I’m Moving to Amsterdam

It’s nice to be home, but I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say that I am already missing Amsterdam.  In fact, I would love to spend a few more weeks, if not months, in the city.  Actually, it’s the first foreign city where I can imagine living.  The people are simply wonderful and the [...]

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Edward Porter Alexander Comes Through Again

I‘ve said more than once that I find Civil War memoirs to be very difficult to use when trying to understand the war itself.  Many are self serving and are inevitably influenced by the political, social, and economic conditions present at the time of writing.  While difficult to use to illuminate the war itself, I [...]

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John Stauffer and Sally Jenkins Respond

Update: Click here for Victoria Bynum’s third and final installment of her review of The State of Jones A few days ago I posted a link to Victoria Bynum’s two-part review of the new book, The State of Jones, by John Stauffer and Sally Jenkins.  I did so because of her published work on the [...]

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Southern Heritage Meets Southern History

It’s such a breadth of fresh air to read this story in light of the recent attempts by the Sons of Confederate Veterans and other heritage groups to distort the past by honoring slaves as Confederate soldiers.  Finally, a story where the historical record justifies the placing of a marker acknowledging the military service of [...]

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What I Am Not Saying About the Crater

I am putting the finishing stages on my essay which examines events that transpired at the conclusion of the fighting at the Crater.  In a recent post I suggested that one way to interpret the response of Confederates to the presence of black Union soldiers was along the lines of a slave rebellion.  That post [...]

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Trouble in the State of Jones

State of Jones historian and blogger, Vikki Bynum, is in the middle of a lengthy review [Part 1 - Part 2] of Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer’s new book, The State of Jones: The Small Southern County that Seceded From the Confederacy.  If I remember correctly, the book is going to be turned into a [...]

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A Holy War Against Wiley Sword?

[Hat-Tip to David Woodbury] This is one of those jaw-dropping stories that makes you wonder about the collective mental stability of our little Civil War community.  Apparently, the John Bell Hood Society is troubled by historian Wiley Sword’s characterization of Hood’s personal, intellectual, and battlefield skills.  To share this disgust the organization decided to take [...]

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John J. Dwyer’s Black Confederates

It should be no surprised that Dwyer would emphasize the loyal service of tens of thousands of “black Confederates” – or what he describes as “Forgotten Blacks in Gray” -  given his analysis of slavery.  The author emphasizes this long-standing myth throughout the text and offers his usual service of vague generalizations, meaningless definitions, and [...]

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“The War Between the States”: Homeschool Style

It’s true that you can’t always judge a book by its cover, but you can judge it by the number of black Confederates that are claimed to have loyally served.  As a teacher I think it is important to stay up to date on new textbooks and other classroom resources, so with that in mind [...]

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