the event.]
Friday May 13th
Rained A.M. Cloudy P.M. No rain since M.
[Note: I don't think I've noted previously that Abiel's use of "M" here is clearly for "meridian", i.e., noon. I've let it stand whenever it appears as the meaning is fairly clear in context.]
I took 350 men to Alexandria and got them transportation on the Steamer Swan to go to Aquia creek. Glorious news from the Army of the Potomac. Campbell with his corps has captured a whole division, and also General Johnson (not Joe). He was tickled with his success that he hardly knew how to word his dispatch. Grant says, "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.
Saturday May 14th
Rained a good part of the day. Good news still comes from the front. Our arms are still triumphant. All prisoners which have been taken by the rebs and paroled have been declared exchanged by Secretary Stanton, in retaliation for the same thing being done by the Rebs. The prisoners have been ordered from Camp Parole at Annapolis Maryland to this place to be armed and sent to the front. I like that. It will show them that if they disobey the Law of Nations it will not be with impunity.
[Note: A prisoner release on parole has promised not to return to military service, while one that is exchanged presumably has no such obligation. As Abiel points out, this "gentlemen's agreement" system only works if both sides keep good faith.]
Sunday May 15th
Rained more or less all day. I never saw as hard a shower as we had this afternoon. The water actualy seemed to pile itself up. Still good news from the Army. Handcock does fight splendidly. He is capturing more guns than all the rest. The rebs are reported falling back on Lynchburg instead of Richmond. If that is so, it looks like abandoning their Capitol to us. Grant's name will soon be a watchword for all deeds of bravery. "Remember Grant" is at present the cry of our brave boys.
Tuesday May 17th 1864
Rained some today and yesterday also. We have armed and equiped about a thousand men this week and sent them to General Grant. Everything is going on well at the front. No fighting just now. I believe Sigle will have fighting to do up in the Valley before long. I received a letter from John Clemence today containing ten dollars. They are all well at Bethlehem. He says Miss Martha Denniston is teaching school in the Old School House by the church.
Wednesday May 18th 1864
Fine day. Cool enough to be pleasant. No news of importance from the Army of the Potomac.
Thursday May 19th
Clear & hot A.M. Rained P.M. Sent away 900 more men today to reinforce the Army of the Potomac. I went to Washington. Bought a pair of shoes and shirt. I took in a couple of officers to the Surgeon General who were sent here to go to the front but who were not fit for duty.
Friday May 20th
Day cool. Went in bathing this P.M. We sent nearly five hundred more fully equiped men to the Army of the Potomac today. Sigle met a slight reverse in the Valley four days ago. Lost about 600 men and three peices of artillary. Army fighting again. Handcock seems to be the one called on for the most dashing fighting.
Sunday May 22nd 1864
Day hot. Rained a little P.M. Yesterday I got a letter from Janey informing me of the safe arrial of a little stranger who bears to me the relationship of nephew. I feel almost as proud as if it was mine. I have proposed the name of Joseph for him. I took four hundred men down to Alexandria to be sent to Fort Monroe. Answered Janey's letter this P.M.
LETTER
Head Quarters, Rendezvous of Distribution May 22nd 1864
Dear Janey,
Your welcome letter containing the welcome news of the new relationship I bore to a small portion of the human family was received yesterday, and I should have answered it at once but I had so much to do that I was kept busy until 11 O.C. at night, and when I got through I was so tired that I sought my bed at once. I have also been very busy today getting a squad of four hundred men off to Fortress Monroe, and perhaps I might again have delayed answering yours, but I felt that the weight of the awful responsibility of giving a name to my little nephew would not let me sleep another night without being disposed of, so here goes.
After mature and profound deliberation, La Forge and me have come to the conclusion that, as the little stranger was ushered into the world in a time of great domestic commotion (civil war), therefore he should have two names. And I, A.T. LaForge, by the authority in me vested, do hereby declare that one of said (christened) names shall be Joseph. The choice of the other shall rest with whomsoever the parents shall see fit, provided the person whom they may choose shall not select for the other name neither of the following: Abiel [or] Teple. This matter disposed of, I must ask you to do me the favor to express my contratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Potter on the happy event. I assure you I could scarcely have experienced more pleasure if I had been married and been the happy father instead of brother Joseph. Still I do not envy him his happiness but wish him a long life and many returns of the blissful moment he will first be called papa by the little cherubs.
This is a new bond to their always warm love, and if it is possible to increase such affection as theirs, it will be increased by this pledge of their mutual reciprocation. You must keep me informed of the health of the mother and as soon as she is able consistently to write, have her write me a letter, if it is ever so short, so as to convince me that the whole of my place in her heart has not been usurped by the new affection of her mother love. I don't expect so much fuss about "poor me" now, but if you will love me a little more it will make up for what I loose by my nephew. My mind has been dwelling so much on this subject since I got your letter that I can hardly write about any thing else, but I must tear myself from the pleasing reflections it has given rise to and proceed to other matters.
Please say to Joseph that I could not find the kind of razor of which he spoke, but he must not buy any for I will get them and send them to him as soon as I can, if he will use his old one a little longer.
I suppose father wrote to you of the death of his baby, did he not? The last time he wrote to me he was going to move on his farm and build. [The baby may have been Roselia; records of Samuel LaForge's third marriage, to Mary Wakefield, list two daughters. One was named Roselia, and the second, Josephine, was born in 1865.]
I had to be up very early this morning to get a squad ready of four hundred men and march them down to Alexandria, [then] go to the Quartermaster and get a steamer detailed to carry them down to Fort Monroe. They are very anxious to get men there now to reinforce General Butler. I rather think he needs them, for he has fell back from Fort Darling and is intrenching on the banks of the river below.
The news from General Grant is unimportant. No decisive move has been made by either army since Friday. They have been doing such hard fighting for the last two weeks that they are both very willing to lay still and recruit for a time. It will not be for long however, as there is soon another decisive battle to be fought unless the rebels retreat.
The weather has been very uncertain for some time, either raining or dreadful hot. The themometer has been up to one hundred and four and six, several times. Flies, mosquitoes, gnats, bugs, &c. are getting too thick to be agreeable.
Every night our woods are filled with Whippoorwills. I believe I never heard one in Allegany. The climate is too cold for them. Did you ever hear one Janey? They always make me feel melancholy when I hear their mournful song.
You knew of soldiers' pay being raised to $16 sixteen dollars a month did you not? That is what we are getting now. I probably will not get any pay until July now. If I do not, I presume I shall have to send to you for some more.
Give my love to Mother and tell her not to over work herself just because she is Grandma to another boy. And don't let Susan kill the boy with petting him. Tell her I shall make a review of all her proceedings when I come home. Give the dear girl lots of love also. What does Maty say to the little fellow? My love to your own dear self. Bijou
[Note: As the baby was named "Oscar Abiel", evidently none of Abiel's opinions on naming were heeded!]
DIARY
Monday May 23rd
Hazy but not rainy. Not so hot as the previous days.
A stage line has been established between here and the city, running two trips a day. The charge is 50 cents each way, which I think is very resonable. No more paying $5.00 for a hack to bring a man out. He carried thirteen passengers today, which is a good beginning.
Tuesday May 24th
Clear & hot until 4 P.M., then cloudy. Windy and rainy from 7 to 9 P.M. Received a letter from Miss A. S. Porter. A very pretty one too. I feel quite disposed to love her.
Wednesday May 25th
Clear & hot until 4 P.M. Cloudy to 7. Windy & rained till 9 P.M.
I went down with some Commissary Stores, which were sent with 235 prisoners sent from this camp, with the charge of desertion against them, to Alexandria to be put in prison to wait trial by court martial.
Thursday May 26th 1864
Rained until M. then cleared off. I took a prisoner to the Alexandria Military prison today. He was a pretty bad case. He attempted to escape from camp but in his haste stumbled over a log and broke his arm. E. L Richmond, our old Sergeant Major came back to camp today pretty badly wounded. It seems to be the fate of all who leave here and go to the front to get wounded very soon after.
Sunday May 29th
Day cool. Weather since 26th very uncertain. Rainy and sunshiny all at once.
