My regular readers know that I’ve wrestled with the question of what Lincoln knew and when he knew it with respect to the Dahlgren raid has simultaneously bothered and intrigued me for a very long time. I have finally reached the point in my biography of Dahlgren where it’s time for the rubber to hit the road. Consequently, here’s my take on these events, reflecting concusions drawn after years of deliberation and taking into account the useful discussions we had here.

There remains one great, daunting question that any biographer of Ulric Dahlgren must tackle before leaving the subject. The ultimate question to be determined is whether Abraham Lincoln knew of Ulric Dahlgren’s plans in advance, and whether Lincoln approved …

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One of the things that I was able to learn during my trip to Trevilian Station last week was precisely which parcel of land was the subject of the recent acquisition. The parcel in question is on the west side of the Fredericksburg Road, Rt. 669, just to the north of the old railroad depot. The parcel starts just on the other side of the CSX right of way and extends to the north, connecting with the nearly 1000 acre parcel that was the first major acquisition by the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation. It’s really a very important parcel of land, and it gives an unbroken link to the railroad itself.

The old train station, which is post-war, used to …

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It was 95 degrees with very high humidity here today. Ideal weather to move, right?

Today was the day to move my files, my books, my two client chairs, and the contents of my desk from the old firm to the new. I had no help other than that my friend Chris stopped by the office today and helped me load some of my boxes into my car. I had court in the morning and had to wear a suit, but I took a change of clothes with me. I changed into some sweat shorts and t-shirt, and got busy.

It took me much of the day to get everything moved over there and unpacked, but I am all moved …

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I got home at about 4:30 today after having covered about 1400 miles in the past week and after visiting roughly a dozen battlefields, give or take. I’m beat.

And, on top of all of it, I not only have to be in court tomorrow, Tuesday is my first day at the new firm, and I have to move my boxes of files tomorrow when I get done with court. It’s going to be in the mid-90’s again tomorrow. This is going to be a pretty chaotic week.

We will post photos from Hollywood Cemetery and from some of the battlefield sites this week once a little of the dust settles from the trip.

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Well, it happened again last night. Another previously unknown large set of letters by a trooper of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry came to my attention last night. More about that shortly.

The lunch speaker at the conference today was Tom Carhart. He apparently reads this blog, as he was aware that I have described his book as a festering pile of garbage. He actually got in my face about it after his talk. I challenged his nonsensical theory with two very pointed questions, and he obviously figured out who I was, and came up to me. When I introduced myself, he actually got in my face. He made a big deal of telling me that since he has a …

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Today was a full day of touring. It was 96 degrees here today with equal humidity.

I had one bus and Bobby Krick had the other. We ran in tandem. I saw several places that I’d never seen today, including a couple of additions to my list of obscure places.

The first stop was the Army of the Potomac’s crossing of the Pamunkey River at Hanovertown at the end of May 1864. I’d never been there before, but Bobby had arranged access to the ford with the landowner. From there, we went to Haw’s Shop, which I interpreted for the group. From there we went to Cloverlea plantation, which was the home of Ella Washington. Ella’s stepson was a West …

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I’ve now been here for 48 hours. It’s been quite eventful.

Yesterday, I had a busload of 60 people that I took around the battlefield at Trevilians. It was a good day and a good group. We covered the entire field, with a particular focus on Custer and his role in the battle. We also had an excellent presentation by the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation folks. It as 95 degrees and about 90% humidity, so it was pretty beastly out there. By the time we got done at the first stop, I was drenched in sweat. Fortunately, the night was free. I had dinner and got to relax.

Today was an incredibly busy day. Today was a lecture day. There …

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Last week, I visited the final resting place of Ulric Dahlgren. Today, I visited the place where he was killed and where his body was temporarily buried for a day or two. And it cost me $85.00. I’ll explain.

First, greetings from Richmond. I’m writing from the beautiful Omni Hotel, which is at the corner of 12th and Canal Streets. It’s gorgeous, and very plush. The LBHA knows how to do this right.

I spent nearly 8 hours driving to get here. I had planned the trip so that I would have time to drive the thirty or so miles to the spot where Dahlgren fell, which is in King and Queen County, near Walkerton, northeast of Richmond. All worked …

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The Little Big Horn Associates is an organization devoted to….you guessed it, the events of June 25, 1876. There are a lot of scholars whom I respect a great deal who are involved with this organization. Brian Pohanka was a stalwart. Greg Urwin is a regular contributor. I could go on, but you get the idea.

This year’s annual conference is devoted to George A. Custer in 1864, and is based in Richmond. I am pretty much the star of the show. I’m leading a busload tour of Trevilian Station on Wednesday, I’m giving a talk on Thursday, I’m co-leading an all-day battlefield tour with Bobby Krick on Friday, and then I’m participating in a panel discussion on Saturday. My …

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I’ve got a major announcement to make. While it impacts my professional life, it will also impact my blogging, which is why I decided to pass this along.

Since October 2002, I’ve been a partner in a small law firm. It hasn’t provided me with the mechanism to really expand my practice that I’d hoped, and I’d been hoping for a better opportunity to come along for some time.

Several weeks ago, that opportunity finally presented itself. Effective August 1, I will be joining a newly-formed law firm as a partner. It was too good an opportunity for me to pass up, and I jumped at it. I am being brought in to head the firm’s litigation practice and it’s …

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