Showing results for "George B. McClellan"
The Evolution of Cavalry Tactics: How Technology Drove Change (Part Four)
(part four in a series) During the early days of the Civil War, Dennis Hart Mahan’s teachings were implemented by the Union high command in particular. Gen. Winfield Scott vigorously resisted the incorporation of volunteer cavalry regiments into the Union armies, as he believed them to be unduly expensive as well as impractical because they […]
Read more...Two Union Veterans: The Election of 1880, Part 1
Ever heard the old joke that in order to be President of the United States after the Civil War, you only needed to be Republican, be a Union veteran, and have a beard? You can be forgiven for thinking it might be true. After all, look at the post-war presidents: Ulysses S. Grant (bearded Republican […]
Read more...Robert Dickey: Killer Turned Soldier
Henry St. Clair flew off the porch of Henry Bicksler’s tavern and shouted into the evening air, “God damn your soul, Bob Dickey, what did you hit me for?” Onlookers watched as Robert Dickey turned to face his accuser, and the two men were soon landing blows on one another. But the fight did not […]
Read more...Railroads – Tracks to the Antietam: The Railroad Supplies the Army of the Potomac, September 18, 1862
“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 artillery rounds fired in one minute of action. He arrived at 78 shots per minute.[2] […]
Read more...Railroads – The Virginia Central Railroad: A Target For Union Raids
The Virginia Central Railroad was chartered as the Louisa Railroad in 1836 by the Virginia Board of Public Works. The name was changed to the Virginia Central Railroad in 1850. It ran from westward from Richmond and ended in Gordonsville, where it met the Orange & Alexandria Railroad. No Confederate railroad was targeted more, and […]
Read more...The Rise and Fall of Brig. Gen. James L. Kiernan
Major James Lawlor Kiernan’s swift rise from major to brigadier general in August 1863 was just as remarkable as when Elon J. Farnsworth, George A. Custer, and Wesley Merritt were famously promoted from captains to brigadier generals on the eve of the Battle of Gettysburg. Kiernan was 25 years old at the time of his […]
Read more...Preservation News: American Battlefield Trust Working To Save Three 1862 Battlefields
News from American Battlefield Trust… What do Hickenlooper’s Battery, Randol’s Battery, and Latimer’s Battery all have in common? Each was part of key battle action near three crucial tracts on three 1862 battlefields – Shiloh in the west, and Glendale and Fredericksburg in the east. Today, through a combination of grants, support from generous donors, […]
Read more...Trial by Fire for the U.S. Sharpshooters at Yorktown, Part 2
Emerging Civil War welcomes back guest author Rob Wilson for Part 2 of his mini-series. To read Part I of this series, about the U.S. Sharpshooters’ 1st Regiment and their role on first day of the Siege of Yorktown, click here. Carefully choreographed Confederate cannon salvos and rifle fire greeted the Army of Potomac III […]
Read more...Trial by Fire for the U.S. Sharpshooters at Yorktown, Part 1
Emerging Civil War welcomes back guest author Rob Wilson. The men of the 1st Regiment, U.S. Sharpshooters (U.S.S.S.) were tired and hungry as they slogged along the muddy road from their base at Ft. Monroe. It was April 5, 1862, and they were leading a long Army of the Potomac III Corps column towards Yorktown. […]
Read more...