I was out gathering strawberries today. Got all I could eat and brought a few select bunches to the Colonel. They have been ripe since the 20th, on which day I saw the first of the season. An order was issued to have all detailed men examined the 25th. I was examined accordingly and marked to be sent to the hospital. So was a great many others, but we did not go, as our object was to have all men now on duty who were fit for their regiments sent to them and keep the rest here. Last night I went up to Captain Marstons to give him some orders, and just as I came out, a man took me by the hand and said, "How do you do?" It was dark and at first I did not recognize him. But after looking a moment, saw it was Jerome Remington. He was here about a year ago. I had a good talk with him and today had him examined and sent to the Hospital.
Monday May 30th
Clear but cool. We did not send the 400 men we had ready to go to the Army of Potomac as General Briggs sent us word the Quarter Master Dept had used all the boats to send other troops. Jerome R[emington] was sent from the hospital to camp again today. I had a good talk with him this evening. A marriage ceramony took place this evening after services on the Chapel. Rather a novel sight in camp. Neither the Bride nor Groom responded so that I could [hear] or anybody else. Nor did the preacher pronounce them Man and Wife--an omission which could be used by either party at their convenience.
May 31st 1864
Day clear and warm. I took a squad of one hundred & fifty men to Alexandria to go to Fort Monroe. The steamer which had been detailed to take them was ordered on some other duty and they could not go. I found a steamship laying at Pier No. 1 [that] was going to New York. As they would go in 12 miles of Old Point and the Quarter Master concluded to send the men on her, I took the order, went up to the boat found the Captain and gave it to him. He took me into the cabin, asked me to set down, brought out some wine, [and] asked me to drink. I declined. He said he loved me better for it. I had to come back over the hill as I could not get my firey horse under the Rail Road Bridge.
[Note: I think Abiel has made references to drinking alcohol before, but if I remember correctly from a previous read of the whole set of diaries, he later is clearly abstaining. That may provide context for the comments about wine here.]
Major category:
LaForge Civil War DiariesTuesday, December 13, 2016 - 07:00
Well-meaning people will offer a number of very strongly worded rules of behavior for authors. I will heartily endorse most of them, such as, "Never ever ever talk back to reviews" and "I don't care if you're a professional editor, nobody can edit their own work successfully." But there are other rules for authors that make certain unwarranted assumptions about the author's situation. I'd like to talk about two of them today: "Pay no attention at all to reviews" and "Never compare your career to that of other authors." The people who wave these rules in your face are typically coming from a place of priviledge where they have an agent, a publisher, and likely even a publisher's publicity department to do these things for you. And the simple fact is that someone needs to pay attention to reviews and to the shape of your career, and if no one else is doing so, then you need to do it for yourself.
Let's look at "pay no attention to reviews." My publisher has pull-quotes from reviews of my books on their web page for my books. You know how they know those reviews exist? I told them. This is particularly applicable to reviews of my work in SFF spaces, because those are entirely off my publisher's radar. But even in LGBTQ media spaces, I've been instructed to point out reviews of my work because otherwise there's no guarantee they'll know about them. So I not only need to know that reviews of my books exist, but I need to read them so that I can highlight particularly useful ones that my publisher can use for publicity purposes. No one else is going to do this. If I don't do it, it won't get done. Pay no attention to reviews? Wouldn't it be lovely.
How about "never compare your career to that of other authors"? This is all very well if you have a solid idea of the scope of what your career should look like. If you know what a book contract should look like and how a publisher should treat your work. If you know what reasonable timeframes are. If you know what types of publicity are useful and which types only exist to enrich someone else. (Professionally-organized blog tours? If you're paying for them, they exist only to enrich someone else.) If you don't have to organize getting your books to reviewers by yourself. (How do you know which reviewers might be interested? You compare your work to other authors and see where they're being reviewed--and you try to second-guess whether those particular review opportunities are even available to you.) If you know what types of interview and guest blog opportunities are available. (How in the world are you supposed to know who to approach about these things if you aren't comparing your work to other authors?) If you know which types of award venues will enhance your reputation and which ones will flag you as a hopeless wannabe. (It's ok to cast a broad net when you're first starting out, but eventually you need to pay serious attention to the company your books are keeping. Look at the books that win a particular award and ask yourself, "Is this a book I would be proud to lose to? Would I really consider it an honor just to be shortlisted for this award?") If you aren't paying attention to award shortlists and winners and comparing your work to them, you won't know whether it's worth submitting your books for consideration. And that could mean you either miss opportunities or you find yourself boasting of something that turns out to be a vanity award. If you don't have an agent or a publishing publicity department that follows up on these things, then you have to do it yourself. And that means spending a lot of time paying attention to other people's books.
Where is the line between studying the field to work out the appropriate expectations/baselines and looking at other authors' careeers and becoming consumed with envy? It isn't as easy to identify as you might think. It's hard to achieve something in the writing world without wanting it deeply. Wanting something deeply implies being dissatisfied with not having it. Figuring out how to achieve something that other people appear to have achieved implies thinking about that achievement. And we are all human beings. You can suppress the envy, you can conceal it, you can lock it away in a box in the back of your closet along with your secret fantasies of fame and fortune. But you can't stop being human and wanting things.
So if you're a published author with an agent and a large publisher, and you find yourself admonishing another author about obsessing over reviews and the opportunities that other authors are enjoying, check your privilege. Because even if you feel like you don't have much, it may still be worlds more than what that author has--what they even have the slimmest hope of
* * *.
Barbara Lumbeirt would seem to have a great deal of privilege in Rotenek society, but her interest in law and government brings her a great many frustrations at the invisible barriers set between a woman and full participation in that sphere. The casual discussions, debates, and tacit agreements that are hammered out in the gentlemen's clubs are, if not entirely closed to her, entered into only with the spotlight glare of surprised attention. A ball, on the other hand, serves many purposes, and Barbara has come to enjoy most of them.
* * *
Chapter 23 - Barbara
When pressed to it, Barbara had to admit that she enjoyed the grand balls of the season. That is, she had begun enjoying them after the first few years, once the suitors had given up hope of her granting them anything more than a dance and a penetrating conversation about politics. Back when she had attended on the old baron, she had stood watchfully in the arcades and galleries, focused entirely on him and those around him. In those days, she’d wondered why he bothered with dancing masters and lessons in comportment if she were only to be a spectator. She’d denied it at the time, but she’d envied the bright and elegant figures in the center of the salles, knowing she had no entrance to that world except in Baron Saveze’s service.
Then the world had turned upside down and she became Saveze.
Barbara had arrived late and danced a set with Rikerd Ovinze, and then another with Perrez Chalfin, before seeking out her hosts to exchange pleasantries. With several daughters of an age for dancing, the Alboris had become part of the backbone of the season—these grand events designed to introduce a parade of accomplished young women to a similar parade of promising young men. The family’s connection to Lord Albori, the foreign minister, meant they could attract the cream of Rotenek society, despite not falling within the upper ranks themselves. She watched Renoz Albori move through the figures in a gown of apricot silk, overlaid with silver tissue. Her sister must have accepted an offer, or she wouldn’t have been allowed to outshine her.
“Another triumph I see, Verneke,” Barbara commented, nodding in Renoz’s direction. “Mihail, I’m guesing the rumors are true that your eldest has settled her choice at last. Is your cousin here tonight? I haven’t seen him yet.”
Mihael Albori harrumphed in acknowledgment. “Yes, though I beg you’ll allow him one evening without a word of affairs in France!”
Barbara smiled, knowing that Lord Albori himself had no such aversion. It was another hour before she found herself in company with the minister and, as she had guessed, he was deep in conversation over matters unrelated to the ball.
Estapez was asking, “Are you likely to be sent back so soon? I thought Perzin was to take charge of our interests in Paris.”
“He’s a good enough boy. Very sharp. But I expect Her Grace will want someone more experienced until matters settle down again.”
Barbara guessed correctly at which matters they were discussing when Estapez returned, “But he’d been ill for quite some time. Surely the French ministers have everything in hand?”
“You’re speaking of the death of King Louis?” Barbara asked. The question briefly drew their attention, and then the circle reformed and she was accepted into the conversation.
“Nothing is ever settled until there’s a funeral and a coronation,” Albori said. “There’s no judging a king until he’s worn the crown a while. We have no idea what sort of neighbor Charles will be.”
It was the sort of idle banter that Barbara knew was common in the clubs, but she had access to it only at events such as this, or around the council hall. That made balls even more of an attraction than the dancing did. Nothing of any importance would be decided in such a setting, yet she enjoyed being accepted into the debate.
