Title: Edward M. Coffman Papers and Photographs
Inclusive Dates: 1917-1994

Creator:

• Coffman, Edward M.

Call Number: WVM Mss 54

Quantity: 2.0 linear ft. (2 archives boxes, 1 oversize folder, and 6 slide boxes) of papers and 1 folder of photographs.

Repository:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Have questions? Contact the Reference Archivist

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum (Map)

See the catalog entry for current shelf locations and additions.

Abstract:

Papers and photographs of Edward M. Coffman, who served in the Army during the Korean War and has since become a nationally renowned scholar of American military history. This collection deals exclusively with the civilian portion of his life. Included are letters written to Coffman by Benjamin Morgan, a once and future student who was serving in Vietnam at the time the correspondence took place. Morgan's letters convey the thoughts and concerns of a college-educated American fighting a controversial war in a completely foreign country; his feelings of culture shock are expressed in several letters. He touches upon drug use and sexually transmitted diseases among U.S. soldiers and projects a growing disillusionment with the war. The memorabilia that Morgan sent to Coffman can also be found in the collection, including numerous “Nguyen Charlie” comic strips. There are also seven photographs that he sent to Coffman, including one of himself. The majority of the collection centers on Coffman's career as a military historian. The hard work and research that he put into getting General Lucian Truscott's writings about the American cavalry published are reflected in this collection. Marked-up proofs of several military histories, a student paper about the Wisconsin Civil War soldiers buried in the Union Rest section of Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison, as well as fliers and programs for Coffman's speaking engagements all reflect his prominence in the field. The collection also contains war-related items that Coffman collected through the years, such as the World War I era presentation “Our Boys in France” (manuscript and slides), intended to create public support for the war effort, and glass slides of World War I maps.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.wvm-mss00054

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Edward M. “Mac” Coffman was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on 27 January 1929. After receiving his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Kentucky in 1951, he served in the Army for two years during the Korean War. Upon returning from service, he quickly earned a master's degree (1955) and doctorate (1959) in history from the University of Kentucky. After holding positions at Memphis State University and the George C. Marshall Research Foundation, Coffman joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1961. He remained there for thirty-one years and became a nationally renowned expert on American military history. His publications include The Hilt of the Sword: The Career of Peyton C. Marsh; The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I; and The Old Army: A Portrait of the American Army in Peacetime, 1784-1898. In 1978 the Department of the Army awarded Coffman the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service medal for his scholarly contributions to the field of Army history. He has also been active in the Society for Military History, serving as its president from 1983 to 1985 and winning its Samuel Eliot Morison Prize in 1990, and also the National Historic Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Immensely popular with his students and largely responsible for the growth and reputation of its military history program, the University of Wisconsin granted emeritus status to Coffman upon his retirement in 1992.

The papers of Edward M. Coffman are divided into three series: Benjamin Morgan, Military History, and Personal Collection.

Benjamin Morgan (1968-1969) consists of the letters and ephemera that Morgan sent to Coffman while he served in Vietnam. Morgan was a student of Coffman's at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (and a member of the Naval ROTC) in the late 1960's, but chose to quit school and enlist in the Navy. He wrote letters to Coffman while training at Camp Pendleton (San Diego) and while stationed at Da Nang, Vietnam in the hopes of maintaining a high level of critical writing for his return to college after the war. Morgan wrote about such varied topics as the culture shock he felt upon arriving in Vietnam, Vietnamese traffic conditions and traditional religions, as well as drug use and the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases among U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. His letters reflect his gradual disillusionment with the war; he wrote that the United States would gain nothing, would change nothing, and their efforts were not appreciated. While this series isn't large, it is extremely rich. Included with the letters is memorabilia that Morgan sent to Coffman, including a safe conduct pass, some unused postcards of Vietnamese scenery, and numerous “Nguyen Charlie” comic strip clippings. The photographs consist of seven photographs that he sent to Coffman. There is one photo of Morgan, dated 1969. The other photos depict a “rough terrain forklift in operation,” the north gate of Camp Tien Sha, a Korean soldier, “Naval support activity's LARC Annex, a “skivvy house,” and four of the five Vietnamese natives that Morgan supervised.

