The Civil War Podcast

In early 1865 Delany was granted an audience with Lincoln. He proposed a corps of black men led by black officers who could serve to win over Southern blacks. Although a similar appeal by Frederick Douglass had already been rejected, Lincoln was impressed by Delany and described him as “a most extraordinary and intelligent man.” [...]

Ignore the chuckle-seeking headline and take a look at this helpful little biography of James Buchanan.  Here is a man who earned his place on every Worst Presidents Ever list (including this one – my favorite).  By the end, you’ll be calling him “lame-o”, too. Part of the reason Buchanan got the party nomination in [...]

NPR puts a name to an unknown soldier. This is a fascinating piece of modern detective work. Now that we had the regiment, the next step was to visit the New York soldiers index, where a search in the National Parks Service Soldier and Sailors Database turned up four possibilities with the right initials: Thomas [...]

I’m so excited to see this Adalbert Volck exhibition, which I mentioned in a previous update.  The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, of all papers, has this excellent biography of the man. (But, surprisingly, none of his cartoons.) Volck lived nearly 50 years after the war’s end, dying in Baltimore in 1912. In a letter to the Library [...]

One of the many Civil War commemorations around Washington, DC, are a series of statues to the heroes of the war: Grant, Sherman, Farragut, McPherson and… Albert Pike? Who the heck is Albert Pike? In all my years of study, I’ve never found a reason to remember that name.  A quick glance at his Wikipedia [...]

Missouri is famous for its teenaged bushwhackers, but this article reminds us that it didn’t hold a monopoly.  Virginia’s John McCue joined Mosby’s Irregulars, and had quite an eventful year of service, by the sounds of it. His father, Judge John H. McCue, compromised with the boy and allowed him to “learn soldiering” at Virginia [...]

I’m trying and failing to turn a pithy river course/course of his life phrase, here. Maybe this blog has a future as a kind of New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest? I wish I’d been in the audience for this presentation on Lincoln’s relationship with rivers. I’m a sucker for unusual essay themes and anecdotes of [...]

Despite my posting this on April Fool’s Day (a “holiday” which I loathe) it’s entirely true: Given how apoplectic J.C. was at the surrender negotiations, at the impropriety of Sherman’s offering only one glass of whiskey, we can only imagine how he’d react to his cross-dressing, sex-change-seeking, terrible actor of a great-grandson. Bunny was immortalised [...]

A strict disciplinarian who served during the Mexican-American War and as drillmaster for the Utica, New York, city militia, William Henry Christian certainly had the credentials of an officer. A surveyor and engineer by trade, Christian sought to make his mark in the military and got off to a promising start. As events proved, however, [...]

The New York Times’ “Disunion” feature keeps presenting essays on topics I considered for my podcast!  Luckily (unluckily?) I couldn’t find a gap for the story of this master counterfeiter, whose story is notable. (Ahem, little money-printing joke, there…) Upham didn’t look like a counterfeiter. He didn’t hide out in the woods or perform daring [...]