William B. Styple has worn many hats: researcher, author, speaker, publisher, and reenactor. Many of you may have encountered him in the Gettysburg NMP’s Visitor Center bookstore over the years, peddling his wares and tales. In 2022 he published his so-far life’s work, General Philip Kearny: A Very God of War. Bill recently took some time to discuss the new book.
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BR: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
WBS: I have been a student of the Civil War since the 1960s, and actively writing since the 1980s. I co-wrote the video documentary series, Echoes of the Blue & Gray with the late Brian Pohanka; the documentary depicts Civil War veterans recorded on motion-picture film during the 1890s-1950s. I can honestly say that Brian Pohanka was my earliest influence, and he is greatly missed. Before Brian passed away in 2005, he was consulting on my book: Generals in Bronze, Interviewing the Commanders of the Civil War. That volume contained over 50 previously unknown interviews made by artist James E. Kelly (1855-1933) with Generals Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Hancock, Hooker, Webb, Warren, Sickles, to name a few. In their book review, Civil War Times Illustrated called Generals in Bronze “a blockbuster History of the Civil War.” And it certainly was: the Kelly interviews have forever changed the history the Civil War.
I also published three volumes of letters written by the common soldier, both Union and Confederate; all totaling about a thousand letters documenting the history of the war as told from the front lines—the collection is called Writing & Fighting the Civil War.
Another important discovery I made in 2012 was the unpublished writings of Colonel Thomas M. Key, who served as General George B. McClellan’s “Confidential Aide” and “Political Adviser.” General McClellan’s posthumously published memoir was called, McClellan’s Own Story; and so in turn I called my book McClellan’s Other Story, The Political Intrigue of Colonel Thomas M. Key. Here is a documented story from the Civil War that McClellan and his supporters do not want you to read. A never-before-told history that contains many astounding revelations—which sometimes tends to upset some of those so-called Civil War experts. Apparently, discovering the unpublished letters of Colonel Key did hurt some egos; but I do not apologize. (See his Amazon Author Page here.)
BR: What got you interested in the Civil War?
WBS: I was raised in the small town of Kearny, New Jersey, founded in 1867, and named after its most famous resident killed in the Civil War. My family home was not far from where Philip Kearny built his gothic-style mansion—known to us townsfolk as Kearny Castle. Also standing nearby was the New Jersey Home for Disabled Soldiers & Sailors, a care facility for those Union veterans who had borne the battle. From 1887-1932, some 20,000 Civil War veterans resided in my neighborhood, living out their final years at the Old Soldiers’ Home; those toddling, blue-clad, octogenarians were beloved members of our community, and it was a common sight for passersby to see the old veterans sitting under shade trees, telling a group of wide-eyed youngsters remembrances of Bull Run, Antietam, and Gettysburg, along with memories of President Lincoln and, of course, legendary stories of the fiery One-Armed Devil—Phil Kearny.
Those recollections told to the eager young listeners in my hometown were later passed down to me; so naturally, the Civil War and Phil Kearny became a life-long passion, and for over 50 years, I’ve collected anything relating to General Kearny: his personal military equipage, his correspondence, books from his library, artwork from his private collection, furniture from his domicile, and other trivial effects. I literally started writing the Kearny biography decades ago; it has been my full time occupation since the 1980s. The book contains one million words, and a thousand footnotes, 880 total pages.
BR: We’ve never seen a biography of Kearny of this depth (or length). In a nutshell, what does your book contribute to the literature that has not already been contributed?
WBS: The two prior biographies of Philip Kearny were written by family: Cousin John Watts De Peyster wrote the first in 1869; and Grandson Thomas Kearny, wrote another in 1937. Both of those biographies are unreadable—full of nonsense—and they do not tell the whole story of Phil Kearny. Another book was published in the 1960s, mainly for children, which contains lots of silly, invented, dialogue. Unfortunately, modern-day writers/historians source these three books, which only propagated the erroneous myth of Philip Kearny. In fact, most writers of books/articles continue to spell Kearny’s name incorrectly—so if you are reading a battle history and the author spells General Kearny’s name: KEARNEY, they really don’t know anything about Phil Kearny. And I can say with certainty: I have never read a Kearny-related article published in the various Civil War magazines since the 1960s, which are not full of errors.
