Question of the Week: 11/22 – 11/28

Did you have a Civil War-related adventure this year, or read a Civil War-related book, or have some kind of Civil War-related experience for which you’re grateful? If so, what was it?



26 Responses to Question of the Week: 11/22 – 11/28

  1. Two years after its release in America, the movie, “Harriet,” finally became available where I live, in Adelaide, South Australia. And despite the below-average reviews on IMDB, I made it a point to view the film last week… and was pleasantly surprised. Cynthia Erivo delivers a commendable presentation as Underground Railroad Conductor Harriet Tubman, head-trauma induced Visions and all. And the sympathetic, relatable, impressively driven character of Harriet emerges on the screen, a role model for anyone wishing to redress injustice (in Harriet Tubman’s case, reacting against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850). And the lesson revealed by the film: one person REALLY CAN make a difference.

  2. I am grateful for the Emerging Civil War Symposium this year. I was able to attend and hear all the wonderful speakers. My favorite part was the Ted Savas/Chris Mackowski tour of the Payne’s Farm battlefield. It was so neat to see the real location of this battle and hear it’s story.

  3. My wife and I spent nine days traveling from our home in Michigan through the sites of many of the major battles of the western theater. We made it to Stone’s River, Franklin, Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga, Pickett’s Mill and Shiloh. While there were many great and moving moments, nothing compared to visiting Camp Sumter in Andersonville. My great great grandfather was a POW there when just 18 years old. Standing at the replica gates and envisioning that teenager walking through them and seeing the hell of 30,000 plus men suffering so much before him, literally brought me to tears and unable to even speak for several minutes. It was an experience I will never forget. Additionally, a researcher there was able to provide me with information about him that I didn’t previously have including a copy of a photo of him in uniform.

  4. I’m grateful for the ability to get out and take great tours this past year like North Anna with Gordon Rhea, Chickamauga Chattanooga with David Powell/Eric Wittenberg and Payne’s Farm with Ted Savas/ Chris Mackowski. It truly was a wonderful year.

  5. I organized and led a tour with some expert Civil War enthusiasts, following Stonewall Jackson and the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. I was very nervous , because I wanted everything to go perfect…not right, but perfect.

    I was able to secure tours on private property, where few , very few Civil War people get to walk and study the terrain.

    From a tour of Kernstown, to driving on an original road that the Confederates marched on to McDowell, to climbing Sitlington’s Hill, to a visit of Lexington, and 2 tours on private property, it went off better than I had expected.

    The guys had a great time.

  6. Solo licensed battlefield guide tours at Antietam and Gettysburg. Nice fall colors and great conversation. Also checked out Henry Hill at Manassas (ranger tour), Ball’s Bluff, and Harpers Ferry on the trip. I hiked a lot on my own at Gettysburg and Antietam. Drove by President’s Biden’s caravan back from Camp David, I think, as he headed back to D.C. while I was I headed to Gettysburg from Frederick.

    Thanks to Matt Borders and Eric Lindblade!

    I did Pickett’s charge armed only with a pumpkin spice latte. A gentleman had watched me retreating back across the fields, pumpkin spice latte in hand, I had a gray wool sweater on, and he said he imagined me to be a Confederate coming back in defeat. It made his day.

  7. After reading The Last Road North by Robert Orrison and Dan Welch, I explored the Confederate and Union routes from the Potomac River to Gettysburg and found places that were only historic names. Fairfield and Funkstown were particularly interesting.

  8. I read the summer of 63 and the Vicksburg tullahoma books by emerging civil war editors. They were both rehash of previously released material. Nothing terribly interesting or new. The emerging civil war book series is much better. Both of the books have photos of dramatic statues on the cover, but neither statue is identified and no information about them is given. I think that was a major oversight . The last page of both books are smug slights of Joshua chamberlain and John pemberton. Chamberlain is a whipping boy for every civil war snob who resents chamberlain’s popularity and celebrity thanks to the fantastic book and movie in which he was featured (killer angels and Gettysburg).

  9. Every year I go up to Gettysburg and Antietam in late October or early November to walk the battlefields and enjoy the fall foliage. I’m thankful every year I get to go up there.

  10. I walked the trails at Malvern Hill. It gave me an incredible picture of the terrain of this condensed battlefield.

  11. Last weekend visiting the Seven Days and Cold Harbor battlefields. It was great seeing old places again, and also some new land that had been preserved and interpreted since my last visit.

  12. I read Lee and Meade at Bristoe Station. I have a g-g-grandfather that was wounded in that battle and I gained a better appreciation of what he probably went through.