She both wished Margerit were at her side and was glad to spare her what she would find tedious. Politics amused her even less than dancing. Barbara scanned the room and her eyes settled on a tall figure at the far side. Now there was another person who appeared only grudgingly in the Grand Salle.
Antuniet stood regally at the edge of the knot of admirers surrounding Jeanne. They had come to a compromise, where Antuniet would accompany Jeanne into society on occasion, then drift away to quiet corners when the press and noise became too much. They had their little rituals to maintain the truce.
Barbara watched one of those rituals now as Jeanne reached out briefly to touch the crimson pendant that always hung at Antuniet’s throat before returning to her audience. Antuniet turned to retreat to the far end of the salle where a glassed-in conservatory opened off toward the gardens and one might find some solitude even during the bustle of a high season ball.
Something in the way that Antuniet moved nagged at Barbara’s attention. When you had trained with the sword for more than half your life, you never stopped seeing such things: a change in balance, a shift in how one carried oneself. They had met to consult on the current set of alchemical gems several times in the last weeks. Had she stood too closely to notice? Her gaze followed Antuniet’s path across the salle. At first the impossibility of the suspicion baffled her. Yet the signs were unmistakable now that she looked for them. Barbara’s lips thinned into a grim line as she counted back. Without seeming to follow, she too drifted toward the far end of the salle.
Publications:
Mother of SoulsMonday, December 12, 2016 - 07:00
The purpose of tags on Lesbian Historic Motif Project posts is to make information relatively easy to find. The topics covered under “people/event tags” identify specific historic texts and authors, or historic individuals or events that are discussed in LHMP publications. This essay is intended to explain briefly how the “people/event” tags are being used.
The second purpose is to provide a thematic tag list that the visitor can use to explore the site. The number of tags used in the project, and the organization into four different categories, doesn’t lend itself to a traditional tag-cloud. The Place and Time Period tags each have a single essay. The People/Event and Misc. Tags are covered in thematic groups in multiple essays due to the larger number.
The People/Event tag group requires some explanation of my approach in order to make sense. For historical published material, ideally I have a single tag for each relevant text that includes both the title of the work and the author’s name (if known). If the author’s personal life is also relevant to the project, or if they cover relevant themes across a significant body of work, they will generally have a separate personal tag. For historic individuals, if the person was in a specific relationship that makes them relevant to the project, I will generally have a entry for the pair, rather than individual entries, although “relationship” is interpreted broadly and fuzzily here. Because my tagging system has emerged as I work, rather than being carefully planned, there are some inconsistencies. I often go back and adjust tags on existing posts when I notice. In general, I’ll only tag a person or publication if they are mentioned in my write-up, rather than tagging for everything mentioned in the original text. The tags are meant to help the user explore the site, rather than being an exhaustive index.
I’m planning six essays for the People/Event Tags, each covering a general category with several subcategories. In addition to the current essay, People/Event essays will cover:
- Historic Crossdressing and Passing/Transgender People
- Historic People Relevant for Emotional, Affectionate, or Sexual Relationships
- Literary Examples of Crossdressing or Gender Disguise
- Literary Examples of Emotional, Affectionate, or Sexual Relationships
- Poetry Expressing Romantic or Sexual Relationships
Note: The new automated cross-posting functions of my blog means for readers on LIveJournal or via RSS, LHMP posts will include the introductory text, but the reader will need to click through for the main content. I hope that readers in those venues will consider the Project interesting enough to do so!
ETA: Evidently the system still needs some tweaking, as the version of this post on the Alpennia.com site was supposed to include the actual content! So click through here to see what was supposed to follow this text automatically.
The purpose of tags is to make information relatively easy to find. The topics covered under “people/event tags” are historical persons, authors, written works, and other specific events, organizations, or works that are the subject of the research and publications covered by the Project. This essay is intended to explain briefly how the “people/event” tags are being used.
The second purpose is to provide a tag list that the visitor can use to explore the site. The number of tags used in the project, and the organization into four different categories, doesn’t lend itself to a traditional tag-cloud. The Place and Time Period tags each have a single essay. The Event/Person and Misc. Tags will be covered in thematic groups in multiple essays due to the larger number.
I’m planning six essays for the People/Event Tags, each covering a general category with several subcategories.
- Non-Fiction Sources and General Authors
- Historic Crossdressing and Passing/Transgender People
- Historic People Relevant for Emotional, Affectionate, or Sexual Relationships
- Literary Examples of Crossdressing or Gender Disguise
- Literary Examples of Emotional, Affectionate, or Sexual Relationships
- Poetry Expressing Romantic or Sexual Relationships
This page introduces the reader to the first set of People/Events tags, which includes the following groupings:
- Authors (or their works) describing gender or sexuality issues as non-fiction
- Authors (or their works) discussing gender/sexuality issues in a more theoretical fashion
- Authors who frequently address issues of gender or sexuality in literary works (individual works may also be tagged)
- Authors who frequently includes descriptions of sex between women in literary works (individual works may also be tagged)
- Miscellaneous items, currently including specific works of art and social institutions (both historic and fictional)
Authors (or their works) describing gender or sexuality issues as non-fiction, especially those citing specific persons or cases.
The number of Arabic-language writers in this group is to some extent a result of the greater willingness of medieval Islamic culture to discuss the topic explicitly. Another significant group is “medical” writers who have suddenly discovered the clitoris and concluded it either causes or is caused by lesbian activity. Also included are travelogue type works where there is no specific person or case that can be identified.
- Abu Nasr bin Yahya bin Abbas al-Maghribi al-Samaw’uli - 12th century writer in Arabic who discusses why women might prefer lesbianism.
- Ahmad Bin Mohamad Bin Ali al-Yemeni - 9th century writer in Arabic who discusses a wide variety of topics related to lesbianism.
- Al Jaheth (quoting Muthana Bin Zuhair) - 9th century writer in Arabic who discusses variations of sexual orientation/preference in people and animals.
- Ambroise Paré - 16th century French author who wrote “Memorable Stories About Women Who Have Degenerated Into Men” (1573), i.e., case histories of transgender or intersex individuals interpreted as having experienced a physiological sex change.
- André du Laurens - 16th century French medical writer who discussed the function of the clitoris and its relation to lesbianism.
- Avicenna - Persian intellectual (980-1037) whose medical writings include a discussion of female sexual response, with including sex between women.
- Caelius Aurelianus - 4th century Roman writer who discusses varieties of sexual orientation, including lesbianism.
- Diwan Al-Sababa (Ibn Abi Hajala) - 15th century Arabic writer who makes passing reference to lesbianism.
- Helkiah Crooke - 17th century English medical writer who discussed the function of the clitoris and its relation to lesbianism.
- Hester Thrale - 18th century English socialite and diarist who commented (usually negatively) on women and men she believed to be homosexual.
- Jane Sharp - The author of The Midwives Book (England, 1671), which included discussions of the function of the clitoris and its supposed association with lesbian desire.
- Jean-Baptiste Tavernier - A French traveler in Turkey (1587) who wrote on lesbian practices in the harem.
- Leo Africanus - Berber-Andalusian writer (c. 1494 – c. 1554?) whose descriptive work on North African cultures includes a description of female fortune-tellers in Fez who seduce women.
- Ludovico Sinistrari - Italian author of a medical treatise (1700) that discusses lesbian sex.
- Medicinal Epistles (Richard Carr) - 18th Century English medical text that covers sexual issues, including the supposed relationship of the clitoris to lesbianism.
- Nicholas de Nicholay - His “Navigations into Turkey” includes stories about lesbian activity in harems. (France, 1576)
- Nuzhat al-Albâb fîmâ lâ Yûjad fî Kitâb (The Diversion of the Hearts by What is Not to Be Found in Any Book) (Ahmad Ibn Yusuf al-Tîfâshî) - 13th century writer in Arabic of an encyclopedic work that includes a chapter on lesbianism.
- Ottaviano Bey - 16th century Venetian visitor to the Ottoman Court who discusses lesbianism in Turkish harems.
- Phillip Camerarius - 17th century German author of a treatise discussing transvestism.
- Plutarch - 1st century Greek author who describes Spartan women as participating in an equivalent of the erastes/eromenos relationship.
- Rare Verities (Richard Head) - An English translation (1687) of a medical text by Joannes Benedictus Sinibaldus which discussed to relationship of the clitoris to lesbian activity.
- Rodrigo de Castro - 16th century Spanish writer who discusses the function of the clitoris and its relation to lesbianism.
