Showing results for "Appomattox"
Vermont Brigade at the Petersburg Breakthrough
April 2, 2019 marked the 154th anniversary of the last day of fighting around Petersburg, Virginia. My research has largely focused on the breakthrough assault by the Sixth Corps southwest of the city during the early morning. I have devoted a number of articles on this blog to that combat, but, despite tinkering with my […]
Read more...“Move at the Sound of the Bugle, …Straight to the Front”
The 2nd Rhode Island Infantry Regiment formed in June 1861 and fought from First Bull Run through the Appomattox Campaign. By the opening days of April 1865, Elisha Hunt Rhodes – who had enlisted as volunteer corporal – promoted to lieutenant colonel, followed by a promotion to brevet colonel for his actions in the assault […]
Read more...Florida’s Irish General
When the words “Irish” and “Confederate general” are spoken most students of the war immediately think of Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, the “Stonewall of the West” who was killed in action at the Battle of Franklin in November 1864. There were other Irishmen who rose to prominence in the military of the Confederate States of America. […]
Read more...The Evolution of Cavalry Tactic: How Technology Drove Change (Part Eight)
(conclusion to a series) Young Maj. Gen. James H. Wilson, a member of the West Point class of 1861 who was known as Harry to his family and friends, commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Military Division of the Mississippi, in 1865. Wilson’s Corps consisted of roughly 13,500 troopers organized into three divisions, commanded by […]
Read more...The Newby Family Fights for Freedom
For more than two decades I’ve been fascinated with John Brown’s 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. There’s so much intrigue to the story…it almost reads like a Hollywood script. More than the voluminous books, the artifacts and the sites associated with the raid, I’ve always found the photographs of Brown and his raiders to be […]
Read more...Preservation News: Congress Fully Funds Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants Program at $10 Million
This week, the Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants program was officially fully funded by Congress at $10 million for the 2019 Fiscal Year. The bill passed through the House of Representatives and the Senate earlier this week and was officially signed into law by President Donald Trump on Friday, February 15. Remarkably, this is the fourth […]
Read more...The ORs and the Growth of Bureaucracy
Dan Welch’s post yesterday about the history of the Official Records reminded me of an observation I made a few weeks ago while reshuffling my books. The ORs embody the evolution of record-keeping over the course of the war (or, some might say, the growth of bureaucracy!).
Read more...Primary Sources: Clement A. Evans & Confederate Military History
The war had been over for nearly three decades. Veterans of all ranks had been recording their experiences in memoirs, newspapers, journals, speeches, and other published materials. Already, in the short intervening period from the silencing of the guns to the earliest published works on the war, the battle for the memory of the conflict […]
Read more...Primary Sources: Thoughts and Favorites
A primary source is defined as one produced by an eyewitness to an event offering their recollections. Some primary sources provide just basic facts with limited additional details. Other sources, like battle reports, provide more details but often offer little in terms of context, analysis, or human feeling. Some are also unreliable for myriad factors, […]
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