Edge of the Sword: The Ordeal of Carpetbagger Marshall H. Twitchell in the Civil War and Reconstruction

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Summary: Review from the Journal of American History
Review: In recent decades, many historians of Reconstruction have been drawn to the story of Marshall H. Twitchell, an idealistic carpetbagger who braved ferocious reactionary violence in postbellum Louisiana. Honest, courageous, and committed, Twitchell was not the stereotypical northern opportunist of southern lore, and he has, as a result, surfaced in studies by Eric Foner, Lawrence Powell, George Rable and other historians who have revised the old Dunning-school interpretation of the carpetbaggers. Twitchell has, nevertheless, remained largely unknown to non-specialists because, until now, no one had written a full-length account of his life. With the publication of Ted Tunnell's superb biography, Edge of the Sword, Twitchell's extraordinary story should reach a wider audience.
In recounting Twitchell's life, Tunnell tells "one of the great stories of Reconstruction."(p.4) Born in Vermont, Twitchell joined the Union Army at the start of the Civil War and fought in most of the major battles in the Virginia theater. Severely wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness when a minie ball entered his skull through his eye, he was left for dead by army surgeons. But after a miraculous recovery, Twitchell went on to be an officer for a black regiment comprised mainly of ex-slaves. Following Appomattox, he became an agent of the Freedmen's Bureau in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. While serving in this capacity, Twitchell met and married a southern woman, Adele Coleman, whom he hoped to someday bring home with him to Vermont. But when Adele refused to move North, Twitchell made the best of his situation, purchasing a modest cotton plantation, moving some of his relatives down from the Green Mountain state, and establishing a small "Yankee colony" in the town of Coushatta.
In 1868 Twitchell entered local politics and, with the support of African-American voters, was elected as a Republican to the state senate where he successfully fought for funding to build black public schools. He also displayed remarkable courage in the face of repeated threats from the Knights of the White Camellia, Louisiana's version of the Ku Klux Klan. In one instance, Twitchell, having fallen asleep in his saddle, avoided assassination when his mule took the wrong road, thus circumnavigating the bushwhackers waiting in the woods ahead. Twitchell's brother Homer was not so lucky, however. In August 1874, while Marshall was away in New Orleans, conspirators killed his brother and six other Republicans in what became known as the "Coushatta Massacre." Undaunted, Twitchell returned to the town despite threats that he would be next. Refusing to be intimidated, he continued to defend the political and economic rights of blacks and poor whites. Finally, in May 1876, a disguised gunman rode into town and shot Twitchell six times with a rifle. Although Twitchell survived the attack, both of his arms had to be amputated. Only then did he leave the South for good.
Throughout EDGE OF THE SWORD, Tunnell places Twitchell's life within the complex context of local and national politics and current historiographical debates. But he does so as part of an evocative narrative that skillfully recreates the dramatic events that make Twitchell's story so compelling. Thus, this work will be of interest to both historians and lay readers. Tunnell is to be commended for writing an important biography of a courageous man who truly believed he was fighting a righteous battle.