23 September 2012 by Published in: Blogging 11 comments

Seven years ago today, September 23, 2005, I made the first post on this blog. 1,263 posts later, I’m still here. And I have no intention of going anywhere. We’ve talked about a lot of different things here, and we’ve debated a lot of issues. I’ve enjoyed every minute of that.

Thank you to each and every one of you who takes the time to visit this blog and to indulge my rantings. Although I have never met many of you in person, I’ve come to view many of you as friends. I value the relationships that I have developed with people here, and I greatly look forward to continuing those relationships as we move forward.

Scridb filter

Comments

  1. Sun 23rd Sep 2012 at 6:47 pm

    Congratulations … you’ve always been true to yourself, and that makes your blog most worthwhile.

  2. Sun 23rd Sep 2012 at 6:54 pm

    Congrats, Eric. Seven years is quite an accomplishment.

  3. Scott Mingus
    Sun 23rd Sep 2012 at 6:58 pm

    Congratulations Eric on 7 years. I have enjoyed reading your take on things.

  4. Sun 23rd Sep 2012 at 7:00 pm

    Congrats- your great research and your blunt and honest commentary make your blog a must read. Good luck on 7 more years

  5. Sun 23rd Sep 2012 at 7:11 pm

    Thank you, guys. Coming from folks I respect, such as Scott, Brooks, Kevin, and Richard, those kind words mean a lot to me.

  6. Jim Lamason
    Sun 23rd Sep 2012 at 7:14 pm

    Congrats Eric!!!!

  7. Chris Evans
    Sun 23rd Sep 2012 at 11:12 pm

    Congrats! One of my favorite blogs on the war.

    Been a loyal follower for over five years.
    Keep up the great work!

    Chris

  8. Dennis Wolenski
    Mon 24th Sep 2012 at 11:09 am

    The thanks should go to you Eric for providing this forum! I’m looking forward to many more years here.

    Regards,
    Dennis

  9. John Foskett
    Wed 26th Sep 2012 at 2:09 pm

    Congratulations and keep it coming.

  10. Tue 09th Oct 2012 at 11:01 am

    Your site inspired me to create my Civil War Bummer….foraging food for thought blog page. As your time permits please visit and share your opinion. Thank you in advance.
    The origin of this term, applied to Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s foragers during the March To The Sea and the Carolinas Campaign, is obscure but was common army parlance by 1864. Possibly deriving from the German Bummler, meaning “idler” or “wastrel,” the name was embraced by many soldiers, who believed it struck terror in the hearts of Southern people. The soldiers of the Army of Georgia were authorized to live off the land, since it was Sherman’s intent to “make Georgia howl” and to lay just as heavy a hand on South Carolina, which many Federals considered a “hellhole of secession.” On the road from Atlanta to the sea and then north, Sherman’s columns left their supply bases far behind, and their wagons could not carry provisions sufficient for all. Nevertheless, the Union commander sought to regulate and limit foraging, keeping it within accepted rules of warfare. Each brigade leader was to organize a foraging detail under “discreet officers.” The details were empowered to gather rations and forage of any sort and quantity useful to their commands and could appropriate animals and conveyances without limit. Soldiers, however, were not to trespass on any private dwelling, were to avoid abusive or threatening language, and, when possible, were to leave each family “a reasonable portion [of provisions] for their maintenance.” In regions where the army moved unmolested, no destruction of property was permitted. But where bushwhackers or guerrillas impeded the march, corps commanders were enjoined to “enforce a devastation more or less relentless, according to the measure of hostility.” Many who marched through Georgia and the Carolinas disregarded these prohibitions. Too often, foraging parties became bands of marauders answering to no authority. One conscientious bummer wrote to his sister about the depredations inflicted on South Carolina:

    How would you like it, do you think, Ab, to have troops passing your house constantly … ransacking and plundering and carrying off everything that could be of any use to them? There is considerable excitement in foraging, but it is [a] disagreeable business in some respects to go into people’s houses and take their provisions and have the women begging and entreating you to leave a little when you are necessitated to take all. But I feel some degree of consolation in the knowledge I have that I never went beyond my duty to pillage.

    Source: Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil War

  11. Tue 13th Nov 2012 at 2:16 am

    Dear General,

    Terrific site. Lots of obscure anecdotes and insights in the endlessly fascination Civil War.

    Keep up the great site.

    Best,
    Tim Woods
    author: Grant Me Timely Grace, CW historical fiction

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