Civil War Memory

Death and Dying Without Much Meaning

A few months ago I received a preview copy of American Experience’s Death and the Civil War, which will air on PBS this week. This weekend I finally had a chance to watch it through, which seems appropriate given that we are commemorating the 150th anniversary of the battle of Antietam. I am not going [...]

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Feeling Left Out of the Antietam Festivities?

I know the feeling. It’s a beautiful morning here in Boston, but I would much rather be tramping along the Antietam Creek in Sharpsburg just about now. Here are a few options for those of you looking to feel more connected today and tomorrow. First, C-SPAN [Click here if you do not get C-SPAN 3 [...]

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Why Spielberg’s Lincoln Matters to Civil War Buffs

Boyd Harris of the University of Mississippi left this comment today in response to my posting of the official trailer for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming movie, Lincoln. I’ve been saying for a month that this is going to be the Passion of the Christ for historians. Blocks of seats bought by academics and us browbeating our [...]

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Trailer for Spielberg’s Lincoln

Daniel Day Lewis looks amazing. Who else is stoked for this movie?

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You Never Been a Soldier

I am close to finishing up a magazine article on Confederate camp servants. This morning I read through a number of postwar accounts, which are always tricky to interpret. Consider the following passage from Andrew Ward’s, The Slaves’ War: The Civil War in the Words of Former Slaves. After the war, a slave named Luke [...]

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Crossing the Rappahannock

This is one of those events that makes me wish that I still lived and taught in Virginia. My Civil War class would be front and center at this event. On September 22 a recreation of an 1862 slave crossing of the Rappahannock will take place at Cow’s Ford near Tin Pot Run. The famous [...]

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Appearance on NPR

Update: My interview is now available. Earlier today I recorded a segment for NPR’s “Tell Me More with Michel Martin.” The show will air tomorrow on the anniversary of 9-11. One of the show’s producers contacted me after coming across one of my essays at the Atlantic in which I briefly explore some of the [...]

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New to the Civil War Memory Library, 09/12

As always thanks for purchasing books and other products through my Amazon Associate account. My commissions come in the form of book credits, which allows me to purchase two or three books for free. Frances M. Clarke, War Stories: Suffering and Sacrifice in the Civil War North, (University of Chicago Press, 2011). William J. Cooper, [...]