Drivers, Start Your Engines!

Stock car racing is often thought of as the quintessential Southern sport, and the average NASCAR (the National Association for Stock Car Racing) fan is, stereotypically, a Southern redneck with an accent as thick as blackstrap molasses. After all, in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in the Wilkes Heritage Museum, there is one of the cars driven […]

Read more...

A Must Read for Any Preservationist!

A great friend of the blog, Eric Wittenberg, has a recent post on his blog that all preservationists should read. Eric is not only one of the leading experts in the Union Cavalry in the Eastern Theater, he is passionate about preserving the battlefields of the past. Please click the link below. Rantings of a […]

Read more...

150 Years Ago Today…

On Februrary 22, 1862, Jefferson Davis gave his inauguration address in front of George Washington’s statue on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol. The year before he was elected provisional president of the Confederate States of American in Montgomery, Alabama. The inauguration of President Jefferson Davis in February 1862 was after the Confederate Constitution […]

Read more...

War Chicken

Robert E. Lee’s image is everywhere. His silhouette is so easily recognizable that it is one of the most powerful symbols of the Confederacy. Tales are told, legends have been created concerning the love and affection his men had for him–how they would stare at their General in silence as he rode by the Southern […]

Read more...

Art show to begin tonight in Fredericksburg

Chatham Manor in Fredericksburg was built to house an 18th century plantation family. It saw visitors such as Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and later, Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War, it became a Union headquarters and subsequently a hospital. Walt Whitman wrote about his time here. Clara Barton spoke about it. Discussions were […]

Read more...

Horwitz at Harper’s Ferry

Word from our friends at Harper’s Ferry that they’re hosting a special event next week featuring author Tony Horwitz…. Horwitz, a Pulitzer winner best known as the author of Confederates in the Attic, recently released Midnight Rising, a book about John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry. Horwitz will be the keynote speaker, appearing with a […]

Read more...

Fact List About the 23rd United States Colored Troops…Past and Present

I wanted to convey some information about the 23rd United States Colored Troops. The unit proudly served in the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James. Today, the unit is based out of Spotsylvania County Virginia, and I am one of the proud representatives that brings the unit and their stories back […]

Read more...

Ulysses S. Grant’s Long Road from Donelson to Lowell

February 15, 1862 found Ulysses S. Grant sitting on horseback in the snow, staring at the collapsed line along his right. Confederates had pushed out from Ft. Donelson early that morning, while Grant had been downriver talking to Admiral Andrew H. Foote. He was far enough away that he hadn’t even hear the fighting and […]

Read more...

I Live Or Die Thy Valentine! or, Love In the Time of War

Of all the things that made a Civil War soldier’s life miserable, being separated from his sweetheart had to rate right up there.  Love is difficult enough when everything goes right.  Trying to carry on a courtship or maintain a marriage in the middle of a war is almost impossible to imagine.  Yet, it happened, […]

Read more...