Bruce Catton

Bruce Catton
Bruce Catton, c. 1960s.
Born	Charles Bruce Catton (1899-10-09)October 9, 1899 Petoskey, Michigan, U.S.
Died	August 28, 1978(1978-08-28) (aged 78) Frankfort, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Journalist, author
Nationality	American
Period	1948–1978
Genre	History
Subject	American Civil War
Spouse	Hazel H. Cherry
Children	William Bruce Catton

Charles Bruce Catton (October 9, 1899 – August 28, 1978) was an American historian and journalist, known best for his books concerning the American Civil War.^[1] Known as a narrative historian, Catton specialized in popular history, featuring interesting characters and historical vignettes, in addition to the basic facts, dates, and analyses. His books were researched well and included footnotes. He won the Pulitzer Prize for History and the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 1954 for his book A Stillness at Appomattox (1953),^[2] a study of the final campaign of the war in Virginia and third book in his Army of the Potomac trilogy.^[3]

Charles Bruce Catton was born in

, who accepted a teaching position in Benzonia Academy and later became the academy's headmaster. As a boy, Catton first heard the reminiscences of the aged veterans who had fought in the Civil War. In his memoir, Waiting for the Morning Train (1972), Catton explained how their stories made a lasting impression upon him:

[These stories gave] a color and a tone not merely to our village life, but to the concept of life with which we grew up ... I think I was always subconsciously driven by an attempt to restate that faith and to show where it was properly grounded, how it grew out of what a great many young men on both sides felt and believed and were brave enough to do.^[4]

During 1916, Catton began attending Oberlin College, but he quit because of World War I without completing a degree.^{[citation needed]}

After serving briefly with the

Writing career

At the start of

In 1954, Catton accepted the position as founding editor of the new magazine American Heritage.^[5] Catton served initially as a writer, reviewer, and editor. In the first issue, he wrote:

We intend to deal with that great, unfinished and illogically inspiring story of the American people doing, being and becoming. Our American heritage is greater than any one of us. It can express itself in very homely truths; in the end it can lift up our eyes beyond the glow in the sunset skies.^[5]

In the early 1950s, Catton published three books known collectively as the

The three volumes were reissued in 1984 as a single volume reprint, titled Bruce Catton's Civil War. In 2022 the books were reissued in one volume by the Library of America.

Centennial History of the Civil War

From 1961 to 1965, the Centennial of the Civil War was commemorated, and Catton published his Centennial History of the Civil War trilogy. Unlike his previous trilogy, these books emphasized not only military topics, but social, economic, and political topics as well. For the first volume, The Coming Fury (1961), Catton discussed the causes of the war, culminating in its first major combat operation, the First Battle of Bull Run. For the second volume, Terrible Swift Sword (1963), he discussed both sides as they mobilize for a massive war effort. The story continued through 1862, ending with McClellan's dismissal after the Battle of Antietam. For the third volume, Never Call Retreat (1965), the war continued through the battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg, and the bloody struggles of 1864 and 1865 before the final surrender.

After the publication of Captain Sam Grant (1950) by historian and biographer Lloyd Lewis, Catton wrote the second and third volumes of this trilogy, making extensive use of Lewis's historical research, provided by his widow, Kathryn Lewis, who personally selected Catton to continue her husband's work. In Grant Moves South (1960), Catton discussed the increasing experience of Grant as a military commander, from victories at the

and the end of the war.

Other Civil War books

In addition to these three important trilogies, Catton wrote extensively about the Civil War throughout his career. In U. S. Grant and the American Military Tradition (1954), Catton writes what many consider one of the best short biographies of the general. In Banners at Shenandoah: A Story of Sheridan's Fighting Cavalry (1955), Catton wrote for young people about

Civil War Round Table

of New York during 1957.

In America Goes to War (1958), Catton made the case that the American Civil War was one of the first total wars. In The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War (1960), Catton wrote the accompanying narrative to a book that included more than 800 paintings and period photographs (this book was republished without pictures in 2004 by Mariner Books as The Civil War, with an introduction by James M. McPherson). It received a special Pulitzer Prize citation during 1961. In The American Heritage Short History of the Civil War (1960), Catton offers a narrative that discussed the military and political aspects of the war. In Two Roads to Sumter (1963), written with his son William, Catton recounted the 15 years prior to the war, as considered from the points of view of the two main politicians involved in the conflict: Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. In Gettysburg: The Final Fury (1974), Catton offered a slim volume concerning the Battle of Gettysburg, dominated by photographs and illustrations.

