The Civil War Podcast

In recent years, I’ve fallen out of the habit of reading books; I now spend most of my time on Wikipedia.  Now that I’m working (or not working, as is currently the case) from home, I thought it time to rectify this error.  In honor of the sesquicentennial (and as research for the podcast by [...]

This Yahoo user has created a series of lists that serve as a dictionary for Civil War lingo.  As you’d expect, there’s some fun to be found in here. Multiform. A ragged uniform. A sarcastic term used by tattered Confederate soldiers. News walkers. Soldiers who, on their own initiative, carried news from campfire to campfire. [...]

In yesterday’s post on Bunny Breckinridge, I mentioned his great-grandpa’s fury at Sherman’s whiskey-based neglect. It’s a great story, and I’ve copy-pasted a version here. It’s taken from the memoirs of John S. Wise, son of the Virginia governor Henry A. Wise. Through him Wise Jr. had apparently told him by Joe Johnston – the [...]

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 [...]

Would you rather A) Listen to a debate about the federal budget? or B)

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 [...]

I tried a search for “best Civil War memoirs” (listing “Grant” and “Watkins” as qualifiers for quality), and one Amazon list suggested John H. Worsham’s narrative. Found it on DocSouth, and a quick flip through reveals some very entertaining anecdotes, and a sense of irreverence amidst the hard marching and the terrible battles. We went [...]

This letter – an emancipated slave responding to his former master’s request that he come back “home” – has made the rounds on the web, but if you haven’t seen it, it’s spectacular. I publish an excerpt just to give readers a taste – read the whole thing for the full, bitingly sarcastic effect. Sir: [...]

Disunion discusses how the war was filtered through comedy (mainly of the sarcastic bent) at the time. Abraham Lincoln became the war’s most notorious jester, known for his backcountry yarns and goofy, self-deprecating style. Washington socialites complained that he simply would not stop telling jokes at their dinner parties. His cabinet – stiff, bearded, capable [...]

I’ve posted a lot of book reviews and discussions lately, so here’s an intellectual-palate cleanser: Funny examples of defaced currency, in which Lincoln proves surprisingly useful as a not-so-blank canvas.