The battles that bind us
Robert W. Rudy and daughter, Carol Rudy Ludwick, authors of March to the Sea.
As a child of a war history buff, I understand being dragged from site to site, seeing large ships, open expanses of land now empty besides a plaque, and climbing from one permanently landed relic to the next. I never saw the wonder, I never saw the glory, I only saw the boredom. But as an adult, as you realize the atrocities of war, the horrid cost of these pursuits, and the lives that were lived, ended or bruised permanently within those ghost vessels, it lands much differently. I traveled to France and saw where my own grandfather entered his first battle in Normandy. I walked the apple orchards where he rested and played games of chess between battles. The scene, while beautifully European, still erupted with warfare, the wounds still visible all these years later.
Carol Rudy Ludwick’s dad dragged her family from place to place, told stories he had heard and things he had learned. Robert W. Rudy was obsessed long before he ever set foot on a battle field. And even after experiencing war first hand he continued to lead chatrooms, read, and even began writing his own book about the Civil War. But Carol took her love for her dad’s interests even further than just realizing the depth, she finished his book posthumously.
March to the Sea (Lexographic Press, Nov. 2022) tells the tale of Sherman’s final march from Atlanta to the coast. It is a story enriched by the people Robert met and the love that Carol had for her father and their shared adoration for storytelling. Below, Carol talks more about what inspired her dad to delve into history, the wisdom he shared on their walks and at the table, and why it is increasingly important to revisit the past now.
Q. Your father met a veteran as a young boy, this encounter stayed with him and influenced so much about his interests and choices. What was it about this encounter or person that had such a lasting effect on him?
A. My father grew up with a strong admiration for those in the service as his father had been a WWI fighter pilot and he never tired of hearing those stories. The former Union soldier Dad got to know was the grandfather of a dear friend of his mother’s, so he was able to visit with him a handful of times. Eventually, he was invited to hold the old man’s 1860 Army Colt revolver as they talked, with the unspoken understanding that this was not to be mentioned. That thrilled my dad, as did hearing war tales from a quiet, gentle man who had been a farmer.
Q. In the book you talk about your father and how he was never shy about sharing his thoughts and opinions with you. In the same intro you talk about freedom as a birthright. When dealing with the issues attached to the Civil War and the ongoing battle our country has with racism, what were those words of wisdom he would share at the table in regards to privilege?
A. I think his decades long, voracious study of the war and all its facets exposed him to some of the deep fissures that were present in his beloved country, more than some of his contemporaries. Unlike other amateur historians at the time, he firmly believed that the true root of the war was slavery, as opposed to states’ rights. He called it a “great moral cancer” and as he endeavored to teach me about his values, being aware that we inherently had privilege based on our race was part of the equation. We were lucky- to be born here, in this time, into these bodies.
Q. When you hear about Civil War reenactments or enthusiasts, the knee jerk is to think about those who glorify the "Old South". Your father was intrigued by the stories and the perspectives from Union soldiers. What motivated your father to tell this tale? And beyond the love for your father and his work, why was it important for you to bring this book to light now?
A. This answer is a story unto itself! My dad grew up in Ohio, so the northern perspective was strong there, being a Yankee state. His parents, undoubtedly, framed the war as the great battle to preserve the union, which was what mattered most. Here’s the twist. My dad was adopted. His birth parents were from a small town in Virginia. A few years ago, I discovered that he had a sister and was able to meet her. My sweet, beloved aunt referred to the Civil War as the war of northern aggression and bragged about a rifle in the family that killed a Union soldier. How I wish my father could have met her!
It frightens me to think that we feel closer to another civil war than ever before. The divisions in the country are so great, and violent rhetoric is on the rise. I think it’s important to look back and see what that kind of division has done to us in the past, to be reminded of the devastating toll that a war between citizens can take, to be reminded that we can’t take our democracy and our freedoms for granted. They have been in peril before and they could be again.
Q. The sequence of events are clearly all based on fact and research, but the characters come to life more than in a biography. How much of the characters are based on research and how much on your father's imagination?
A. The characters that were real people, the generals, for example, were based on accounts that my dad read of their demeanors and personalities. Having been a soldier himself, I think he probably patterned some of the officers with types he encountered during his service-some stuffy and self important, some more down to earth. The others sprang from his imagination and he enjoyed imbuing them with certain characteristics. John Blair, for instance, was named after his best friend and he may have made him a farmer in homage to the veteran he met as a boy.
Q. Your father was a WWII veteran, why do you think he chose to write about the Civil War instead?
A. My father rarely spoke about his time in the war. The only thing that stands out is when he urged me to see the movie Saving Private Ryan. He told me that would give me a good idea of what it was like for him. I think he didn’t want to dwell in that period of time, plus, he had been so captivated by his encounters with the Union veteran, that’s where his fascination with the Civil War, in particular, was born.
