Showing results for "North Anna"

“We were in fit shape for a rift with Meade” The Fall Campaign of 1863 Begins

By October 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac stared at one another on either side of the Rapidan River. Lee’s army held the land south of the Rapidan around Orange. North of the Rapidan, Meade’s army was centered on Culpeper. Since the victory at Gettysburg, the Lincoln administration and Maj. […]

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Knitting in the Civil War South

Today, we are pleased to welcome guest author Hannah McClearnen.  “Weren’t they just at home knitting?” When people think about the Southern home front, the first image that comes to mind is often the dutiful wife and mother, left at home knitting for their loved ones fighting in the Civil War. This seems to be […]

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The Final Gun

Today, we are pleased to welcome back guest author Dwight Hughes The CSS Shenandoah steamed northward through the Bering Sea in Arctic twilight. Shortly after midnight on June 22, 1865, the horizon was smudged by smoke from a whaler’s tryworks, and by morning, the New Bedford whalers Euphrates and William Thompson hove into view. Euphrates […]

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Captain John Hanson McNeill and the McNeill Rangers: Rebel Strike Force Supreme

Today, we are pleased to welcome guest author Richard Chapman When discussing great Confederate independent cavalry raiders in the Civil War, it seems that they have three parts to their name: General John Hunt Morgan, Colonel John Singleton Mosby, and even General Nathan Bedford Forrest. These were dashing figures in action, and Mosby even had […]

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The Other German

Baron Frederich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Steuben or Frederich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben or more simply Baron von Steuben, may be the most recognizable German to serve with the American army during the American Revolution.* His merits, pedigree, and how he came to America has been questioned and studied by many scholars and […]

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An Elusive Doctor at Gettysburg

Today, we are pleased to welcome back guest author Sarah Kay Bierle. Generals oversee battles. Soldiers fight. Civilians hide. Surgeons amputate. What does a medical director do during a battle? More specifically: what did Dr. Hunter McGuire do at Gettysburg? The medical director of the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia is elusive […]

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An Enduring Controversy: The Pipe Creek Circular and the Battle of Gettysburg

Part One No battle of the American Civil War has generated more ongoing and enduring controversies than the Battle of Gettysburg. With the anniversary of the battle looming once more, I wanted to address one of the more heated and oldest controversies of the battle, the Pipe Creek Circular and how it impacted the outcome […]

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“Our clocks are slow” L’Hermione, Lafayette and the Franco-American Alliance

With the visit of the L’Hermione to the east coast of the United States this summer, there has been a heightened interest in the Franco-American alliance that won the American Revolution.  The French rebuilt the L’Hermione not only for its beauty but also its historical significance.  Most importantly, its mission and the passenger it contained […]

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Nobody Can Truly Understand The Battle of Gettysburg Without a Solid Understanding of the Battle of Chancellorsville

Conclusion In the first part of this two-part series that demonstrates how nobody can truly understand the Battle of Gettysburg without having a solid understanding of the Battle of Chancellorsville, we addressed the implications of Chancellorsville for the Army of Northern Virginia. In this second part, we will examine the strategic implications of things that […]

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