Monuments & Memory

following April, when the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter and forced its surrender. This column will cover a fourth who, like the others, has a…

began and the adjutant general of the Confederate Army when the crisis ended. This month, I will discuss the career of another officer who played a…

Back in Washington in 1852, Cooper was named adjutant general of the U.S. Army when his predecessor died in office. He continued in this position…

Fort Moultrie, moved the garrison to Sumter in December 1860. Everybody knows that there was a failed attempt by President Buchanan to resupply and…

time we will go back to the beginning, when the Florida was built and first took to the seas. This was no easy task. Getting the job done required…

n 2024, I devoted a column to a quiz, entitled “Testing Your General Knowledge.” I cited some data about the

on Northern shipping in the North and South Atlantic and in the Caribbean, claiming 37 prizes during her 21 months at sea.1

his wife Carol reside in Dunwoody, Ga. This small item is part of a huge supply of ordnance, sharing space with a vast collection of all sorts of…

and the first part of the 19th, seven Northern states abolished slavery.1 The institution was not a significant part of these states’ economies, of…

widowed while he was relatively young. His third wife was a widow who outlived several of her children. One of Grandpa Stephen’s sons died young and…

mere hillocks in comparison with Stalin’s mountains, are nevertheless measures of a long, destructive war and of the vast, wholesale volumes of human…

the Confederacy’s total. The few battles fought in the state were not large-scale affairs and the books devoted to them would not occupy a great deal…

hese words of Jefferson Davis were written in The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, published in 1881. The following year Col.

at heart. It is a great history lesson kids can relate to and learn from. The best part is when the author mentions, “Just like people, no two gumbos…

Stay and Fight It Out: The Second Day at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863—Culp’s Hill and the North End of the Battlefield. By Kristopher D. White and Chris…

the enlisted man’s ticket, while his new friend traveled on the strength of his signed furlough. The pair fooled conductors all the way from the…

Outwitting Forrest: The Tupelo Campaign in Mississippi, June 22-July 23, 1864. By Edwin C. Bearss, edited by David A. Powell. Maps, photographs…

Bruce Miller’s excellent article (December issue) on the North- South Skirmish Association highlighted N-SSA’s recent national competition. Jack gave…

Confederates refusing these terms “will immediately be declared outlaws, and no terms thereafter granted them.”

reports from “Southern sources” denied that Lee had surrendered and asserted that “Grant had lost in battle and by desertion 100,000 men.” In this…

of the political maneuvering is beyond the scope of this brief column, but it is an interesting story that readers may want to learn more about. We…

inefficient redistribution system compounded the depletion of supply. The disparate groups granting contracts, submitting requisitions, and having a…

towards the enemy. Within two or three shots a spent bullet hit his chest, sending Hovey staggering from the blow. Hovey plucked the bullet out and…

Chapultepec Castle, a formidable obstacle three miles southwest of Mexico City. The castle stood on a hill about 200 feet above the plain and guarded…

This unique work contains a complete photographic record of Georgia’s memorials to the Confederacy, a full transcription of the words engraved upon…

Contemners and Serpents: The James Wilson Family Civil War Correspondence. Edited by Theodore Albert Fuller and Thomas Daniel Knight. Bibliography…

Each brigade, therefore, “bore the brunt of the massed enemy fire along a narrow front.” With 4,000 infantry and 16 cannon the Confederates repelled…

Dreams of Victory. General P.G.T. Beauregard in the Civil War. By Sean Michael Chick. Index, Appendices, photos, Illustrations, Savas Beatie, 2022…

Mountain passes, rivers, fords, roads and (in modern times) railroads often determine how armies move and consequently influence where armies…

A grand Confederate monument stands on Broad Street in Augusta, Ga. It towers over the cars and people below and, at 76 feet, is taller than most…

Last month’s column told the story of J.C. Van Duzer, the telegraph superintendent who got crosswise with Grant during the Mississippi Central…

4. To the Manner Born: The

In 1890, just over a quarter century after two great battles were fought in northwest Georgia and adjacent areas of Tennessee, the United States…

When I interviewed Scott Thompson for last month’s column, I saw, among the numerous items decorating his office walls, an image of the Great Seal of…

The walls in Scott Thompson’s office are decorated an assemblage of Civil War memorabilia, scores of items that Scott has acquired since he started…

spoke up, as did senators and representatives from other states. Atlanta’s mayor said that Sherman’s son would be welcome in his city but advised…

Gen. Kilpatrick even “asked” for some of the family silver. Catharine wrote that “when the general condescends to anything of the kind you cannot…

Readers of last month’s column marched with the Army of the Tennessee from Atlanta to the Oconee River, about halfway on its journey to Savannah.…

Sherman embarked upon his March to the Sea on November 15, 1864, taking with him on his southeastward journey two corps from the Army of the…

of his divisions were between there and Iuka. I calculate that, as the crow flies, these two divisions were about 4.5 miles from the battle. Grant…

In 2019 I wrote a column in Civil War News about the October 1862 Battle of Corinth. My focus was on Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the statements he…

