Blog
An irregular discussion on what interests me about history and in particular the War Between the States, the War of Northern Aggression, the War of the Rebellion, the War of Secession, the War of Southern Independence, the Civil War and any other name that frankly confuses those who don’t have a dog in this fight.A 35th Georgia Soldier Endures at Point Lookout Prison
Blogpost 37 While the Civil War in Virginia might have officially ended for General Robert E. Lee’s army on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House, the struggle to survive continued for many of his men who remained in Federal prisoner of war camps. Thousands of these...
read moreConfederate Veteran Magazine Features Fort Gregg Article
I am very pleased that the March/April 2015 issue of Confederate Veteran featured as their cover article my piece "The Confederate Alamo: Bloodbath at Petersburg's Fort Gregg on April 2, 1865." I wrote this article to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the bloody...
read moreGeorgia Confederate Prisoner at Elmira [Hellmira]
Blogpost 36 In my previous blog I detailed the wounding and capture of a Georgia Confederate soldier from Troup County on the western Georgia line near LaGrange. Private John Rigby from the 35th Georgia Infantry Regiment was struck down at the Battle of the...
read moreBlogpost 35 – Postwar Prison Camp for 35th Georgia Infantry Regiment
The war ended for those bedraggled Confederate veterans who surrendered with General R. E. Lee’s at Appomattox Court House 150 years ago. But what about the Rebel soldiers who were locked away in the horrible Union prison camps with names like Elmira, Point Lookout...
read moreBlogpost 34 – The 50th Anniversary of the End of Civil War: But Have We Really Learned Anything?
Numerous newspapers and the 24-hour news cycle talking heads touted the ringing of bells yesterday [April 9] to signal the 150th anniversary of the Confederate surrender in Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse. The ugly four year war had effectively come to an end as...
read morePost 33 – Red Clay to Richmond & 35th Georgia on the 10th Anniversary
May 2014 will ring in the 10th anniversary of the publication of my first book Red Clay to Richmond: Trail of the 35th Georgia Infantry Regiment. Little did I know that a 1987 visit to a frame shop owned by Columbus, Georgia’s Jack and Dian Stroud would launch my...
read morePost 32 – Edit Finished on “Gettysburg’s Confederate Dead”
I just finished editing Gettysburg’s Confederate Dead: An Honor Roll from America’s Greatest Battle by Robert K. Krick and Chris L. Ferguson. All I can do is shake my head and say “Wow!” I say this not only because of the incredible research counted by endless...
read morePost 31 – Picket Duty During a Deep Freeze
If you want to really know what thoughts, ideas and feelings rambled around in the minds of people from the past then the best place to begin is their letters, diaries and period newspapers. These are called primary sources. The problem though is that too many...
read morePost 30 – Museum of the Confederacy Merger with American Civil War Center??????
Yes, I ended this headline with multiple question marks. As a longtime member and supporter of the Museum of the Confederacy [MOC] I have many concerns over the merger with The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar [ACWC]. Why has the behind the scenes...
read morePost 29 – The Origins of My Passions: The Civil War & Books
My Mom and Dad just left the other day to head back to Richmond after a visit. As Mom backed the car out of the driveway I noted that she could barely see over the steering wheel and had to use all the mirrors since twisting to look over her shoulder would be too...
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