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Category Archives: Common Soldier
The Bonds of War Now Available
We’re pleased to announce the release of the latest book in the Emerging Civil War Series: The Bonds of War: A Story of Immigrants and Esprit de Corps in Company C, 96th Illinois Volunteer Infantry by Diana L. Dretske, available … Continue reading
Weekly Whitman: Old Ireland
Written in 1861, this poem makes special mention of the Union volunteers who lived in New York City. The Irish Diaspora had been bringing the Irish to the shores of America since the 1840s. The Civil War, twenty years later, … Continue reading
Research – It’s the Journey, Not the Destination
Emerging Civil War welcomes back guest author Sheritta Bitikofer… Sometimes, I have a bad habit of reverse researching a person or a topic, and it tends to take me on a wild goose chase. There are times I stumble upon … Continue reading
A Pleasant Kind of Duty: Ohio’s Trumbull Guards
Last year I shared a few essays on the Departmental Corps, infantry companies of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania who served briefly as part of the Department of the Monongahela. I have long been interested in these independent regiments and … Continue reading
A Hidden Gem of a Civil War Diary
Several weeks ago, I was contacted by a member of a large Midwestern Civil War round table following my Zoom presentation. “I am in possession of an original diary of a First Lieutenant of Company G, 21st Illinois who was … Continue reading
Posted in Common Soldier, Primary Sources
4 Comments
Weekly Whitman: “Beat! beat! drums!”
“Beat! beat! drums!” is another early war poem urging Walt Whitman’s beloved New York City to take up arms. Whitman wrote many of these, and never regretted any of them, even if he later saw war as quite different than … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Authors, Common Soldier
Tagged "Beat! beat! drums!, Early War, New York City, Walt Whitman, weekly-whitman
3 Comments
Exploring Gettysburg with Sue Boardman (part one)
part one of a series To commemorate Women’s History Month, I asked historian Sue Boardman if she’s be willing to spend some time showing me around her favorite places on the Gettysburg battlefield. It was my great good fortune to … Continue reading
Weekly Whitman: “Come Up from the Fields, Father”
“Come Up from the Fields, Father” is one of my personal favorites. If anyone knew about letters sent home, but written in an unfamiliar hand, it would be the man who actually wrote those letters for soldiers who were too … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Authors, Civilian, Common Soldier
Tagged "Come Up from the Fields, Civil War poetry, father, Walt Whitman, weekly-whitman
2 Comments
Weekly Whitman: “Drum-Taps”
The poem for which Whitman’s book of war poems, Drum-Taps, is named, reminds us that Whitman himself was forty-two when the Civil War broke out. He lived with his mother in Brooklyn, supporting them both with the money he made … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Authors, Civilian, Common Soldier, Personalities
Tagged 1861 recruiting in NYC, Drum-Taps, Walt Whitman, weekly-whitman
2 Comments
A.C.L. Gatewood, the Lost Cause, and Two Different Accounts of the Appomattox Campaign
Andrew Cameron Lewis Gatewood came from an influential family in Bath County, Virginia. Before the war, the wealth and status of his family helped secure him a position as a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute. He spent most of … Continue reading