- Sharif al-Idrisi - 12th c Arabic author who describes an inherent lesbian orientation in some women.
- The Mysteries of Conjugal Love Reveal’d (Nicholas Venette) - An English translation (1707) of Nicholas Venette’s sexual manual. It discusses “unnatural” sexual practices, including lesbianism, as well as discussing types of “hermaphrodites”.
- Theatrum vitae humane (Theodor Zwinger) - 16th century Swiss biographical dictionary that has a section on “tribades”.
- Thomas Gibson - Author of an English anatomy textbook (1682) that associates lesbianism with an enlarged clitoris.
- Tractatus de Hermaphroditus or a Treatise of Hermaphrodites (Giles Jacob) - 18th century Englsh text on “hermaphrodites,” which touches on intersex, transgender, and homosexual topics.
- Turkish Letters (Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq) - By a 16th century Flemish ambassador to the Ottoman court, describing lesbian activity in Turkish harems.
- Wonders of the Little World (Nathaniel Wanley) - 17th century English book of “curiosities” that includes a list of spontaneous sex-changes, primarily f>m.
Authors (or their works) discussing gender/sexuality issues in a more theoretical fashion
- Al-Muhalla (Ibn Hazm Al-Andalusi) - 11th century writer in Arabic who discusses to Islamic legal context of lesbianism.
- Bartolommeo della Rocca - 15th century Italian writer who discusses physiological signs of sexual orientation, specifically in the context of chiromancy (palm-reading).
- Hic Mulier - Anonymous English polemic tract (1620) against women wearing masculine attire and accessories.
- Kanz Al-Umal (Al-Mutqee Al-Hindi) - 16th century writer in Arabic who discusses the Islamic legal context of homosexuality.
- Paul’s Epistle - New Testament text generally interpreted as addressing lesbianism.
- Salwat Al-Ahzan lil Ijtinab ‘an Mujalasat al-Ahdath wal Niswan (al-Mashtoolee) - 18th century writer in Arabic who discusses the Islamic legal context of homosexuality.
- The Anatomie of Abuses (Philip Stubbes) - 16th century English polemic against various customs, specifically including women wearing masculine garments.
Authors who frequently address issues of gender or sexuality in literary works (if I also have a tag for individual works by the author, I’ve listed those here)
Authors whose work includes descriptions of sex between women where the work is a mix of fact and fiction, or the factuality is uncertain.
- Aphra Behn - 17th century English playwright and poet whose work includes female homoerotic themes and who may have had romantic or sexual relationships with women.
- The False Count (Aphra Behn)
- To the Fair Clorinda (Aphra Behn)
- Agnes de Castro (Aphra Behn or Catharine Trotter Cockburn) - Note: This refers to two separate works by this title, but discussions aren’t always clear which is being discussed so I’ve combined them.
- Margaret Cavendish - 17th century English philosopher and Duchess of Newcastle whose works include themes of female homoeroticism and women-only societies.
- The Convent of Pleasure (Margaret Cavendish)
- Matrimonial Trouble (Margaret Cavendish)
- Love’s Adventures (Margaret Cavendish)
- The Comical Hash (Margaret Cavendish)
- Mary Astell - 18th c English writer on topics that include feminism and marriage resistance.
- William Shakespeare - 16th century English playwright whose works often touch on themes of gender disguise or friendship between women.
- Twelfth Night (William Shakespeare)
- As You Like It (William Shakespeare)
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream (William Shakespeare)
- Titus Andronicus (William Shakespeare)
- The Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare)
- Much Ado About Nothing (William Shakespeare)
- Pericles (William Shakespeare)
- The Winter’s Tale (William Shakespeare)
- Two Noble Kinsmen (William Shakespeare and John Fletcher)
Miscellaneous items, currently including specific works of art and social institutions (both historic and fictional)
- August Strindberg - 19th century Swedish writer who satirized his ex-wife as a lesbian, with explicit sexual descriptions.
- Guy de Maupassant - 19th century French writer who used themes of decadent lesbian sexuality.
- Lives of Gallant Ladies (Pierre de Bourdeille seigneur de Brantôme) - 16th century French work on memorable women that includes rumors and anecdotes about purported lesbians, both historic and contemporary.
- On the Beauty of Women (Agnolo Firenzuola) - 16th century Italian work that discusses love between women, both platonic and carnal.
- Onanism (Samuel Tissot) - English polemic (1766) against masturbation, categorizing lesbianism as “mutual masturbation” between women.
- Anandrine Sect - A fictitious secret lesbian sex club of later 18th century France to which were attributed bizarre and scandalous sexual rituals.
- Casa della Zitelle - A 15-16th century Venetian charitable institution for “at risk girls” that considered the potential for homoerotic relationships.
- Women Bathing (Jeanne Mignon) - 16th century French etching depicting nude women in a bathhouse, including erotic interactions.
Saturday, December 10, 2016 - 16:00
This is only a test. If this works, then posting a blog entry at Alpennia.com will automatically cross-post to Live Journal.
Friday, December 9, 2016 - 11:00
Well, I saw it. Lots of fabulous effects, especially in creating the creatures. But also lots of unanalyzed tropes that felt worse than lazy. The ditzy blonde with the heart of gold. The callously predatory mentor of a teenage boy where the relationship involved enough physical affection to cross the line (for me) into evoking pedophilia. The message that you can be an endearingly dorky guy and still be a hero, but if you're a tormented broken outsider, you have to die. And for a story that engages with themes about prejudice and persecution, there's a startling lack of addressing racial issues in 1920s New York, whether it's the complete glossing over of the contradictions of having a black MACUSA president who would face dual prejudices in "nomaj" society, or the substitution of non-human background characters for what would be expected to be black roles in the nightclub scenes.
It isn't awful...it's just...not very self-aware. But we sort of knew it was going to be like that, didn't we?
[I'm posting this a day early as part of trying to trouble-shoot some access issues with new posts.]
Friday, December 9, 2016 - 07:02
This is not an actual blog entry. This is an attempt to troubleshoot the display and feed of blog entries which has gone completely bonkers. Today's blog should be a movie review of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. If you miss it, it's unimportant. (That goes for both the review and the movie.)
Thursday, December 8, 2016 - 13:00
This post is mostly an exercise in convincing myself that I've been productive this year, even though I only had two pieces of fiction come out (and one of those was a self-published free novelette). I hope that it may have a second purpose, which is to entice people who don't follow my blog to consider doing so. I will freely confess that one of the reasons I blog so extensively is that pernicious voice whispering in my brain, "Maybe if you just write enough, if you research enough, if you make yourself useful enough to other people, maybe then they'll want to talk to you and be your friend." I recognize this for the fallacy it is. No one has contracted with me for this output. No one owes me eyes or attention. And there are wonderful people who would be my friend even if I weren't blogging. But there it is: I own that aspect of it. I even blogged about it. (Of course I did.)
For entries posted in the first 3/4 of the year, I'm mostly linking to Live Journal (exceptions being some of the longer series that have their own tag at the Alpennia.com blog). Entries from the last 1/4 or so of the year (after I set up a blog at my own website) are linked to my Alpennia Blog.
So what have I written this year? Here's a brief overview. The majority of this material either falls generally in SFF topics, or in historical topics (especially my lesbian history project and related material).
- General essays (11)
- Essays on the process of writing (does not include minor posts on writing progress or promotion) (41)
- Convention reports (4)
- Lesbian Historic Motif Project
- Publications covered (27)
- Podcasts (5)
- Queer Sci Fi columns (4)
- Other Historic Research (includes the start of an extensive primary source material project) (3)
- Essays on gardening and cooking (6)
- Reviews
- Lesbian movie reviews (an ongoing series) (5)
- General movies (7)
- Novels (23)
- Graphic novels (5)
- Audio fiction (7 but this includes some multi-item posts)
- Live theater (6)
Random Thoughts and Philosophical Discussions
Non-Industrial Metaphors for Anger (2016/02/03) - More on the topic of metaphoric reasoning.
Failure Modes of Metaphoric Thinking (2016/02/10) - The conclusion of my brief series on the topic.
To Do and To Let Be (2016/03/10) - How do you know when something will improve spontaneously?
Poem: 2016 (2016/044/21) - Inspired by the conversation about notable deaths in 2016.
Process of Writing (does not include general progress reports and teasers for Mother of Souls)
Guest Blog: Lesbian Fiction Appreciation Event (2016/01/30) - "Puzzle it Out"
Unicorn Management, or Inspiration Around Us (2016/02/11) - Just where do I get my ideas?
