and so migrants are not only confronting the dangers of the coyotes, but are also co-opted often into drug smuggling and human smuggling and arms smuggling. >> host: has the catholic church or other churches moved into the border areas, that last stage as you called it? >> guest: no. no. their usually located in well established crossing towns and urban areas, and there's lots of desert, and there's lots of unfamiliar, arid, desolate territory throughout central america, especially i'm thinking in guatemala where you have a lot of, you know, drug trafficking going on now. you know, as we came down on mexico and we came down on colombia, we've just really redirected much of this into central america. >> host: what do you teach here at the university? >> guest: what do i teach?

migration. international migration at the graduate and undergraduate level. i also teach family, and i've taught religion, development. but my favorite course is migration. >> host: what's similar about the current migration patterns from mexico to the u.s. to past immigration in the u.s.? anything? >> guest: it's, the composition has changed. there are more and more women. there are more and more unattached youth. so unaccompanied minors has become a huge part of the migration flow from mexico. there are more and more of the poorest leaving. it used to be migration was more selective. you had to have some resources to make the journey. but the situations have become so desperate, especially in

honduras. and parts of salvador can. so it's really -- salvador. so it's really pulling the youngest and the poorest. more and more women, more and more danger. >> host: anyone make it on their own without spending on a coyote or -- >> guest: yeah. i mean, there are seasoned migrants that will travel in groups who will attempt the journey. but our border enforcement policy has really beefed up campaigns and selected crossing points where migrants historically crossed. and in doing so, they've diverted migrants to the more dangerous spots. so many of the, you know, the routes they're taking are unknown, uncertain routes. but, yes, many migrants still cross in groups and alone. and you have to go to a border town in the mexico now, and there's just groups of migrants who have been sent back and deported pack, and they're just sitting there waiting for the

opportunity to come back across. and when they leave, they'll be sure to stop and get the blessing of a priest. >> host: "migration miracle" is the name of the book published by harvard university press. "faith, hope and meaning on the undocumented journey." jacqueline maria hagen is the author. >> guest: thank you. >> is there a nonfiction author or week you'd like -- book you'd like to see featured on booktv? send us an e-mail to c-span@c-span.org -- booktv@c-span.org or post to our facebook page. karen abbott recounts the covert experts of four women in civil war to send privileged information to southern generals. this is a little under an hour. >> okay. i'm thrilled, i'm thrilled to be here with abbott. i love her books, i love all of

her books. sin in the second city, which i love, you take us and share with us this entire other view of chicago through the eyes of the two most famous american madams ever. in "american rose" we learn about this american icon, gypsy rose lee who really, you know, hasn't been explored the way that you explored her. so now with "liar, soldier, spy," you hit on several things i personally adore. we have unexplored american history, espionage and women -- [laughter] with some real spines, really adventurous, incredible women. tell us a little bit about what this book is about. >> well, i'll tell you the object of this book to get in there. i was born and raised in philadelphia and moved to atlanta in 2001 and noticed

immediately, um, that the civil war seeps into the conversation down in the south in a way it never does in the north. [laughter] you know, i saw the occasionally confederate flag, heard the jokes about northern aggression -- >> [inaudible] [laughter] >> good point. yeah. and the point that was driven home, especially that it wasn't a joke. when i was stuck in traffic for hours behind a pickup truck that had a bumper sticker that said "don't blame me, i voted for jeff davis." [laughter] so i sat there looking at this bumper sticker for hours and started thinking, of course, about what were the women doing, as my mind always goes to what the women were doing. of course, they didn't have easy access to political discourse, they didn't have the right to vote, they couldn't influence battle, so i wanted to see what

the women were doing, and i wanted to find in particular four women who, you know, cheated, lied, stole, murdered, fought, avenged and flirted their way through the war. [laughter] these are women i want to spend time with, which is why i love this book so much. >> and, you know, as authors we often are asked how we we find our stories. i have to say find it on a bumper sticker hasn't come up for me quite often. [laughter] so once you got intrigued, once that little seed was planted, how did you come across these four incredible women? >> well, i wanted to find four in particular whose stories touched in some way, whose tapestry rose to retell the story of the civil war in a way it hadn't been told before. and it was important to me even if they weren't physically interacting all the time -- although two of them do -- they were running into the same people, and there was a cause and effect. one woman's behavior would affect the other woman's circumstances, and i just wanted to sort of weave their stories

