All Blogs / Academics / History / US History / Popular
My people at Brandy Station
… and in my family tree, I can count a fair number who were there… more so in gray than in blue, but represented in two Virginia (7th and 35th) units and one from Pennsylvania (3rd). Those in the 7th Virginia Regiment and 35th Battalion Virginia Cavalry bore witness to the opening of the battle. […]
The Braddock Sash on Display
As I quoted yesterday, in 1894 Bettie Taylor Dandridge rediscovered Gen. Edward Braddock’s military sash amid her father’s old things. Her father was Zachary Taylor, President in 1849-50, and Dandridge was remembered for serving as his White House hostess. Show More Summary
Do the little things matter?
It might seem trivial to some, but it’s not. I assure you. Just stop for a minute and consider a couple of things… keeping in mind, of course, the Civil War era. When someone is identified as an abolitionist… what do you envision? When someone is identified as being from Massachusetts… what do you envision? […]
“The missing sash of Gen. Braddock”
Yesterday I quoted Wills De Hass’s 1851 account of how Gen. Edward Braddock’s sash passed through George Washington’s hands into the possession of Gen. Zachary Taylor in 1846. Taylor took the sash to the White House when he was elected President in the wake of the Mexican-American War. Show More Summary
Benjamin "Beast" Butler: Unlikely Liberator
Benjamin “Beast” Butler was not a great officer, but he did amass some notoriety during the war by, among other things, authorizing Union troops to treat women in New Orleans as prostitutes (which earned him that “Beast” designation) and later getting “bottled up” in the Bermuda Hundred. Show More Summary
What the Hell Happened to William Seward? A Followup
In What the Hell Happened to William Seward? I explored William Seward's pre-Civil War reputation for anti-slavery radicalism in light of his surprisingly conciliatory approach in the years immediately before the war and particularly his frantic attempts to keep the upper South in the Union during the late winter and spring of 1860. Show More Summary
“General Taylor took the sash”
Yesterday’s posting showed Carol James’s recreation of a sash that Gen. Edward Braddock reportedly gave to young George Washington in 1755, as the British commander was dying of wounds in western Pennsylvania. [That action became part...Show More Summary
Why Historians Should Care About Black Confederates
Over the past few years, Leslie Madsen-Brooks has been working on an essay that explores the implications of the controversy surrounding black Confederates on our understanding of history in the digital age. It’s been available online as part of an open peer-review project and will soon be available, along with other essays, in Writing History [...]
Crater Book Reviewed in Journal of American History
The latest issue of the Journal of American History (June 2013) includes a review of my Crater book by Chad L. Williams, who teaches here in town at Brandeis University. This is a very fair review. I couldn’t be more pleased to see that Professor Williams highlighted the chapters on William Mahone, the Readjusters and [...]
Respranging Gen. Braddock’s Sash
The Summer 2013 issue of Spin-Off magazine offers an article by Carol James about her work recreating a sash that the dying general Edward Braddock reportedly gave to his volunteer aide, George Washington, in 1755. The sash is made from silk with a weaving technique called sprang. Show More Summary
Can the Republican Party Reclaim Lincoln?
Next month National Review editor, Rich Lowry, is publishing a book about Abraham Lincoln. Part of the project is an attempt to reclaim Lincoln from the extreme Libertarian right of Thomas DiLorenzo, Walter Williams, among others. In the most recent issue of NR Lowry offers a taste of his forthcoming book. The anti-Lincoln critique is [...]
Cody Smith Talks About Ulysses S. Grant
I am sending this one out to Brooks Simpson. Surprisingly, Mr. Smith is able to cover a great deal of ground in just over one minute. Yeah, it’s a slow night. [uploaded to YouTube on June 5, 2013]
Reading Southern Unionist claims is educational!
Sure, we can learn a lot of things from reading through Southern Claims Commission applications, but I had no idea that I’d increase my vocabulary! That’s right. Here’s an example… Just about every item listed in this claim should be obvious enough, but… I stumbled when I saw “shoat”. A “shoat” is a piglet which […]
The “Too Obscene” Verses of “Yankee Doodle”
Earlier this spring, while searching for uses of the phrase “King Hancock,” I skimmed a 1909 report from the Library of Congress. Oscar George Theodore Sonneck analyzed the histories of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Hail Columbia,” “America,” and “Yankee Doodle” for the U.S. Show More Summary
R.I.P. North and South Magazine (1997-2013)
Can’t say that I am surprised by this news. After sixteen years Keith Poulter is calling it quits at North and South magazine. I still remember opening up the first issue back in 1997. At that time I was managing the periodicals section at Borders Books in Rockville, Maryland. At the time I was just [...]
“A Mere Thing Of Wax:” A Random Note On Marbury v. Madison
Chief Justice Marshall One of the delights of reading Marbury v. Madison is the logical bind that John Marshall puts Thomas Jefferson. Marshall will give Jefferson what he wants in the case, but only if Jefferson concedes that the Supreme Court can decide the constitutionality of laws, something Jefferson resolutely did not want to do. Show More Summary
Brandy Station sesquicentennial tour details
Below are the details of the Brandy Station sesquicentennial tour, set for Saturday, June 8, 2013. ONLY THOSE WITH CONFIRMED RESERVATIONS ARE PERMITTED TO ATTEND. RESERVATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AFTER THURSDAY, JUNE 5.. For a larger...Show More Summary
Crankee Doodle Rides in with Electric Ben
This month brings the publication of Crankee Doodle, a new picture book by Tom Angleberger (who found fame with the Origami Yoda series) and Cece Bell (Rabbit and Robot and more). They also happen to be husband and wife.In this book Crankee Doodle is reluctant to go to town, much less to wear a feather in his cap. Show More Summary
Mark Twain: Lost Cause Art Critic
With the help of my book credits earned through Amazon’s affiliate program I recently purchased The Civil War and American Art. It’s incredible. While I enjoy looking at art, I don’t spend nearly enough time reading about it. In the introduction I came across Everett B.D. Fabrino Julio’s The Last Meeting of Lee and Jackson, [...]
What Should “Silent Sam” Say?
The 100th anniversary of the dedication of “Silent Sam” on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has not surprisingly led to a renewed push to have it removed. These protests have been a regular occurrence in recent years as more people, both on and off campus, interpret both the war [...]
- Civil War
- Abraham Lincoln
- Gettysburg National Military Park
- Grand Army of the Republic
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Robert E. Lee
- Stonewall Jackson
- Antietam National Battlefield
- Virginia Historical Society
- Thomas Jefferson
- Medal of Honor
- Brooks Simpson
- President Obama
- World War II
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Secretary of State
- Newt Gingrich
- American History
- National Historic Site
- Carolina
