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Category Archives: Material Culture
Robin Hood & The Civil War: A Child’s Game? (Part 4)
Check this out! A set of children’s playing cards from the Civil War era, preserved by The Valentine Museum in Richmond. I own a debt of gratitude to fellow ECW member Bert Dunkerly for helping me track the artifact photos … Continue reading
Posted in Material Culture, Newspapers
Tagged Newspapers, Robin Hood, robin-hood-civil-war
1 Comment
ECW Weekender: The Green Machine Regiment Band at Ball’s Bluff
The 8th Green Machine (GM) Regiment Band will be performing an hour-long concert at Ball’s Bluff Regional Battlefield Park on Saturday, October 24th starting at 1:00 pm to commemorate the 159th anniversary of the Battle of Ball’s Bluff. Since 2018, … Continue reading
The Pink Confederate Battle Flags
ECW welcomes back guest author Bryan Cheeseboro In a recent conversation I had with a friend, we discussed the painting The First Battle Flags by Don Troiani, which depicts the events of November 28, 1861, at Centreville, Virginia. On that … Continue reading
Posted in Material Culture
Tagged 15th Alabama Infantry, 16th Mississippi Infantry, 4th North Carolina Infantry, 4th South Carolina Infantry, 5th North Carolina Infantry, 5th South Carolina Infantry, 6th South Carolina Infantry, 7th South Carolina Infantry, 8th Virginia Infantry, Battle of First Bull Run, Battle of First Manassas, Centreville, Colin McRae Selph, Confederate Battle Flag, Don Troiani, Joseph E. Johnston, P.G.T. Beauregard, William Porcher Miles
14 Comments
John A. Dix, Troubleshooter
ECW welcomes back guest author Leon Reed A single patriotic envelope with an enigmatic message led me to the story of one of the Civil War’s more interesting figures. John A. Dix was a New York politician and businessman who … Continue reading
Patriotic Covers and Northern Attitudes about Slavery
ECW welcomes back guest author Leon Reed Patriotic envelopes (also known as covers) provide important insights into public opinion in the Civil War. These envelopes were made for profit by commercial printers, who would have carefully tracked what was selling … Continue reading
Posted in Material Culture, Slavery
Tagged Benjamin Butler, contraband, Fortress Monroe, Fugitive Slave Act, patriotic covers, slavery
3 Comments
Fences
I recently re-read Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War, the alternate history by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen, and I wanted to share a couple lines from the first page that really struck me: “As [Lee] approached the … Continue reading
What Doomed the Crew of the HL Hunley?
On February 17, 1864, the Confederate submarine H L Hunley became the first combat submarine to sink a warship when she snuck up on and rammed her spar torpedo into the hull of the screw sloop-of-war USS Housatonic outside Charleston … Continue reading
Burning Bridges to Baltimore
It’s always fun when researching obscure primary sources to come across a good story that has nothing to do with the original search. One such source is the memoir of a Union telegrapher published in 1910 in which he addresses … Continue reading
Posted in Material Culture, Primary Sources
Tagged baltimore, railroad bridges, telegraph, Telegraphy
2 Comments
Faulty Philately
Say what you will about the Confederate Constitution, but in one respect it got things right. The C.S. Postal Service, for example, after a year had to be financially self-supporting. Not so the USPS, as we all know. And for … Continue reading
Supporting the Cause: Union and Confederate Patriotic Envelopes
ECW welcomes guest author Leon Reed About three years ago, my cousin, Jim Reed asked if I’d like to see a scrapbook that had been kept by a civil war ancestor of his. What I got was an incredible collection … Continue reading
