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This Blog Loves Vin Scully
During last night’s play-by-play, Vin Sculley (the legendary Dodgers’ announcer) invoked the Sword of Damocles to talk about Chad Billingsley, the pitcher: He pitches ‘with the Sword of Damocles over his head.’ That’s an old Greek legend. Show More Summary
The Questions of “The White Cockade”
In 1835, septuagenarian Charles Handley sat down with local historian Josiah Adams to relate his memory of the start of the Revolutionary War. Handley testified that on 19 Apr 1775 he was twelve years old and “lived at the tavern kept by Mrs. Show More Summary
Crater Talk at Virginia Festival of the Book
First things first. Thanks to all of you who emailed yesterday to share your concerns about our safety in light of the attacks that took place here in Boston yesterday. My wife and I have lived in Boston for close to two years. After watching the response of our community to yesterday’s tragic events, I [...]
Brought Us Safe Thus Far
Judy Collins, the Boston Pops, and the audience doing “Amazing Grace,” in Boston’s Symphony Hall, 1976:
The Aftermath
From William Diamond’s Drum, but Arthur Bernon Tourtellot:Later on the morning of April nineteenth. Captain [John] Parker reassembled his Lexington minutemen, to march toward Concord. Some of the wounded, now bandaged, formed in awkward but determined lines. Show More Summary
No Confederate License Plates in Texas
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled earlier today that the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles did not violate the First Amendment when it denied an application by the Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans for customized plates that depicted the Confederate flag. Here are a few excerpts from the judge’s ruling. “The issue before the [...]
Comment Policy
This is one of those “So I can point to it later” posts. The comment policy here at Edge is fairly loose in some ways and fairly tight in others. I think of Edge as as personal space and commenters as guests. They’re very welcome, welcome...Show More Summary
Visit three Mosby sites on horseback
The Mosby Heritage Area Association in Atoka, Va,. is offering a tour May 5 of three of Col. John Singleton Mosby’s Civil War sites as seen from the back of a horse. Mosby, considered a terrorist by Union officials, was a Confederate hero on horseback who conducted surprise raids on Union camps. Show More Summary
The British Plan to Burn Harvard College
On 22 Nov 1775, the Rev. Isaac Mansfield, Jr., a Continental Army chaplain, preached a Thanksgiving sermon in the camp at Roxbury. He leveled this accusation about the British military’s plans the previous April:What, but the hand of...Show More Summary
Confederate Officers Beg For Food From Former Slaves
Following the surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4, 1863 a New York Times correspondent reported on the confiscation of Confederate camp servants and their enlistment into the Union army in full view of their former masters. I have already mentioned that in discussing the “terms of surrender,” as the Confederates call it, but [...]
The Mystery of James Nichols, Reluctant Soldier
One of the most striking anecdotes of the confrontation at the North Bridge in Concord is the story of an Englishman who mustered with his local militia, but decided to go down to talk to the redcoats at the bridge. After that chat he took his gun and went home, not wanting to be part of the fight. Show More Summary
Remembering that Historical Actors Looked Forward
There is a danger when we remember or imagine the past that we treat historical actors as static or stuck in a particular moment as opposed to dynamic and forward looking. We make an implicit assumption that since we are preoccupied with a particular historical moment that the individuals were as well. The recent history [...]
This Week in the North End
Patriots Day is a busy time in the North End of Boston, where Paul Revere’s journey on 18-19 Apr 1775 began, as well as out here in Middlesex County, where it ended. A new addition to the North End is Captain Jackson’s Colonial Chocolate Shop, in the Clough House on Unity Street. Show More Summary
The Social and Cultural Significance of Black Confederate Pensioners
As we all know one of the most misunderstood aspects of the debate surrounding the existence of black Confederate soldiers is the existence of pensions that were given by former Confederate states to qualified black citizens at various points during the postwar period. For the uninformed or those working primarily from a narrow agenda the [...]
Mine Eyes
On this day in history, I note, the South started the Civil War by shelling Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The war, which went on for four years, was over the “peculiar institution” of slavery, and ended with over 350,000 Americans dying in battle (as did over 300,000 Confederates). Show More Summary
New To the Civil War Memory Library, 04/12
Linda Barnickel, Milliken’s Bend: A Civil War Battle in History and Memory, (Louisiana State University Press, 2013). Earl J. Hess, Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign, (University of North Carolina Press, 2013). William A. Link, Atlanta, Cradle of the New South: Race and Remembering in the Civil War’s Aftermath, (University of North Carolina [...]
New Book Profiles the Embattled Farmers of Lincoln
Lincoln is right between Lexington and Concord, and Lincoln militiamen were in the middle of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. But does the town get named in the battle? No! (Well, the battle’s name is plenty long already, and ifShow More Summary
Rand Paul’s False Civil War Memory
Well, I guess you have to give the guy credit for taking the time yesterday to visit Howard University and engage students in a little politics and history. I was particularly interested in the latter. One of the problems that Senator Paul ran into was his insistence on giving the student body a history lesson, [...]
Would Sir Like Some Mustard Gas With His Cod?
Ouch: Almost seven decades after the end of the war, residual explosives that were hardly taken seriously for a long time are now coming to light in the North and Baltic Seas. Experts estimate that there are 1.6 million metric tons of...Show More Summary
Tennessee Ernie Ford’s Civil War
While the recent Brad Paisley/L.L. Cool J song raises a fuss in several corridors, I feel it’s being blown out of proportion. I’ve already commented in posts by Kevin Levin and Richard Williams, regarding some of my thoughts. For some reason (probably because of Richard’s remark regarding Nashville), it also made me reflect on a song with which [...]
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