Civil War Memory

Thanks National Park Service

The above image was posted on the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park’s Facebook Page. The accompanying caption reads: We ended at a point where no Union soldier 150 yrs ago today ever reached. What a poignant end to a marvelous, powerful day. Thanks to all who came out today and followed along [...]

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Fredericksburg 150

Bonus Posts on Fredericksburg and the Richard Kirkland Story: Is it True?, Mac Wycoff Responds, Does it Matter? Today is the 150th anniversary of the battle of Fredericksburg. Back in 2008 I delivered the keynote address for the National Park Service’s annual commemoration of the battle. In it I reflected on the meaning of the [...]

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Spielberg and Lincoln Redux

I may go and see Spielberg’s Lincoln again later this afternoon. Anyone want to join me? I’ve done my best to stay on top of what the Lincoln and Civil War communities have had to say. Here is a rundown: Jon Wiener/The Nation Louis Masur/The Chronicle Harold Holzer/The Daily Beast & The Chronicle Nina Silber/The [...]

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Would Love To See You in New York City

A week from today I will be speaking in Manhattan at the Civil War Forum of Metropolitan New York. This is my first time speaking in the “Big Apple” and I am very much looking forward to it. I will likely leave Boston early and spend the day roaming around the city. The event includes [...]

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Dixie College’s Confederate Identity Crisis

Like many of you I’ve been following this story out of Utah at Dixie College. It seems that the school is going through a bit of an identity crisis as its status shifts from college to university. Already a statue of a Confederate soldier has been relocated off campus grounds, but it is the debate [...]

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Commemorating a False Past in Union County, North Carolina

Here is something that is sure to make a rainy Boston Monday look just a bit more bleak. It’s the first local news report from Charlotte, NC from this weekend’s event in which nine slaves and one free black man were remembered for their service as soldiers in the Confederate army. You can’t really blame [...]

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John Hennessy Leads the Way

I so wish I could be in Fredericksburg, Virginia this weekend to take part in events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the famous battle and the war in 1862. I’ve been following events through my preferred social networks, but this video captures what remembering the war should be all about. John Hennessy is the chief [...]

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From Mourning Soldiers to Slaves

“Burial of Latane” 1864 Members of the N.C. Society of the Order of the Black Rose surround Mattie Rice during a ceremony outside the Old County Courthouse in Monroe Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012.