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Author Archives: Jon Tracey
Mark Twain’s Internal Civil War
Mark Twain is as famous and talented a writer as Samuel Clemens was a divided man. Haunted by his guilty conscience, deeply torn by contemporary events, and plagued with debt, Sam Clemens did not live the positive life than many … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Authors, Personalities
Tagged depression, Huckleberry Finn, loss, Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens, Tom Sawyer, trauma
3 Comments
Aftermath of Battle at Gettysburg’s Spangler’s Spring
While battles themselves are glorified and the focus of most historical coverage, every battle has an aftermath. This aftermath is a horrifying sight, and something that veterans were deeply affected by every time they experienced it. This post explores the … Continue reading
Is Ambrose Bierce an Accurate Primary Source and Does it Matter?
Ambrose Bierce is certainly one of the most well-known authors of Civil War short stories, and his writing is compelling. Written with biting satire, twisted humor, and a type of sarcastic nostalgia, he earned his reputation as a strange writer. … Continue reading
Posted in Common Soldier, Memory, Primary Sources
Tagged accuracy, Ambrose Bierce, Chickamauga, eyewitness
9 Comments
“It is a beautiful morning & it finds me well healthy hale hearty & strong:” A Gettysburg Casualty Writes Home on August 14, 1863
158 years ago today, Daniel Shapley lay in bed at the Market Street Hospital in Newark, New Jersey and wrote a letter home. A member of the 157th New York Infantry since his enlistment in August 1862, he had been … Continue reading
Posted in Common Soldier, Material Culture, Primary Sources
Tagged 157th New York, Civil War medicine, Gettysburg, Newark
4 Comments
Fallen Leaders: Major Andrew Grover, 76th New York
Historians once focused mostly on “great men,” painstakingly analyzing the Army/Corps/Division/Brigade commanders whose decisions shaped historic events. More recently, pushback against that historiography has led to increased work on the “common soldier” and average enlisted men. Though both approaches certainly … Continue reading
ECW Weekender: National Museum of the United States Army
Today’s ECW Weekender highlights a new museum that most of our readers have yet to see. Originally set to open in June 2020, COVID-19 delayed the National Museum of the United States Army’s plan. It opened on November 11 that … Continue reading
Posted in ECW Weekender
Tagged 2nd New Jersey, Bayard Wilkeson, Henry Halleck, National Museum of the U.S. Army
3 Comments
The Appomattox (or Shenandoah) Parole Passes and Confederate Cavalry After Appomattox
Following the combat at Appomattox Court House on the morning of April 9, Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia prepared to surrender. Lee and Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant met in the parlor of Wilmer McLean’s … Continue reading
Book Review: On Juneteenth
On Juneteenth By Annette Gordon-Reed Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2021, $15.95 Reviewed by Jon Tracey Thanks to current discussions of inequality and increased reflection on the past, Juneteenth has grown from a Texas tradition to one that has garnered attention across … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review
Tagged Book Review, civil war memory, emancipation, Emancipation Proclamation, Gordon Granger, history vs. memory, Juneteenth, Memory, race, Slavery, Texas
1 Comment
A Reflection on Historians and Word Choice
Words have meaning. Historical interpreters, whether guiding battlefield tours, designing museums, or writing articles or books, must carefully choose words that both convey a point and do justice to the topic. Poorly chosen words can impact the effect of a … Continue reading