The seat of Alabama’s Winston County is Double Springs, a small town where about 1,000 of the county’s 24,000 people reside. Both highways leading…

Like many retired people, John Miller is as busy, if not busier, than he was when he was working. The retired civil engineer, after careers in the…

This month’s column will continue to examine the accounts of women who, in various ways, served, or claimed to serve, the Confederacy and Union…

In an earlier column I reviewed the brief military careers of a few Southern and Northern women who, motivated by love, went a-soldiering, or tried…

My paternal grandfather was a brick manufacturer, a practical and down-to-earth occupation for a practical and down-to-earth man. He was also a…

In September 1863 war came to Georgia in earnest when Federal and Confederate armies clashed at Chickamauga. The following year, Sherman’s armies…

In his memoirs Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon devoted a chapter to the second day of the Battle of the Wilderness. Nearly all the 19page discussion is…

How fast did the news travel? How accurate were the reports in the press? What did Northern readers know during the middle of September 1862, as…

Of all the many cruelties of war, one scene that evokes the most pity is, perhaps, the image of wounded men trapped between the lines, suffering for…

The savage back-and-forth struggle at the north and center ground to a halt by early afternoon. On the right, Confederate numbers were much reduced…

Stern necessity bade us be satisfied with simply holding our ground. – Col. Risden Bennett

In previous columns viewed the Battle of Antietam from the perspective of Federal officers whose troops contended with their Confederate enemies…

According to the Franklin Repository, Chambersburg’s Republican newspaper, the presidential contest in 1864 presented a clear choice to the…

On April 15, 1861, President Lincoln called for 75,000 militia to subdue an insurrection by “combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the…

views and predicted that “as soon as [Northern blacks] come within reach of the Southern army they will be captured and restored to the condition for…

these abler and worse men? For this we turn to the Jan. 20, 1864, Spirit. “The grand jury of Fulton…ignored the bill of indictment against Henry G.…

have become lines of communication of the first importance. Washington and Abbeville may become our future base of supply for the army in Virginia,”…

In December and January we observed, through the eyes of several Federal officers, the carnage in the first two phases of the Battle of Antietam, on…

each other round after round. There was yet no winner and no loser. They stood staring at each other’s bloody and swollen faces, both holding their…

After his victory at the second battle fought at Manassas, Lee led his men across the Potomac. Lincoln, dissatisfied with Pope, turned again to…

“I think that one defect in Gen. Jackson’s character as a soldier was his religious belief.”—E. Porter Alexander

Edward Porter Alexander was a military professional, a keen observer, a thoughtful analyst, and a gifted writer. All these traits make his memoirs…

After being repulsed Kennesaw Mountain, Sherman reverted to his tried-and-true tactic of maneuvering to his right, threatening Johnston’s…

years ago – 1762.” That reader was desperate to have his say.

The reports contain no reference to any train except the one belonging to a single division. Rosecrans dealt with this problem on the first day of…

The chocolate chips have become a tradition. As the bus rolled homeward, south Interstate 75 from the northwest Georgia battleground, we ate homemade…

How absurd to suppose that the ever-vigilant McCook, always on the alert, should permit any troops under his command to be surprised! How absurd to…

The muzzles of a hundred cannon belched forth fire, shot, and shell, and the earth and air were tremulous with the terrific vibration. – Brig. Gen.…

Wes Freeman’s career has been marked by great variety. The Vietnam veteran did a 10-year stint with the DeKalb County, Ga., Sheriff’s Department…

Cenotaph noun. A sepulchral monument erected in memory of a deceased person or persons buried elsewhere. < Greek kenos, empty and taphos, tomb

In December 2017, Ed Ayers spoke to the Atlanta Civil War Round Table on the subject of “War and Reconstruction.” He discussed, inter alia, the…

Even local seeded club events draw dozens of participants hoping for a big find. These events were unheard of 20 years ago but now offer an entirely…

An email from a nephew led me do some detective work. An ancestor, my nephew informed me, was accused of mistreating Federal prisoners at the…

I could not help thinking that there was a better way to deal with the Indians than to begin with the conquering sword and follow it up with…

The mob attacks on Confederate monuments remind me of the “useful idiots” and “rent-a-thugs” who are happily condoned, if not employed outright by…

Some years ago a dedicated group of preservationists in Tennessee, “Raise the Gunboats, Inc.”, retrieved a collection of artifacts from the Tennessee…

tals 15 volumes and 7,505 pages.

After the shooting stopped most Confederates went home and, encouraged by the words of Robert E. Lee, tried to be as good citizens as they had been…

Pictured here is Iris Lee Gay Jordan, the daughter of Lewis Gay, who served as a private in the 4th Florida Infantry Regiment.

The people whose stories fill the pages of Civil War histories are an interesting bunch of characters in a drama which continues to fascinate us and…

“There was never such a band of men on the face of the earth before, and there never will be again. While they are living give them a decent home…

From its earliest days until its last the Confederacy waged a costly war which stretched the nation’s capabilities to their very limits – and…

Relics and reminders of the Confederacy’s war for independence are under threat by well-publicized campaigns to relocate them, dismantle them and…