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 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 Book Reviews Civil War Memory of Reconstruction

Haunted by Atrocity: Civil War Prisons in American Memory by Benjamin G. Cloyd

Haunted by Atrocity: Civil War Prisons in American Memory by Benjamin G. Cloyd published by LSU Press (2010) 289 pages  ​ 410,000 soldiers were held…

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Posted in Civil War

When the Confederates Planned to Blow Up Libby Prison to Kill the Prisoners in the Event of a Raid

In February 1865 the Joint Select Committee of the Confederate Congress appointed to investigate the conditions and treatment of prisoners of war issued a report…

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Posted in Civil War

Around the Web August 2021: Best of Civil War & Reconstruction Blogs and Social Media

The month on Civil War and Reconstruction social media started a little slow, maybe everyone was caught up with Fourth of July barbeques, but things…

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Posted in Civil War USCT White Supremacy

A Future Leader of the Resistance to Reconstruction Advocates Confederate Enlistment of Black Soldiers

I have read a number of musings and proposals by Confederates to enlist Black men into the Confederate army. The most famous is General Pat…

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