Showing results for "Chancellorsville"
Chloroform: Uses and Effects, Part 2
Click here to read Part 1 The medical volumes are helpful for understanding the theories of how chloroform was supposed to be used, but what about the actual experience of soldiers put under its influence for an operation? And why are there so many primary source accounts of soldiers struggling on the operating tables if […]
Read more...The Most Devastating Confederate Attack?
Chancellorsville is often seen as one of the Army of Northern Virginia’s greatest attacks, achieving a victory against overwhelming odds, yet I would argue that rivaling that is the one launched on the third day of fighting at Second Manassas. Although not involving as many troops, the magnitude of the attack violently and abruptly altered […]
Read more...Week In Review: August 15-22, 2021
Sunday, August 15: Fallen Leaders: The Armistead Family cemetery (by Kevin Pawlak) Monday, August 16: Question of the Week examined fallen leader’s tombstones or graveside monuments. Brian Swartz posted about the differences in Ellis Spear’s writings. Chris Mackowski hosted a BookChat with Guy Hasegawa about Matchless Organization. Sarah Kay Bierle added reflections on visuals from […]
Read more...Fallen Leaders: General Richard B. Garnett
Tuesday, May 12, 1863. The location: Richmond, Virginia. The bells tolled, the military bands played dirges, and uniforms and civilian attire displayed mourning badges. The casket of Lieutenant General Thomas J. Jackson was drawn through the streets to Capitol Square where the general’s remains were carried into the building to lie in state. One of […]
Read more...Fallen Leaders: Colonel Isaac Seymour, 6th Louisiana Infantry, Part 2
Read Part 1 HERE General Thomas Jackson’s tardy arrival to the Seven Days Battle meant that the 6th Louisiana Volunteers and Colonel Isaac Seymour (now in command of the entire Louisiana Brigade) missed the opening engagement at Beaver Dam Creek. They were, however, ordered to take the front of General Richard Ewell’s column as skirmishers. […]
Read more...Fallen Leaders: Major Andrew Grover, 76th New York
Historians once focused mostly on “great men,” painstakingly analyzing the Army/Corps/Division/Brigade commanders whose decisions shaped historic events. More recently, pushback against that historiography has led to increased work on the “common soldier” and average enlisted men. Though both approaches certainly have value, there is a third group who is caught between these two groups – […]
Read more...Week In Review
Monday, July 26: Question of the Week highlighted historic maps. Sarah Kay Bierle posted about General Griffin’s forward scouting at Chancellorsville. Patrick Young from The Reconstruction Era Blog shared about USCT’s service after the war ended.
Read more...One Company Against Two Corps
June 3 always brings recollections of the 1864 battle of Cold Harbor. There, at least 1,100 Union soldiers were killed and 4,500 wounded in a bloody attack that Confederates easily repulsed in less than an hour. (7,000 is the usual number given for Meade’s casualties.) The assault force numbered as many as 40,000 in three […]
Read more...Joshua L. Chamberlain and the Covid
By Brian Swartz When researching Joshua L. Chamberlain, a Civil War historian need not play a 21st-century Sherlock Holmes sleuthing through dark alleys and microscopic evidence to find those rare clues about the man. Writing copiously during and after the war, he left paper trails leading to many places. While conducting research for ECWS’s new […]
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