Posted in Book Reviews Civil War

Erik Larson’s New Book on Fort Sumter Debuts at #1 on NY Times Bestseller List

Erik Larson, one of the most popular history writers over the last half century, has his new book on the crisis over Fort Sumter debut…

Continue Reading Erik Larson’s New Book on Fort Sumter Debuts at #1 on NY Times Bestseller List
Posted in Civil War Memory of Reconstruction Monuments Places to Visit

Second Bull Run’s Oldest Monument

People viewing this week’s monument might think they recognize it as the First Bull Run monument, but they would be wrong. This is the Second…

Continue Reading Second Bull Run’s Oldest Monument
Posted in Civil War Monuments Places to Visit

Boston Sphinx Memorializes the Union Dead of the Civil War & Slavery’s End

Mount Auburn Cemetery was one of the first “Rural Cemeteries” in the United States. Cemeteries before the 19th Century were adjoining churches or on available…

Continue Reading Boston Sphinx Memorializes the Union Dead of the Civil War & Slavery’s End
Posted in Civil War Women and Gender

The Love Letters of Thomas Jefferson Withers to James Henry Hammond Future Governor of South Carolina

The letters of Thomas Jefferson Withers to James Hammond are a source for finding out the attitudes of elite Southern men before the Civil War….

Continue Reading The Love Letters of Thomas Jefferson Withers to James Henry Hammond Future Governor of South Carolina
Posted in Book Reviews Civil War

WashPo Reviews Erik Larson’s “The Demon of Unrest” About the Firing on Ft Sumter

The Washington Post reviews Erik Larson’s new book The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil…

Continue Reading WashPo Reviews Erik Larson’s “The Demon of Unrest” About the Firing on Ft Sumter
Posted in Civil War Monuments Photos Places to Visit

The Original Monument to the First Bull Run

Now that the Spring has sprung, I am going to take you to some monuments away from the cities. I went to a conference at…

Continue Reading The Original Monument to the First Bull Run
Posted in Civil War Veterans

A Union Soldier Recounts His First Passover in the Army Under Rutherford B. Hayes

Joseph A. Joel, a Jewish Union soldier, recounted his Civil War celebration of Passover in “The Jewish Messenger“ in April 1866. I saw this referred…

Continue Reading A Union Soldier Recounts His First Passover in the Army Under Rutherford B. Hayes
Posted in Civil War Emancipation Proclamation

John Hennessy on the Impact of the Second Bull Run Campaign on Emancipation & Black Freedom

On April 20, I attended the University of Virginia Signature Conference on the Second Bull Run in Charlottesville, Virginia. I have already posted on Gary…

Continue Reading John Hennessy on the Impact of the Second Bull Run Campaign on Emancipation & Black Freedom
Posted in Civil War

How Did the Second Bull Run Change Confederate Views of the Civil War According to Gary Gallagher

This weekend I went down to Charlottesville, Virginia from my Long Island home to hear some nationally recognized experts talk about the Second Bull Run,…

Continue Reading How Did the Second Bull Run Change Confederate Views of the Civil War According to Gary Gallagher
Posted in Civil War Jim Crow Lost Cause

“The Lost Cause” As Part of Early Confederate Iconography & Counter-Iconography

In 2023, the Department of Defense removed the Confederate monument from Arlington National Cemetery. Inscribed on the monument are the words “Vitrix causa diis placuit…

Continue Reading “The Lost Cause” As Part of Early Confederate Iconography & Counter-Iconography