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Battlefield: Farming a Civil War Battleground

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Description

On the morning of June 8, 1862, two armies met on a rain-wet field in Cross Keys, Virginia. When the Battle of Cross Keys was over, the Confederate army had halted the Union advance, an important victory in Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley campaign. The armies moved on, leaving behind their dead and wounded, and a field strewn with the detritus of war. One hundred twenty-five years later, artist Peter Svenson purchased forty acres of farmland encompassing the battlefield with the intention of starting over in rural privacy. He built a house, refurbished the old barn on the property, and taught himself to farm hay. At the same time, he immersed himself in the history of the land and the Battle of Cross Keys. In Battlefield Svenson intertwines a detailed description of the battle based on field reports, letters, and other firsthand accounts with a lively recounting of his own present day war against progress in the form of pesticides and mini-malls. We watch as Svenson harvests his first crop of hay the old-fashioned way, and tries to live with respect for and responsibility to the area's past. At the same time, we see the battle unfold as if superimposed on the landscape. The Union army confronts the Confederate army. Both commanders are ill-informed and indecisive. A hero emerges in the unlikely form of a sixty-eight-year-old Confederate general whose confidence contributes significantly to the stunning defeat of the much larger Union force. Here Svenson combines history with a personal and passionate reminder of how intimately connected we are to the land we occupy and to its history. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Faber & Faber; First Edition (November 13, 1992)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 289 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0571197981


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 89


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 2 x 10 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #1,534,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #5,173 in U.S. Civil War History


#5,173 in U.S. Civil War History:


Customer Reviews: 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 9 ratings


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Not Just Good History, Great Writing, Too
The battle at Cross Keys, Virginia is not one of the more renowned conflicts of the Civil War. My family had been flummoxed by the lack of information when researching my great-great grandfather's teenage career as a soldier in the 39th New York regiment that fought there. Enter Peter Svenson to save the day, pulling the experience of the battle out of oblivion into an extraordinary narrative. A landscape artist, he had purchased a 40-acre rhomboid shaped tract on which to build a home and studio and to farm hay. He belatedly discovered the land to be the actual battlefield. Turning to original source material, including personal letters, memoirs and formal military reports, he summons a very detailed account of the events and environment of 8 June 1862. Not only does the battle become an important lens through which to critically assess the strategies of Fremont (North) and Jackson (South) and the fortunes of each side in the early part of the war, the account is highly revealing of the experience of the common soldier. Though there were thousands out there that day (far more Union than Confederate, though the North lost this one), Svenson takes pains to identify the regiments and their locations, and what happened to them. I now know where my ancestor most likely fell and the horror he endured for hours until he was picked up and taken to the "hospital," a store that had been appropriated for a surgery. I am astounded that he made it out of there with his limbs intact, that he survived the everpresent danger of disease Svenson describes. Please know there is more to Svenson's book than the battle history, however: he intersperses the history with accounts of life on the land in the late 20th century. In doing so, he shows how deeply connected the present is to a very traumatic part of our national past. It's a thoughtful book, made all the more enjoyable by the author's strong, pleasant voice. BATTLEFIELD was nominated for a National Book Award when it debuted; while it ultimately did not win, it is tops in my estimation. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2002 by C. Ebeling
    • Good, but for different reasons than you might think
This is a fascinating book. Svenson bought a piece of land that had once been the site of a minor Civil War battle. This book is an account of his cultivation of the land, fitting into the community, and learning about the battle and the experience of the soldiers. The main narrative is about his taking care of the land. Interspersed into this is his accounts of various aspects of the battle. It is fair to say that Svenson became an expert on the battle, as his accounts are highly detailed and nuanced. Somewhat surprisingly, I found the narrative to be the best part of the book. His stories of building a pond, learning to farm hay, etc all are well written and enjoyable to read. His accounts of the battle, however, are dull and confusing. There are insufficient maps, too many minor details, all of which leave a muddled picture of the battle. I bought the book for the Civil War part of it, but thoroughly enjoyed it for his narrative. Depending on your interests, you might enjoy this book. But don't assume that every Civil War buff will enjoy it. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2015 by Bradley Nelson
    • Great read
Great story
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2023 by Tbone
    • Dreans
This book is about dreams and making them come true. If you are a Civil War person, it is about owning a piece of a small but important battlefield from the war. It is about keeping that part of the field in a state consistent with history. If you are trapped in a Dilbert world and dream of being a gentleman farmer, this is about making that dream come true. It is about crops of hay, fields and restoring equipment. In each case, this is a loving enjoyable book about dreams. The author did an excellent job creating his dreams and their reality on the battlefield of Cross Keys in Virginia. His ability to communicate feelings and moods gives the reader a real understanding of his feelings. There is a strong Civil War component to this book but it is NOT a battle history of Cross Keys. You will pick up some history on how Hallowed Ground has been treated since 1865 but this is not about history but dreams. This is a wonderful book for anyone with dreams! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2008 by James W. Durney
    • Interesting attempt that doesn't quite gel
Like other reviewers, I was attracted not only by this book's subject by also by its award nominations and glowing reviews ("a literary accomplishment" ... "vivid" ... "powerful" ... "a gem"). And while I found the author's blend of history and memoir an interesting approach, the book is finally unsatisfying. It certainly doesn't live up to the hyperbolic reviews. As someone with an interest in Virginia and the Shenandoah Campaign as well as (to a small degree) farming and rural issues, I'd hoped "Battlefield" would be some combination of, say, Gene Logsdon and William C. Davis. Unfortunately, it's not quite either, and certainly not both. While it may be possible to say Peter Svenson has written the definitive history of the battle of Cross Keys, that's more a reflection on the lack of alternatives. Certainly his discussion of the battle is comprehensive, with extensive quotations from period journals and participants' reports and diaries. The thinner side is Svenson's chronicle of his own farming experiences. Apart from some interesting reflections on old barns, the village's run-down former tavern, and one or two other sections, I never really got the sense that we were experiencing Svenson's farming life on much more than a surface level. We learn a lot about cleaning and restoring old farm equipment, but far less about any sort of personal relationship with the land, or what being a landholder means to the author. When he declares at the end that he will never throw away the battlefield of which he has custody, the statement is almost surprising in its emotion. The history of the battle is a constant presence in the farm's modern story, and so the two halves of the narrative do fit together to some extent. But while the author makes a good attempt, the blend ultimately never quite "sets." ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2004 by Andrew S. Rogers

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