together in a really interesting way. >> the, one of the things i like best about this is there are these four very distinct characters. they have their own background -- they each have their own background, their own experience, their own views on this particular conflict, and they offer the reader a specific view and entry point into the civil war because, you know, it's spoiler alert, you know, here's how the war ends, you know? we know where this is going. >> right. >> but one of the -- what i like about this is we know where we're headed, but this, to me, is a really personal way to look at not just this war, but war in general, how people become involved, what roles they take on, how it affects their lives. and these four characters are so distinct and different. talk a little bit about the four women who carry this book. >> host: yeah. and with apologies to john la carey. i think all the women at the

same time for liars, temptresses, soldiers and spies. and the first is belle boyd who provided a lot of comic relief and was, actually, my favorite in a lot of ways because she was insane. >> belle's crazy. >> yeah. >> love my crazy. yeah. >> denise and i were talking before we went on, and we said she was like a sociopath on spring break all the time. [laughter] >> that girl, if anybody remembers spring break where you're like she's having a really good time, but there's something just off about her. that's belle. [laughter] >> and applying in the to the civil war made for some pretty dangerous circumstances. but belle boyd was 17 years old when the war broke out, and she was a confederate sympathizer living in the shenandoah valley, virginia. she had no filter. if sarah palin and miley cyrus had a 19th century baby, i think it would have been belle boyd. [laughter]

her opinions and her sexuality. >> it makes you want to see if there are any pictures of belle going -- [laughter] >> i'm sure there are. she wrote this great letter to her cousin that sort of sums up how she felt about herself -- >> which was what she thought about most of the time. >> yes. yes, exactly. i'll just read a tiny snippet of that. i am tall, she once boasted to her cousin, lobbying him to find her a husband. i weigh 106 and a half pounds. my form is beautiful, my eyes are of a dark blue and so expressive. [laughter] my hair of a rich brown, and i think i tie it up nicely. [laughter] my neck and arms are beautiful, and my foot is perfect. [laughter] only wear size two and a half shoes, my teeth the same pearly whiteness, i think perhaps a little whiter. nose quite as large as ever, neither grecian, nor roman, and

indeed, i am decidedly the most beautiful of all your cousins. [laughter] and she kicks things off soon after that letter was written on the 4th of july, 1861, by shooting a confederate -- excuse me, a union soldier who threatens to raise a flag over her home. and belle was not standing for that. >> so in addition to, in addition to wanting a husband that she's trying to get via, you know, some sort of agreement with her cousin, what does belle want in this story? what does this particular character want of this story? >> i think belle woke up every day wanting something different. but all of it pointed to what can i do to advance my position to make myself more famous? which, of course, was a strange attitude for somebody who purported to be a spy to have. this is somebody who after she shoots the union soldier dead goes to works as a courier and spies for the confederate army. but while she's really, honestly trying to help the army gather

and disseminate information that might be helpful in their battles, she's also trying to do whatever she can to bring attention to herself. >> she ends up getting attention from a very prominent individual. >> yeah. yeah. belle was quite obsessed with general stonewall jackson who was sort of my confederate boyfriend, my civil war boyfriend -- >> we all have one. >> yes. [laughter] >> right now. >> and stonewall jackson was an interesting character. he was sort of a rock star of the civil war. and there was a great story about him. he was in the lobby of a hotel, this was in 1862, and women just swarmed him. they ran after him down the street, if he was in the lobby of the hotel as in this instance, they just followed him and started ripping buttons off his coat and keeping souvenirs. [laughter] and stonewall was great about this, he actually said at this point, ladies, ladies, i think this is the first time i was ever surrounded by the enemy. [laughter] and belle, belle, you know, had -- was fascinated with him and obsessed with him.

