The Civil War Monitor is a new publication which recently released its second issue. Their current issue lineup includes: Custer and the End of Innocence In little more than a decade, George Armstrong Custer—the “Boy General of the Golden Lock”—went from Civil War darling to Little Bighorn pariah. What went wrong? By Glenn W. LaFantasie Black Men in Blue A series of images highlights the story of the African-American volunteers…

Much has been written about the hardships of soldiering during the Civil War. However, what of the soldier when he returned home after the war? How did he reintegrate into society and what was left waiting for him? By the 1880s soldiers began to reminiscence about the war in memoirs and regimental histories. But yet there was still a population in both the North and South that drifted from soldier…

A month or so ago I joined The Society of Civil War Historians and recently received my issue of The Journal of the Civil War Era, which all members receive. From the Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press and the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center at the Pennsylvania State University are pleased to announce the 2011 launch of a new publication, The Journal of the Civil…

BY Tom Rowland Within days of President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 volunteers, Governor Alexander Randall enjoined Wisconsin citizens to make “ common cause against a common enemy,” and announced that opportunities for enlistment would be “immediately offered to all existing military companies.”[1] In towns and cities all across the state patriotic throngs jammed meeting halls to listen to stirring speeches and urgent appeals to join the cause of squashing rebellion…

The Uncivil War: Irregular Warfare in the Upper South, 1861 – 1865 (2004), by Robert R. Mackey, is a scholarly study that sought to establish a proper context for the irregular war that the South attempted to fight, but ultimately lost. (This also explains why they could not continue the guerrilla war after Lee surrendered.) It is Mackey’s contention that historian’s treatment of the irregular war that took place has…

[Originally posted at blog4history.com] Mark H. Dunkelman’s study of the 154th New York Infantry Regiment is simply exhaustive. Numerous books published and nearly a lifetime of commitment. One could say it is a love affair. I first encountered one of Dunkelman’s books when I happened to find myself in possession of his “Brothers One and All” (LSU Press). Perhaps the finest study ever on a Civil War Regiment. Dunkelman’s study…

Indiana Magazine of History has a section on their website dedicated to remember Civil War soldiers, Voices from the Past: Civil War Soldiers’ Letters and Diaries. The page is a collection of downloadable PDF files of 59 articles published in the magazine. The articles highlight various collections at the University. Here’s a list of the available PDFs to download: 1. Allen, Amory K., “Civil War Letters of Amory K. Allen”…

[Originally posted on January 29th, 2011 at blog4history.com] The Civil War: A Concise History Louis P. Masur Hardback, 136 pages From the Publisher: Louis P. Masur’s The Civil War: A Concise History offers a masterful and eminently readable overview of the war’s multiple causes and catastrophic effects. Masur begins by examining the complex origins of the war, focusing on the pulsating tensions over states rights and slavery. The book then…

The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War Donald Stoker (Hardback, 512 pages) I’m going to go out on what should be a well occupied limb ready to break under the weight and say that Donald Stoker’s The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War will win award(s) next year. Stoker’s book is not just keenly researched, but he handles the war policies and strategies of the North…