Category Archives: Slavery

A Little Poetry

Posted on June 22, 2014 by

Sometimes in the middle of all the carnage, a little poetry helps to clear one’s vision. After all, the American Civil War was about some pretty defining things, a few of which are still undergoing examination.

Posted in Books & Authors, Civilian, Memory, Personalities, Politics, Reconstruction, Slavery | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The 23rd USCT at Spotsylvania

Posted on May 15, 2014 by

At the beginning of the Overland Campaign, the 23rd Regiment United States Colored Troops was an infantry regiment in the 4th Division of the independent IX Army Corps. This regiment became the first black regiment to fight in directed combat … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles, Civil War Events, Common Soldier, National Park Service, Sesquicentennial, Slavery, USCT | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Fort Sumter’s Cat Jack: the Cat that Went to War

Posted on March 11, 2014 by

I have often wondered exactly why the point of view of animals in any historical situation is of any interest whatsoever. Everyone knows animals really have no well-defined point of view. Anthropomorphizing animals is one of the things all “pet … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Book Review, Books & Authors, Memory, Monuments, National Park Service, Personalities, Preservation, Slavery, Ties to the War | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Top 15 Posts of 2013

Posted on December 26, 2013 by

From now until the new year we will be running the top 15 posts of 2013 (we will also include some that deserve honorable mentions). We wanted to take a moment and thank all of our readers. From all of … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Emerging Civil War, Leadership--Confederate, Slavery, Ties to the War | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Seizure of the Planter

Posted on August 27, 2013 by

During a recent trip to Charleston, I came across the following story, presented on a historical marker by the Historic Charleston Foundation and the African American Historical Alliance: The Seizure of the Planter

Posted in Civilian, Navies, Personalities, Slavery | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

My Life as a Black Civil War Living Historian—part three

Posted on June 3, 2013 by

Part three in a series One fall day in 2010 at the Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield, while giving a tour, I ran into John Cummings, a Spotsylvania Civil War historian I had known for a while. We served together on … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil War Events, National Park Service, Slavery, USCT | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

My Life as a Black Civil War Living Historian—part two

Posted on May 30, 2013 by

Part two in a series As a Park Service historian, I give tours on all four of the Park’s battlefields: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. I loved talking about the military history but never said much about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil War Events, National Park Service, Slavery, USCT | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Beyond the 150th: Where academic and public historians are one and the same

Posted on April 5, 2013 by

by Rebekeh Oakes, part of an ongoing series One hundred and fifty years ago, the sleepy town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania became the sight of a bloody three-day battle immortalized in the American consciousness. This past March, Gettysburg College was flooded … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Authors, Civil War Events, Civilian, Common Soldier, Emerging Civil War, National Park Service, Preservation, Sesquicentennial, Slavery, Ties to the War | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hotel De’Afrique: The first safe haven for African Americans in North Carolina

Posted on March 27, 2013 by

The capture of the Confederate forts located at Hatteras Inlet on August 29, 1861, provided the first Union victory of the Civil War. Almost immediately fugitive slaves began arriving on Hatteras Island in search of freedom. In a letter to … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Monuments, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Winter at White Oak Church

Posted on January 28, 2013 by

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 , | 2 Comments