and she told reporters she wanted to, quote, occupy his tent and share his dangers. [laughter] and so she spent quite a bit of time going after that goal. [laughter] >> so belle had another, another idol in her life, rose -- >> yeah. >> and rose is another one of the main characters, another key figure in the confederate side of the story. talk a little bit about rose. >> well, rose was an interesting woman who was in a very difficult position when the war broke out. she had lost five children within four years. she had lost her husband in a freak accident. she lost her financial stability, and she lost her access to the white house. in the 20 years prior to the war, she had had access to democratic politicians, she'd actually been an adviser to president james buchanan. so with the election of lincoln, all of that disappeared, and she was desperate to regain this position, this, you know, society and this influence that she had wielded. and so when a confederate

captain approached her in the spring of 1831 and said would you be interested in running a confederate spy ring in washington, d.c., the federal capital, rose disregarded the danger of that and said, of course. of course i want to do that. and she immediately began cultivating sources. by cultivates, i mean sleeping with -- [laughter] and managed to bed quite a high number of high reactioning union officials -- high ranking union officials including the chairman of lincoln's military affairs. so you can imagine their pillow talk was quite interesting. >> and she entertained these men in her home. >> oh, yes. the neighbors watched the men come and go and called her wild rose. it was a very catty situation going on. [laughter] but rose knew what she was doing and was very serious about her intent to help the confederate army. >> now, how did, how did bell

first learn about rose? because belle, you know, in a way kind of wants to be rose. >> yeah. belle went to school in washington, d.c. x she had -- and she had her societal debut. belle was a debutante, of course, and even carved her -- i love this story -- she carved her name with her diamond in the window of her school, you know, belle boyd was here. [laughter] and rose at that time, it was before the war broke out, so rose was still the head, the leading lady of washington society. and rose's invitations were the most coveted in town, and belle knew about all the politicians that would go to rose's home and rose's parties. and rose entertained both democratic and republican politicians and was quite influential across the board, and belle knew about this and just sort of admired rose and even more so after the war broke out and rose became a prominent spy. >> so let's now move, so we have two of our four women. let's now move to the union and talk a little bit about

elizabeth. >> yes. van little was sort of the opposite of rose. she was a union lady level in the confederate capital of richmond, so the exact opposite situation. and whereas rose was a celebrated beauty, elizabeth -- one of her contemporaries said, quote: she was never as pretty as her portrait showed. [laughter] which i wish i had a portrait. >> come on. >> true, very true. >> they didn't have photo shop, so things were, you know -- [laughter] they've taken some things out. >> yeah. but elizabeth was a staunch abolitionist. she was born and raised in richmond but spent a lot of time up north being educated. and when she came back to richmond, he was not pleased with the state of things and began freeing the family slaves. ..

>> they were overwhelmed by how horrific this situation once. once her family had passed, they explained how they needed to be welcomed into the society. and she started spending her time for the purpose of doing this for the freedom. so this is something that was near and dear to her.

and at the expense of her life are and what i found interesting about her is of course her relationship with the woman, the african-american woman who worked in her home. >> yes, when she started assembling her meeting, she a recruited people from all walks of life and really one person was chosen in particular to be the linchpin and that was a former family slave that was freed when she was young. she was a remarkable woman. and of course it was against the law at the time to teach slaves to read and write. and so she went to the confederate first lady and said that i hear you need help. i am offering you a service that might assist you in your needs. she's not a smart woman, but she

might just fit the bill for you for a wild. and so maryjane goes to the white house and retired. a little do they know that she is highly educated and has a photographic memory. and so while she is testing his desk, she is also sneaking peeks at the papers on his desk and listening to the confidential conversation and recording every single word back to him. >> i love that. now we move onto frank who is part of a. >> edmonds is a canadian who had seen what a arranged marriages have done but make them miserable. she wanted something more for

herself. so one night she cuts her hair and finds her breast and treats her dress and and leads to the united states. and then she got to the civil war and she enlists in the union army in 1861 in the spring. it was remarkable how she got away from that. and the first thing that came to mind, as i'm reading the book, saying wait a minute, didn't she have to take a physical. it was the first thing that comes up in everybody's minds. so how did that work out for her? and the truth was that it the official protocol dictated that all doctors conducted a physical examination by doctors flouted these roles. and, you know, they needed

