Week In Review: May 10-17, 2020
Historic anniversaries seems to be the unofficial theme of this last week! Check out the collection of new blog posts.
Read more...Seven “Persons of Importance”
In the early morning hours of May 17, 1865, off the far southwestern cape of mainland Florida, pickets stationed there by Union General John Newton intercepted a small vessel bound for Cuba. That promontory, jutting out into the Gulf of Mexico, Cape Sable. Today, the cape is preserved, not for its connection to the Civil […]
Read more...A Hoosier’s view of Champion Hill
Hometown newspapers are a treasure trove of Civil War source material. I first appreciated how rich a vein they could be when I was researching my work on Chickamauga, and now they are a mainstay of my work on other battles. Since on Saturday May 16, it will be the 157th anniversary of the pivotal […]
Read more...Saving History Saturday: Looking at the History of Preservation
Historic preservation is the practice of thinking through how to manage historic resources, and can include things like cemeteries, whole neighborhoods, farms or infrastructure. It encompasses the creation of places like historic house museums that are open to the public, but it also includes places like private homes for individuals who want to keep the […]
Read more...FREE ECW Podcast: Ending The War
We’re excited to share another ECW Podcast recording for free, and this one includes visual resources attached to the post on Patreon! And guess what? We figured out how to link directly to the new post on Patreon for you. (Ah, technology…historians will win someday.) Enjoy this new look at Appomattox and Bennett’s Place.
Read more...ECW Weekender: Touring (Virtually) Three Plantations with National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has been crafting virtual tours of sites across the country and the one they released recently has information and photographs of three plantations. “Take a trip” without leaving home (or the air-conditioning)!
Read more...Oliver P. Evans: A Colorbearer at New Market
May 15 marked a defining day and the ending day of Oliver Perry Evans’s life, but not in the same year. However, his story began on June 2, 1842, when he was born near Jackson Court House, Virginia (now West Virginia). Nineteen years later, on January 15, 1862, he matriculated at Virginia Military Institute. Older […]
Read more...BookChat with Mark Flotow, editor of In Their Letters, in Their Words
I was pleased to spend some time recently with a new book by historian Mark Flotow. Mr. Flotow is the editor of In Their Letters, in Their Words: Illinois Civil War Soldiers Write Home, a new release from Southern Illinois University Press (click here for more information). Mr. Flotow, an independent scholar, has published articles about […]
Read more...The Capture—and Preservation—of Myer’s Hill
May 14 is the anniversary of the 1864 fight for Myer’s Hill during the battle of Spotsylvania Court House. Ulysses S. Grant planned for a massive assault against the Confederate right flank there, but poor roads delayed the movement of his army. Instead, the 91st PA and 140th NY chased away the 9th Virginia Cavalry. […]
Read more...