Catton, Bruce
1899—1978
Place of Birth: Petoskey, MI
Place of Principal Residence: New York, NY
Biography
Though Catton was born in Petoskey, MI, the majority of his youth was spent in Benzonia, MI since his father, a Congregationalist minister, accepted a job at Benzonia Academy. Catton’s fascination with history, especially the Civil War, stemmed from the tales of Civil War veterans he heard in his youth. In 1916 he went to Oberlin College to further his education, yet WWI prevented him from completing his degree. He ended up serving in the U.S. Navy for a short amount of time. In 1925 he married Hazel H. Cherry and together they had one child, William Bruce. Following his military service, Catton took up journalism and reported for the Cleveland News, the Boston American, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer until he accepted employment at the Newspaper Enterprise Association writing editorials, book reviews, and serving as a correspondent to D.C. Catton went on to serve as the Director of Information for the War Production Board. He also held positions at the Department of Commerce and the Department of the Interior. This government experience inspired his first book titled War Lords of Washington, which was published in 1948. Catton left the government in 1952 in order to pursue a writing career, and in 1954 he helped found the American Heritage magazine. He obtained the position of senior editor of the magazine in 1959 and continued to hold that position until he died in 1978 at his summer home in Frankfort, MI. Throughout his career as a full-time author he published numerous Civil War books and other historical novels. Gerald R. Ford presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and he was given 26 honorary college degrees, including one from Oberlin College.
Selected Works
- Mr. Lincoln’s Army (1951),
- Glory Road (1952)
- A Stillness at Appomattox (1953)
- U.S. Grant and the American Military Tradition (1954)
- Banners at Shenandoah (1955)
- The Hallowed Ground (1956)
- American Goes to War (1958)
- The Coming of Fury (1961)
- Terrible Swift Sword (1963)
- Never Call Retreat (1965)
- Grant Moves South (1960)
- Grant Takes Command (1968)
- Waiting for the Morning Train (1972)
- Michigan: A Bicentennial History (1976)
- The Bold & Magnificent Dream: America’s Founding Years, 1492-1815 (1978)
Awards
- 1954 Pulitzer prize for A Stillness at Appomattox
- 1961 Special Pulitzer citation for The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War
- 1954 National Book Award for A Stillness at Appomattox
- 1952 Ohioana Book Award from Martha Kinney Cooper Ohioana Library Association for Mr. Lincoln’s Army and for The Coming Fury (1962)
- 1957 Fletcher Pratt Award from The Civil War Round Table of New York for This Hallowed Ground and for Grant Takes Command (1970)
- 1959 award for “meritorious service in the field of Civil War history,” presented by Harry S Truman
Critical Reception
Catton’s genius ability to vividly depict history in a historically accurate fashion brought his novels praise and recognition. According to the Evening Standard: “…Mr. Catton becomes, by right of scholarship and true literary genius, one of the great historians of our age…” Also, in referring to Catton’s Civil War Trilogy, the historian Henry Steele Commager writes, “Better than any other history of our Civil War it combines narrative vigor, literary grace, freshness of view and independence of judgment, and a kind of catholic spirit which embraces the whole vast tumultuous scene.” Catton captures his audience with his vividly colorful writing and brings them onto the battlefield so that they may experience the reality of war. The New York Times joined in praising Catton’s Civil War Trilogy as well in calling it, “... a major work by a major writer, a superb re-creation of the twelve crucial months that opened the Civil War.”
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
The Grand Army of the Republic veterans of Michigan inspired Catton, which sent him on a lifelong study of the Civil War; his Michigan roots shaped his future writing career. Though most of his books focus on the history of the Civil War, two of his novels speak about his home state, Michigan. In Waiting for the Morning Train, Catton reminisces about the place of his youth. He describes the bygone days of the sleeper trains, clear lakes for fishing, and grand resort hotels. Catton also describes the impact of the logging industry on Michigan. In addition, Catton wrote Michigan: A Bicentennial History in which he tells the story of industrialization’s impact on the Michigan wilderness. He wrote about the changes that have occurred in this place of his youth.