Tag Archives: Jefferson Davis

The Night That Decided the Confederate President

Posted on May 25, 2017 by

In February 1861, delegates from the six seceded states—South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana met in Montgomery, Alabama to craft a new nation. In order to do so, a leader, a provisional president, would be elected as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Emerging Civil War, Leadership--Confederate, Memory, Personalities, Politics, Ties to the War | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Race, Remembrance and Tourism in New Orleans

Posted on May 1, 2017 by

Today, we are pleased to welcome back guest author Sean Michael Chick In the wake of the Charleston shootings there was a renewed call to remove Confederate monuments throughout America. Few cities have seen this process play out in such … Continue reading →

Posted in Memory | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

“We Have A Light”: Our Shared Lie About the Confederacy

Posted on April 11, 2017 by

Today, we welcome back guest author Sam Smith. “The Confederate Constitution was virtually identical to the original, except that it explicitly protected slavery.” This is one of the most common canards of Civil War history. I don’t know where this fiction … Continue reading →

Posted in Antebellum South, Politics, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Robert E. Lee and John B. Hood: A Complicated Relationship

Posted on March 7, 2017 by

Robert E. Lee didn’t want John Bell Hood promoted to command a Confederate army, but once Hood had been, Lee didn’t want him to fail. Possible evidence hinges on a little-known command decision made by Lee and the War Department … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership--Confederate, Western Theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Mexican-American War 170th: Battle of Buena Vista

Posted on February 23, 2017 by

February 23, 1847: 170 years ago today, the mountain passes and gorges near the hacienda of Buena Vista filled with the ripping crackles of musketry and booming concussion of artillery. The day saw a numerically superior Mexican force throwing itself … Continue reading →

Posted in Armies, Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Mexican War | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Recollections of Confederate Officers for The News

Posted on February 15, 2017 by

Today we are pleased to welcome back guest author, Joe Owen. Joe has provided an account from Sergeant Val Giles of the 4th Texas Infantry. It was originally published in The Galveston Daily News on May 16, 1897.

Posted in Armies, Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Campaigns, Civil War Events, Common Soldier, Leadership--Confederate, Memory, Personalities, Primary Sources | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Robert Penn Warren’s Reflections on Jefferson Davis’s Citizenship

Posted on February 13, 2017 by

As I mentioned in a post a couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity recently to pick up Robert Penn Warren’s short 1980 book Jefferson Davis Gets His Citizenship Back. It’s beautifully written, and Warren’s ambivalence about his native South … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Authors, Leadership--Confederate, Lincoln, Memory, Personalities, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Robert Penn Warren, Jefferson Davis, and the Construction of a Monument

Posted on February 3, 2017 by

In his 1980 essay “Jefferson Davis Gets His Citizenship Back,” first printed in The New Yorker and later published as a short book, Robert Penn Warren reflected on the construction of a monument to former Confederate President Jefferson Davis. That … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil War in Pop Culture, Leadership--Confederate, Memory, Monuments | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

1860’s Politics: Confederate Political Songs?

Posted on November 17, 2016 by

The North had many political songs for candidate praise and candidate bashing. What about the South? Did the Confederacy write music about their political leaders? The short answer: yes and no. Here’s the longer answer:

Posted in Civilian, Common Soldier, Emerging Civil War, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

1860’s Politics: Why Do We think McClellan Was the “Peace Candidate”? Because the Rebels Thought So

Posted on November 10, 2016 by

A thoughtful respondent to my recent submission to the ECW blog, “1860’s Politics,” wondered why Gen. George McClellan, Democratic nominee for U. S. president in 1864, waited until after Sherman’s troops captured Atlanta, Sept. 2, 1864, before he announced his … Continue reading →

Posted in Emerging Civil War, Leadership--Confederate, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment