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Reveille in Washington: 1860-1865 by Margaret Leech: book review



Reveille in Washington: 1860-1865 (1941, this edition 2011) is about Washington, the capital city of America, and the impact of the Civil War on the city and its transformation from a ‘sleepy Southern village … into the powerful capital of a reunited nation purified of slavery and sovereignty by blood and fire.’

This is both an interesting story and an historical documentary. It is the time of Abraham Lincoln on the verge of Civil War. The title ‘Reveille in Washington’ refers to the five-year transition, or awakening, from peace to war and America’s awakening from a fragmented ‘Union’ to a modern and united nation.

Washington was built on a swamp. Things ‘got worse before they got better.’ First, in come the soldiers, with ‘prostitutes, gamblers, and liquor vendors’ until the 1863 backlash to eradicate corruption and vice, and then came ‘the huge expansion of the civil service necessary to mobilize the war effort’ that leads to the need for housing, services, and a city plan. This book covers the beginning of this change, the first steps in the need for order from chaos. 

Margaret Leech loves detail. From a grand overview to the minutiae of everyday life – from the veritable ‘who’s who’ of people to what they thought, ate, and wore, down to the lace on women’s dresses and men’s boots – from the drapes in people’s houses to the cobblestones on the streets – there is no detail left untold. The narrative of First Lady Mary Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln’s wife, is particularly interesting. 

The true tales of conspiracy, murder, mayhem, and presidential decisions amid a background of a stench-filled wilderness colony, makes this an intriguing social story of the times. 

But don’t forget that this is about the history of the city, and not the people, and Leech brings the five-year evolution of bricks and mortar to life. The architectural significance of buildings, from the Executive Mansion to the Smithsonian Institute, yield to views of ‘Ptomac flats’ to the swamps, sewers, and ramshackle homes of the poor. The author’s words become visual references to a time long ago, yet immediately unfolding.

This is the book I’ve been wanting to read since I visited Washington in 2003. History books should be as fine as this one. 






MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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