bodies up there and they didn't care if someone had disease, they just needed to have a finger to pull a trigger and that seems to pull out the cartridges and prove that someone he could march, they just wanted someone to do the job. and so then the doctor said what sort of living has this hand earned and what not, he became the private. and i love it. and so with these four women, he has given us given us a unique lenses with which to view this. one of the things i like is that it's so balanced and when you are doing your research, where there any other women that you came across? how did you decide on these poor women because it is such a great fit or was that someone that they said, oh, i wish i could've

done this or that. talk about landing and deciding. >> there was plenty left on the cutting room floor, fortunately the war had numerous big characters and interesting people. there were two sisters and of course i'm always interested in devious sisters. they were jenny and lonnie noon, and i think that they just had been at the altar and i wanted to find a way to fit them in, but there wasn't enough for a nonfiction account. and there were all sorts of interesting sides, you think that the women were the only ones cross-dressing. there was a fellow by the name of benjamin stringfellow and they had these lovely delicate

features and according to one of his comrades he would put on an elaborate gown and go to union military balls and start dancing with the union soldiers and it's like oh, what is general grant of two up to these days? and get information that way. there were devious people on the sides. >> frank and emma edmonds or absolutely my favorite. >> you know, i like them all for different reasons. and i really appreciated the vulnerability of emma edmonds. here is someone who is not only having to pretend to be a man, but she's on the front lines and she's one that has an excruciating personal story. she has a situation where she falls in love with a soldier and has to make a choice of do i

suffer in silence or do i tell him. >> they were very close and we really pursued her strength and vulnerability there. >> i got very curious and i found out that it wasn't -- he was not the only one in resupply us to learn that? >> yes, i was. there were estimated 500 women and it's interesting how they got away with it. be biggest reason they got away with it was because no one knew what a woman would look like wearing pants. [laughter] and they were seen these visuals put into exaggerated shapes with

crinolines. the people were just like no, that can't be a woman. and that was one of the things that really hfm. >> i talked a little bit about how they offered this different perspectives. what do you think about these four women and what they have in common? >> i think that they all put together all the women who involve themselves in the civil war it was the first time that woman could take on a role publicly. there were women revolutionaries and they were very discreet and they do not talk about this. this was not something that they openly boasted about. but it was the first time that women made war their business and did so publicly. everybody refers to how they were the victims of war and not

perpetrators. it was the first time in american history where women said this is what i am doing and i'm proud of it and i will do it again. and king contents of chamber pots, openly saying that i am a rebel woman and i respect my cause. you know, the union government said what are we going to do with these facile fashionable women spies? and it was a conundrum throughout the war and i think women really needed this to stand up. >> one of the great things about the characters as the research you have done, they are not perfect. and they have laws and a couple

of them have difficult views and there's a lot of hate their. and the choices made to show all of them so can you talk about why you decided to do that and why it is important for you to include all of those aspects of these characters? >> is important to me to be as true to them as they were. and they said very vile things about african-americans at the time. i try to understand where she was coming from. but she had a very loving relationship as much as you can in that situation. and that they did not have that affinity for the women and i think that it had boiled down in

recent years. not only that, but with her background, you find out a little bit more and i did so later in my research, where she was about four years old have been guarded by the slaves and i think that that really fueled this and something that followed her and shake her throughout her life. >> these women, all of them, you talk about how this is the first time in history that they kind of stood up and said we are willing to fight because this is our war as well. >> they were taking incredible risks in a way and you could argue greater risks than the men if only they were doing something that was not acceptable at all from their gender in that time. so how risky wasn't what they were doing to . >> it was incredibly risky. it was something that was

