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Author Archives: Steve Davis
Civil War Medicine: Andersonville’s Medical Horrors
Historians are still getting their arms around the number of men who served in the Federal and Confederate armies. For a long time it was over 3 million: 2.75 for the North, .6 for the South.1 Recent scholarship, however, has … Continue reading
Book Review: The Wharton’s War
Gabriel Colvin Wharton, Virginia-born in 1824, ranks among the Confederacy’s 425 generals, but not among those best-known. Or illustrious, for that matter, despite a colorful Confederate career. VMI-trained, he was elected major in the 45th Virginia. He then raised the … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review, Primary Sources
Tagged Book Review, Gabriel Wharton, primary source, soldier letters
3 Comments
What If…George Thomas Had Marched Through Snake Creek Gap?
On May 7, 1864, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman set his three armies marching. At the time, they were stretched on a long front, from Red Clay on the Georgia-Tennessee line to Lee’s and Gordon’s Mills, more than a dozen … Continue reading
Book Review: The Encyclopedia of Confederate Generals
Reviewed by Stephen Davis The first thing that catches your eye about this impressively comprehensive volume is the number 426. Like most of you, I grew up on Ezra J. Warner’s number of 425 Confederate generals. But Mitcham alertly reminds … Continue reading
Southerners Have Fun with McClellan’s “Change of Base”
At the end of the day, June 27, 1862, George McClellan knew he had been whipped. Fitz John Porter’s V Corps had been fiercely attacked. Its center had broken and Porter’s troops retreated, leaving behind twenty-two guns.1 Porter was north … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership--Federal, Lincoln
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Allan Nevins, Brian Burton, change of base, Chickahominy, Edmund Ruffin, Edward Pollard, Ethan Rafuse, Fitz John Porter, Gaines Mill, George B. McClellan, Harrison's Landing, James River, Little Mac, Louis Goldsborough, Seven Days Battles, V Corps, White House Landing, Young Napoleon
4 Comments
Book Review: The Oxford Handbook of the American Civil War
A good reference book bears several elements, beginning with its title: The Oxford Handbook of the American Civil War thus telegraphs its purpose. Another is heft: this one has 675 pages. Third is a big raft of contributors, and recognizable … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review
Tagged Book Review, ECW Book Review, The Oxford Handbook of the American Civil War
1 Comment
John Steele, Editor of the Atlanta Intelligencer
When asked by America’s Civil War to write about a little-known Atlantan, I chose John H. Steele, editor of the Atlanta Daily Intelligencer from March 1863 to his death in January 1871. (The paper folded three months later anyway, victim … Continue reading
“A Piece of Bone,” Bishop Polk, and the National Tribune
Editor’s note: Stephen Davis’ forthcoming book, The National Tribune Remembers the Atlanta Campaign, will be published next year by Savas Beatie. The National Tribune, a weekly newspaper published in Washington from 1877 to 1943, was arguably the most comprehensive repository … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership--Confederate, Newspapers, Primary Sources
Tagged 15th Wisconsin, Albert Castel, Atlanta Campaign, Bishop Polk, Confederate Veteran, David Conyngham, David Stanley, George Thomas, Joseph Johnston, Leonidas Polk, National Tribune, New York Herald, Pine Mountain, Richard Sauers, Savas Beatie, Southern Historical Society Papers
2 Comments
Book Review: Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee’s Army after Appomattox
Caroline Janney is a rising star in the literature of Confederate war-memory. At UVA she wrote her dissertation, “The Ladies Memorial Associations of Virginia” under Gary Gallagher. She drew from it for an essay in Peter Wallenstein and Bertram Wyatt-Brown, … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review
Tagged Appomattox, Book Review, Caroline Janney, Lee's Surrender, Lost Cause, Paroles
4 Comments
