Showing results for "North Anna"
A Few Notes on Grant’s Last Battle
Part two of two comes from my “author’s note” in Grant’s Last Battle: The Story Behind The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. As kids, my brother and I had a poster of the presidents on the closet door in our bedroom. My brother picked Lincoln as his favorite. I picked Ulysses S. Grant. I liked […]
Read more...On Writing Grant’s Last Battle
Part one of two In the fall of 2012, I had the opportunity to speak to the Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table in Fredericksburg, Virginia, about Ulysses S. Grant’s memoirs. Grant’s work to write them was literally a race against death. Swindled by business partners and suffering from terminal throat cancer, he needed to […]
Read more...Confederate Culture Wars: On the Lighter Side
The Virginia Department of Nature announced today that the Confederate battle flag will be removed from all trees and bushes in the Commonwealth. The battle flag on a tree could suggest that the tree is descended from a tree planted in a state where slaveholders once lived, the department said in an issued statement. “We have […]
Read more...Among the Ruins at Jericho Mill
As a volunteer at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, I had the privilege this week to join an NPS site visit to Jericho Mills on the North Anna battlefield. The property still belongs to the Civil War Trust, although it will eventually be ceded to Richmond National Battlefield. Because of various legal and liability issues, the property is […]
Read more...Mackowski’s New “Strike Them a Blow” Looks at the Overlooked Phase of the Overland Campaign
by ECW Correspondent Pat Tintle The Emerging Civil War Series has covered well-known events such as Gettysburg and Appomattox, but for the latest volume, author Chris Mackowski has turned the series’ focus toward a battle not found in all U.S. History textbooks. Strike Them a Blow: Battle Along the North Anna River details the encounter between […]
Read more...From the ECW Archives: The Union Assault at Cold Harbor June 1, 1864
All through the night of May 31 and into June 1, 1864, Horatio Wright’s VI Corps trudged along the dusty and choked Virginia byroads. They had been pulled from the Union right flank and ordered to march to reinforce and relieve Phil Sheridan’s cavalry holding the critical Old Cold Harbor intersection. As they neared the crossroads, […]
Read more...Rituals and Remembrance at Spotsy
If John Sedgwick were alive today, he’d say, “See? I told you they couldn’t hit elephant at that distance!” He’d also probably say, “Gosh, I’m really old.” So old, in fact, that he’d barely have the strength to speak, so we would have to lean close to hear the parchment whisper of his voice. He […]
Read more...The Topography of Spotsylvania
Last Friday and Saturday, I had the opportunity to give a tour of the Spotsylvania and North Anna River battlefield to a great group from the Central Ohio Civil War Round Table. I have walked Spotsylvania many times; however, one of the main topics I kept coming back to on Friday was how topography influenced […]
Read more...Where Was George Gordon Meade?
A Google search of the many sketches and paintings that have become the iconic, popular images of Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House may unveil a startling revelation. The commander of the Army of the Potomac, the principle U.S. Army in the Eastern Theater was not present in Mr. McLean’s parlor on April […]
Read more...