Civil War Christmas Poetry – Soldier’s Perspective
I’ve been reading through a collection of Civil War Christmas stories and poetry. So…just for something a little something different this weekend in the holiday season, I thought it would be nice to share some poems. The tone in these poems stands in contrast to the merrier images we like to remember in 1860’s holidays. We […]
Read more...ECW Weekender: Upcoming Historical Holiday Events
December is usually a busy month for most folks. There’s shopping to finish, lights to hang, trees to trim, cookies to test, cards to sign…or whatever your favorite holiday activities are! In the midst of the busyness, it’s nice to get away and appreciate some history. Civil War Trust maintains an awesome calendar of historical events, and […]
Read more...Night On The Battlefield
When the major fighting ended at the First Battle of Fredericksburg, the survivors on the plains of Marye’s Heights huddled in the earthen depressions, using fallen comrades’ bodies for protection and shelter as they tried to live through the night. Charges and battle actions usually get the lion’s share of attention in history books, leaving […]
Read more...Foote on Burnside
As Shelby Foote worked on his massive three-volume narrative of The Civil War, he kept his friend, novelist Walker Percy, in the loop on his progress. On January 31, 1955, Foote offered a little insight into the time he’d spent researching Federal commander Ambrose Burnside. I pass it along here on the anniversary of the battle […]
Read more...Book Review: “Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the Petersburg Campaign: His Supposed Charge from Fort Hell, his Near-Mortal Wound, and a Civil War Myth Reconsidered”
To most of those who study the Civil War, the mention of Joshua L. Chamberlain conjures images of the 20th Maine’s stand atop Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg. Chamberlain’s bayonet charge has certainly made him famous, but a new book seeks to address another of Chamberlain’s attacks—one that almost killed him.
Read more...Question of the Week: 12/12-12/18/16
Do you have a favorite military unit from the Battle of Fredericksburg? Why do you admire them?
Read more...ECW Adds Preservation Updates to Blog
Preserving the sacred places where the American Civil War was fought is a priority for both our authors and readers.
Read more...The AoP Settles into Winter Camp, 1863
As the Army of the Potomac settled into its winter quarters around Brandy Station and Culpeper in December 1863, Lt. Col. Theodore Lyman—George Gordon Meade’s aide-de-camp—toured the camps with the Army of the Potomac’s chief of staff, Andrew A. Humphreys. Perhaps it was the frustrations of the recent, impotent fall campaign or perhaps the unusually […]
Read more...ECW Weekender: The Nation’s Christmas Tree
High in the California mountains, a towering tree – named for a Civil War general – is the nation’s Christmas Tree. Designated with the holiday title by President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, the Sequoia tree still stands and is visited by thousands of tourists and wilderness aficionados every year. More than a Christmas Tree (and […]
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