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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Posted in Civil War

Paintings of Prison Life at Point Lookout by a Captive Confederate

John Jacob Omenhausser was born in 1832 in Philadelphia to a German immigrant family. When the Civil War began he was living in Richmond, Virginia….

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Posted in Book Reviews Civil War

Hellmira: The Union’s Most Infamous Civil War Prison Camp – Elmira, NY by Derick Maxfield

Hellmira: The Union’s Most Infamous Civil War Prison Camp – Elmira, NY by Derick Maxfield published by Savas Beatie (2020) 192 pages Hellmira: The Union’s…

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Posted in Civil War Places to Visit

Visiting Elmira Prison Camp and Cemetery

24 % of the Confederate soldiers held at Elmira prison camp died there. In 2019 I was moving my step-son up to college at SUNY…

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Posted in Civil War

Data Gives Hints on Which Union Prisoners of War Survived

In 2017, Earl Hess had an interesting article in the Journal Civil War History. It focuses on the use of the Early Indicators database for…

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Posted in Book Reviews Civil War

The Business of Captivity: Elmira and Its Civil War Prison by Michael Gray

The Business of Captivity: Elmira and Its Civil War Prison by Michael Gray published by Kent State University Press (2001) ​ If every Northerner knew…

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