Stones in the Road: “The Situation Was Not Promising”

Part four in a series. Early on the morning of September 22, 1863 Phil Sheridan’s division limped into Chattanooga. Their defeat only two days before along the banks of Chickamauga Creek was wearing heavy on the men as they took their assigned places in the city’s entrenchments. Sheridan remembered “The enemy, having now somewhat recovered […]

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All Hallow’s Eve

All my friends know that I’m a “scaredy cat.” When a horror movie comes on, you can find me hiding beneath a blanket or behind the couch. To distract myself from this month’s “spooktacular” festivities, I did some research regarding Halloween during the years of the Civil War. Accounts of soldiers celebrating Christmas are common, […]

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“Either a Traitor or the Most Incompetent Officer in the Confederacy”

This is another installment in the “Tales From the Tombstone” series John Clifford Pemberton, to Civil War enthusiasts, conjures up one word: Vicksburg. On July 4, 1863, the Confederate lieutenant general surrendered the “Gibraltar of the West.” With the loss of Vicksburg, including the approximately 30,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered, the mighty Mississippi River now flowed […]

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Repatriating Court Documents Stolen from Stafford Courthouse, Virginia, by Union Troops in 1862

Guest post by George H. Bresnick, director of the H. Stanley Bresnick Foundation The countryside around Stafford, Virginia, was devastated by the occupation forces of the Union Army in November, 1862. So severe was the physical damage and the loss of population that it is said that the land and the populace around the township of Stafford […]

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Pick #8 in the Top Ten Books Every Civil War Fanatic Should Own

Part of a Series: Books Every Civil War Buff Ought to Own I began this series almost a year ago–what a difference a year makes! My Master’s program at American Public University is marching forward, slowly but surely, and the rest of my life is–as Chris M. says–groovy. Still, I like to finish what I […]

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An Interview with “Bushwhacking” author Lee White

With the dust now settled from last month’s sesquicentennial anniversary of the battle of Chickamauga, historian Lee White had the time to sit down with Emerging Civil War to talk about his new book on the battle, Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale. Why was there a need for a new Chickamauga book?

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Diversion, Battle and A Town Destroyed

Fort Brooke, an important military outpost during the Civil War, sits on the east bank of the Hillsborough River way down south in what we now call Tampa. The fort saw a short conflict in 1863 (October 16-18) that coincided with the Battle of Ballast Point (October 18). The outcomes of both battles left Fort Brooke in […]

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First Cousin, Once Removed: Edwin Gray Lee

This is the third installment of the “Tales from the Tombstone” series  His grandfather  was Edmund Jennings Lee, Sr. a brother of “Light Horse Harry” Lee. Hisfather stayed out of politics altogether. With a last name of Lee and a Confederate general, he would probably be the least known of the “Lee’s” in that regard. […]

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No NPS, No Problem – Pamplin Historical Park

It is with great pleasure that we are able to conclude the “No NPS, No Problem” series with a site that likely would not exist but for the National Park Service. Not only have many of the major players in the founding of Pamplin Historical Park back in the early 1990’s come from an NPS […]

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