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Author Archives: Edward S. Alexander
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
5 Comments
The Many Deaths of A.P. Hill
I hope to share more about the story of A.P. Hill’s death at this year’s Symposium. Previous historians and two of the participants themselves have ironed out the well-known event, so I am basing my presentation on the sequence through … Continue reading
Posted in Battles, Memory, Newspapers
Tagged A.P. Hill, Fort Gregg, Fort Mahone, National Tribune, Petersburg
6 Comments
Aunt Jemima and the Lost Cause
Quaker Oats has just announced they will retire the Aunt Jemima brand name and imagery. The ready-made, self-rising pancake mix got its start in 1889 at the Pearl Milling Company in St. Joseph, Missouri. The initial owners soon went bankrupt … Continue reading
A Night of Protesting on the Streets of Richmond
On Saturday evening, June 6th, I accompanied the “Shut It Down” march through Richmond as part of the larger Black Lives Matter rallies in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. Across the country we are having discussions … Continue reading
Posted in Monuments, Ties to the War
Tagged Black Lives Matter, monument avenue, protest, Richmond, Williams C. Wickham
28 Comments
North Anna Trail Map
This past Sunday marked the 156th anniversary of James Ledlie’s doomed assault against the formidable Confederate earthworks below the North Anna, where Emerging Civil War’s Chris Mackowski recently recorded a video tour of the battlefield. Portions of this ground are … Continue reading
Ending The War: A Union Prisoner on Lee’s Retreat
First Lieutenant Elias Brookings, Jr., 31st Maine Infantry, found himself in an unusual situation at the end of the war. His unit had been overrun during the frantic fighting around Fort Mahone on April 2, 1865. The Federals ultimately won … Continue reading
Posted in Battles, Common Soldier
Tagged 31st Maine Infantry, Appomattox Campaign, Elias Brookings, Fort Mahone, Petersburg
2 Comments
Leap Year Melancholy
1864 was the Civil War’s leap year. I have not found too many references to leap day. The most notable campaign event on February 29, 1864 involved the Kirkpatrick-Dahlgren raiders travelling from Spotsylvania to Hanover on their route to the … Continue reading
Posted in Newspapers, Primary Sources
Tagged Leap Day, Leap Year, Wilmington Daily Journal
4 Comments
Mapping the Philippi Battlefield
Jon-Erik Gilot did a fantastic job at the 2019 Emerging Civil War Symposium filling in on short notice to give a talk on the battle of Philippi, see the video here. With limited time to produce another map, I’m grateful … Continue reading
Mapping the Dranesville Battlefield
Ryan Quint’s symposium talk on the battle of Dranesville is now available through C-Span. This topic is one of the reasons I wanted to make modern maps for each presentation. My day job occasionally has me working along the Leesburg … Continue reading
Mapping the Tullahoma Campaign
As the presentations from this year’s Emerging Civil War Symposium air on C-Span3 I will publish the map I made to accompany each talk. Because our theme this year was “Forgotten Battles” I knew that some of the topics might … Continue reading
