2018 ECW Early Bird Symposium Admission
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Author Archives: stephendavis
Great Moments in Southern History
I sent Chris Mackowski a note on some stationery I got years ago–see below. As you’ll be able to tell, there’s a story behind it. It was sent to me by my good friend Ben Maryniak of Buffalo. Ben and … Continue reading
When Longstreet Took Boston
Readers of Civil War News know that I contribute a regular column, “Critic’s Corner,” in which Publisher Jack Melton allows me to write about books and other published works. July is traditionally our “Gettysburg” issue, with a big central section … Continue reading
The Saltpetre Poems
Students and devotees of the great Emory Professor Bell I. Wiley are very familiar with The Bell Irvin Wiley Reader, edited by Hill Jordan, James I. Robertson, Jr., and J. H. Segars (LSU Press, 2001). Researching for the book, Mr. … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Authors, Civilian, Common Soldier, Newspapers, Weapons
Tagged Bell Wiley, Bud Robsertson, C.S. Nitre and Mining Bureau, Hill Jordan, J. H. Seagars, James I. Robertson, Jonathan Haralson, Life of Billy Yank, Life of Johnny Reb, poetry, Saltpetre Poems, The Bell Irvin Wiley Reader
2 Comments
Robert E. Lee and John B. Hood: A Complicated Relationship
Robert E. Lee didn’t want John Bell Hood promoted to command a Confederate army, but once Hood had been, Lee didn’t want him to fail. Possible evidence hinges on a little-known command decision made by Lee and the War Department … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership--Confederate, Western Theater
Tagged Army of Tennessee, Art Bergeron, Confederate high command, Jack Davis, James Seddon, Jefferson Davis, John Bell Hood, Joseph E. Johnston, Martin Luther Smith, Robert E. Lee, Robert H. Chilton, Stephen Presstman, The Confederate General
5 Comments
Appreciating a Former Mentor
“Your principal weakness is your style.” So wrote my professor at Emory, Dr. Bell Wiley, in his critique of my paper for his Civil War class back in the fall of 1968. (I wrote on “Price’s Missouri Raid of 1864”; … Continue reading
Grave Matters, Revisited
Back in the ‘80s I started up a little newsletter, Grave Matters, “A Newsletter for Civil War Necrolithologists” ( a term I think I coined). I ran it for a few years, sending out four quarterly issues to eventually more … Continue reading
Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Campaigns, Leadership--Confederate, Memory
Tagged States Rights Gist
3 Comments
Modern Photography: A Trip to Ringgold, Georgia
Fans of General Patrick Cleburne go here all the time: Ringgold, Georgia – a historic borough in north Georgia, just a few miles below the Tennessee. Last summer I went there with Jack Melton, publisher of Civil War News and … Continue reading
Joe Johnston Backpeddling to the Gulf?
While working on an essay for one of Emerging Civil War’s upcoming books with Southern Illinois University Press, I came across several accounts about Gen. Joe Johnston’s constant backwards motion during the spring and early summer of 1864. They were … Continue reading
Hand-Drawing the “Art” in Cartography
“Military works are almost universally lacking in adequate maps,” Brig. Gen. Vincent Esposito wrote in his Introduction to The West Point Atlas of American Wars (1959). Boy, was he right. How many times have we thought, while reading an otherwise fine campaign … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Authors, Emerging Civil War Series
Tagged A Long and Bloody Task, All the Fighting They Want, Allen Tate, Atlanta Will Fall, cartography, Chattahoochee, Douglas Southall Freeman, Gary Joiner, Hal Jespersen, maps, Sharpsburg, Stonewall Jackson: The Good Soldier, Vincent Esposito, West Point Atlas of American Wars, Wilbur Kurtz
11 Comments
1860’s Politics: Why Do We think McClellan Was the “Peace Candidate”? Because the Rebels Thought So
A thoughtful respondent to my recent submission to the ECW blog, “1860’s Politics,” wondered why Gen. George McClellan, Democratic nominee for U. S. president in 1864, waited until after Sherman’s troops captured Atlanta, Sept. 2, 1864, before he announced his … Continue reading
