Showing results for "Vicksburg"
What a Difference a Year Makes
1863 wasn’t just momentous for the United States as a nation. It was also a turning point for some of our most important historical figures. General Ulysses S. Grant entered 1863 in the wake of a brutal stretch of reversals along the Mississippi River. His two-pronged effort to capture Vicksburg had collapsed badly on both […]
Read more...1863: “Even the birds are seldom heard with their cheerful voices”: A Confederate Reflects Post-Chancellorsville
Though sometimes referred to as Robert E. Lee’s greatest victory, the battle of Chancellorsville resulted in nearly 13,000 Confederate casualties– almost 20% of the Army of Northern Virginia’s strength. As the Confederacy mourned its losses, perhaps mostly famously the death of Stonewall Jackson, Sergeant Lafayette Cooper, of the Georgian Troup Artillery, sat down to write […]
Read more...Symposium Spotlight: 2023 Photos!
This past weekend the 9th Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium took place at Stevenson Ridge in Spotsylvania Virginia. We were thrilled to welcome nearly 180 people to the event! Here are a few of our favorite photos from the weekend: On Friday morning, Kevin Pawlak and Rob Orrison led a battlefield tour at Bristoe Station […]
Read more...Sherman’s Grief Amidst Union Victories
I was pondering the theme of this year’s ECW Symposium – “1863: The Great Task Before Us” – and thought about what stood out in my mind. Of course, the great Union victories at Gettysburg, Vicksburg and later Chattanooga loomed large. But, having written a biography of William Tecumseh Sherman recently (Man of Fire: […]
Read more...1863: The Great Task Before Us—Introduction
This coming weekend will be Emerging Civil War’s 9th Annual Symposium, and we’ll be exploring the theme “1863: The Great Task Before Us.” To coincide with the event, we’ve invited our authors to create a blog series around the same topic. We’ll also take this opportunity to spotlight some of the 1863 content in the […]
Read more...Three Tigers and a Cheer: Remembering the Megster
A friend from the university sent me a music video the other day. “Do you know the band Alpha Rev?” he asked. “Thought of you when I was spinning this one.” The song, “Lexington,” came from the band’s 2013 album Bloom. “Originally, I got the idea for this song when I found a letter from […]
Read more...The Aftermath of Port Hudson and Nathaniel Banks’s Return to Bayou Teche
The fall of both Vicksburg and Port Hudson was trumpeted throughout the North. However, Ulysses Grant took the greater prize, accepted the surrender of more men, and suffered fewer losses than Banks. His campaign, then and now, is considered among the most brilliant of the war. Banks by contrast oversaw a longer siege and lost more […]
Read more...Symposium Spotlight: 2023 TENTATIVE Schedule
We’re excited to share the tentative schedule for the 2023 Symposium weekend. Please note that times and details may be subject to minor changes. If there are any changes, we will update the schedule on our Symposium event page and encourage you to refer to that listing as the weekend gets closer. If you’re registered […]
Read more...The Surrender of Port Hudson
After the failure of his second assault on Port Hudson, on June 15 Banks called on a “Forlorn Hope” of choice volunteers. They would storm the Rebel lines, lured by promises of recognition, promotion, and medals made from captured Confederate guns. Banks wanted 1,000 men. 1,300 stepped forth, mostly from regiments that had not seen […]
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