One More War to Fight: Union Veterans’ Battle for Equality through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Lost Cause by Stephen A. Goldman (review)

Reviewed by: One More War to Fight: Union Veterans' Battle for Equality through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Lost Cause by Stephen A. Goldman Anthony J. Cade II (bio) One More War to Fight: Union Veterans' Battle for Equality through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Lost Cause. By Stephen A. Goldman. (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2023. Pp. 416. Cloth, $29.95.) Stephen Goldman's One More War to Fight is an in-depth examination of the actions of Union veterans in the post–Civil War era as they united and fought for Black equality in both the North and South. Extensively researched and eloquently written, Goldman's book argues that numerous white veterans continued their fight after the Civil War, one they fought for well into the twentieth century. Goldman's work looks at the various actions of Union veterans groups after the war. Most notabley among them are the Left-Armed Corps and the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), but the author also touches on other organizations such as the Freedmen's Bureau. His argument is strongest in the earlier chapters where he demonstrates that many white veterans were willing to politically fight for Black equality during congressional Reconstruction. Black men actively served in the military, and white veterans worked to protect Black service federally; when it became apparent that Reconstruction was too focused on the South, Goldman demonstrates how the veteran groups worked to enfranchise Black men in northern states as well. This is a point that he excellently examines throughout his work, as he shows the fight for Black political and social equality was fought nearly as much in the North as it was in the South. The GAR features prominently in this dicussion, as political rivals forced the GAR to either live by the principles its members were advocating or fall apart, a measure that Goldman argues they followed. Even with the rise of violent [End Page 408] southern groups such as the Klan, white veterans were at the forefront of the fight to prove the Klan's existence in order to destroy it. Veterans demonstrated their unity and willingness to fight in multiple areas of the country over decades. One More War to Fight stands strong because of the author's use of primary sources. Numerous passages include quotations from veterans, congressmen, and significant historical figures, and Goldman allows them to speak to the reader instead of interpreting or changing their message. The use of poems and quotations throughout makes this work almost beautiful to read as the reader can start to form an image in their mind of Black and white Union veterans working together for Black equality in the face of racism. Goldman primarily utilizes newspapers and published letters for these accounts, but he also makes use of sources from state governments and the federal level to bolster his points. Furthermore, Goldman relies heavily on accounts left behind by groups such as the Left-Armed Corps and the GAR to demonstrate how socially united some of these groups were. While Goldman's work is well researched, he overstates his arguments at times, and, in doing so, he inadvertently inflates the social impact of white Union veterans fighting for Black rights. As he demonstrates throughout the book, numerous white veterans petitioned politicians and even worked directly with Black groups to fight for equality and equity during and after Reconstruction. However, this is a history that is known to some degree, as Civil War historians undoubtedly know of men as prominent as Oliver Otis Howard and Ulysses S. Grant and those of lesser stature, such as privates and low-ranking officers, who conducted similar work on behalf of Black veterans. African American historians of the Civil War era read these same narratives and ask, Why did they not do more? It is a question that Goldman does not address; instead, he takes many of the white veterans' words at face value and ignores what they could have done with more direct or overt action. With the Union veterans having a larger voting bloc, they could have affected the change they wanted if they had all been as unified and obligated as Goldman argues they...