Showing results for "Wilderness"
The fury of Wilderness…the thunders of Gettysburg
Near the Adams Farm, Richmond National Battlefield. When the Union Second Corps attacked near this position on the morning of June 3, 1864, a member of the 10 Massachusetts Light said, “It had the fury of the Wilderness musketry, with the thunders of the Gettysburg artillery superadded. It was simply terrific.” (from Rhea, Cold Harbor, […]
Read more...The Never-Asked Question About John Sedgwick
It’s a pleasant late-morning in Spotsylvania. Three guys my age or a little older cluster around a large map of the battlefield painted long ago by Sidney King. A fourth man reads panels in the exhibit shelter. There aren’t any park rangers on duty, and aside from the visitors, the place feels a little […]
Read more...Chancellorsville: R. E. Lee’s Greatest Pyrrhic Victory
This blog expands on the discussion Ryan Quint wrote in his 2022 ECW blog, “More than Just Jackson” and Chris Mackowski’s and Kris White’s Chancellorsville research.[1] What’s a “Pyrrhic victory?” It’s a victory that results in such a heavy toll it negates any true sense of achievement, or a victory in which a commander loses […]
Read more...Book Review: Here’s a Letter from Thy Dear Son: Letters of a Georgia Family during the Civil War Era
Here’s a Letter from Thy Dear Son: Letters of a Georgia Family during the Civil War Era. Edited by Edward H. Pulliam. Macon: GA: Mercer University Press, 2024. Hardcover, 640 pp. $50.00. Reviewed by Tim Talbott During the American Civil War, family ties not only helped soldiers maintain distant connections with once very familiar people […]
Read more...One “Horrid Saturnalia” of Sentence-Writing
I’m always on the lookout for interesting sentences. I recently came across a doozy while looking through Kate M. Scott’s History of the One hundred and fifth regiment of Pennsylvania volunteers: a complete history of the organization, marches, battles, toils, and dangers participated in by the regiment from the beginning to the close of the […]
Read more...A Visit to a Monument for Murdered USCTs
The three men were likely exhausted, having been on the constant move for two weeks. Long, hot marches from Annapolis, Maryland, down to Washington, D.C., and then across the Potomac River into Virginia. Once in the Old Dominion, they followed the course of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad along with thousands of others until their […]
Read more...John Brown Gordon and the Self-Immolation of Lee’s Shattered Corps
Doing some work on an Overland Campaign project this past weekend, I was once again reminded why I find John Brown Gordon’s memoirs so entertaining. His writing style is so over the top, nearly breathless in its sweeping delivery, that I can’t help but chuckle. “Hyperbole” doesn’t seem big enough to do it justice. Kris […]
Read more...Grant vs Lee
The Emerging Civil War 10th Anniversary Series: Grant vs Lee: Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the Historians at Emerging Civil War Savas Beatie, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-61121-595-3 e-book ISBN: 978-1-954547-12-4 Specs: 10 maps, 100 images, 312 pp. Click here to Order *** About the Book With the presidential election looming in the fall, President Abraham […]
Read more...CVBT History Wire: “Field Fortifications on Central Virginia’s Battlefields – Part II”
The most recent “CVBT History Wire” post is the second part in a two-part series that takes a cursory look at field fortifications on central Virginia’s battlefields. This one covers the Mine Run, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania battlefields. Read here: Field Fortifications on Central Virginia’s Battlefields – Part II If you missed Part I, which covers […]
Read more...