  13. I got to visit Johnsons Island Confederate Cemerery, on site of old POW camp, near Sandusky Ohio on Labor Day. Nice bit of Ohio Civil War history!

  14. Good Lord, where to start! Took a three-week adventure through several battlefields and historic sites in August, had the chance to visit a load of places in Louisiana, became an ECW member this summer, started doing videos for the Central LA CWRT around the same time, read some amazing books – and bought many more -, wrote a LOT, and learned so much. It’s been a great year and I’m grateful for all of it 🙂

  15. We finally, FINALLY, got to visit Shilo this past Summer, and were able to hang out at Chattanooga on that same trip. Went to several battlefields and sites on our own and with our Round Table. Will be going to Gettysburg for their Christmas Festival in a few weeks.

  16. Finally carved out a week and visited for the first time,Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania armed with my books and notes. What took me so long? On the way back to N.C. I hit Cold Harbor and Petersburg. Thank you ECW for your contribution of knowledge about these “hallowed grounds”.

  17. I completed a pet project that I’d been wanting to do for awhile now. I have an antique (1901) stereoscope, but can never find Civil War stereoviews in any antique stores. I do, however, have 2 books (“The Civil War In Depth” vols.1 and 2) that came with the cheap plastic viewing glasses. So I scanned all the images from the first book, printed them out on photo paper, mounted them on cardboard, wrote the captions and photographer info. on the back, and now I have my own Civil War stereoviews! Then I got a plain wooden photo box from Michael’s, painted it gray, added stenciling to look like an original Confederate ammunition box (as seen from Antiques Roadshow), then scratched it up, carved my ancestors’ initials in it, and put a black wash on it to make it look old. Almost ready to start scanning the second book, but I’m having trouble finding another box idea. I want to do a Confederate food or cracker box or even medical supplies, but I can’t find an authentic example to copy.

  18. The Western Virginia Campaign of 1861 is one of my favourite areas of Civil War history and just this year I discovered that one of my relatives had served with the 21st Ohio Infantry in Western Virginia and fought at the Battle of Scary Creek. Hopefully I can get to West Virginia someday to visit.

  19. Two multi-day trips to Gettysburg and one day trip to Antietam, supplemented by two books in the ECW on Antietam

  20. Visiting the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Battlefields for the first time ever this July with my youngest son. We also stopped at Gettysburg on the way home. He’d never been and had a blast climbing around Devils Den and to the top of some of the monuments. Happened across a NPS Ranger Matt Atkinson tour too and got to meet him. That was awesome!

  21. Explored the road (34) between Sharpsburg and Shepherdstown then took Harpers Ferry Rd passing John Browns condo,Maryland Heights,Loudoun Heights and crossing the river to Harpers Ferry…Beautiful and very cool ride !!

  22. I was blessed to share the stage with my fellow Civil War historians David Mowery and Daryl Smith during Heritage Days at Augusta, Kentucky. We discussed the western theater and our theories regarding the turning point in the war. It’s so enjoyable discussing the war with audiences that are as passionate as we are.

  23. I am from California, but grew up in Wisconsin. My wife and I took our RV from CA via interstate 40 to Chattanooga for the second time as her great-grandfather fought with the 21st Wisconsin regiment. We went to Lookout Mtn, Orchard Knob, Mission Ridge, and Chicamauga battlefield. From there we went to Resaca Ga. battlefield, where her great-grandfather was wounded in the left arm. After that we traveled through Atlanta and on to central Florida. Now it gets good. We drove up to Charleston SC and spent a day touring the civil war sites. Next we went to Fredericksburg VA, and toured that battlefield plus the Wilderness, Chancellorsville, and Spotsylvania. From there we went to Gettysburg. It was a dream come true for a kid who, in the 8th grade, got his start in civil war history in 1960.

  24. I’ve spent several months transcribing and annotating a memoir-in-firm-of-diary by a Unitarian minister covering the years 1860-64. He was a committed abolitionist and inserts sermons and letters at length. (Each year is about 20-25,000 words.) it is like having a long conversation (albeit one-sided) with a true believer. He served in a 9-month Mass. Regiment (1862-3) while one of his brothers (whose letters are excerpted) was a private in the 1st Mass from 1861-63 (fighting at Blackburn’s Ford three days before First Manassas) then an officer in the 37th USCT and the 116th USCT (which saw the final fighting at Appomattox). But a third brother was a Copperhead and a fourth was uncommitted. Fascinating look into a family and a Mass. community during this period.

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