astonishing and prove have devoted she was to the cause. and of course, not only did she go undercover, but just the risk of being discovered and every day she would hear more and more stories about women being discovered. my favorite one, i have a couple of favorites of that variety and one was that a woman forgot how where chaos and started putting them on over her head. and there was a corporal in new jersey they gave birth and did jig was up there. [laughter] because not only was she on the frontlines getting part of this, but the idea of her getting caught in discovered as a woman,

these were women who really believed that they were going to be hanged and they even wrote that in their diaries. >> there was an element of the trail in a sense and what they were doing. you know, emma frank was betraying everything that was supposed to be associated with what it meant to be a union soldier. and anyone who operates as a spy where they can be viewed as someone betraying confidences, they did suffer and this did not go away for women all the time. we talk about some of the consequences, the unfortunate consequence is that they suffered. >> as i said earlier, these governments, they were reluctant to make the rebel woman into

martyrs. they thought that that would exacerbate conditions and also caused complications with europe. the confederate government was interested in the union government did not recognize as it until it added a whole other wrinkle. so they didn't quite know what to do and they sort of tortured them and i think that that was due to the different levels of having union officials make a threat. the first suffered in prison quite a bit and had a difficult time on a couple occasions. >> what was the style of treatment in this? >> i find it right hilarious.

the union officials -- she was well known. and this is not some anonymous woman. and i could backup and discuss what made her so well known and what got her into prison? well, it was july of 1861 in the first one was going to be an enormous battle and everyone was predicting that this would be the end of the war on the union side. and they thought, okay, we're going to move on and the war will be over. but rose after junking jumping into bed and gathering the requisite information summoned a 16-year-old courier to her home named betty duval and she sat her down and she said she would cipher a note. and she ties of this note and

rolls it up into betty's hair and gives her a dress. i have so many dispatches and my hair right now. [laughter] she's leaving you in a very important mission. [laughter] >> so she says pretend you are a simple farm girl and sure enough that he passes along and they say oh, what a pretty girl. and she goes to the headquarters and lets down her luxurious native hair and they have very important information that aided them. so after this you can imagine the detective, allan pinkerton, he was on the case with rose o'neal greenhow and she becomes

public enemy number one. >> one of the things that you do have is all of these other characters and elements from that time that enter into the history. >> well, pinkerton was the main one and i was surprised by the involvement. here is someone that was contracted by the union to do secret service work. here is someone that was just as interested in advancing his own personality as belle boyd was. and pinkerton becomes focused on rose. public enemy number one. and there's a great scene where there's a torrential downpour and he goes out with two of the best detectives. choice like to say that her home was in distance of the white house and so she called lincoln satan as well.

[laughter] and he stands on the detective's shoulders and what does he see but them sitting on the couch, and they start passionately making out. and he becomes enraged and this goes after pinkerton. >> we were talking about the young woman who had this elaborate note in her hair. one of my favorite things is all the different ways that they hit the notes. can you give us a couple of your favorite once? >> definitely the hair and the women had elaborate hairdos and that was very conducive. but they also had many cartoons that celebrated confederate

confederate women in particular, smuggling things across the line. crinoline is this structure and you can imagine the volume of things that you could attach to this. people would attach copy, sabers, thistles, silk. several pairs of boots at a time and that was sort of the queen of smuggling, belle boyd was the queen of smuggling. and they were missing a lot with all the doing of belle boyd and that was quite an enterprise. >> here you are and you are a pennsylvania girl living in atlanta so what was your view or your experience with civil war

history prior to working on this book two. >> absolutely nothing. i appreciated it because i came to not expect to find anything, not knowing what i was going to kind and i was like please been fascinated with what i did find, especially the way that it women's wars changed. and so you fall down into that rabbit hole briefly. one of those rabbit holes of research -- i probably spent longer than i should have and i wasted a good bit of time. finding out how courtship was seen during the civil war. >> how was it seem? >> well, i can tell you. prior to the civil war in the antebellum times, it was a rigorous process for marriage to happen and it would require a letter of introduction from a

