Author Archives: Kevin Pawlak

World War I sparked the memory of a Civil War hero’s funeral

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

With the centennial anniversary of the armistice effectively ending World War I having recently passed, it seemed fitting to stumble upon the article reproduced below from the September 21, 1918 issue of the Watertown Daily Times (NY). The article is titled “Funeral of Civil … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership--Federal, Memory, Newspapers, Primary Sources | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Railroads – Tracks to the Antietam: The Railroad Supplies the Army of the Potomac, September 18, 1862

Posted on October 27, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

“We can distinctly hear firing again this afternoon in the direction of Harpers Ferry,” wrote a Union soldier in the Washington defenses on September 17, 1862.[1] Closer to the Antietam battlefield, one onlooker attempted to count the number of Federal … Continue reading →

Posted in Arms & Armaments, Artillery, Battles, Leadership--Federal | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Did Alexander Gardner photograph Charles Tew’s corpse in the Sunken Road?

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

Charles Tew’s story is compelling. Daniel Harvey Hill called him “one of the most finished scholars on the continent, and [who] had no superior as a soldier in the field.”(1) Indeed he was. Tew graduated first in his class from … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Photography | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

“A Fury Unequaled”: A North Carolinian’s Account of Antietam

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

Finding personal accounts of battlefield experiences always raises my eyebrows, as it does for many of you. The details and immediate stories they contain are the stuff historians crave. When I read the account of James W. Shinn, a soldier … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Common Soldier, Emerging Civil War, Primary Sources | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Antietam Eve: The Night of September 16, 1862

Posted on September 16, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

“The quiet that precedes a battle has something of the terrible in it,” wrote an Ohio soldier recalling the night of September 16, 1862. That night in the fields and woodlots surrounding Sharpsburg was an awful night for those who … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Books & Authors, Emerging Civil War | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Book Review: “September Mourn: The Dunker Church of Antietam Battlefield”

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

War transforms a landscape. It turns peaceful farm fields into battlefields and burial grounds. Homes and churches become riddled with shot and shell and serve as hospitals in the gruesome aftermath. Some of those landscapes and buildings were forever altered; some … Continue reading →

Posted in Emerging Civil War | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Symposium Fallout: Is Leading from the Front All that Bad?

Posted on August 8, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

This weekend’s symposium gave me a lot to think about on my drive home from the Jackson Shrine on Sunday. The thought bubbles did not stop popping up when I got home either. There was a lot to think about … Continue reading →

Posted in Emerging Civil War, Leadership--Confederate, Leadership--Federal | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

“The numbers of cannoneers is so small”

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

Lt. Edward Williston commanded Battery D, 2nd United States Artillery at the Battle of Antietam. While at the National Archives, I found this revealing letter about the issues Williston’s battery encountered on the Antietam battlefield due to a shortage of … Continue reading →

Posted in Artillery, Battles, Leadership--Federal, Personalities, Primary Sources | Tagged , | 6 Comments

“Moulded in the form of a spread eagle”: Mosby’s Rangers, the Fourth of July, and a Dispute Over Cake

Posted on July 4, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

Independence Day in 1864 seemed like it could have been the last such celebration for the United States. The Presidential Election of 1864 loomed four months in the future, and a Lincoln reelection seemed very much in doubt. Jubal Early’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Cavalry, Holidays, Primary Sources | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Artillery: Sticking to his guns – Lt. Charles Parsons at the Battle of Perryville

Posted on June 19, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

Napoleon Bonaparte himself once said, “It is with artillery that war is made.” So too could it then be said that it is with artillery that war is lost. Such was the case atop a ridge outside of Perryville, Kentucky … Continue reading →

Posted in Artillery, Battles, Common Soldier | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments