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Author Archives: David T. Dixon
The Black Brigade and the Defense of Cincinnati
Panic seized citizens of Cincinnati during the first days of September, as the potential consequences of the recent Confederate victory at Richmond, Kentucky became apparent. As defeated Federal soldiers retreated north toward Louisville, Queen City residents worried that Confederate general … Continue reading
Posted in Civilian, Common Soldier, Monuments, USCT, Western Theater
Tagged Black Brigade, black history, black history month, Cincinnati, US Colored Infantry
2 Comments
History, Heritage, and Hate: The Fate of Confederate Monuments in my Ancestral Home
Last week, a statue of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest was taken down by city commissioners in Rome, Georgia. The monument, erected in 1909 by the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, had stood in Myrtle Grove … Continue reading
Posted in Memory, Monuments
Tagged Confederate Monument, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Rome Georgia
39 Comments
Treüe der Union: A German Union Man Cheats Death in Texas
Three days after the attack on August 10, 1862, Ernst Cramer returned to the battlefield near the Nueces River to search for his wounded friends. Nineteen dead German Americans, bloated, blackened, and putrid in the unrelenting west Texas heat lay … Continue reading
Posted in Civilian, Common Soldier, Immigrants
Tagged battle of nueces river, conscription, Ernst Cramer, german-american, partisans, Texas, Unionist
5 Comments
John Wolcott Phelps’ Emancipation Proclamation
The voyage of the U.S. Frigate Constitution ended at Ship island, a barrier island off the Gulf coast of Mississippi in December, 1861. Prior to disembarking, Brigadier General John Wolcott Phelps gathered all passengers on deck and recited one of … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership--Federal, Slavery
Tagged Abolition, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Butler, Edwin Stanton, emancipation, john wolcott phelps, refugees, Slavery
3 Comments
A Doctor, His Enslaved Man, and Georgia’s Union Circle (part two)
The devastation and upheaval created in the neighborhood near the Battle at Resaca gave people like Dr. Gideon’s enslaved man, Owen, their first viable opportunity to aid the Union cause. Owen Gideon was born into slavery about 1834 in Hall … Continue reading
A Doctor, His Enslaved Man, and North Georgia’s Union Circle (part one)
Dr. Berry Gideon, his wife, and seven daughters watched helplessly as flames devoured their home next to the Western and Atlantic Railroad, between the towns of Calhoun and Resaca, on June 18, 1864. Union soldiers allowed the family fifteen minutes … Continue reading
Posted in Antebellum South, Common Soldier, Slavery, USCT
Tagged Battle of Resaca, Georgia, Slavery
1 Comment
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and the 1864 Election
Among the many rich rhetorical legacies US presidents have left to future generations, the Gettysburg Address dwarfs them all. Lincoln took scarcely more than two minutes to deliver a worthy tribute to fallen Federal soldiers and paint an inspirational vision … Continue reading
Posted in Lincoln, Politics
Tagged 1864 Election, Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, politics
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The Astonishing Life of an Italian American Civil War Soldier
Lt. Charles DeRudio inched along on his belly through dense underbrush to the bottom of a dry creek bed, concealing himself to avoid capture and certain death. Pistol shots rang out nearby, followed by female voices. DeRudio raised his head … Continue reading
Posted in Cavalry, Immigrants, Personalities, USCT
Tagged Battle of Little Big Horn, Forty Eighters, George Armstrong Custer, immigrants, Italian soldiers
5 Comments
Tactical Innovation in the Civil War?
The mere typing of this blog post title fills me with dread and nervous anticipation. As an historian who does biography, I focus on the life story of my central character— how she developed her social and political beliefs, changed … Continue reading
Biography: No Longer the Stepchild of Civil War History
For much of the twentieth century, biography was a genre ignored or demeaned by many academic historians. Traditional cradle-to-grave biographies focused on the so-called “great men of history.” They consigned women, immigrants, people of color, and lesser known figures to … Continue reading
