KCHO Interview with Nancy Wiegman

Nancy Wiegman is the host of Nancy's Bookshop, a regular feature on Northstate Public Radio. She also happens to be keenly interested in history and language. We had a great time talking with her on a wide range of subjects.

Topics:

Origins of the book. • The Bullion Bend Robbery (a partisan attack near Placerville). • The surprising links between California and the South before the war.

The important role of visuals in California and the Civil War. Where did the images come from?

The Broderick-Terry duel. Political violence in California. • The fateful division of the Democratic Party that allowed Abraham Lincoln to win California’s presidential electors with less than a third of the state’s votes.

The story of Albert Sidney Johnston, the Southern general who was commanded the US Department of the Pacific in 1861. • Rumors of Johnston’s disloyalty lead to his dismissal. Johnston crosses the Southwest in June and July to offer his services to the South. Johnston’s death at Shiloh.

Thomas Starr King, the diminutive preacher with the big voice, speaks out for the Union. • King's instrumental role in rallying Unionists and raising funds for the US Sanitary Commission. • King’s death through overwork.

Californians fight back east. • The story of the California Battalion, which rode with the 2nd Mass. Cavalry in Northern Virginia. • Their thankless task: trying to suppress John Singleton Mosby’s guerrilla band.

Asbury Harpending at the Chapman conspiracy – a bold plan to seize Union gold at sea.

William Gwin, the charismatic plantation owner who dominated California politics for the first decade of statehood. • The lavish style of the “Chivalry” (Southern Democrats), as practiced by Mrs. Gwin.