What Quality Controls do We have when it comes to Material Posted on the Web?
Dr. Brooks D. Simpson, a historian (published author) who teaches at Arizona State University and is a respected Civil War blogger, added to an ongoing discussion concerning “content” and “controversy” blogs. Blogs sometimes blur the lines between being a “content specific” blog and a editorial/political blog. It’s an interesting question to pose as we are all political creatures to a certain extent and that tends to show up in our…
Read more...Wisconsin in the Civil War
The Wisconsin Historical society has one of the best online digital archives available: Wisconsin in the Civil War. I am always impressed whenever I need to look something up on a Wisconsin regiment. Via their website (and a new version coming soon) anyone can look up not just demographic info, but also search through letters, diaries, newspaper clippings and memoirs. I know I have written about their excellent collections before,…
Read more...Unpublished 66th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regimental History
Civil War historian Eric Wittenberg over at his Rantings of a Civil War Historian blog described a treasure trove of documents he gathered up at the Ohio Historical Society back on the 23rd while doing research on another book. His find sounds amazing and I am very jealous, but pleased that yet more Civil War primary documents are coming to light. Among the items Wittenberg unearthed was a previously unknown…
Read more...Movie Review: Lincoln
Steven Spielberg’s $50 million dollar production, LINCOLN, tackles an epic and historical figure by keenly focusing the entire production on probably the most important political achievement of Lincoln’s presidency: the 13th Amendment. By focusing on those final four months or so of the life of the 16th President of the United States, Spielberg presents a narrative that should be wonderfully intriguing to the modern viewer so long as that person…
Read more...Urban Combat in the Civil War, Part II
A recent archeological find concerning the Battle of Fredericksburg in what is described as a “near-perfect preservation” of the basement of a home where Union soldiers had most likely holed up for the night. So preserved is the site that John Hennessy, a National Park Service historian, noted “[it] a pleasant happenstance that most of us in our lifetimes won’t ever see again.” Sounds like a wonderful find and will…
Read more...Mark Grimsley’s The Hard Hand of War: Union Military Policy Toward Southern Civilians 1861-1865 Panelists discussion
C-SPAN Panelists discussed Mark Grimsley’s book, The Hard Hand of War: Union Military Policy Toward Southern Civilians, 1861-1865, which was the featured book of the 2012 Civil War Institute Summer Conference at Gettysburg College. He responded to questions from the audience. Coincidentily I am in the middle of our Civil War unit in my APUSH Class and we discussed Hard War today. To watch this excellent panel discussion click here.
Read more...Civil War Themed Beer
The first of nine beers to commemorate the 150th Civil War anniversary — Antietam Ale — is now on tap. The concoction was derived from a number of beer recipes from the 1800s and researched by National Museum of Civil War Medicine researcher Terry Reimer. Monocacy Brewing Co. in Frederick bottled the first batch Sept. 28 for distribution. Antietam Ale is based on a recipe for an English-style ale once…
Read more...150th Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam: The Angles of Antietam
Stunning pictures that retrace the steps of ground-breaking Civil War photographer shot in exact same spots 150 years after bloodiest battle Been a while since I have posted and in the meantime my wordpress crashed and I didn’t know it. Found this interesting article about the Battle of Antietam which is of course experiencing its 150th anniversary. I do not say celebrating as its, well, strange to celebrate a blood…
Read more...Joshua L. Chamberlain The Life in Letters of a Great Leader of the American Civil War
Just recently published by Thomas Desjardin Joshua L. Chamberlain: The Life in Letters of a Great Leader of the American Civil War deals with 300 previously unknown letters from Chamberlain’s personal correspondence, which comprises letters sent by or to Chamberlain from his college years in 1852 to his death in 1914. From the Published: The first 100 letters shed light on Chamberlain’s formative years and his courtship with Fannie Adams,…
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