cousin or someone. >> someone with perfect feet. >> yes, all of the selling points. meeting the parents, the neighbors, acquaintances, he had to be properly engage before you could even think about moving on to marriage. but when the war broke out, all of that came loose and several parents have to loose in their rules and they gave the women a newfound freedom and more likelihood of heart rate in real relationships. and they went out to confederate camps and now they were going off with men they didn't even know and being serenaded, all of these scandalous behaviors and it would never happen before the war. and of course some of them only

admitted to wording in their diaries. but after the war, 60,000 widows were last in didn't have any expectations of getting married. my favorite was all the women he said i don't care, i will be an old lady. it doesn't matter to me. it was the first time that they did not carry on the tradition of their mothers and grandmothers. >> starting with sort of a blank slate, how did you view this moment in history evolving through research and writing? >> one of the most startling aspects was how women -- you even think of them as the weaker sex and they exploited the idea of women being gentle and sort of slow and not agitated and

genteel. and so while they were hiding everything in their hoop skirts, it was something they could hide behind with regard to the idea that women were not capable of this type of behavior. so they were great things were detectives would approach women and say, you are in a league with the enemy. and their immediate responses how dare you accuse me of such behavior. and i am a defenseless woman and you are insulting a defenseless woman. worst these women were very upset. and i will shoot you right now. but just the fact that they considered the weaker sacks with white brilliant. >> you have often written about these intrepid women and their roles and significant moments in

history. did you always want to write about women? >> i kind of fell into it. my grandmother tells me the dirtiest stories i know. [laughter] and she is the one who not only led me to a 19th century brothel but, you know, when you think of this you think of male characters, you think of malcolm max, even the late great james garner. but now you think of them as maverick. [laughter] >> how did you compare this to your former buck? >> you know, i like to write about women whose lives i wish i could've lived.

the next best thing is to sit at my computer and prod and poke and it's always a thrill. >> talking about the prodding and poking and going down the rabbit hole, do you mind that it's like, okay, now i am going to write and edit, or do you have overlap in how you operate? and was the prospect any different in any way? >> you probably agree that being a journalist yourself, i have to write and research at the same time. i know plenty that gather and i would research happily for 10 years and not write a word. i could research for the rest my life and never right. but that can get you in trouble with your editor.

and so i think it's fun why have to write an and research at the same time and it saves you -- you find out what is important and vital to the story. you allow yourself to pull back and say, okay, i can't spend the next four months on that, unfortunately. >> do such a great job of capturing the voices. what kinds of resources did you come across while you were in the rabbit hole two. >> you know, i went all over for this one. i went to the national archives where they had a correspondent. it's at the national archives and i was able to hold that in my hands. just know that they had held this 150 years old and it was thrilling and the same thing with elizabeth. i found some of her writing and one of them said please give us some of your ability to write

this. and so it so interesting as you talk about how many years later. he gave me some information that had never been told before, so that was pretty thrilling. i spent a lot of time there. >> a question that would come up through the kind of curiosity, to cross-dressers in both genders or not unusual. did you ever encounter anyone in any of these reenactments who was a woman being a man or a man being a woman? >> i wrote an article soon after i finished my research where women had to fight for the right to reenact as men.

apparently they decided that they can dress as men and fight as men and they wanted them to play the traditional role whereas we want to be the women soldiers and reenact with them. so there was a movement for that to happen. and so also just be events. i went to see the first battle of bull run reenactment in july of 2011 and there was a man with a 10-year-old son and he says, hey, look, they strung him up by the power lines. [laughter] and so you have a lot of that. [laughter] [inaudible] >> yak, yak.

of course. [laughter] >> so you can see that it is the book -- it's such a compelling and great read. >> let's talk about this. >> it is fiction. is it something that you ever consider doing? this is such a huge part of what you've done for so long now. is it something you think about? >> for the next book maybe but definitely not for this one. i spent five years researching this book in a couple of -- there is a lot that went on during the civil war and then on. and so for me it was important to point out that in the end is important that people embellish versus what they actually did in

a way. and so i tried to be as true as possible. and i explain why they embellish them. it's important for me to examine that. it says something about their role and it's part of the story and i think it's legitimate and away is the official records of the war of the rebellion which i also consulted extensively and those memoirs are very smart is a small part of a large body of research and i'm lucky enough to have access to or a book like this. >> it comes together so terrifically. we have time for some questions for karen abbott. do any of you have any questions? yes? [inaudible question]

