Showing results for "Chancellorsville"
Lincoln Develops a More Modern Command System – Part 2: Frustration to Breakthrough
Emerging Civil War welcomes back JoAnna M. McDonald (This piece follows the introductory reminder of wars and republics and Part 1: Growing Pains) Thus far, in the first fourteen months, President Abraham Lincoln’s command systems had failed to generate success on all fronts, and the next nineteen months he would experience much of the same […]
Read more...Book Review: Searching for Stonewall by Ben Cleary
It seems I’ve been searching for Stonewall Jackson in one capacity or another for more than 20 years, so, needless to say, Ben Cleary’s new book, Searching for Stonewall Jackson, caught my attention. Cleary takes a Tony Horwitz-like approach to his explorations of Stonewall Jackson, combining a modern travelogue with biographical information. The intent is […]
Read more...Yellowhammers and Environmentalism: Following the Path of Law’s Alabama Brigade to Gettysburg (part three)
Ten Days in Culpeper From Raccoon Ford, Joe and I drove into nearby Culpeper, A.P. Hill’s hometown. Law’s Brigade camped with Hood’s Division south-east of Culpeper, near Pony Mountain, and paralleling the Fredericksburg Pike (modern-day Virginia Route 3) from Friday, June 5th to Monday, June 15th.
Read more...He Wrote What? Health and Weight in Civil War Letters
“You stated that you had been weighed, what is your weight?”[i] asked Private Walter Dunn in a letter to his fiancée. It’s a little shocking to modern readers! There are a few questions that are usually considered taboo to ask a woman: her age and her weight. However, Walter Dunn is not the only mid-19th […]
Read more...Yellowhammers and Environmentalism: Following the Path of Law’s Alabama Brigade to Gettysburg (part two)
This post continues my story of following Law’s Brigade and delves into the unit’s background. Joe Loehle and I were at our starting off point, Raccoon Ford, where the area had layers of historical depth. We were where Evander McIver Law’s newly-formed Alabama Brigade was posted in early June 1863. I wanted to explore the […]
Read more...A Conversation with CVBT’s New Executive Director (conclusion)
(part four of four) Terry Rensel is not only the new executive director of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT), he’s also one of my closest friends. I’ve been talking with him about his recent move to Virginia and his career change from broadcaster to preservationist. Chris Mackowski: What do you see coming into your […]
Read more...A Conversation with CVBT’s New Executive Director (part two)
(part two of four) I’m chatting this week with my good friend, Terry Rensel, who’s been hired as the new executive director of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT). CVBT, one of the country’s premier regional preservation organizations, focuses on battlefields around Fredericksburg, Virginia. Chris Mackowski: Just the other day, I had a conversation with […]
Read more...A Conversation with CVBT’s New Executive Director (part one)
(part one of four) In early July, the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT) hired a new executive director, Terry Rensel. Terry is not only an ECWer—he serves on the blog’s editorial board—he’s been one of my best friends for thirty years. “We were in the same freshmen orientation group, so we’ve known each other since […]
Read more...“Down Fame’s Ladder”: Brigadier General Thomas W. Egan’s Unending War
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock gave glowing praise of the Third Division’s 1st Brigade and its commander, 29-year-old Colonel Thomas W. Egan, in his report following the Battle of North Anna on May 23, 1864. “Egan’s brigade, led gallantly by its commander, charged over an open field, several hundred yards in breadth, which ascended sharply […]
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