Category: Civil War
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Philly Mayor Nutter’s Civil War Speech (April 16, 2011)
The following is a video and transcript of Mayor Michael Nutter’s Speech at the Civil War Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Parade and Review on April 16, 2011. He gave this speech to a group re-enactors and onlookers in front of The Union League building on Broad Street. I apologize for the shaky camera and poor sound quality…
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Battlefield Tip: Customize Your Maps
Those I drag to battlefields will recall my continuous map checks, which start off with me yelling “Map Check!” each time we get out of the car. I unfold my Trailhead Graphics map and throw it on the hood. From there, I talk about where we were, where we are, and what happened on the…
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Keegan on McPherson; McPherson on Keegan
British military historian John Keegan and Civil War historian James McPherson are two very prolific writers who may not be tied at the hip, but certainly overlap in some arenas. Back in 1995, Keegan, like others, heaped praise upon McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom: Not until 1988 did an American historian, James McPherson, succeed in…
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Battlefield Tip: Bring Photos
Last summer, I needed an extra set of visuals for friends, as I dragged them to Gettysburg, mentioned 20 different names they never heard before, and then spent the rest of the trip reminding them why each name was important. Civil War enthusiasts tend to know many of the generals down to the corps level,…
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You Find Graves of Colored Troops in the Darndest Places
Last November, my wife and I toured the Chalmette Battlefield outside of New Orleans. To the east of the battlefield is the Chalmette National Cemetery. Established in 1864, the bodies of 15,000 troops from the American Revolution to the Vietnam War rest there. Nearly half of these remain unknown. The site is typical of most…
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Great Civil War Map? Or Greatest Civil War Map?
A few years ago, I came into possession of National Geographic’s Battles of the Civil War Wall Map. For trying to encapsulate the campaigns of the entire war on a 36″ x 23″ canvas, it does an amazing job. Dots cover the map, helping to provide some concept of how the battles were numerous and…
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Book Review: These Honored Dead: How The Story Of Gettysburg Shaped American Memory
Desjardin, Thomas A. These Honored Dead: How The Story Of Gettysburg Shaped American Memory. New York: Da Capo Press, 2003. 288 pages. Thomas A. Desjardin’s These Honored Dead is a decent introduction to some of the popular myths that have spawned and lingered from Gettysburg since the battle occurred. The popularized version of Gettysburg from…
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Busted Grant-Lee Casualties Chart in Civil War Times
Bonekemper III, Edward H. “The Butcher’s Bill.” Civil War Times L, no. 2 (April 2011): 36-43. In the latest Civil War Times, Edward H. Bonekemper III presents compelling argument about how Lee, not Grant, deserves nickname “butcher.” Putting the argument aside, Bonekemper’s figures are wrong. This is probably due to poor editing, but it is…
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The Confederacy Lost the Civil War? A Canadian Perspective
During one of my seven trips to Gettysburg last year, I had the pleasure of taking a coworker and his Canadian girlfriend. During the two and half hour drive to the battlefield, I took the opportunity to probe what they knew about the war, its causes, and the Gettysburg campaign. I started with the Canadian…
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Stonewall’s Siege of Harpers Ferry as Told by RISK
I am always searching for different way to communicate battle actions to friends and family when I take them on tours. Naturally, using RISK pieces to indicate the troop positions during the Siege of Harpers Ferry (September 12-15, 1862) seemed like a good idea. I used the TrailHead Graphics’ Across the Potomac map and based…
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USCT Grand Review in Pennsylvania (November 6, 2010)
On Saturday, November 6, 2010, my friend, Warren, and I attended the Grand Review Weekend in downtown Harrisburg, PA. There, the attendees commemorated the Grand Review of the United States Colored Troops that Pennsylvania held in November 1865. The original event came about after the exclusion of the USCT from the Grand Review of the…
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The Gettysburg Casino: How Profits May Come at the Cost of the Sacred
On Labor Day, I made another visit to Gettysburg, my sixth of the year. I have found that the two-plus hour drive from Philadelphia has gotten easier, as leaving at 6:30 AM helps me avoid the traffic. For this trip, I brought a coworker and his fiancé. She was Canadian and knew very little about…