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The
Fletcher Pratt Award
At a meeting of the Board of the Directors held on June
19, 1956, James D. Horan proposed that a Fletcher Pratt
Award be established as a memorial to a distinguished
charter member and former president (1953-54), who had
passed away nine days earlier. Unanimously approved as
proposed, the award, in the form of an appropriate
plaque, is presented to the author or editor of the best
non-fiction book on the Civil War published during the
course of the calendar year. The Fletcher Pratt Award is
presented annually at the May meeting. N.B. - Year dates
are the year of publication.
The Civil War Round Table Of New York Presents The 60th
Annual Fletcher Pratt Literary Award For Best Non-Fiction Civil War
Book Of 2015 At Its 600th Meeting To James M. McPherson
For “Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis As Commander In Chief”
On May 11, 2016, The Civil War Round Table of New
York presented the 60th Annual Fletcher Pratt Literary
Award for best non-fiction book of the year to the legendary Civil
War Historian and Author, James M. McPherson.
The prestigious Fletcher Pratt Award was presented by
Patrick Falci, Past President of the Civil War Round Table of New
York and Chairperson of the Fletcher Pratt Awards Committee, along
with Award Committee Members and former Past Presidents Charles
Mander and William Finlayson, to the 1989 Pulitzer Prize Winner and
the George Henry Davis ’86 Professor Emeritus of United States
History at Princeton University, Dr. James M. McPherson for
“Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander
in Chief.”
Awards Chairperson
Patrick Falci informed Professor McPherson that this was indeed an
“historic” meeting for The Civil War Round Table of New York, being
the 60th annual presentation of the Round Table’s most
prestigious literary award and that it was occurring at the Club’s
600th meeting during its 65th season.
Dr. McPherson then came to the
podium and enlightened the Round Table’s members and their guests
with his penetrating insights and dry humor. Although history has
not been too kind to Jefferson Davis, Professor McPherson took
another tack and told the Jefferson Davis military story from West
Point to the Mexican War to his time as Secretary of War
under the Pierce administration. He then
explained his relationships with his generals, especially the
complicated relations between himself and Joseph E. Johnston and his
excellent working relationship with Robert E. Lee, all the time
interweaving the actual events, battles and reactions to those
events. It was a wonderful evening that ended
with a spirited question and answer session.
The Fletcher Pratt Award was established in 1956.
One of the charter founding members of the Civil War Round
Table of New York, Fletcher Pratt was a prolific writer.
Pratt authored 16 books, including six on the American Civil
War. At a meeting of the board of directors held on June 19,
1956—just eight days after his untimely death—James D. Horan
proposed that a Fletcher Pratt Literary Award be established as a
memorial to a distinguished member and
the second
president of the Round Table (1953-54). Approved unanimously as
proposed, the award, in the form of a scroll, is presented to the
author or editor of the best non-fiction book on the Civil War
published during the course of a calendar year.
Previous winners have included such Civil War luminaries as
Bruce Catton, Burke Davis, Allan Nevins, Harry Hansen, Shelby Foote,
Clifford Dowdey, Edwin Coddington, John Y. Simon, David Donald,
William C. Davis, William McFeely, Stephen Sears, Richard McMurray,
Edward Longacre, James I. Robertson, Noah Trudeau, Steven Woodworth,
Wiley Sword, Gary Gallagher, Gordon Rhea, Joseph T. Glatthaar,
Amanda Foreman, Allen Guelzo, and Ed Bearss, just to name a few.
James M. McPherson
is the “dean” of contemporary Civil War Writers.
Born in North Dakota, he received his B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus
College in St. Peter, Minnesota in 1958 and his Ph.D. from Johns
Hopkins University in 1963 where he studied under C. Vann Woodward.
His most famous work, of course, is his one-volume study of the
Civil War, “Battle Cry of Freedom”
which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1989.
He is the
George Henry Davis ’86 Professor Emeritus of United States History
at Princeton.
Some of his
other books include:
For Cause and
Comrades: Why Men Fought in The Civil War; Crossroads
of Freedom: Antietan 1862; and This Mighty Scourge.
Founded in 1951, The Civil War Round Table of New
York generally meets on the second Wednesday of the month from
September to June. Members assist each other with research, discuss
preservation strategy for endangered battlefields, and listen to
distinguished speakers as they talk about a particular aspect of the
war. For the 2015-2016 Season, the meeting location is The 3 West
Club at 3 West 51st Street in Manhattan.
