Archive for the ‘Trans-Mississippi’ Category

A Vicksburg newspaper reporter once referred to Van Dorn as "the terror of ugly husbands." (Van Dorn pictured left) The apparently handsome Earl Van Dorn was born near Port Gibson, Mississippi, on September 17, 1820. He graduated from West Point in 1842 and later served in the Mexican War. Van Dorn resigned his commission in the ... Full story

The Eighth Regiment was organized at Camp Randall, Madison, and its muster into the United States service completed on the 13th of September, 1861, and on the 12th of October, it left the State for St. Louis. Arriving at St. Louis on the 14th of October, the regiment was soon after sent to Pilot Knob, on the ... Full story

Received my copy of William L. Shea's Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign (Civil War America). Publish date: November, 2009. Hardcover: 392 pages Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press ISBN: 0807833150 From the publisher: "William Shea offers a gripping narrative of the events surrounding Prairie Grove, Arkansas, one of the great unsung battles of the Civil ... Full story

The attack on Fort Blakely during the late afternoon hours (5:30pm) of April 9th 1865 had no impact on the outcome of the war, yet the fighting was as viscous as any had been. In the post war years accusations of atrocities committed by black troops on white Confederates surfaced. The eye witness accounts were ... Full story

In Mark E. Neely's The Civil War and the Limits of Destruction he compares the War with Mexico with the Civil War in terms of the behavior of "volunteer" troops. Neely focuses on what he found to be the "brutal" treatment of Mexicans on the part of U.S. volunteers. When compared with volunteers in the American Civil War, he found that there was very little ... Full story

Just received my copy of Vanishing Footprints: The Twenty-Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War by Samuel D. Pryce and edited by Jeffry C. Burden (Press of the Camp Pope Bookshop, 2008). Just looking through it I am excited to read the story of a regiment I am fairly acquainted with as they traveled with ... Full story

Semi-centennial History of the Illinois State Normal University, 1857-1907, "THE SCHOOL AND THE WAR," BY JOHN H. BURNHAM, CLASS OF l861, (1907). John A. Burnham, who was a member of the 33rd Illinois from Normal, provides an interesting account of the Battle of Bayou Cache, also known as "Cotton Plant." As most of you know, I have written extensively on this battle in both my ... Full story

The assault on Fort Blakely was the last significant battle of the Civil War and that in and of itself makes it an important historical event. However, there is a subplot to the battle that perhaps takes on an even greater importance. Involved in the assault were 5,500 Negro soldiers, the largest such gather at any one time in the ... Full story

On April 9, 1865, Mobile, Ala., was the scene of the last significant fighting of the Civil War. As a primer for my soon to be published book, I will be making a series of posts about the Union's Mobile Campaign, which the 11th Wisconsin Regiment took part in. After his successful Vicksburg Campaign in 1863, Maj. Gen. ... Full story

Over the next couple of months until the my book comes out, I am going to be posting bits and pieces of letters from members of the 11th Wisconsin that did not make it into my book. Some portions or other letters by the same author did, but there were also some decent letters that did not make it. This tidbit is from William Cope ... Full story

In case there was any thought that slavery was NOT the very definition of "cruel an unusual punishment." Here's an excerpt from Melvin Grigsby's 1888 book, "The Smoked Yankee," concerning a plantation along the Mississippi in 1863, he writes: On that plantation I used to read the records kept by the overseer. It seems that every overseer of a large plantation kept a daily record. That ... Full story

Came across this letter on ebay and was attempting to list it on SoldierStudies.org, but have not been able to as to the lack of a regiment assignment for this soldier. This is what I know: his name is probably Edward (Bigelow?) and was a member of the Union Civil War Regular Army (13th Army Corps, 4th Division, 2nd Brigade). He wrote this letter ... Full story

I came across an article detailing the demographics of the 8th Wisconsin Regiment and noticed that they had a soldier nicknamed "Infant." Though he was no infant in height, standing 6 feet 8 1/4 inches. I knew that he was not the tallest soldier in the Union, but could not remember who is considered to be the tallest? (Note: the 8th claimed ... Full story

It's pretty much over now, my preliminary research on my new pet project "The Cotton Brigade." Whether it becomes a scholarly article or a book is yet to be decided. I don't see how there will be enough here to make it to book length. But we'll see! I have found ample evidence that Cotton stealing, speculating, and ... Full story

Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, on more than one occasion, was accused by his men for having more interest in cotton speculation than in the welfare of his troops. After routing Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman’s hastily organized force on July 7 as Hill’s Plantation, Curtis’s army reached Helena on July 12. Exhausted and nearly destitute, it took days for his meager force of ... Full story

Men of Fire: Grant, Forrest, and the Campaign That Decided the Civil War by Jack Hurst (Basic Books, 2007) Hardcover, 11 maps, photos, notes, bibliography. ISBN=978-0-465-03184-9 $27.95 Jack Hurst can write. His writing is lively, vivid, and entertaining. His research, though not as in-depth as I would like, was adequate. Hurst's narrative style is easy and fun to read.  He is ... Full story

About a million soldier casualties (killed/wounded) in the Civil War, give or take. I was asked by one of my students what of civilian casualties? I had included in my lesson some information and quotes from Gen Curtis in Arkansas, and soldier quotes, describing the horrific conditions in that state alone. So when the question was asked I was not sure what ... Full story

Colonel Charles E. Hovey of the 33rd Illinois was appointed a Brigadier General of Volunteers on September 5, 1862 after having seen little action. However, the U.S. Senate did not to act on his nomination within the statuary period and it expired by law on March 4, 1863. In the interim, Hovey did play a key role in the capture of Arkansas Post in ... Full story

Parts of the Army of the Southwest were kept in eastern Arkansas for three months camped along the Mississippi River. From there one brigade in particular made almost DAILY expeditions for the sole purpose of cotton confiscation and speculation. From letters, diaries and regimental history books I find that one brigade in particular was very active in cotton collecting. That for three ... Full story

John S. Phelps (pictured left) was a lawyer and a Democrat Missouri congressman. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Missouri Infantry. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on October 2, 1861 and to colonel December 19, 1861. By special ar­rangement with President Lincoln, Phelps organized an infantry ... Full story