Dr. Megan L. Bever Bio

Dr. Megan L. Bever is associate professor of history and chair of the Social Sciences Department at Missouri Southern State University. She also serves as Vice President of the Sherwood-Rader Farm Civil War Park. She is author of At War with King Alcohol: Debating Drinking and Masculinity in the Civil War (2022) and co-editor of American Discord: The Republic and Its People in the Civil War Era (2020) and The Historian behind the History (2014). She is currently co-editing a collection on substances during the Civil War.

Dr. Bever’s Book: At War with King Alcohol

Liquor was essential to military culture as well as healthcare regimens in both the Union and Confederate armies. But its widespread use and misuse caused severe disruptions as unruly drunken soldiers and officers stumbled down roads and through towns, colliding with civilians. The problems surrounding liquor prompted debates among military officials, soldiers, and civilians as to what constituted acceptable drinking. While Americans never could agree on precisely when it was appropriate to make or drink alcohol, one consensus emerged: the wasteful manufacture and reckless consumption of spirits during a time of civil war was so unpatriotic that it sometimes bordered on disloyalty.

Using an array of sources - temperance periodicals, soldiers' accounts, legislative proceedings, and military records – Dr. Megan L. Bever explores the relationship between war, the practical realities of drinking alcohol, and temperance sentiment within the United States. Her insightful conclusions promise to shed new light on our understanding of soldiers' and veterans' lives, civilmilitary relations, and the complicated relationship between drinking, morality, and masculinity.