Chris Mackowski Pens New Book

Chris Mackowski, an associate professor of journalism and mass communication at St. Bonaventure University, has published a new book on one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War.

“The Dark, Close Wood: The Wilderness, Ellwood, and the Battle that Redefined Both” tells the story of the Battle of the Wilderness, which took place May 5-7, 1864, in central Virginia’s Spotsylvania County. The area was known as The Wilderness because it was sparsely settled and largely untamed.

“The Battle of the Wilderness was particularly important because it was the first engagement between legendary Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the new commander of all Union armies, Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant,” Mackowski explains. “In the Wilderness, the two armies fought each other to a standstill, but instead of retreating as all of his predecessors did, Grant found a way to push forward. He wanted to turn the Civil War into a war of attrition because he knew the South had fewer men and resources.”

In previous battles, the two armies usually fought in open fields, which allowed large bodies of men room to maneuver.

“The Wilderness was a dense, scrubby, second-growth forest, which made it nearly impossible for soldiers to even see each other let alone move around,” Mackowski said. “They’d never seen anything like it before. One soldier said, ‘A worse battlefield could not be imagined’—and he wasn’t the only person to think so.”

Mackowski also created five maps for the book, and he took a number of the modern-day photos featured in it. The book also includes dozens of wartime photos.

“The Dark, Close Wood” is available from Thomas Publications, a leading publisher of Civil War books. It is the second in a series commissioned by the National Park Service for the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park (FSNMP).

“We’re getting ready to unveil a new interpretive center for the Wilderness Battlefield that will help visitors better understand the experience of the soldiers and civilians affected by this battle,” said John Hennessy, chief historian at FSNMP and editor of the series. “‘The Dark, Close Wood’ is an important part of those new interpretive efforts. It’ll give visitors a thorough, readable overview of what happened.”

At 128 pages, the book is intended as something that a typical visitor can pick up and read in a few hours, Hennessy said. “There’s a real focus on good storytelling,” he added.

Mackowski also co-authored the first book in the series, “The Last Days of Stonewall Jackson,” with historian Kris White, published last summer. Mackowski has a third book, “Chancellorsville: The Battle and the Battlefield,” that will be published as part of the series later this year.

Mackowski has taught at St. Bonaventure since the fall of 2000. He has published extensively on Civil War-related topics, and he has also published two books on public relations for non-profit arts groups. His commentaries appear regularly in local newspapers, on public radio, and on the blog Scholars & Rogues (www.scholarsandrogues.com).