Revisions, Revisions, Revisions (2016/06/07) - An overall look at my book revision process.
The Awkwardness of Category Defaults, or Under What Circumstances am I a Man Writing Gay Sci Fi?
A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody... (2016/09/08) - Musical structures and fictional structures.
To Dance, Perchance to Dream (2016/10/11) - On inventing social customs for a fictional country.
Convention Reports (Many of my convention reports discuss issues of being an introvert at SFF conventions, just in case this is a particular interest of the reader)
Kalamazoo Medieval Conference (2016/05/13-15)
- Session 286: Hermaphrodites: Genitalia, Gender, and Being Human in the Middle Ages (A Roundtable)
- Session 352: New Circles/ New Voices
- Session 450: Rolls and Scrolls after the Codex: New Approaches to an Old Technology
- Session 514: Dress and Textiles II: Codes, Classification, Camouflage
Bay Con (2016/05/28-31)
Worldcon (2016/08/17-21)
111. Walen, Denise A. 2005. Constructions of Female Homoeroticism in Early Modern Drama. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-6875-3
112. Castle, Terry (ed). 2003. The Literature of Lesbianism: A Historical Anthology from Ariosto to Stonewall. Columbia University Press, New York. ISBN 0-231-12510-0
113. Bennett, Paula. “The Pea That Duty Locks: Lesbian and Feminist-Heterosexual Readings of Emily Dickinson’s Poetry” in Jay, Karla & Joanne Glasgow (eds). 1990. Lesbian Texts and Contexts: Radical Revisions. New York University Press, New York. ISBN 0-8147-4177
114. Zimmerman, Bonnie. “’The Dark Eye Beaming’: Female Friendship in George Eliot’s Fictions” in Jay, Karla & Joanne Glasgow (eds). 1990. Lesbian Texts and Contexts: Radical Revisions. New York University Press, New York. ISBN 0-8147-4177
115. Brown, Judith C. 1984. “Lesbian Sexuality in Renaissance Italy: The Case of Sister Benedetta Carlini” in Signs 9 (1984): 751-58. (reprinted in: Freedman, Esteele B., Barbara C. Gelpi, Susan L. Johnson & Kathleen M. Weston. 1985. The Lesbian Issue: Essays from Signs. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. ISBN 0-2256-26151-4)
116. Newton, Esther. “The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman” in Signs 9 (1984): 557-575. (reprinted in: Freedman, Esteele B., Barbara C. Gelpi, Susan L. Johnson & Kathleen M. Weston. 1985. The Lesbian Issue: Essays from Signs. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. ISBN 0-2256-26151-4)
117. Lansing, Carol. 2005. “Donna con Donna? A 1295 Inquest into Female Sodomy” in Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History: Sexuality and Culture in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, Third Series vol. II: 109-122.
118. Lyons, Clare A. 2007. “Mapping an Atlantic Sexual Culture: Homoeroticism in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia” in: Foster, Thomas A. (ed). Long Before Stonewall: Histories of Same-Sex Sexuality in Early America. New York University Press, New York. ISBN 13-978-0-8147-2749-2
119. Ingrassia, Catherine. 2003. “Eliza Haywood, Sapphic Desire, and the Practice of Reading” in: Kittredge, Katharine (ed). Lewd & Notorious: Female Transgression in the Eighteenth Century. The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. ISBN 0-472-11090-X
120. Lanser, Susan S. 2003. “Queer to Queer: The Sapphic Body as Transgressive Text” in Kittredge, Katharine (ed.) Lewd & Notorious: Female Transgressions in the Eighteenth Century. The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. ISBN 0-472-11090-X
121. Durling, Nancy Vine. 1989. “Rewriting Gender: Yde et Olive and Ovidian Myth” in Romance Languages Annual 1: 256-62.
122. Lardinois, André. “Lesbian Sappho and Sappho of Lesbos” in Bremmer, Jan. 1989. From Sappho to de Sade: Moments in the HIstory of Sexuality. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-02089-1
123. Jelinek, Estelle. 1987. “Disguise Autobiographies: ‘Women Masquerading as Men’” in Women’s Studies International Forum, 10, pp.53-62.
124. Dover, K. J. 1978. Greek Homosexuality. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 0-674-36261-6
125. Clarke, John R. 1998. Looking at Lovemaking: Constructions of Sexuality in Roman Art 100 B.C.-A.D. 250. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-20024-1
126. Friedli, Lynne. 1987. “Passing Women: A Study of Gender Boundaries in the Eighteenth Century” in Rousseau, G. S. and Roy Porter (eds). Sexual Underworlds of the Enlightenment. Manchester University Press, Manchester. ISBN 0-8078-1782-1
127. Hobby, Elaine. 1991. “Katherine Philips: Seventeenth-Century Lesbian Poet” in Hobby, Elaine & Chris White (eds). What Lesbians do in Books. Women’s Press, London.
128. Wheelwright, Julie. 1989. Amazons and Military Maids: Women who Dressed as Men in the Pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Happiness. Pandora, London. ISBN 0-04-440494-8
129. Crompton, Louis. 1985. “The Myth of Lesbian Impunity: Capital Laws from 1270 to 1791” in Licata, Salvatore J. & Robert P. Petersen (eds). The Gay Past: A Collection of Historical Essays. Harrington Park Press, New York. ISBN 0-918393-11-6 (Also published as Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 6, numbers 1/2, Fall/Winter 1980.)
130. Eriksson, Brigitte. 1985. “A Lesbian Execution in Germany, 1721: The Trial Records” in Licata, Salvatore J. & Robert P. Petersen (eds). The Gay Past: A Collection of Historical Essays. Harrington Park Press, New York. ISBN 0-918393-11-6 (Also published as Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 6, numbers 1/2, Fall/Winter 1980.)
131. Monter, E. William. 1985. “Sodomy and Heresy in Early Modern Switzerland” in Licata, Salvatore J. & Robert P. Petersen (eds). The Gay Past: A Collection of Historical Essays. Harrington Park Press, New York. ISBN 0-918393-11-6 (Also published as Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 6, numbers 1/2, Fall/Winter 1980.)
132. Jennings, Rebecca. 2007. A Lesbian History of Britain: Love and Sex Between Women Since 1500. Greenwood World Publishing, Oxford. ISBN 978-1-84645-007-5
133. Traub, Valerie. “The Past is a Foreign Country? The Times and Spaces of Islamicate Sexuality Studies” in Babayan, Kathryn and Afsaneh Najmabadi (eds.). 2008. Islamicate Sexualities: Translations Across Temporal Geographies of Desire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03204-0
134. Amer, Sahar. “Cross-Dressing and Female Same-Sex Marriage in Medieval French and Arabic Literatures” in Babayan, Kathryn and Afsaneh Najmabadi (eds.). 2008. Islamicate Sexualities: Translations Across Temporal Geographies of Desire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03204-0
135. Epps, Brad. “Comparison, Competition, and Cross-Dressing: Cross-Cultural Analysis in a Contested World” in Babayan, Kathryn and Afsaneh Najmabadi (eds.). 2008. Islamicate Sexualities: Translations Across Temporal Geographies of Desire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03204-0
136. Babayan, Kathryn. “’In Spirit We Ate Each Other’s Sorrow’ Female Companionship in Seventeenth-Century Safavi Iran” in Babayan, Kathryn and Afsaneh Najmabadi (eds.). 2008. Islamicate Sexualities: Translations Across Temporal Geographies of Desire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03204-0
137. Faderman, Lillian. 1981. Surpassing the Love of Men. William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York. ISBN 0-688-00396-6
LHMP Podcast #1: Ordinary Women (2016/08/26)
LHMP Podcast #2: Same-Sex Marriage in Restoration England (2016/09/24)
Special Lesbian Talkshow Podcast with Suzie Carr: The Masks We Wear (2016/10/27)
Special Halloween LHMP Podcase: The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti (2016/10/29)
LHMP Podcast #3: "Bosom Sex" in 19th Century America
Queer Fantasy Roots Column at Queer Sci Fi #4: The Changing Role of Amazons (2016/11/15)
Random Research
Gardening and Cooking (does not include minor garden-progress posts)
Three Fantasy Gardens (2016/03/31) - A prompted essay.
Sex in the Garden (2016/06/16) - Manual pollination of squashes, what did you think it was about?
