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Author Archives: Edward S. Alexander
Fighting on the Same Ground: The 10th New York Infantry at Gaines’s Mill and Cold Harbor
Civil War soldiers oftentimes found themselves marching and fighting on the same battlefield multiple times. Veteran members of the 10th New York Infantry have a distinction of attacking the exact spot they had defended two years prior, both times as … Continue reading
Preservation Setback at the Haw’s Shop Battlefield
In a February 2019 testimony before a congressional subcommittee, American Battlefield Trust president Jim Lighthizer warned that “in the next decade, most unprotected battlefield land will be either developed or destroyed.” Sadly, just over a year later his prediction has … Continue reading
Making a Modern Map of the Valley
Once after presenting a program in which I used my own maps to illustrate troop movements, an attendee remarked how impressive it was that I hand drew all the mountains. I think he was disappointed upon learning clarification that the … Continue reading
Return to Burgess Mill
“I am now outside the main rebel line, moving southwesterly over the old Boydton Plank Road, which has ceased to have any vestige of a plank crossing it as long ago when the war was on. There is now nothing … Continue reading
Joe and the Illini: The Unclear Origins of Two “Fighting” Nicknames
Every few years my alma mater, the University of Illinois, renews the discussion of renaming its sports teams and creating a new mascot. In 2007 the school retired Chief Illiniwek and the trademarked Chief logo in an attempt to distance … Continue reading
The Bizarre Life of States Barton Flandreau
Few Civil War soldiers have a story quite like States B. Flandreau. The New York native first fought in a Confederate regiment, switched teams across the Rappahannock, and was separately wounded and captured while serving in both armies. Throughout his … Continue reading
World War II Amphibious Training on the Hatcher’s Run Battlefields
The Petersburg area Civil War battlefields are famously known as a training ground for the United States Army during World War I. Due to the prevalence of trench warfare, the area was a logical choice for the establishment of a … Continue reading
A Geneseo Gunner on the Virginia Peninsula
I have had difficulty connecting my hometown to the Virginia battlefields I primarily research. Geneseo, Illinois sent its fair share of soldiers to the western theater but had no formal units in the east. While researching a blog article two … Continue reading
The State of A.P. Hill’s Physical Remains
Most of Richmond’s monuments no longer stand where Confederate organizations placed them in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Protesters pulled down several, including Jefferson Davis and Williams Wickham, and the city expedited the removal of the remainder in … Continue reading
Granger’s Juneteenth Orders and the Limiting of Freedom
Juneteenth is recognized as the symbolic end of slavery in the United States. Galveston, Texas, held out as a Confederate stronghold after Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Once occupied by Union forces, Major General Gordon Granger established his headquarters … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Memory, Newspapers, Primary Sources, Reconstruction, Slavery
Tagged cotton, emancipation, Galveston, Gordon Granger, Juneteenth, Slavery
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