Monthly Archives: January 2023

National Museum of the Civil War Soldier – Battle of Fredericksburg & Marye’s Heights

Here’s Frank O’Reilly, the Chief Historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, giving an excellent presentation on the Battle of Fredericksburg. The video’s description reads, “Historian Frank O’Reilly discussed one of the most one-sided battles of the Civil War, the first battle of Fredericksburg & Marye’s Heights. The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier in […]

The Week in Confederate Heritage

We begin this week’s look at the nationwide retreat of confederate heritage with this article from Manatee County, Florida. “Manatee County officials will table a discussion scheduled for Tuesday over plans to resurrect a controversial monument honoring confederate soldiers. The postponement will give commissioners an opportunity to consider alternative locations for the monument. Although options […]

How the Union Tried — and Failed — To Capture the Confederacy’s ‘Gray Ghost’

This article comes from the January, 2023 issue of Military History Quarterly. “Dubbed ‘The Gray Ghost,’ Col. John Singleton Mosby became a formidable Confederate partisan leader—arguably, next to William Quantrill, the most famous Rebel guerrilla—during the American Civil War. Underestimated in his youth for his small, thin stature, Mosby was a scrappy lad who got […]

The Hidden Battlefield Where Black Troops Avenged Fallen Comrades — And Earned the Medal of Honor

This 2022 article by John Banks was published in Civil War Times. It’s about the battle of New Market, “where, on September 29, 1864, 14 U.S. Colored Troops soldiers and two of their white officers earned the Medal of Honor. The county owns the most important swath of the battlefield, now blanketed by a forest […]

Turmoil In Richmond: Joe Johnston, Jefferson Davis Command Alliance Was Doomed from the Start

This interview between Richard Holloway and Richard McMurry comes from the January, 2023 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. The interview marks the publication of Dr. McMurry’s latest book, The Civil Wars of Joseph E. Johnston, Confederate States Army: Volume 1: Virginia and Mississippi, 1861-1863. Here’s the interview: [begin quote] JOE JOHNSTON HAS BEEN THE […]

The Heart of Hell

This book by Jeffry D. Wert looks at the fight for the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania Court House. This part of the Civil War saw truly savage combat for an extended amount of time. “For the tens of thousands of Yankees and Rebels who fought at the Mule Shoe salient, the ceaseless nature of the […]

Sacred Trust Talks 2022 | Garry E. Adelman

Here’s Garry Adelman giving a typically excellent presentation at the 2022 Sacred Trust Talks. He discusses Devil’s Den and the stories about it. The video’s description reads, “Known for mythical tales of sharpshooters and ghosts, Devil’s Den was in fact a fierce battleground for which more than 5,000 men fought. But by 1895, Devil’s Den […]

Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past

For the month of January, in the “Professor Buzzkiller” podcast, Dr. Joseph Coohill, aka “Professor Buzzkill,” is interviewing editors and contributors of the new book, Myth America. In this episode he speaks with the co-editors, Professor Kevin Kruse and Professor Julian Zelizer. The episode’s description reads, “Drs. Kevin Kruse and Julian Zelizer introduce ‘Myth America,’ […]

The Week in Confederate Heritage

This week, we begin with this article from Austin, Texas. “Two days after the country celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D-Houston, stood inside the state Capitol and reminded those in attendance that Texas would soon celebrate a holiday honoring the Confederacy. Johnson was angry. In the same week when the […]

The Campaign for a Continental Confederacy

This article by Dr. Megan Kate Nelson is adapted from her excellent book, The Three-Cornered War, and appeared in the March, 2020 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. She tells us in June, 1861, in a meeting in Richmond, Virginia, former U.S. Army officer Henry Hopkins Sibley convinced Confederate President Jefferson Davis that he could […]