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Category Archives: Armies
A Farewell to Arms
As the victorious Union army began to muster out at the close of the war, veterans now faced the task of assimilating back into civilian life. But what of the weapons they faithfully carried? On May 29, 1865, Lieutenant General … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Arms & Armaments, Common Soldier
Tagged arms, Enfield rifles, Ordinance Department, Spencer carbines, Ulysses S. Grant
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Fateful Lightning: Was Sherman’s March To the Sea a War Crime? Part II
On November 15 1864, Sherman began marching south, dividing his army into two wings. On November 22, a large (4,500) group of Confederate soldiers under General Pleasant J. Phillips met part (1,500) of the right wing of Sherman’s troops, commanded … Continue reading
Herdegen’s Rock-Solid Study of the Iron Brigade
I first met the Iron Brigade, like so many Americans, as they marched onto the field on the first day of Gettysburg, their black hats announcing their appearance at the nick of time. Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels (and the … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Books & Authors, Common Soldier, Memory
Tagged Gettysburg, Iron Brigade, Lance Herdegen, wilderness
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Fateful Lightning: Was Sherman’s March To the Sea a War Crime? Part I
You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop the war, … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership--Confederate, Leadership--Federal, Battlefields & Historic Places, Civilian, Civil War Events, Campaigns, Sieges, Antebellum South, Politics, Armies, Battles, Personalities, Newspapers, Western Theater
Tagged John Bell Hood, Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, Sherman, Hood, Halleck, Davis, official communications, general william tecumseh sherman
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The Golden Opportunity at Evelynton Heights
Exactly one year before the Battle of Gettysburg Confederate James Ewell Brown “JEB” Stuart made possibly an even costlier mistake. He lost Evelynton Heights. Evelynton is the name attributed to both the plantation home of the Ruffin family (the same family … Continue reading
Winter Responsibility
Throughout the winter of 1862 and into 1863, the Army of the Potomac slept. These cold months spent in Stafford County were not without activity. On February 6, 1863 new commander Joseph Hooker issued a General Order consolidating his various … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Common Soldier, Emerging Civil War
Tagged 1st Rhode Island Cavalry, Picket Duty, Stafford County
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Winter at White Oak Church
Between the ill-fated campaigns of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the Union Army of the Potomac spent the winter months of 1862-1863 encamped across the whole of Stafford County, Virginia. There are countless landmarks noted in the diaries, memories and letters of … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Battlefields & Historic Places, Emerging Civil War, Monuments, Slavery
Tagged Sixth Corps, White Oak Church
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Joseph Hooker: The Administrator
Over the weekend, the 150th anniversary of Joseph Hooker’s appointment of command of the Army of the Potomac passed. The mere mention of Joseph Hooker in relation to the American Civil War quickly conjures up the Battle of Chancellorsville and … Continue reading
The Battle of Stones River: “The nation could scarcely have lived….”
With the Emancipation Proclamation set to go into effect on January 1, 1863, and the Army of the Potomac still in ruins after its humiliating defeat on the heights beyond Fredericksburg, Virginia, President Abraham Lincoln desperately needed a victory. Major General … Continue reading