For more information on the Civil War Round Table of
New York, please contact The Civil War Round Table of New York at
our mailing address: 139-33 250th Street, Rosedale, New
York 11422. Or, if you prefer, call
718-341-9811, or email us at
cwrtnyc1@gmail.com.
.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
(From Left to Right: Award Committee Member, Charles Mander;
Fletcher Pratt Award Winner, Dr. James M. McPherson; Award
Chairperson, Patrick Falci; Award Committee Member, William
Finlayson)
.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
PAST WINNERS
1956 Bruce
Catton - This Hallowed Ground
1957 Burke Davis - J.E.B. Stuart: The Last Cavalier
1958 Philip Van Doren Stern - An End to Valor
1959 Allan Nevins - The Improvised War: 1861-1862
1960 Ernest & Trevor Dupuy - The Compact History of
the Civil War
1961 Glenn Tucker - Chickamauga
1962 Harry Hansen - The Civil War
1963 Shelby Foote - The Civil War: A Narrative
(Volume 2)
1964 Clifford Dowdey - The Seven Days: The Emergence
of Lee
1965 James V. Murfin - The Gleam of Bayonets
1966 Charles B. Dew - Ironmaker of the Confederacy:
Joseph R. Anderson and the Tredegar Iron Works
1967 Glydon G. Van Deusen - William Henry Seward
1968 Edwin B. Coddington - The Gettysburg Campaign: A
Study In Command
1969 Bruce Catton - Grant Takes Command
1970 Frank Vandiver - Their Tattered Flags
1971 Thomas Connelly - Army of the Heartland
1972 Robert M. Myers (editor) - Children of Pride
1973 John Y. Simon - The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant
(Volume 5)
1974 Shelby Foote. The Civil War: A Narrative (Volume 3)
1975 David H. Donald (editor). Gone For a Soldier: The
Civil War Memoirs of Private Alfred Bellard
1976 Richard Wheeler. Voices of the Civil War
1977 William C. Davis - for continuing contributions to
Civil War history
1978 Rowena Anita Reed - Combined Operations in the
Civil War
1979 Stephen Z. Starr - The Union Cavalry in the
Civil War (Volume 1)
1980 Samuel Carter III - The Final Fortress
1981 William McFeeley - Grant: A Biography
1982 Richard McMurray - John Bell Hood and the War
for Southern Independence
1983 Stephen W. Sears - Landscape Turned Red
1984 Larry J. Daniel - Cannoneers in Grey
1985 Joseph T. Glatthaar - Sherman's March To the Sea
and Beyond
1986 Edward G. Longacre - The Cavalry at Gettysburg
1987 James I. Robertson, Jr. - General A.P. Hill: The
Story of a Confederate Warrior
1988 Benjamin F. Cooling, Jr. - Forts Henry &
Donelson
1989 Noah Andre Trudeau - Bloody Roads South: The
Wilderness to Cold Harbor, May - June 1864
1990 Steven E. Woodworth - Jefferson Davis and His
Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West
1991 Rod Gragg - Confederate Goliath: The Battle of
Fort Fisher
1992 Wiley Sword - Embrace an Angry Wind
1993 William J. Miller - Mapping For Stonewall
1994 John C. Waugh - The Class of 1846
1995 Steven E. Woodworth - Davis and Lee at War
1996 Stephen W. Sears - Chancellorsville
1997 James I. Robertson, Jr. - Stonewall Jackson, the
Man, the Soldier, the Legend
1998 Gary W. Gallagher - Lee and His Generals in War
and Memory
1999 Richard L. Kiper - Major General John Alexander
McClernand: Politician in Uniform
2000 Gordon C. Rhea - To the North Anna River
2001 Charles B. Dew - Apostles of Disunion
2002 Grady McWhiney- Confederate Crackers and
Cavaliers
2003 Stephen W. Sears - Gettysburg
2004 Michael J. Bennett - Union Jacks
2005 Ira M. Rutkow - Bleeding Blue and Gray
2006 Robert Tracy McKenzie - Lincolnites and
Rebels
2007 Joan Cashin - First Lady of the Confederacy
2008 Joseph T. Glatthaar - General Lee's Army
2009 William L. Shea for Fields of Blood
2010 Donald Stoker for The Grand Design: Strategy
and the U.S. Civil War
2011 Amanda Foreman for A World of Fire
2012 Timothy B. Smith for Corinth 1862 - Siege,
Battle, Occupation
2013 Allen C. Guelzo for Gettysburg: The Last
Invasion
2014 Ed Bearss for The Petersburg Campaign -
Volumes 1 & 2
2015
Dr. James M. McPherson for "Embattled Rebel:
Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief"
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