Reviews: Movies - Lesbian (Link is to the overall index page for my lesbian movie reviews)
Portrait of a Marriage (2016/03/11)
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (2016/04/15)
Lost and Delirious (2016/04/22)
Imagine Me and You (2016/10/28)
Reviews: Movies - Other
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Reviews: Books
Allegiance by Beth Bernobich (2016/01/15)
Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher (2016/02/12)
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Extended series of posts)
Letters to Tiptree (ed. Alisa Krasnostein and Alexandra Pierce) (2016/02/19)
Four Lesbian Historic Romances of the 1980s (2016/03/03)
- A Mistress Moderately Fair - by Katherine Sturtevant (Alyson Publications, 1988)
- Pembroke Park - by Michelle Martin (Naiad Press, 1986)
- Behind the Mask - by Kim Larabee (Alyson Publications, 1989)
- Moll Cutpurse: Her True History - by Ellen Galford (Firebrand Books, 1985)
Vermillion by Molly Tanzer (2016/03/04)
Black Wolves by Kate Elliott (2016/04/29)
The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher (2016/05/06)
Through the Hourglass ed. by Sacchi Green and Patty G. Henderson (2016/06/03)
Graveyard Sparrow by Kayla Bashe (2016/06/10)
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold (2016/06/24)
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2016/07/15)
Masks and Shadows by Stephanie Burgis (2016/07/22)
Goddess by Kelly Gardiner (2016/08/12)
The Emperor's Agent by Jo Graham (2016/09/02)
Everfair by Nisi Shawl (2016/10/21)
The Sisterhood by Penelope Friday (2016/11/18)
Reviews: Graphic Stories
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua (2016/01/22)
Reviews: Audio Fiction
Tremontaine by (multiple authors) (2016/02/05)
The Little Dog Ohori by Anatoly Belilovsky (2016/03/18)
Podcastle.org (2016/04/01) - Episodes 402-408
The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado (Podcastle.org Episode 409) (2016/04/08)
Podcastle.org (2016/07/08) - Episodes 410-421
The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer (2016/09/24)
Podcastle.or (2016/09/30) - Episodes 422-434
Reviews: Live Theater
Mary Page Marlowe (2016/05/20)
Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare) (2016/06/17)
Fences (August Wilson) (2016/08/05)
You Never Can Tell (George Bernard Shaw) (2016/09/09)
Major category:
PromotionWednesday, December 7, 2016 - 07:00
The diary entries for April 1864 are full of weather and some of the harder parts of army life. Mixed in with escorting troops and prisoners, delayed pay packets, and games of billiards, there's an account of the predatory results of mixing hardened deserters with convalescents on a transport ship and trying to sort out the aftermath when they arrive. And there's an account of an execution interrupted with what must have been a rather cruel pause in the proceedings. And in the middle of this, just as Abiel is making plans to end his convalescent duties and rejoin his original regiment (the New York 85th Volunteers), word comes that they've been captured by Confederate troops. (They were sent to the infamous Andersonville prison.) So, as Abiel says, the plan to rejoin them is out unless he goes to Richmond to do so. (Another example of his dry humor.)
April 1864
[PUNCTUATION AND SPELLING ARE COPIED FROM THE ORIGINALS. EDITORIAL COMMENTS ARE IN BOLD TYPE.]
Diary: April 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
Letter: April 16, 1864 - In-camp activities, dealing with deserters, delayed pay
Diary: April 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27
Letter: April 27, 1864 - His original regiment is captured and taken to Andersonville, 9th Army Corps moves to Washington
Diary: April 29
Friday April 1st 1864
A.M. Cloudy. P.M. rained. We sent a large squad of men to Camp Chase today. I wrote a letter to Barton tonight. I have got the diarrhea again.
Saturday 2nd
A cold sleet has fallen all day. Very muddy and disagreeable. An order came tonight of 7 companies of the Invalid Corps now on duty here. It will take nearly all the detail men in camp. Four have to go out of this office.
Sunday 3rd
Cloudy but not rainy, quite pleasant walking. Sergeant and me enjoyed ourselves very much this p.m. Took a walk up by Fort Richardson and came back by the way of Fort Barnard. [It] looks like rain tonight. I wrote to Uncle John in answer to his letter [of] the 11th ult[imate]. I got a letter from Mrs Nelson Crandall and one from Mr Sherman Crandall. Mrs Crandall says she has assumed the place of a mother and craves a blessing on me as on an absent son. Sherman says they are making maple sugar at a fine rate up there. A thousand pounds already made.
[Note: Abiel's own mother died at some point before he was 7 years old and he doesn't seem to have had an affectionate relationship with his father's second wife. When his jounals and letters make reference to "Mother" he is referring to his sister Susan's mother in law. 2nd Note: The Potter family (the Susan married into) continued in the maple syrup/sugar business well into my generation and my mother often brought back jugs of their syrup after visiting with them.]
Monday 4th
Rained again. I think it only held up yesterday because it was sabbath. The seven companies of the Veteran Reserve Corps came over today to take the place of those sent away this morning.
Tuesday 5th
Rained all day. The boys say when the tide is up the water sweeps clear across the Long Bridge. We have had so much rain lately that the river is at an unprecedented height. I think it will clear up tomorrow. The wind is getting in the North.
Wednesday 6th
Warm and pleasant. Mud rapidly drying up. Captain Crawford got back from his leave of absence just at dark.
Thursday 7th
Clear and warm. Roads almost dry. I received a very amusing letter from Miss Anne Porter. Had a good laugh over it.
Friday, April 8th
Clear & warm. Looks like another storm tonight. I am reading McClellan's report. I do think that no General ever had so fine an oppertunity to accomplish great deeds as he did with his splendid army and its equipments. I believe that he did not try to accomplish all he could. As soon as he was relieved from the position of General in Chief, he seemed to lose his energy.
Saturday 9th
Rained all day. I took two men over to the city in an ambulance, one of them in irons. He has been court martialed and sentenced to ten months hard labor with a ball & chain & to forfeit to the government $10 per month. The other was to go to Depot Camp Meridian Hill. An order has been in force for several days to take up all ambulances found in town that did not have a pass from the Medical Director showing that they were used for medical purposes. I was expecting to be taken up by the patrol all the time, but as luck would have it was not. I ordered the driver to come back by the way of the Aquaduct Bridge. Roads in that direction are in a very bad condition. One days rain spoils them entirely.
[Note: Abiel has mentioned elsewhere that he's in the habit of commandeering ambulances for ordinary transport purposes when possible, so this seems to have been a regular problem for the army.]
Sunday 10th
A.M. cloudy, but not rainy. Cleared up at M. & thls P.M. very pleasant.
No rest for the wicked. I have been at work since 7 a.m. at the commissary papers for March. They should have been sent up to be examined before this, but Captain Hoyt has a new man at the work and they have been longer than common in making them out, and now there is a good many mistakes to be corrected. They should be ready to go in tomorrow and I have worked till this time 9 O.C. P.M. to get them ready. My sister has not answered my letter asking if Joseph [note: their father] was any better yet. I am afraid he is very bad and she does not like to let me know it. I had much rather she would, for certainty is better than this suspense. I have been adding, subtracting, dividing, multiplying, reducing, comparing, and balancing so much to day that I will not write to Uncle John tonight as I expected to.
Monday 11th
Cloudy, no rain. It is now 11 o.c. & 40 minutes. I have just finished a letter to Mrs Crandall and one to Sherman also. I got up this morning at half past three, so in the last 24 hours I haye been at work 20. The Potomac is so high that the Long Bridge is impassable. This bridge is usually 8 feet above the water, but now the water is three or four feet above it. The [plain] is overflowed for 3/4 of a mile on this side which makes the river two miles wide now. Fear is entertained that the bridge will be swept away. Ten of our barracks are now used by order of General Casey for stationing regiments in, when they arrive here, until they can get their quarters up.
Tuesday 12th
Warm & pleasant. I wrote to Mrs Crandall & Mr Sherman Crandall last night. Went up to the room and played billiards tonight. I feel much better now, for today I received a letter from my sister saying that Joseph was a little better, although still very sick. Poor sister! I hope she will not get sick herself by over-doing herself. She always is so kind to a sick person and pretends never to feel fatigue in tending them. I really believe she is the best and most kind-hearted woman [that] ever lived. Such a good nurse, never getting tired or angry with [the] foibles of a sick person. Always ready and willing. She wins the love of all she nurses, and that is not a few, for she is called on more times than a few by all in their neighborhood. God bless her.
