Jonesborough, Georgia: The Battle that Doomed Atlanta

Like Corinth, Mississippi or Petersburg, Virginia, the town of Jonesboro, Georgia was significant to military planners and general officers for one simple fact: two or more railroads came to a junction there. Running south from Atlanta was the Macon and Western Railroad and, 17 miles later, the railroad connected with the Atlanta and West Point Railroad. […]

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To Georgia With Lee

When John Bell Hood assumed command of the Army of Tennessee on July 18, 1864 he quickly changed the tactics employed by the main Confederate army in the west. Under the leadership of Joseph E. Johnston, the Army of Tennessee had given up considerable ground, moving from one defensive locale to the next, husbanding its […]

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“The Very Essence of Nightmare”—The Battle of Plymouth, NC, and the Destruction of the CSS Albemarle

We are pleased today to welcome guest author Sam Smith part one in a series The Civil War forever changed Plymouth, North Carolina. The city, like so many others, suffered for its strategic significance. Plymouth controlled the Albemarle Sound and the final stretch of the Roanoke River, making its capture an early priority as the […]

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Visiting Headquarters

Perhaps the gray day made headquarters seem quieter than normal. Situated along Route 30 on the northwest corner of Gettysburg, General Lee’s HQ usually has the feel of a place where something’s going on. It was certainly like that on July 1, 1863, when Lee made his headquarters there after a pretty brutal day of […]

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Shaping Chancellorsville: Conclusion

The final installment in a series In 2010, the update to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (FSNMP) map denoted for the first time the location of the Day One battlefield even though it lies outside the park boundary. In its summary of the overall battle, the first sentence reads: “At Chancellorsville Robert E. Lee won […]

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Walking the Exposed Federal Line at Reams Station

Key to the Union failure at Reams Station is the poor tactical position they assumed around the tracks of the Weldon Railroad. This morning’s piece by Ryan Quint explores the previous exhaustive campaigning experienced by the Second Corps of the Union Army of the Potomac and its impact on their fighting quality at this battle. […]

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“A Hideous Dream”: The Federal Second Corps at the Second Battle of Ream’s Station

In the wake of the fighting around Globe Tavern, the Federal high command looked to expand on its success. The Weldon Railroad was firmly under the control of Warren’s Fifth Corps, but now George Meade wanted to negate the railroad entirely. To do so, Meade ordered Winfield Scott Hancock’s Second Corps up. Throughout early August […]

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Escape from Hellmira!

One hundred and fifty years ago today, Confederate prisoners being held in Elmira Prison in upstate New York started construction on a tunnel that would allow ten men to burrow their way to freedom. It was the only one of several escape attempts that would be successful. I’ve written before on “Hellmira,” but today’s tidbit […]

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Shaping Chancellorsville: The Final Campaign for Day One

Part thirteen in a series Although Dogwood Development’s effort to develop Chancellorsville’s Day One battlefield went down in defeat, owner John Mullins still looked for opportunity to develop the property. Preservationists, meanwhile, offered to buy the land from him, but he asked an “outrageous” $40.[1] Acrimony increased as the debate raged publicly in the media, intensified […]

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