Monthly Archives: January 2015
PBS The Civil War: Episode 2 – A Very Bloody Affair 1862
Another Ken Burns episode. While Shelby Foote annoys me with his inaccuracies, overall it’s a good introduction to the Civil War.
Should We Ignore the Flaggers?
In his “Blue & Gray” column in the current issue [April 2015] issue of Civil War Times, Professor Gary Gallagher discusses the flagger phenomenon. He says he finds the flaggers and the response to the flaggers from “some serious students of the Civil War” “puzzling.” He tells us of the flagger claims, “These claims have […]
Loathing Lincoln
Here’s an excellent presentation by historian John McKee Barr from his book, discussing the major critics of Lincoln. He does a pretty good job of outlining their main points. He also shows why they are wrong. From the video’s description: “John McKee Barr talked about his book, Loathing Lincoln: An American Tradition from the Civil […]
Gettysburg Artifacts “If These Things Could Talk”: Gettysburg Winter Lecture 2015
Here’s Ranger Tom Holbrook showing us some artifacts from the GNMP museum collection and giving some interesting details behind them. He does get confused in some points. For example, he seems to think that John C. Robinson’s division was part of the XI Corps when in fact it was part of the I Corps. But […]
PBS The Civil War: Episode 1 – The Cause 1861
Every time I watch the Ken Burns miniseries I find some inaccuracy. Still, it’s an excellent introduction to the Civil War and is compelling television, an example of how powerful this medium can be in teaching people.
What Gettysburg Meant to its Veterans: Gettysburg Winter Lecture
Here’s Supervisory Ranger Chris Gwinn giving an absolutely outstanding presentation on how the veterans remembered Gettysburg and what it took to put together the veterans reunions. This was really a great presentation to see. The folks at the Gettysburg National Military Park ought to use it as a model for giving presentations. He kept within […]
Gray Fox: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War
This is Burke Davis’ biography of Lee. You can download and read it for free here.
The Confederacy’s Last Hurrah
First published as Embrace an Angry Wind: The Confederacy’s Last Hurrah: Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville, this is Wiley Sword’s account of Spring Hill and the battles of Franklin, and Nashville. For the most part, Sword crafted a lucid account of these three actions from the latter part of 1864. In making the case for the […]
The Civil War – A Waypoint in Military History: Gettysburg Winter Lecture
Here’s Ranger Bill Hewitt discussing the Civil War in terms of military history. He introduces a very good model, but he goes on a number of tangents that actually distract from the model. Sticking more to the model would have been more effective in my view, and it would have allowed him to explore another […]
A Stillness at Appomattox
As last year was the sesquicentennial of the events of 1864, I took the opportunity to reread Bruce Catton’s classic third volume in his Army of the Potomac trilogy. I probably should have said I treated myself to rereading Bruce Catton’s classic third volume in his Army of the Potomac trilogy, because it was another […]
Student of the American Civil War 
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