Posted in Civil War

When a German Immigrant Was Nearly Killed Because of the Number of His Regiment

E.P. Alexander tells the story of German immigrant captured at Fredericksburg in December 1862 who was nearly killed because of the number of his regiment:…

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Posted in Civil War

The Laws of War: The Lieber Code on the Treatment of Prisoners of War

I have posted a number articles on prisoners of war and captivity studies recently. I thought it might be useful to post the relevant sections…

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Posted in USCT

55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry: A Second “Brave Black Regiment”

This is part of my series of scrapbooks on Black regiments that served in the Civil War. While they are each focused on a single…

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Posted in Book Reviews Civil War

The Story of Camp Douglas: Chicago’s Forgotten Civil War Prison by David L. Keller

The Story of Camp Douglas: Chicago’s Forgotten Civil War Prison by David L. Keller published by The History Press (2015) 259 pp. $22.20 Hardcover, $15.22 Paperback,…

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Posted in Civil War

The Role of African Americans as Guards Is Missing from POW Studies

In a roundtable found in the September 2017 issue of Civil War History, Professor Kelly D. Mezurek brings up an important point left out of…

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Posted in Civil War

Defending Henry Wirz: The 1984 Wirz Memorial at Andersonville

Swiss immigrant Henry Wirz is among the most controversial figures of the Civil War. To many Americans he is a war criminal responsible for the…

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Posted in Book Reviews Civil War

I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island: Life in a Civil War Prison by David R. Bush

I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island: Life in a Civil War Prison by David R. Bush published by University Press of Florida (2011)…

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Posted in Civil War

The Yankee Plague Escaped Union Prisoners and the Collapse of the Confederacy by Lorien Foote

The Yankee Plague Escaped Union Prisoners and the Collapse of the Confederacy by Lorien Foote The University of North Carolina Press (2016) As the Confederate…

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Posted in Memory of Reconstruction

South Carolina Historical Preservation Law Obscures History of Reconstruction

Ehren Foley holds a Ph.D. in American history from the University of South Carolina and is an editor at the University of South Carolina Press….

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Posted in Slavery

Leon Litwack, Historian of the Reconstruction and Jim Crow Eras, Dies

Leon Litwack, history professor at the University Of California, Berkley, died last week at the age of 91. His book Been in the Storm So…

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