[inaudible question] >> it's more of a comment, i guess. the southern gothic -- the women are so prevalent compared to others, that has to be a product of the war as well. maybe? i don't know. >> i think that that is probably true. the whole landscape changed after the war and even some of the spies started talking about women's suffrage and how they do their roles and i think that people prepared for that and that sort of influenced everything in looting southern gothic literature. >> a lot of women writers, especially in this case are very moderate. >> yes, that's an interesting point. [inaudible question] >> it's a great title.

you know, it was pretty torturous and i sent out in the mail saying this is a title and i think that in the end we wanted something to try to encapsulate all four women on something that they all were and also play on very manly movies and i just thought it would be fun to sort of infuse it with a little bit of the women's perspective and a sort of say that this is the women's side of that story. [inaudible question] >> it was a collaborative process i sent many e-mails and they ignore them rightfully. the thing that i'm not even going to grace this with a response. hoff uncovered the war white

extensively and walt whitman. and i thought that these were great little snippets. and, you know, they would say no, no, that's not working. so finally we came up with this and we all thought that it clicked. >> i have a request. >> okay. >> can you give the description of samuel jackson will. [laughter] >> we have a request for stonewall jackson i imagine that she spent quite a bit of time doing this.

[laughter] >> i don't think his feet were as pretty as hers. but samuel jackson had just turned 38 years old and he had a really bright blue eyes and a preferred uniform consisted of a threadbare coat left over from the mexican war. going from size 14 feet from to everyone else called [inaudible] he wrote him to avoid writing on the ground. he almost never laughed and on the and rare occasions when he did, he tossed back his head and made no sound whatsoever. once an injured northerner asked to be lifted up he stared at jackson for a moment and then

explained oh, my god, lay me down. and he was as idiosyncratic as possible before he became legendary skill on the battlefield. he was out of balance and even under fire would stop to raise one arm, waiting for the flood to run down his body. he refused to be upset because it made his left leg week. it often made it difficult for him to determine the direction from which he came. convinced that everyone of his organs was malfunctioning to some extent, he medicated with a variety of concoctions. twice today, rain or shine he found a secluded field and he perched on the edge of the fence and prayed for an hour, hands clasped and tears spilling.

a ritual that many had something to do with the recurring fear that he was possessed. he was reluctant to read a letter from his wife although he considered himself a genuine admirer without tipping his hat. he was utterly unfazed by the prospect of murder and he would drop in himself. he ordered the execution by a firing squad for assaulting a man of higher rank. the general found, as he always did that god will match up with his own. during one battle he inquired about a missing carrier and was told that the young man had been killed, very commendable and he

put the matter out of his mind. [applause] and so as i said, that's my boyfriend. [laughter] and it's interesting to me how these myths and these personas about these individuals builds up in a particular time in history. what role did the media play in this work? in revolutionary times even after the revolutionary battle was going on about taking on the u.s. constitution, newspapers were very opinionated and no one even pretended to try to be objective. what role did the newspapers play in the development of the legends of something like that. >> the first and foremost the duty was to convince everyone that they were the ones who were

winning. every battle have different numbers according to the north and the south and that was the first that they wanted everyone to think. and so of course in the south she was a hero. she might have been strange or eccentric, but she was a hero. she was a prostitute and this is a 17-year-old girl wandering through the camps and they have no idea why they let her wander through the camps. and so i just understand that we had the greatest propaganda. there were a lot of reports of the barbarianism about the confederates and how barbaric they were in there were women

wearing jewelry made of yankee bones and necklaces made of yankee teat and all of these sorts of things and the confederates were very angry. the union had been starving them of supplies and it was sort of the idea that these people were so brutal and there was a little bit of truth to that there were some wearing yankee jory, but it was mostly each side talked about this and it was in line with what europe was thinking and they were very carefully and that was always in the back of their minds. >> do we have any other questions? >> okay. [inaudible