Author Archives: lwhite1864

How I Got Hooked on Franklin: The Story Behind Let Us Die Like Men

Posted on February 8, 2019 by lwhite1864

My story for Franklin began when I was around ten years old. The stories my grandparents told inspired my love of history, and my dad’s fateful purchase of Bruce Catton’s American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War sparked my … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Authors, Emerging Civil War Series | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Chattanooga: More Than Just Another Victory for Grant

Posted on December 10, 2017 by lwhite1864

In the late summer and early days of fall of 1863, it seemed that all eyes were on the small railroad town of Chattanooga, TN. The disastrous defeat at Chickamauga and the huge casualties it reaped turned what had nearly … Continue reading →

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Shiloh 2016

Posted on April 9, 2016 by lwhite1864

I had the chance to spend a few days at Shiloh this past week for the 154th anniversary of the battle. The Park Service held some living history programs, which I was helping out with. Here are a few scenes … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Civil War Events, Emerging Civil War, Photography | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Lookout

Posted on January 13, 2016 by lwhite1864

A January view from the top of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga

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The Last to Fall

Posted on April 16, 2015 by lwhite1864

When Brigadier General Robert Charles Tyler fell near the palisade entrance to the fort bearing his name, he would go down in history as the last Confederate General to die in combat during the American Civil War. Tyler was also … Continue reading →

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The Last Confederate Fort and the Last Confederate General

Posted on April 16, 2015 by lwhite1864

Easter morning, April 16th, 1865, dawned unseasonably cool on the little town of West Point, Georgia, located on the east side of the Chattahoochee River and right on the Alabama state line. News of the assassination of President Lincoln and … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles, Cavalry, Sesquicentennial, Western Theater | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Last Major Engagement of the War: The Fall of Fort Blakely

Posted on April 9, 2015 by lwhite1864

With the Fall of Spanish Fort on April 8, the lone defense of Mobile now fell upon Gen. St. John Liddell and his garrison of around 4,000 men at Fort Blakely, a series of fortifications around the small town of … Continue reading →

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“The uproar of the damned was about us”: The Battle of Spanish Fort

Posted on April 8, 2015 by lwhite1864

The situation was grim across what was left of the Confederacy on April 8, 1865. Lee’s vaunted Army of Northern Virginia was nearly cut off, and along the banks of Mobile Bay, a remnant of the Army of Tennessee faced … Continue reading →

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The Dismissal of Bushrod Johnson, the Confederacy’s Luckless Ohioan

Posted on April 7, 2015 by lwhite1864

Ohio-born Confederate General Bushrod Johnson was not a man to know much luck. He had been forced to resign from the Old Army during the Mexican War to avoid scandal; he went on to teach at the Western Military Institute … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership--Confederate | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Crutchfield’s Last Stand at Sailor’s Creek

Posted on April 6, 2015 by lwhite1864

The column that made up Gen. Richard Ewell’s Reserve Corps of Richmond defenders was a colorful lot: the veterans of Gen. Joseph Kershaw’s division (formerly McLaws’); the sailors and marines of Capt. John Tucker’s Naval Battalion; and Col. Stapleton Crutchfield’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles, Sesquicentennial | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments