Henry Hunt Reflects on the Battle of Chancellorsville
Chancellorsville was a black eye for the Army of the Potomac. But while it no doubt marked the beginning of the end of Joseph Hooker’s stint as army commander, it did not sour the desire for victory among the army’s rank and file. Historian Jeffry Wert described this phenomenon in his study of the Army […]
Read more...Second Fredericksburg: “What A Picture!”
A few weeks ago, I was working on a project at work for the Second Battle of Fredericksburg. It’s inspiring to think that attacking troops actually did capture Marye’s Heights—but on May 3, 1863, not December 13, 1862. Since the plain in front of Marye’s Heights had been the scene of such terrible slaughter in […]
Read more...Missed Opportunities in the Race to the North Anna
On the evening of May 20, 1864, Ulysses S. Grant sent Winfield Scott Hancock’s II Corps south from Spotsylvania Court House to Massaponnax Church, with orders to march onward toward Bowling Green, Milford Station, and—if Hancock thought he could make it—all the way to the Confederate rail hub at Hanover Junction, south of the North […]
Read more...“My father served under both Lee and Grant…”
A few days ago whilst weeding some of my old Civil War periodicals collection – because that’s what I’ve been reduced to during this quarantine – I came across something interesting. In the August 1961 issue of Civil War Times I found a letter to the editor from Mabel Tidball, daughter of Captain John C. Tidball, a […]
Read more...I’m Studying The Civil War…Which Century?
Help! I’ve spent more time looking at 20th Century sources this last weekend than 19th Century sources. But I haven’t actually left Civil War studies and eloped with another war. To explain more properly, I’m looking at Civil War memory. More specifically: how a handful of officers have been remembered and who wrote their biographies […]
Read more...Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard in the National Tribune
I’m doing a lot of reading in the National Tribune, “the premier newspaper published for Union veterans” in Washington, 1877-1943. This is thanks to 1) its availability online and 2) Dr. Richard A. Sauers’ comprehensive index to all of its articles (Savas Beatie, 2018)–I quote Rick above. There’s tons of material here: the newspaper published […]
Read more...Question of the Week: 5/18-5/24/2020
Let’s give those regimental or staff officers some attention this week… Who is your favorite Civil War officer who did not promote to general during his lifetime? Why?
Read more...Bucklin’s Hospital & Camp: “On the 19th of November the dedication took place” (Part 8)
In Hospital and Camp, A Woman’s Record of Thrilling Incidents Among the Wounded in the Late War by Sophronia E. Bucklin It’s Week 8 of our read-along with extra historical notes and images. If you want to catch up on the chapter notes, just click here for the collection in the archive. This week we are […]
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