Showing results for "McClellan"
Heroic Burnside
By this point in 1862, Ambrose Burnside’s excellent plan for a late-year campaign had already begun to unravel. His Right Grand Division under Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner stole a march on Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and, on November 17, arrived on the banks of the Rappahannock River in Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg, […]
Read more...Question of the Week: 11/9-11/15/20
In your opinion, who was the better general? George B. McClellan or Ambrose Burnside. Why?
Read more...Week In Review: November 2-8, 2020
Spent the week keeping up with the news and might have missed some blog posts? No worries! We’ve got the week in review for you with a full selection of historical politics, cinema-worthy moments on the Mississippi River, biographical reflections, and more. Lots of history to explore… Monday, November 2: Question of the Week highlighted […]
Read more...Conspiracy – Civil War Style?
In a year with an exceptional plethora of “tell-all” books and a variety of conspiracy theories from multiple sides and perspectives, old historical sources never fail to add a little perspective and humor. While seeking an escape from the election news-cycle, I found this delightful little tale in James Scrymser’s Civil War stories. (He’s the […]
Read more...Joe and the Illini: The Unclear Origins of Two “Fighting” Nicknames
Every few years my alma mater, the University of Illinois, renews the discussion of renaming its sports teams and creating a new mascot. In 2007 the school retired Chief Illiniwek and the trademarked Chief logo in an attempt to distance itself from connections with Native American imagery. Several weeks ago, the student senate recommended retaining […]
Read more...Biography: No Longer the Stepchild of Civil War History
For much of the twentieth century, biography was a genre ignored or demeaned by many academic historians. Traditional cradle-to-grave biographies focused on the so-called “great men of history.” They consigned women, immigrants, people of color, and lesser known figures to the periphery. Treated as bit players in epic historical dramas like the American Civil War, […]
Read more...Perceptions of Emancipation in Gettysburg, Part Three
ECW welcomes back guest author Jon Tracey The conclusion of a series (Part One, Part Two) As seen in Part One and Part Two, Gettysburg was a border town caught directly in the midst of national debates on emancipation during the Civil War. In early July 1863, the small town became national news as the […]
Read more...ECW on C-SPAN
C-SPAN 3 continues to air programs from the ECW Virtual Symposium in August. This weekend, Sarah Kay Bierle talks about “The Boys Who Rode Around McClellan: The Chambersburg Raid of 1862.” Sarah’s program will debut this weekend on C-SPAN 3’s “American History TV” on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. It will then re-air Sunday morning […]
Read more...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 before the war had served as a U.S. Senator and New York Secretary of State. […]
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