The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics

In Short

This issue of the Atlantic Monthly offers a multi-faceted portrait of mid-nineteenth-century intellectual life amid the anguish of the Civil War. It combines historical investigations into sixteenth-century Spanish romances, dramatic fiction about wartime sacrifice, artistic treatises on landscape and beauty, physiological studies of religious ecstasy, personal tributes to literary giants, and rigorous military assessments of Union defenses. The collection endures as a primary window into how American writers, scholars, and citizens processed the trauma of the rebellion by anchoring themselves in historical context, artistic contemplation, domestic ideals, and sober military analysis.

The Story

The volume opens with an inquiry into the origins of the name "California," tracing it to a 1510 Spanish romance featuring a mythical Amazon queen named Calafia who rode a monstrous yellow beast with shield-sized ears and one central eye. This lighthearted historical exploration gives way to fictional narratives steeped in the contemporary weight of the Civil War. In one tale, an organist and an artist named Adam von Gelhorn debate patriotism and duty before his canvas depicting a dying soldier. Confronted by her questioning of his hesitation, Adam cuts his canvas from its easel and departs for the front lines, leaving the women in his life to confront the sudden, real prospect of sacrifice and battlefield death.

The issue then turns toward philosophical and historical analysis. Essays examine the evolution of European gardening, tracing the shift from formal Dutch and English layouts to natural landscapes inspired by Addison and Spenser. A deep dive into aesthetic philosophy argues that true beauty sits between mere appearance and pure intellect, warning that art perishes when its mysteries are fully decoded into rigid prose. Historical inquiry continues with a second paper on the eighteenth-century convulsionists of St. Médard, examining how religious ecstasy, hysterical trances, and apparent physical invulnerability were documented by medical observers of the era.

Turning toward contemporary literature and domestic life, the issue features an intimate portrait of John Greenleaf Whittier, praising his fierce moral clarity and describing his physical presence as reminiscent of an ancient Semitic prophet whose poem "Barbara Frietchie" provided a vital spiritual victory following Gettysburg. A reflective essay on "The House and Home" elevates home-making to the highest art, insisting that true domestic harmony rests entirely on selfless love rather than mercenary convenience. The prose then returns directly to the ongoing war, praising the quiet, steady resolve of Union soldiers over the short-lived, flag-waving enthusiasm of 1861.

A tender, personal tribute to William Makepeace Thackeray follows, written shortly after his sudden death to vindicate the man's warm heart against critics who saw only sharp satire in his brain. The issue concludes with a detailed, technical review of Brigadier-Generals Barnard and Barry's official reports on the Army of the Potomac. The narrative ends on a note of practical realism, documenting the massive fortification of Washington, D.C.—built on a scale larger than Wellington's lines at Torres Vedras—and evaluating the unprecedented deployment of hundred-pounder rifled siege guns at Yorktown.

How It Unfolds

The Amazon Queen of Romance An essayist unpacks the sixteenth-century origin of California's name from a Spanish chivalric tale. It describes Queen Calafia's golden dress, her strange single-eyed mount, and her army of women joining the siege of Constantinople.

Sacrifice in the Studio A female musician challenges an artist as he stands beside his painting of a dying hero. Urged to prove his patriotism, he slices his canvas from the frame and leaves for the battlefield.

Nature and the Canvas The prose shifts to art history and aesthetics, examining how English landscape design abandoned stiff, formal rules for natural beauty. It traces how painters like Claude Lorrain captured a soothing connection between nature and the human soul.

Trances of the Fanatics A medical historical study details the physical phenomena of the St. Médard convulsionists. It outlines how extreme states of bodily spasm and psychological ecstasy allowed subjects to endure severe blows without registering pain.

Portraits and Domestic Altars A commentator describes meeting John Greenleaf Whittier, linking his prophet-like features to his moral verse. Nearby, a companion piece frames home-making as a sacred creation that requires true love over financial convenience.

Guns and Fortifications The closing section analyzes technical reports from the Army of the Potomac. It details the rapid construction of massive earthworks around Washington and the successful deployment of heavy rifled artillery during siege operations.

The People

• Queen Calafia: A mythical Amazon monarch from a 1510 Spanish romance who commands an army of gilded women riding exotic beasts; she serves as the unexpected historical namesake for the state of California.
• Adam von Gelhorn: A painter driven by chivalric ideals and deep devotion to a gifted organist; when challenged on his commitment to the Union cause, he destroys his active work to enlist as a soldier.
• John Greenleaf Whittier: An American poet characterized by high brows and deep-set eyes; he channels intense moral conviction into popular verse that rallies the national spirit during the war.
• William Makepeace Thackeray: The late English novelist remembered by a close friend who defends his personal generosity and sensitive heart against public accusations of cold cynicism.
• Generals Barnard and Barry: Union officers whose technical reports detail the monumental engineering feats, heavy artillery deployments, and defensive line constructions of the Army of the Potomac.

In Its Own Voice

"The trumpet sounds, and though he were dead, yet shall he live."

An artist defends his quiet waiting before cutting his painting from its frame to join the Union army.

"No home is possible without love."

A domestic essayist sets down basic principles for building a sacred refuge in a shifting world.

"Dear boys, a classmate never dies!"

Poetic lines celebrate enduring brotherhood and memory despite the losses of time and war.

What It's Really About

Beneath its varied topics, the issue wrestles with how a society maintains its moral anchor during a catastrophic civil war. It contrasts the immediate, brutal realities of military fortifications and hospital wards with enduring ideals found in romantic folklore, artistic creation, and domestic love. By placing clinical studies of physiological trances alongside reflections on landscape design, Thackeray's legacy, and Whittier's moral verse, the issue asks what makes a culture worth defending. It suggests that national survival requires both the hard engineering of siege guns and the quiet preservation of spiritual, domestic, and artistic truth.

Why Read It Today

This volume offers a compelling, unvarnished look at northern intellectual life in early 1864. Reading it places you directly inside a cultured mid-nineteenth-century parlor where news of heavy rifled artillery at Yorktown sits alongside literary gossip about Thackeray and deep dives into Spanish history. The collection shines in its balance of high-minded aesthetic philosophy and practical wartime reporting, showing how citizens maintained their intellectual pursuits while surrounded by conflict.

Readers should expect the stylistic conventions of the era: lengthy, ornate sentences, classical literary references, and occasional period attitudes regarding religion and culture. The piece on the St. Médard convulsionists relies on outdated medical terminology, while the fictional entries indulge in sentimental melodrama. Yet these elements only heighten its historical value. It remains an absorbing read for anyone who wants to experience how nineteenth-century writers processed grief, art, and national identity in real time.