Wednesday 13th
Clear & warm. About 300 deserters came in today from Governors Island, New York. They were a hard set. A gang of about 60 of them was banded together on the boat and they robbed and treated the others just as they pleased. They were all down in the ‘tween decks: Convalescents, Stragglers, & Deserters. This gang would divide into squads of four or five. A squad would go up to a man that they thought had any money and tell him to “shell out.” No matter whether he obeyed and gave them his pocket book or not, they would lay him down, take off his boots and clothes, and search them all to see if there was any money hid about him. If they felt a place in the lining of any part of the clothes that was a little thicker than the rest they would cut it open. If the clothes were good and they wanted any of them, they kept them. They broke into the cabin and like to killed the Lieutenant commanding the Guard of the boat. They stabbed a Sergeant, but he had a steel lined vest on and it saved his life. They played the devil generally.
The whole thing was reported to Colonel McKelvy, and as soon as the men had been put in the Deserters Division where we keep a double guard, he had them drawn up in line & searched. They dared make no resistance for they would have been shot like dogs as they are. Over a thousand dollars was taken from them, beside watches & jewelry to a considerable amount. This money is to be payed over to the Convalescents & others who can prove the amount stolen from them. This is not the first but still the most wholsale robbery of the kind that has occurred on the boats coming from New York city.
Thursday 14th April
Warm & clear. Last night our detectives sought some smugglers crossing whiskey from Washington to this side of the river. One man, a horse and buggy, and two kegs of whiskey were captured. The boat and men which brought it across the river escaped. Mr man is now in our guardhouse and our detectives have gone down tonight to see if they will not attempt to land some more.
I have written to Miss A.S. Porter tonight. Edmunds & myself played billiards aganst Sergt Beaugureau (our crack player) today and beat him 35 points. Peach, pear, and cherry trees in bloom.
Friday 15th
Day cloudy. Will rain tomorrow.
Nothing of importance occurred. All quiet along the line.
LETTER
Headquarters Rendezvous Distribution, April 16th 1864
Dear Sister,
Yours of the 7th inst[ant] was duly received. You can imagine what a relief it was to me, for I thought all the time that Joseph must be very sick and you did not like to write and inform me of his true state. I am sure I was much more uneasy than if you had written at once. Poor Josey! I hope when you receive this he will be enough better to at least sit up. You say [he] is so [blank] and quiet all the time that you are afraid he is not much better. I bet if I was there and sick, and you should tell me I would get well as soon as I got cross, that I would not be long in making you believe I was well at any rate. Why, don't you know that you made a reflection on all men when you stated that as soon as they got well they began being unbearable? Now, of course, I cannot allow you to have such an opinion without trying in some way to enlighten you on the subject. I don't know as it will be necessary to go to that trouble though, for when I consider that you must be nearly crazy watching and working I hardly have the heart to differ with you, even if my reputation as a member of the race called man is at stake, so let it went.
It was but little after five O.C. A.M. when I got up to write this so that I could send it by today's mail. I don't wish you to think that I seldom get up so early, for I often do. Very often, in fact once nearly every month, so you must know I am a very early riser. I seldom go to bed until after ten oclock, and very frequently not till after eleven oclock at night. I sit up reading, writing, talking, or playing billiards or chess. When I learn a game, I do hate to give it up untill I get so that I can beat anybody I play with. If I was content to let a game alone, or at least only play once in a while after I have learned, it would be much better for me. Cards, I never play. Do not think I have played with them but once since New Year's Eve. With them I have no ambition to excell.
It is raining this morning. Has been doing so for nearly two weeks until three days ago. The Potomac was never before known to be so high as it was last week. The Long Bridge, which is usualy eight feet above the water, was compleately covered. The plain three quarters of a mile on this side was covered, making the river two miles wide. Such a rise of water in a river the size of the Potomac is a very uncommon thing. We for a long time thought the bridge would be carried away, but it was not. All travel for a time between here and Washington had to be done by the way of the Aquaduct Bridge. I went over to Washington with an ambulance while the river was up and we like to have stuck fast in the mud about half a mile this side of the Aquaduct, with only myself and driver in it.
We have been having a rather busy time doing work for the Criminal Court for a few days past. A squad of two hundred deserters came on a boat from New York with some hundred and fifty other soldiers. They were all turned in together and treated alike. There was only a guard of fourteen men on the boat and they were afraid to do anything, so the deserters ran the whole thing. Dividing into gangs of five, they went through the boat and when they saw a man among the soldiers that looked as if he had any money, they quietly told him to give what he had. If he did or did not, it was all the same. They at once collared him, pulled off all his clothes, felt the pockets and linings. If they found a place where money could be concealed, they cut it open at once. When they were through searching, if they took a favor to any of his clothes, they appropriated them without saying "by your leave sir". As soon as they arrived at this camp, it was at once reported to the Colonel. He went down to see the men (convalescents). Their clothes were all cut up whereever there was a possible chance of hiding money. One man showed us where he had been stabbed for resisting them. He hapened to have on one of those steel lined vests, and it saved his life.
As soon as the deserters had been put in the barracks set aside and doubly guarded for their especial benefit, the Colonel ordered them to be searched and all money and jewelry taken from them. What a satisfaction it was for me to see them drawn up in a line, with such a guard around them that they dare not say a word, and be obliged to go through just what they had made the unarmed convalescents [go through], and all the money and other valuables found on them taken away! Their faces could grow as black as they pleased, but they could resist no more than could the men from whom they had taken the money now being taken from them. We got over a thousand dollars, besides watches, rings, chains, dirks, pistols, &c. These are to be kept in a safe and any person who can prove that they have lost such things as we took from these fellows and describe them will get them back. Also, if they can prove the amount of money they lost, they will get it back, the same with any articles of clothing in the possession of the deserters. This is not the first time we have heard complaints of this kind, but every time a boat comes from New York it is the same. But this is the first time we have made such a wholesale retribution for the sake of justice. It will teach these fellows a lesson at any rate.
We have not been paid since the payment for December 1863 and I am entirely out of money. I declare I will soon believe there is no such thing as an honest soldier, and never lend another cent of money to them. I have let them (detailed men) have a dollar or so until they are paid, and the first thing one knows they are off to their regiments. Lots of times I have been fooled, but I will be no more. Please tell Perry to send me a couple of dollars in your next [letter] and charge the same to my account. An order came the day before yesterday to send to their regiments all detailed men not belonging to the Veteran Reserve Corps (Invalid Corps). I dont know how soon the order will be carried out, so you had best write soon as possible.
I hope you are having a more pleasant day than we are. If not, it will be a very bad one for Josey. Oh how dreary a rainy day seems to a sick person! I pray that your next [letter] will bring me news of his improving rapidly. My love to mother and Janey. Also to Perry's people. Is little Charley's leg got so he does not limp yet?
With my best wishes I remain,
Your loving brother
A.T. LaForge
DIARY
Sunday 17th
Rained until after sunrise, then cleared off, but was showery until two oclock. Rained all yesterday. Yesterday there came an order to send to their regiments all men not belonging to the Veterans Reserve Corps now on duty at this camp. How soon the order will be executed, I do not know. I wrote to my sister yester morn. I have been trying to get the General Orders for 1863 in the book form. As I could not do that, I am going to send the orders we have here into town to be bound by the direction of Captain Crawford.
Monday April 18th 1864
Clear & warm. I took the men, horse, and buggy captured Thursday night into Department Head Quarters today and turned them over to be disposed of there. I think it will go pretty hard with them. I went to the Sanitary room and got my dinner, then came back. I found a letter from Samuel here for me. He sends for money. I have answered stating that I have no money at my disposal now, as we cannot get our pay on the present pay rolls, and can not get paid here again anyway, as we are all ordered to our regiments by General Angur, who is going to have all duty done at this camp by the Veterans Reserve Corps.
Tuesday 19th
Clear but pretty cold. I went up and played with Edmunds one game of billiards aganst a couple of other fellows. We lost, and then played off, he discounting me. I lost again.
Thursday 21st
Clear & warm. Received a letter Samuel dated the 7th. By some means it was delayed, so that his of the 13th passed it. I have been hard at work all day. Tonight a letter was brought from Colonel North to Colonel McKelvy to say that a letter from the brother of Governor Seymoure made it necessary for him to see the Coonel in regard to my promotion. He desires to see the Colonel about the matter.
