Published: 6/6/12MCWHIRTER: Battle Hymns (2012)By: Randy FinleyCategory: Book Reviews Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War by Christian McWhirter. University of North Carolina Press, 2012. Cloth, ISBN: 0807835500. $39.95. In Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity...
Published: 6/1/12Sinbad Lincoln and the Old Man of the SeaBy: Laura June DavisCategory: The Front Line Good Morning! Today’s Friday Funny is Frank Leslie’s “Sinbad Lincoln and the Old Man of the Sea.” A clear critique of Gideon Welles, the Union Secretary of the Navy, this...
Published: 5/31/12Form follows Function: Changing Audiences Bring Changes to InterpretationsBy: Craig SwainCategory: The Front Line Most visitors to Spotsylvania Court House enter the battlefield via the suggested tour route off Brock Road. At the turn onto Grant Drive, several public displays—interpretive and memorial—greet the visitor....
Published: 5/30/12REARDON: With a Sword in One Hand (2012)By: John R. NeffCategory: Book Reviews With a Sword in One Hand and Jomini in the Other: The Problem of Military Thought in the Civil War North by Carol Reardon. University of North Carolina Press, 2012. Cloth,...
Published: 5/27/12Nathan Bedford Forrest, ReconstructedBy: Andy HallCategory: The Front Line Today, Nathan Bedford Forrest is more popular than ever among the fans of the Confederacy. No doubt because he’s come to represent unyielding defiance, whether in victory or defeat, in...
Published: 5/25/12Neutrality or Death?By: Laura June DavisCategory: The Front Line Good Morning! Today’s Friday Funny comes to us from the June 29, 1861 edition of Harper’s Weekly. The caption reads, “Governor Magoffin’s neutrality means holding the Cock of the Walk...
Published: 5/23/12PATCHAN: Second Manassas (2011)By: Lawrence Kreiser, Jr.Category: Book Reviews Second Manassas: Longstreet’s Attack and the Struggle for Chinn Ridge by Scott C. Patchan. Potomac Book, 2011. Cloth, ISBN: 1597976873. $26.95. The fighting around Manassas Junction in northern Virginia during the...
Published: 5/21/12LorenaBy: Laura June DavisCategory: The Front Line One of the most popular Civil War songs was Lorena. Reverend Henry D. L. Webster first penned the lyrics in 1856 after his fiancé— Ella Blocksom—ended their engagement. However, in...
Published: 5/18/12Why Don’t You Take It?By: Laura June DavisCategory: The Front Line Good morning! Today’s Friday Funny is an 1861 Currier & Ives sketch commenting on the Union’s substantial advantage in terms war materiel. The above cartoon illustrates the might of the...
Published: 5/16/12SCARBOROUGH: The Allstons of Chicora Wood (2011)By: Alex MacaulayCategory: Book Reviews The Allstons of Chicora Wood: Wealth, Honor, and Gentility in the South Carolina Lowcountry by William K. Scarborough. Louisiana State University Press, 2011. Cloth, ISBN: 0807138436.$35.00. The Allstons of Chicora Wood is an...