Author Archives: David T. Dixon

Book Review: A Notable Bully

Posted on December 22, 2021 by David T. Dixon

A Notable Bully: Colonel Billy Wilson, Masculinity, and the Pursuit of Violence in the Civil War Era By Robert E. Cray The Kent State University Press, 2021, $55 – hardcover Reviewed by David T. Dixon U.S. Civil War history is … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Leadership--Federal | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Battle of Rowlett’s Station, KY

Posted on December 17, 2021 by David T. Dixon

Early December snow accompanied more than fifty thousand Union soldiers of the Army of the Ohio marching to Bowling Green, determined to oust the Confederates from Kentucky. Colonel August Willich and the Thirty-Second Indiana Volunteer Infantry formed the vanguard of … Continue reading →

Posted in 160th Anniversary, Battles | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Collaborating Toward a Global History of the US Civil War

Posted on November 18, 2021 by David T. Dixon

Transnational studies over the past two decades have contributed much to placing the US Civil War into a broader, transatlantic perspective. Enrico Dal Lago’s review essay in the June, 2021 issue of The Journal of the Civil War Era provides … Continue reading →

Posted in Immigrants, Leadership--Federal, Primary Sources | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Cryptic Entries: The Puzzling Diary of Captain Edmund O’Brien

Posted on November 3, 2021 by David T. Dixon

Braxton Bragg’s army was in desperate straits. Defeated and demoralized from their stunning defeat atop Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863, the Confederates trudged southward, anxious get their artillery, supply wagons, and troops through a gap in the mountains at … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles, Common Soldier, Immigrants | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Book Review: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Posted on October 12, 2021 by David T. Dixon

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave By Frederick Douglass, Introduction by Scott C. Williamson Mercer University Press, 2021, $16.00 paperback Reviewed by David T. Dixon Frederick Douglass hardly needs an introduction to students of the American … Continue reading →

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The Iron Brigade of the Cumberland at Chickamauga (Part Two of Two)

Posted on September 19, 2021 by David T. Dixon

The anonymous author of the pamphlet Willich at Chickamauga continues with the resumption of the battle on September 20, 1863: What a glorious morning ushers in this Sunday, Sept. 20th, 1863, and shines as fair a sun as ever gladdened this hemisphere. … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles, Emerging Civil War, Immigrants, Leadership--Federal, Primary Sources, Western Theater | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Iron Brigade of the Cumberland at Chickamauga (Part One of Two)

Posted on September 18, 2021 by David T. Dixon

Few moments in the life of a historian compare with uncovering fresh primary sources. Fortunately, I have experienced this thrill on numerous occasions. Small rewards for thousands of hours spent squinting at period handwriting in archives and attics across the … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles, Immigrants, Leadership--Federal, Primary Sources, Western Theater | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Fallen Leaders: General Max Weber at Antietam

Posted on August 7, 2021 by David T. Dixon

One late spring day in 2013 a farmer plowing his field in Martin County, Minnesota noticed a small white porcelain object poking out of a furrow. He stopped the tractor, climbed down, and retrieved the curious artifact, which was slightly … Continue reading →

Posted in Immigrants, Leadership--Federal | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Book Review: Soldier Parrott

Posted on July 29, 2021 by David T. Dixon

Soldier Parrott: The Incredible Story of America’s First Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient By J. North Conway Lyons Press, 2021 $28.95 hardcover Reviewed by David T. Dixon The daring theft of a locomotive on the Western and Atlantic Railroad in … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Social Justice

Posted on July 6, 2021 by David T. Dixon

Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Social Justice By Bruce Levine Simon & Schuster, 2021 $28.00 hardcover Reviewed by David T. Dixon Bundled in blankets and borne aloft in a chair by two young men, Thaddeus Stevens entered the … Continue reading →

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