April 23rd 1864
Day clear & warm. I went to Washington to take 15 men to Depot Camp, and two men to Department Head Quarters who had been Court Martialed and sentenced to two years on the Dry Tortugas. I returned by the way of Georgetown. I received a letter from Sherman Crandall yesterday. All well. He says he hopes I will get home in time to go to school with him to Alfred Centre this coming winter.
Sunday 24th
Clear & warm. Received a letter from sister and one from Janey. Joseph is getting better and they soon hope to see him around again. How good this news makes me feel! Colonel North was over to see Colonel McKelvy this morning to see if I would rather have a commission in my own regiment or some other. I told him I should prefer some other. An immense nunmber of army wagons are parked about a mile below here, I should think five hundred at the least. I think Grant is collecting them here so that if he wins the decisive battle soon to be fought, they can immediately be loaded and started after the army on its advance towards Richmond. Or in case of a reverse, they will be at hand to supply his army with munitions or whatever is needed.
April 25th
Day very warm. Apple trees are blossoming. Lots of wild flowers in bloom. Buds have burst and the woods are green again. Currants and gooseberries are large enough to be seen distinctly. Oats are up. etc. Jackson (one of our detectives) told me if I would get a pass to go to Alexandria he would furnish the funds. So I got a pass for us and we went down. Took supper at Mr Simpsons, a gentleman who brings milk out to camp. After that we went to a house in town. Stayed about five minutes. I was much disgusted with the proceedings. Jack got thirty dolars from one of the girls. [From the context, I'm guessing that this was a whorehouse they were visiting. Abiel regularly makes comments indicating a fastidiousness about prostitutes. But in that case I'm curious about why Jack was getting money from one of the "girls."]
We went to the theatre. After it was out, we had a pick of steamed oysters for each of us, and then he went back to the house where we were in the evening [i.e., the whorehouse] and I started back to camp. Just after we passed the chain of sentinels, a shower came up. The moon was about an hour high and there was as fine a rainbow formed in the west as I ever saw. It was the first I ever saw formed by the moon. The 9th Army Corps was bivouacked near the road by which I returned. The boys were lying in the rain, rolled up in their blankets arround the fires. The Corps is about 20,000 strong. The countersign was "Vermont" tonight. Burnside Commands the 9th Army Corps.
Wednesday April 27th 1864
Clear and warm. Received a letter from Miss Porter. Answered one from my sister. My regiment has been captured by the rebs at Plymouth, North Carolina. so I cannot join them now, unless I go to Richmond for that purpose--which I hardly think I shall! But I wish I had been with them, where they were at Plymouth.
A squad of two hundred was got ready to go to Fortress Monroe today. A captain of the Veterans Reserve Corps has gone with them. When they got ready to start, which they did about 7 O.C., I jumped on a horse and rode down there as fast as I could, to have the boat kept for a while until the squad got there. They were expecting to start at 7 1/2 P.M. I found the boat at the Coal Wharf (Pier N° 2). I went aboard and asked the captain if he had [been] ordered to go to Old Point. He said he was expecting to go, but had no orders yet. I told him I would go down to the Quarter Master's and see about it. The Quarter Master sent a man up to give him his orders. I then went back and met the squad and showed them where to go.
I never saw such clouds of dust as was blowing. It was twilight, but a man could not be seen [at] two feet. After I got the men on board, I came back. Owing to the clouds of dust, I could not see & lost my way. The first thing I knew, I was in the plain away to the right of my road. I waited for a lull in the wind & then looked arround and saw a light about 2 miles off. I knew where I was then and came on. Got to camp about 10 O.C. P.M.
LETTER
Head Quarters, Rendezvous of Distribution Virginia April 27th 1864
My Dear Sister,
Yours of the 20th has been duly received and I feel very much relieved by the good tidings it contains. Tell Joseph for me I consider myself very much his debtor for getting better just in time to send the good news to me in your letter. I was beginning to feel mighty bad, for as you did not write I began to think Josey was dangerous, and had half made up my mind to try and get a furlough. Probably I could not have got it, for there is strict orders aganst furloughing men from this command. I think I have enough influence to have got one from the Secretary of War, if it had been very necessary, for I have many powerful friends here. You must not think that I am vain in saying so, for I assure you it is all truth, and I am proud to be able to say so. For they are friends who have not given me their friendship on account of my riches. I understand Frank Basset is at home. Colonel North, our Military State Agent, procured a furlough for him. Frank looked very bad the last time I saw him. I should think he would get his discharge.
I see by the papers that the 85th is captured by the rebs. Captured while nobly defending their flag from polution, but their bravery was unavailing. Before this time they are probably incarcerated in some rebel prison. If I had joined them when I first thought of doing so, I should have shared their glory and also their imprisonment. I almost regret not being with them. Perhaps if all the men had been with them who like me are absent, their defeat might have been a victory. Still, such reflections are useless. The duty of a soldier is to perform any duty which his superiors direct him to. If I had went to the regiment, some man who was better able to stand field duty would have been put in my place perhaps. So looking at the matter in all its lights, I dont see as I am individually responsible for the capture of Plymouth and the gallant General Wessell, though I do feel as though all my family were captured with them. None but those who have experienced it can imagine the feeling of a true soldier, when absent from his regiment, [as] he reads of their being in an engagement, fighting nobly, and then after all their efforts to sustain themselves, being obliged to surrender, and be marched off to languish perhaps for months in an enemy's prison. He feels almost like considering himself the cause of their misfortune. [LaForge's regiment was taken to the infamous Andersonville prison.]
I hardly know what I am to do now. I was getting ready to join the company, but now I have no company to join, unless I go to Richmond for that purpose, which I in all probability shall not do. I shall send home a box of goods soon, so as not to be overloaded in case I do join them at their present place of abode.
Burnsides' command (9th Army Corps), which for some five weeks has been lying at Annapolis, sent there for the ostensible purpose of forming an expedition to strike some part of the Southern Coast, was last Saturday ordered to break camp and march for Washington without delay. They all got here day before yesterday, encamped and rested yesterday, and this morning started for the Army of the Potomac. Now that looks like true strategy and certainly was a most successful blind, to thus hold a splendid body of men in a situation where they could be easily subsisted and where they could embark and suddenly strike in any direction. To have every thing prepared for their embarkation, and then to--without any intimation of the plan--reinforcing the army on which the fate of the nation depends, with thirty thousand good fresh troops. As they are on the eve of a great battle [it] looks more like good generalship than anything I have seen yet. I believe if Grant (recently made general-in-chief) is allowed to have his own way, Johny Rebs will be driven from Virginia before our next celebration of the Glorious Fourth.
We are having splendid weather now: soft balmy days and nights, generaly a cool breeze blowing from the South West. Vegetation in in an advanced state. Apples, pear, peaches, and cherries are in full bloom. The woods are green and full of wild flowers. Gay plumaged birds are beginning to make their appearance, and "all nature looks gay".
I was coming out from Alexandria night before last about midnight. The moon had risen about an hour, when a little shower came up and passed away and left formed aganst the Western sky a most beautiful Rainbow. It was the first I ever saw formed by the moon and I was delighted with it. How I wish I was a painter, so that I could transfer it to canvas!
Do you know where mother was born? I do not. I will close by sending my kind regards to all, especially to Janey for her pretty little note. Your brother,
A.T. LaForge
DIARY
Friday April 29th
Warm & clear. A military execution took place today down below us on the railroad. A fellow who had deserted our army and joined the rebs was shot. He was a splendid looking fellow: hair as black [as] a raven's and an undaunted front. He walked behind his coffin with his arms folded and looked around on the people as unconcerned as could be. Looked at his cofin and sat down on it when he arrived at the spot where he was to be shot, as coolly as if it was a chair. The bandage was placed over his eyes, but he was asked before this if he had any thing to say. He had not. Eight soldiers, half with loaded guns and the others with blanks, were marched up in front of him and the orders, "Ready, Aim," was given, when General Slough called out, "Hold on, Captain!" (How must the man have felt at these words! Probably thoughts of pardon came into his mind.) "March your reserves out of the way." (They were standing just behind the prisoner, and if the platoon had fired at him, some of them would have been hit.) As soon as this was accomplished the word "Fire!" was given. At the discharge, the man fell back on his coffin, shot through each side and through the neck. He had placed his hand over his heart, and the bullet that struck him in the left side went through it. The surgeon examined and pronounced him dead.
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