Today, we are happy to bring you our conversation with Jonathan W. White, coeditor of From Dakota to Dixie: George Buswell's Civil War

What inspired you to write this book? 

During the summer of 2021, I stumbled upon George W. Buswell’s diaries at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. At the time, I had a very talented second-year student named Reagan Connelly who I thought would be an excellent partner to turn the diaries into a book. After talking it over with her parents, Reagan excitedly agreed to work with me on the project. Over the next few years—with support from Christoper Newport University’s Center for American Studies and Office of Research and Creative Activity—Reagan and I spent hundreds of hours transcribing, editing, and annotating. It was a truly collaborative endeavor, and I am truly proud of how From Dakota to Dixie highlights the undergraduate research being done at CNU.

What did you learn and what are you hoping readers will learn from your book? 

I love doing editing projects like this because they get me to read about aspects of American history that I don’t know much about. Prior to writing this book, I knew very little about the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 and the Punitive Expeditions into the Dakota Territory in 1863. I read at least four books on these subjects to learn the background to Buswell’s story, and I was really astounded by what happened in Minnesota and the Dakota Territory during this time. I hope that From Dakota to Dixie will inspire other Civil War enthusiasts to read more about this lesser-known aspect of the Civil War Era.

What surprised you the most in the process of writing your book? 

To be honest, I’ve done a lot of projects like this in the past, and every time I start a new one, I underestimate just how difficult it will be. When I looked at Buswell’s diary in the Huntington Library reading room, I thought it appeared very legible and would be easy to transcribe. And for the most part it was. But once we got down to the busywork of transcribing the diary from start to finish, we were amazed by how many words we struggled with. In a lot of ways, this sort of work is incredibly frustrating, but it can also be fun. You sit there trying to decipher something that was written 160 years ago that was never intended to be in print.

What’s your favorite anecdote from your book?

There is so much in this book that will be of interest to Civil War scholars—it’s hard to even know where to begin. After spending a year fighting Dakota warriors in the upper Midwest, Buswell traveled to Tennessee and Mississippi to fight Confederates. This was what he’d really wanted all along. In the Deep South, Buswell led Black troops in combat against Nathan Bedford Forrest. He also encountered smugglers and guerrillas. When the Confederate guerrilla Dick Davis was captured, Buswell said he looked like a “blood thirsty devil” with “hair long, and all over his face.” Buswell generally didn’t like witnessing executions (he saw several during his time in the service, including the 38 Dakotas in Mankato), but he didn’t mind watching Davis get hanged.

What’s next? 

Back in 2020 I discovered a fascinating case of an enslaved man who killed his owner near Memphis in 1863. Researching that story is actually what led me to Buswell’s diary the following summer. I’d gone through the Huntington’s online catalog looking for accounts written by soldiers in Memphis, and I found Buswell. When I read his account of the mass hanging at Mankato in December 1862, I knew his diary was worth publishing. So I put the Memphis murder project on hold while I worked on Buswell and other things—including writing a children’s book called My Day with Abe Lincoln (2024). My plan for this summer is to get back to writing about the murder.