Showing results for "First Manassas"
There Stands Jackson Like Stonewalls? A Union Soldier Speculates on Jackson’s Famous Nickname
The story of how Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson received his famous nickname atop Henry Hill on July 21, 1861, is well-known to Civil War enthusiasts today. For Southerners, they knew it too, and quickly after the Battle of First Manassas ended. The story first appeared in the Charleston Mercury on July 25, 1861, and soon […]
Read more...McClellan Addresses the 5th Wisconsin
On May 7, 1862, General George B. McClellan reviewed and spoke to the men of the 5th Wisconsin, who two days before had helped win the Battle of Williamsburg. Since the 2d Wisconsin fought at First Manassas, this was the most prominent Badger action in Virginia, and would not be passed until August 1862. McClellan’s […]
Read more...VMI Cadets at McDowell: “War was not a pastime”
When were the Virginia Military Institute Cadets (VMI) called to join a Confederate army as reserves? The most obvious answer is: May 1864 for the battle of New Market. But did you know that “Stonewall” Jackson himself “called out the cadets” during his Valley Campaign in 1862 and took them to the McDowell battlefield?
Read more...In Search of Sarah Spindle
Maxwell and I wind our way through a primordial tunnel of woods before the path we’re following descends a short staircase of plant roots and spits us out into a field. It’s an ersatz field, really—the Park Service hasn’t been able to mow or burn since before the pandemic, so this portion of Spindle Field […]
Read more...Kernstown’s Wounded in Winchester
The battle of Kernstown on March 23, 1862 resulted in over 1,000 casualties and a Federal victory in the lower Shenandoah Valley. To be precision, General “Stonewall” Jackson’s early reports on Confederate losses listed 80 killed, 75 wounded, 263 missing (718 total casualties) while Union records showed 118 killed, 450 wounded, and 22 missing or […]
Read more...Fallen Leaders: Maine’s Hiram Berry
Haunted by a premonition, Maj. Gen. Hiram Berry recklessly exposed himself to Confederate snipers at Chancellorsville and paid the price for his carelessness. A 36-year-old Rockland (Maine) merchant in spring 1861, the physically robust Berry led the 4th Maine Infantry Regiment at First Manassas. Promoted to brigadier the following spring, he commanded the 3rd Brigade […]
Read more...2nd Maine veteran funded the monument to his regiment
A veteran’s desire to immortalize the 2nd Maine Infantry Regiment in bronze and stone finally bore fruit more than a century after the outfit left central Maine to help save the Union. Born to lumberman Waldo Treat Peirce and his wife, Hannah Jane Peirce, in Bangor in 1837, Luther Hills Peirce grew up on Harlow […]
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