Telling History vs. Making Art: The ways we remember the war
Part two in a series “We may say that only at the moment when Lee handed Grant his sword was the Confederacy born,” wrote Robert Penn Warren during the Civil War’s centennial; “or to state matters another way, in the moment of death the Confederacy entered upon its immortality.”[1] Writer/activist Albion W. Tourgee, however, considered […]
Read more...“Confederates in Vermont!”
When Confederate raiders materialized in St. Albans, Vermont, Principal Dorsey Taylor watched in dismay from a high-windowed perch in the brick schoolhouse. Taylor did his best to keep his students safely in their classrooms, but dozens of them congregated in the stairwells to look out the windows, noses pressed against the glass, to watch the […]
Read more...Examining Braxton Bragg
Confederate General Braxton Bragg would never make the list of top military commanders to fight for the Southern Confederacy. He argued with everyone, including–if you believe a pre-war account–even his own persona. He distrusted his subordinate commanders and on multiple occasions tried to have a few of them removed or court-martialed. He even had contempt […]
Read more...Telling History vs. Making Art: “a tension between Art and Science”
Part one in a series As a battlefield guide at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park (FSNMP), I frequently speak with folks who’ve come to the battlefields because they’ve read The Killer Angels, which in turn inspired them to come see a Civil War battlefield. Michael Shaara’s novel is about the battle of Gettysburg and […]
Read more...Question of the Week #4
“Who was a larger failure as a battlefield commander, George McClellan or Braxton Bragg?”
Read more...Telling History vs. Making Art: An upcoming series at Emerging Civil War
Introduction to a series As part of my doctoral work, I recently had to do some work that focused on Civil War literature. I use “literature” in a broad sense to cover fiction, nonfiction, and film. My interest in the topic stems from my work as a historian for Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. […]
Read more...Review: A Little Short of Boats by James Morgan III
With the 151st anniversary of the Battle of Ball’s Bluff coming up, I wanted to take a minute to plug James Morgan’s fantastic little book about the battle, A Little Short of Boats: The Battles of Balls’ Bluff & Edwards Ferry, October 21-22, 1861. I’ve written before about the huge impact of this little battle, […]
Read more...Placing Perryville
On September 17, 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia fought Union General George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac outside the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland. The subsequent Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) is still the bloodiest day in American military history. The outcome of the battle ended Lee’s first invasion of […]
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