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.Post 28 – Visit to North-South Skirmish Association Competition at Ft. Shenandoah
I made my first visit to the North-South Skirmish Association meet on Friday at Fort Shenandoah about ten miles northwest of Winchester. The competitive shooting matches with Civil War era weapons brought teams of reenactors plus history fans from far and wide. The...
read morePost 27 – Battle of Bristoe Station’s Upcoming 150th Anniversary: Visit to Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park
Several weeks ago our family drove to Prince William County for my son’s travel soccer game. We exited I-66 near Manassas and soon turned onto Brentsville Road near the county sports complex. Just before crossing the tracks of the former Orange & Alexandria...
read morePost 26 – “Stuart’s Finest Hour” Book Release at Hanover Tavern
Thank you to the many folks who came to historic Hanover Tavern last Tuesday evening [9/17] for the national release of my newest book project. Stuart’s Finest Hour is the first book ever written that narrates Confederate general Jeb Stuart’s June 1862 cavalry raid...
read morePost 25 – Out of the Cave – Stuart’s Finest Hour is finished!
This is my first blog post in many months. The reason that I have been missing in action is because I have been either on an airline trip or in my home office finishing up Stuart’s Finest Hour: The Ride Around McClellan, June 1862. Well, 344 pages, 75 photos and 7...
read morePost 24 – DUANE ALLMAN & BERRY OAKLEY: A Rendezvous With History in Macon, Georgia
Last weekend, I headed with my family to Macon, Georgia to attend a niece’s wedding (Good luck Julian & Emily [Berry] Hutchins!). On Saturday morning, June 13, I walked through part of the white columned Sidney Lanier cottage prior to the arrival of brunch guests....
read morePost 23 – Captain William Latane’s Death – 150th Anniversary of Jeb Stuart’s Ride around George McClellan’s Army
Continued from previous post Several hours after sunup on Friday, June 13, 1862, John Mosby rode out ahead of Jeb Stuart’s Confederate cavalry column toward Hanover Court House. Mosby and his men soon bumped into a Federal patrol at the edge of the village....
read morePost 22 – Captain William Latane’s Death – 150th Anniversary of Jeb Stuart’s Ride around George McClellan’s Army
The 150th anniversary of Jeb Stuart’s famous Chickahominy Raid began two days ago. Stuart departed the Richmond area at 2 a.m. on June 12, 1862 and rode with 1,200 troopers north. Probably only Stuart and John Mosby knew the real destination as rumors floated up and...
read morePost 21 – The Civil War Journal of Mary Greenhow Lee – Edited by Eloise C. Strader First Hand Accounts of Civil War Life in Winchester, Virginia
A book chock full of information about civilian life in Winchester during the War has just been published by the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society. The hundreds of written pages from this wartime diary have resided in the Handley Library Archives [Stewart...
read morePost 20 – Osawatomie Obama & Osawatomie Brown
It is always great to see the present collide with the past. President Obama’s campaign speech in Osawatomie, Kansas yesterday left me scratching my head, and those who know me will agree that I must scratch a lot since I don’t have much hair left. He spewed his usual...
read morePost 19 – The Winchester Conrad’s Military Service from the 1860’s to World War I
During a recent visit to Winchester, Virginia’s Handley Regional Archives room, officially the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives Room, I came across an interesting article in theConfederate Veteran magazine [vol. 27, p. 125] that connected a Confederate officer from a...
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