My biography of Philip Kearny tells the whole story of his life, both personal and military, both positive and negative. John Watts De Peyster chose not tell of Kearny’s life scandals, and Thomas Kearny may have touched upon those scandals somewhat, but did not tell the whole story. My book contains the entire story—the whole truth—describing one of the greatest scandals of the 1850s (until Dan Sickles shot Philip Barton Key); Philip Kearny was divorced from his first wife in 1858 and the procedure records were ordered sealed for 100 years. I was the first to untie the red tape and learn the whole truth—spicy details which historians and even Kearny’s own descendants were entirely unaware of.
BR: Give us the skinny on Kearny. Can you sum him up in a paragraph or two that will make folks want to read more?
WBS: I’m afraid it’s impossible to sum up Phil Kearny in a single paragraph—just as it’s equally impossible to present a one-hour lecture on his life (he died at age 47). Phil Kearny was a born soldier, who fought in five wars—fighting in Africa, Mexico, the West, Italy, and the Civil War. In every battle, in each war, he rode straight into the enemy lines and fought his way out. It cost him an arm in Mexico, his life at Chantilly. He was the first American soldier to receive the Legion of Honor from France.
At the onset of the Civil War, Phil Kearny was the most combat-experienced soldier—he had seen more war on a grand scale than any general, north or south, with the possible exception of Winfield Scott—who called Kearny: “The bravest man I ever knew, and a perfect soldier.” And that’s coming from the top, folks. In fact, Lee, Grant, Longstreet, all the antebellum army officers, considered Kearny to be the most gallant and “perfect soldier.” During the Civil War, Kearny was a non-West Pointer, who came to the rescue of several West Pointers (Federals) on numerous battlefields. He literally saved the Army of the Potomac from disaster at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, and Glendale. Kearny’s role in the Second Battle of Bull Run has been misrepresented by a legion of jealous commanders, and in my book, I explain how and why.
BR: Your book has been in the works a long time. Can you describe how long it took, what the stumbling blocks were, what you discovered along the way that surprised you or went against the grain, what firmed up what you already knew? When did you know you were “done?”
WBS: I started learning about Phil Kearny in 1967; his portrait hung in my elementary school classroom, alongside portraits of Washington and Lincoln; the more I learned about Kearny, the more I wanted to learn. But, it wasn’t till the late 1980s when I commenced serious research on Kearny’s life. I decided early on to make this biography totally unique. Of the thousands of Civil War biographies written since 1865, no one has done one like this. I had to know where Kearny was every week of his life, and every detail of the five wars he fought in. Some of his earlier life was difficult to piece together, but I believe I have accomplished what I set out to do. There were several important discoveries made along the way, as I have mentioned before, the Kelly interviews, Colonel Key’s letters, etc.
After writing the chapter covering the details of Kearny’s death at Chantilly, I still wasn’t finished; there are four more chapters covering the days, weeks, months, decades after Kearny’s demise.
BR: Can you describe your research and writing process? What online and brick and mortar sources did you rely on most? Over the course of these many years, how did technology, the easier availability of source materials like newspapers and digitized archives, change how you went about it?
WBS: I made countless trips to the National Archives to research Kearny and everyone connected to him militarily; also the New Jersey Historical Society, the Library of Congress, and libraries scattered throughout the United States, and France. Digitized newspapers were a great help over the past ten or so years, much easier than the old microfilm rolls which I used in the 1980s and 90s. General Kearny commanded about 20 regiments; and each regiment was raised in a hometown—scattered in Michigan, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey; and I would comb through those hometown newspapers for soldier-letters describing Kearny in camp and battle; the result was I found hundreds of important battle descriptions written by Kearny’s soldiers, within hours/days of the fight; the best source material.
BR: How has the book been received?
WBS: Most folks are very pleased with my work and research, especially the newly-discovered letters/battle accounts. I’ve learned that if you can present something new to the students of the Civil War—something they haven’t read before, they are very gratified. My favorite comment was: “Thank you for not writing about Grant or Lee.”
BR: What’s next for you?
WBS: I am currently working on an updated/revised edition of Generals in Bronze for 2024, which will contain about 40 additional pages of previously unpublished accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg and other Civil War events; also, never-before-told stories of Grant, Lee, Lincoln, and others. To be sure, this will be another blockbuster-history of the Civil War. I guarantee it.
Harry Smeltzer
Bull Runnings 
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