Blog Profile / Civil War Memory
| URL : | http://cwmemory.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | History / US History | |
| Posts on Regator: | 2052 | |
| Posts / Week: | 7.6 | |
| Archived Since: | March 3, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
Another Gettysburg Book? What Will the Buffs Say?
My copy of Allen Guelzo’s new book, Gettysburg: The Last Invasion will arrive later this afternoon. I will likely dive right in. I’ve read all of Guelzo’s books and have learned a great deal. Yesterday the Civil War Monitor published a review of the book by Will Greene. At first I stayed away not wanting [...]
No, That’s Not H.K. in the Background
I apologize for not being able to offer a more appropriate post title, but I am not sure what this is. Perhaps you can tell me.
Disunion Now Available in Stores
The book of essays pulled from the New York Times’s Disunion column has been out for a couple of weeks now. It’s a pretty hefty volume that includes over 100 essays on the period between 1861 and the beginning of 1863. My only complaint is that the table of contents does not list individual essays, [...]
Thomas Fleming Plays Civil War Historian
What happens when you bring a radio talk show host, who hasn’t thought about the Civil War since High School and a historian, who has been studying it for five years? What is truly miraculous is that in the process Thomas Fleming was able to produce “A New Understanding of Why We Fought the Civil [...]
Don Troiani’s Black Confederate Soldier
I do enjoy perusing the Confederate Heritage Facebook pages. The topic of black Confederates is a favorite among these folks. Many of the images and other references are new to me, but more importantly their handling of this “evidence” serves as a reminder of just how incapable some people are in applying even the most [...]
An Important Work of Civil War Memory
Caroline Janney’s new book, Remembering the Civil War: Reunion and the Limits of Reconciliation (University of North Carolina Press, 2013) arrived this past Saturday. You should be able to pick it up in a few weeks. I usually wait until I have four or five new books before listing them, but given the focus of [...]
In the Name of Confederate Heritage
Barring any major development I think it’s time to move beyond this story involving the Virginia Flaggers and their unsubstantiated account of monument vandalism. Some of you are no doubt pleased to hear this. On the face of it this story has about as much value as a soap opera and accomplishes little more than [...]
Susan Hathaway, Rob Walker Jr. and the Virginia Flaggers Have Some Explaining To Do
Brooks Simpson has learned from the Richmond Police Department that there is no report related to a supposed vandalism incident that took place on Thursday at the Jefferson Davis Monument in Richmond. According to the police: ““We can find no record of such an incident ever occurring.” According to the report, Mr. Walker called the [...]
Dinosaurs, Leprechans, Gargoyles and Stonewall Jackson
A new fiberglass statue to Stonewall Jackson has recently been added to the to Lexington, Virginia’s commemorative landscape. The sculpture by local artist, Mark Cline, is situated on private property just north of Lexington on Rt. 11. Cline is best known for his fiberglass sculptures of fantasy creatures and dinosaurs that adorn parks across the [...]
Rob Walker, Susan Hathaway and the Virginia Flaggers Remain Silent
There are still no updates to the story of a VCU student who supposedly prevented two white males from vandalizing the Jefferson Davis monument in Richmond on Thursday evening. The Richmond-Times Dispatch has been contacted and is looking into this story as has the Richmond Police for further information. The story was made public by [...]
Virginia Flaggers Foil Vandalism of Jeff Davis Monument
Over the years I have made my position on the defacing of monuments quite clear. I have zero toleration for it. So, you can imagine my surprise and relief when I learned that someone with very close ties to the Virginia Flaggers stopped a couple of vandals from defacing the Jefferson Davis Monument in Richmond [...]
It Was a Plantation Before It Was a Shrine
Head on over to John Rudy’s Interpreting the Civil War blog for some thoughts about Stonewall Jackson’s death. John comments on the home of Thomas C. Chandler, which is more commonly remembered as the “Stonewall Jackson Shrine” or the place where Jackson crossed the river and breathed his last. John pushes home the point that [...]
Oh, For the Presence of Stonewall Jackson
Tomorrow is the 150th anniversary of Stonewall Jackson’s death. What follows is a short essay I originally intended for my column at the Atlantic. Unfortunately, my regular editor is out on maternity leave and there was no way to get it posted in time. No big deal. Here it is for your consideration. The commemoration [...]
How I Fooled David Blight
I have to say that I really thought my book’s Amazon page was going to be flooded with negative reviews from day one of publication. I even spent some time strategizing over how I might respond, but the negative reviews never appeared. Better late than never. Up until three days ago there was only one [...]
A Brief Word About Clio’s Conscience
There doesn’t seem to be any let up in the number and range of Civil War memory studies published or soon to be published this year. As someone who has contributed to this body of scholarship you might expect that this brings a smile to my face and you would be correct. That said, I [...]
Weary Clyburn Redux
Dear Mr. Vanderburg, Thanks for taking the time to read yesterday’s post and for your comments. As I stated in my response this is a subject that I’ve written and lectured on extensively over the past five years. The popularity of the black Confederate narrative highlights both the extent to which history has become democratized [...]
What Happens When Your USCT Unit Disbands
Today Cleveland.com [associated with the Cleveland Plain Dealer] is running a textbook example of how the myth of the Black Confederate soldier is spread. Start off with what appears to be an unusual story of two black individuals who play Confederate soldiers. Treat them as authorities in the relevant history and fail to do any [...]
The National Rifle Association’s Civil War Memory
I give you the new president of the National Rifle Association. Let’s just put aside for a second that from all appearances this guy is just bat shit crazy. [Sorry, but that really does seem appropriate given the level of paranoia expressed in this video.] Jim Porter doesn’t need a weapon. He needs a diagnosis. [...]
Let’s Recross that River and Return to Chancellorsville
Today is the anniversary of one of the bloodiest days of fighting during the Civil War. Those of you who visit Chancellorsville today will enjoy an insightful tour and interpretation of the final day’s fighting at Chancellorsville that took place in the area around the clearing between Hazel Grove, Fairview, and the Chancellor House. The [...]
The True Face of the Southern Heritage Crowd
This story out of Hot Springs, South Dakota is truly bizarre and sad. Recently a couple of African Americans veterans, who were being treated for PTSD at a VA Hospital, complained about a display that included Confederate flags. Yeah, this is in South Dakota of all places. At the time the flags were removed and [...]