In addition to Civil War histories, Catton published other books, including The War Lords Of Washington (1948), an account of Washington, D.C., during World War II, based on his experiences in the federal government, Four Days: The Historical Record Of The Death Of President Kennedy (1964), a 144-page collaboration of the American Heritage magazine and

, and Waiting for the Morning Train (1972), about the author's Michigan boyhood. Toward the end of his life, Catton published Michigan: A Bicentennial History (1976) and The Bold & Magnificent Dream: America's Founding Years, 1492–1815 (1978).

Names from the War (1960), a long poem, was published in 1960. It was set to music by Alec Wilder.

In a review of Catton's memoir, Waiting for the Morning Train,

Oliver Jensen, who succeeded Catton as editor of American Heritage, wrote that "No one ever wrote American history with more easy grace, beauty and emotional power, or greater understanding of its meaning, than Bruce Catton... There is a near-magic power of imagination in Catton’s work [that] almost seemed to project him physically onto the battlefields, along the dusty roads and to the campfires of another age."[9]

American writer

Personal life

On August 16, 1925, Catton married Hazel H. Cherry.[13] During 1926, they had a son, William Bruce Catton, who taught history at Princeton University and at Middlebury College, Vermont, where he was the first Charles A. Dana Professor of History.^[14]

Bruce Catton died in a hospital near his summer home at Frankfort, Michigan, after a respiratory illness.

During 1977, the year before his death, Catton received the

Gerald R. Ford

, who noted that the author and historian "made us hear the sounds of battle and cherish peace."

Of the many Civil War historians, Catton was arguably the most prolific and popular. Oliver Jensen, who succeeded him as editor of the magazine American Heritage, wrote:

No one ever wrote American history with more easy grace, beauty and emotional power, or greater understanding of its meaning, than Bruce Catton. There is a near-magic power of imagination in Catton's work that seemed to project him physically into the battlefields, along the dusty roads and to the campfires of another age.[3]

The Bruce Catton Collection is housed in the Archives of The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina.^[17]

Since 1984, the Bruce Catton Prize was awarded for lifetime achievement in the writing of history. In cooperation with

during 1984 initiated the biennial prize that honors an entire body of work. It is named for Bruce Catton, prizewinning historian and first editor of American Heritage magazine. The prize consisted of a certificate and $2,500.

The prize was awarded to

Works

Nonfiction

• The War Lords of Washington. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1948.
• U.S. Grant and the American Military Tradition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1954.
• This Hallowed Ground. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1956.
• America Goes to War. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1958.
• The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War. New York: American Heritage Publishing, 1960 (republished as The Civil War without the pictures by Mariner Books in 2004 and with an introduction by author James M. McPherson).
• The American Heritage Short History of the Civil War. New York: American Heritage Publishing, 1960.
• Michigan's Past and the Nation's Future. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1960
• Four Days: The Historical Record Of The Death Of President Kennedy. New York: American Heritage Publishing, 1964.
• Prefaces to History. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1970
• Waiting for the Morning Train. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1972.
• Gettysburg: The Final Fury. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1974.
• Michigan: A Bicentennial History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1976.
• Bruce Catton's America: Selections from His Greatest Works. New York: American Heritage, 1979
• Reflections on the Civil War. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1981
• Shiloh. Boston: New Word City, 2017.
• Missionary Ridge. Boston: New Word City, 2017.

• Mr. Lincoln's Army. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1951.
• Glory Road. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1952.
• A Stillness at Appomattox. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1953.

• The Coming Fury. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1961.
• Terrible Swift Sword. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1963.
• Never Call Retreat. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1965.

• Grant Moves South. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1960.
• Grant Takes Command. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1969.

Note: These two volumes are sequels to historian Lloyd Lewis's posthumously published Captain Sam Grant (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1950.)

• Two Roads to Sumter. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963.
• The Bold & Magnificent Dream: America's Founding Years, 1492–1815. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1978.

• Banners at Shenandoah: A Story of Sheridan's Fighting Cavalry. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1955.

• 1954 National Book Award for Nonfiction for A Stillness at Appomattox^[7]
• 1954 Pulitzer Prize for History for A Stillness at Appomattox^[2][7]
• 1959 Meritorious Service Award in the Field of Civil War History, presented by Harry S. Truman
• 1977
  Gerald R. Ford
• 1956–1978 Catton received 26 honorary degrees from colleges and universities across the United States

External links

• Biographical sketch and list of articles by Catton in American Heritage
• Jensen, Oliver. "Working With Bruce Catton" in American Heritage, February/March 1979.
• Blight, David W. "Bruce Catton: Notes about the famous historian and American Heritage editor", in American Heritage, Spring, 2012.
• Miller, John J. "He Rewrote History" in Traverse, June 2009.
• Reynolds, Mark C. "Golden Anniversary" in American Heritage, November/December 2004.
• Cleveland Public Library
• National Book Foundation
• Cleveland Arts Prize
• Bruce Catton at Find a Grave