It was 1863. Union gunboats were a threat to the Texas interior because of rivers that emptied into the Gulf of Mexico. A fort built was at one of these vulnerable points: Sabine Pass, where two rivers meet the Gulf. A Texas artillery unit was sent to man the fort. It was not long […]
In an earlier post we got a 10 year old girl’s view of the war as Sherman started his destructive march through Georgia.(Click here to read.) Here are more details. Needless to say that there will never be a statue like the one above honoring Union General Sherman in Georgia. And here’s the reason why. […]
After capturing Atlanta in September 1864 during the Civil War, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, ordered the destruction of all railroads, factories, and commercial buildings of possible use to the Confederacy. Though houses and churches were not targeted, some were looted and burned nonetheless. Here’s one of the many stories. Ten-year-old Carrie Berry and her […]
Randolph Harrison McKim enlisted as a Confederate private at the beginning of the Civil War. He rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant. After the war, he became pastor of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C., where he served for 32 years. McKim wrote a book about his experiences in the […]
Nathan Bedford Forrest, simply put, is a controversial figure. The son of a blacksmith, he came from an untamed area of Tennessee. Forrest had practically no schooling, but went on to become one of the highest-ranking generals of the Civil War. Like him or not, he was a smart man, a master tactician. And he […]
Here is another tale of Private Sam Watkins, Company H, 1st Tennessee:“It was Christmas. John Barleycorn was general-in-chief. Our generals, and colonels, and captains, had kissed John a little too often…. We marched plumb into the Yankee lines, with their flags flying.”“I called Lieutenant-Colonel Frierson’s attention to the Yankees, and he remarked, “Well, I don’t […]
David Johnston was 15 when Lincoln was elected. By April of the next year he was a Confederate Private in a Virginia regiment, having just turned 16 and old enough to go off to war. That is his image above. Private Johnston fought in the earliest battles, and all the way to Appomattox. After the […]
Arlene Barnum, a 63 year old African American Viet Nam war-era veteran has been travelling the southern US decorating graves of fallen soldiers with confederate flags. This article was the result of an interview of her in Ardmore, Oklahoma. So far, there’s been no word from groups that may oppose her activity. She is raising […]
Many have heard of the U.S. Army’s use of camels in the old west, well before the Civil War. In the 1850’s, as the first American settlers started moving west, they realized their horses and mules weren’t cut out for the long, dry journeys between water sources. Many settlers wanted to find a different animal. […]
Southern Irishmen from all over fought for the Confederacy, but Louisiana sent the most into the fray. New Orleans was home to more Irishmen than any other city in the South. They were in many Confederate Regiments, but the 6th Louisiana had the most. Above is a the flag of that regiment. Half the Irish […]
It was 1907, and the US Senate was debating what was to be the official name for the Civil War. Former Confederate and Union soldiers were present, and the record shows they were getting along just fine. Here is part of what Senator Hernando Money of Mississippi said, from the Senate Record: There was […]
One of Robert E. Lee’s most aggressive and successful generals, and probably the most courageous and determined was General John Gordon. He fought bravely and ferociously for the Confederacy the entire war, several times while wounded.At the Battle of Antietam Gordon’s took a minnie ball through his calf. A second ball hit him soon after […]