Military History (1967-2002) documents Coffman's involvement in the scholarly field of American military history. The largest part of this series relates to Coffman's work to get the late General Lucian Truscott's autobiographical manuscript, originally titled Fiddler's Green, published in the late 1980's. Included is a portion of the original manuscript that Coffman marked up with grammatical corrections and content suggestions. Also in this series are his handwritten, biographical notes about Truscott and the manuscript and a photocopy of the forward that he eventually wrote for the final published work, which is titled The Twilight of the U.S. Cavalry: Life in the Old Army, 1917-1942. Also included are five full-length proofs of military history books that Coffman reviewed before publication, as well as fliers and brochures advertising Coffman's writings and public appearances. Among these are a proof of interviews with George C. Marshall and a student paper written about the Union Rest Civil War cemetery in Madison, Wisconsin. An audio tape containing two oral history interviews conducted by Coffman was separated into the Wisconsin Veterans Oral History Project. The interviews were with Edward Wescott, a Spanish-American War veteran who later served as Custodian of G.A.R. Memorial Hall in Madison, Wisconsin and Mark Ingraham, a World War I veteran who later became a prominent mathematics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and had a building named after him.

Personal Collection (circa 1917) contains war-related items that Coffman collected. Of particular interest are the World War I-era “Our Boys in France” manuscript and slides. During the First World War, the U.S. federal government's Committee on Public Information (also known as the Creel Committee) tried to gain public support of the war; one of their methods was to distribute the “Our Boys in France” presentation package to prominent citizens in communities, who would then show the slides at social gatherings. Coffman acquired the presentation set that had been given to Edmund Wescott, who later served as Custodian of G.A.R. Memorial Hall. The slides depict, and the manuscript describes, the conditions and situations faced by members of the American Expeditionary Force in France. Also in this series are thirty-one slides of World War I maps, several sketches of West Point Academy, and a map of the battle of Waterloo.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Edward M. Coffman, 1992 and 1994. Accession Number: VA 1985 January 23, VAI 1992.137, VL 1993 October 25, TR0096, TR0117, TR0138, TR0146, TR0185, and TR0202. The collection was previously known as Record Group 54.

This collection was organized as a result of the National Historic Publications and Records Commission project grant (2003-075).

Processing Information

Processed by Russell Horton in 2005.

	Series: Benjamin Morgan
	Subseries: Papers
Box   1 Folder   1-2	Benjamin Morgan to Edward Coffman, 1968-1969
Box   1 Folder   3	Memorabilia, 1968-1969
Box   1 Folder   4	“Nguyen Charlie” comic strips, 1968-1969
Box   1 Folder   5	Postcards (unused) [9] , 1969
	Subseries: Photographs	⇧
Ph   1 Folder   34	Vietnam War scenery [7] , 1968-1969
	Series: Military History	⇧
	Subseries: Fiddler's Green
Box   1 Folder   6	Biographical notes on Lucian Truscott, Jr., undated
Box   1 Folder   7	Fiddler's Green manuscript (partial), 1987
Box   1 Folder   8	Forward, 1989
Box   1 Folder   9	Miscellaneous, undated
Box   1 Folder   10	Notes on Fiddler's Green, 1987
Box   1 Folder   11	Other Historical Writings, 1962, 1986-1987, 1992-1993
Box   1 Folder   12	Armageddon Revisited, circa 1944
Box   1 Folder   13	A Life in a Year, circa 1993
Box   1 Folder   14	“Forgotten War,” 1992
Box   1 Folder   15	“George C. Marshall Interviews,” 1986
Box   1 Folder   16	“Soldiers of Union Rest,” undated
Box   2 Folder   1	Strategy, circa 1987
Box   2 Folder   2	Westmoreland, circa 1944
Box   2 Folder   3	“Younger brother of the greatest generation,” 2002
Box   2 Folder   5	Programs and Fliers of his appearances, 1967, 1972-1973, 1990
	Series: Personal Collection	⇧
	Subseries: “Our Boys in France”
Box   2 Folder   6	Manuscript, circa 1917
Box   3-8	Slides, circa 1917
	Subseries: Prints and Maps	⇧
Ov   1 Folder   4	Hand-drawn sketches, undated
Box   8	World War I maps [31 slides] , circa 1917