Every Free, Able-bodied White Male Citizen: Two Examples of Militia Readiness in Antebellum America Part III
Also in 1859, young Elmer Ellsworth became captain of a moribund militia company, the National Guard Cadets of Chicago, Illinois. Ellsworth had developed a statewide reputation as a drillmaster, and agreed to take on the challenge of rebuilding this group of men in his adopted home town. He renamed them the United States Zouave Cadets. […]
Read more...Georgia Professor Falls in the Battle of Perryville
Today we welcome guest author Stuart W. Sanders. Stuart is the former executive director of the Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association. He is the author of three books, including Perryville Under Fire: The Aftermath of Kentucky’s Largest Civil War Battle and The Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky. His latest book, Maney’s Confederate Brigade at the Battle […]
Read more...Question of the Week for April 28, 2014
During the opening stages of the Atlanta Campaign, General Joseph E. Johnston employed a form of Fabian Tactics. (Withdrawing in the face of the enemy in hopes of stringing out the enemy column, supply lines, etc…) This hands-off approach drew the ire of President Jefferson Davis, who thus replaced Johnston with John Bell Hood, who […]
Read more...An Interview with Daniel Davis and Phillip Greenwalt
An Interview with Daniel Davis and Phillip Greenwalt, authors of Hurricane from the Heavens: The Battle of Cold Harbor, May 26–June 5, 1864 (Interview Courtesy of Savas Beatie, LLC) Q: Why did you decide to write the book? PG: Cold Harbor is the end of the Overland Campaign, the final engagement between Grant and Lee […]
Read more...Every Free, Able-bodied White Male Citizen: Two Examples of Militia readiness in Antebellum America Part II
Volunteer militias became popular in all areas of the country, but only two will be considered here: the Black Horse Cavalry from Fauquier County, Virginia, and the U. S. Zouave Cadets, from Chicago, Illinois. These militia companies each had a very high degree of public identity prior to the American Civil War, and were represented […]
Read more...Every Free Able-bodied White Male Citizen: Two Examples of Militia Readiness in Antebellum America Part I
Current historiography claims that voluntary state militias were a joke as to their degree of real military preparedness. Further, these militias and their elected officers were often considered detrimental to the formation of both the Federal and Confederate armies in 1861. In William Faulkner’s Requiem for a Nun, the noted southern author poked fun at […]
Read more...The Myth of the “Cracker Line”: Part Two
We are excited to welcome back guest author Frank Varney. Frank is the author of General Grant and the Rewriting of History: How the Destruction of General William S. Rosecrans Influenced Our Understanding of the Civil War. Part two in a series (click here for part one). Of the railroad connection from Nashville, Meigs commented, […]
Read more...Reluctant Patriot: Major Henry Livermore Abbott
Henry Livermore Abbott was a proud native of Lowell, Massachusetts. He came from a family deeply rooted in patriotism, with both sides of his family claiming descendants in the Continental Army. His father was a lawyer and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a staunch Democrat. Henry was influenced by his father’s […]
Read more...Question of the Week for April 21, 2014
Winchester, Virginia is filled with Civil War history. What is your favorite Civil War site in or around the Winchester area?
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