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Author Archives: Meg Groeling
Book Review: A Union Woman in Civil War Kentucky: The Diary of Frances Peter
Reviewed by Meg Groeling Every time a new diary or memoir of someone who lived through the American Civil War is published, history comes incrementally closer to understanding the war that continues to define us as a nation. The 2021 … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review, Primary Sources
Tagged Book Review, Civil War Diary, civil war kentucky, Civil War Women, Frances Peter, Unionist, women's studies
4 Comments
Unpublished: Memoirs and Scrapbooks in Kenosha’s Civil War Museum
When Ruth Painter Randall wrote her biography of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, published in 1960, many of the primary sources she used were scattered over museums and historical society collections in Illinois and Wisconsin. Luckily for me, by 2016, all this … Continue reading
The Ellsworth Monument
Once again, May 24 is here. One hundred sixty-one years ago, Union Colonel Elmer Ellsworth was killed at the Marshall House Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, becoming the first Union officer to die in the American Civil War. Funeral obsequies were … Continue reading
Posted in 160th Anniversary, Monuments
Tagged Col. Elmer Ellsworth, Hudson View Cemetery, Mechanicville, NY
3 Comments
On The March in Quick-Time: A Zouave Demonstration
With the Virtual World Tour for First Fallen: The Life of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, the North’s First Civil War Hero underway, I have been collecting frequently asked questions. The most popular queries by far concern Ellsworth’s actual Zouave drill. What … Continue reading
Posted in Common Soldier
Tagged American Legion Zouaves, Devlin's Zouaves, Elmer Ellsworth, on-the-march, zouave drill teams
9 Comments
What do Ukraine and the Union Army Have in Common?
We’ve all seen them–the images pouring out of our TVs and computers of the Ukrainian refugees heading toward who-knows-where, carrying armfuls of cats. It seems as if Ukraine is an entire country of cat people! And well-behaved felines, too. I … Continue reading
Being Wide Awake Today is Woke
Amazing, isn’t it, how everything old is new again? The worst insult or highest compliment in use today is probably some version of the word “woke.” Depending on which side one lands politically, it can mean either being sensitized to … Continue reading
Posted in Civilian, Newspapers, Ties to the War
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Jon Grinspan, Memory, Ted Widmer, wide awake, Wide-Awakes, woke
4 Comments
Book Review: Invisible Wounds
Invisible Wounds: Mental Illness and Civil War Soldiers By Dillon J. Carroll Louisiana State University Press, 2021, $45 hardcover Reviewed by Meg Groeling In the last ten or so years there have been a nice handful of books written about … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review, Medical
Tagged Book Review, Civil War medicine, Mental Trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, wounded
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A Forgotten Fort: Fort Tejon in Lebec, CA
A calm, crisp mountain breeze blew down from the Tehachapi Mountains into La Cañada de las Uvas (Grapevine Canyon). Major Jonathan Letterman, stationed here since December 1859, removed his hat, and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. … Continue reading
Book Review: The Howling Storm
The Howling Storm: Weather, Climate, and the American Civil War By Kenneth W. Noe Louisiana State University Press, 2020, $59.95 hardcover Reviewed by Meg Groeling I rarely make statements like this, but Kenneth W. Noe’s book The Howling Storm is an exception: … Continue reading
The Willard–Again
As historical as many of the buildings are in Washington, the one building I have always admired is the Willard Hotel–even in its latest iteration. The Willard is a Beaux-Arts style luxury (5 stars!) hotel located at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue … Continue reading
