As tonight is Christmas Eve, I thought I would share a few holiday wishes, in no particular order:

To the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission: The wisdom to continue to make the correct decision and to again deny a casino license to LeVan and his crew in Gettysburg.

To the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association: Twenty pieces of silver, the price for selling your collective souls to the devil. Oh, wait. I forgot…you already are getting $250,000 per year from Dave LeVan for selling your souls by supporting the battlefield casino and have entirely abandoned any pretense of being a legitimate battlefield preservation and advocacy organization. Never mind.

To Civil War Sesquicentennial Commissions around the United States: Sufficient funding to do the job …

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150 years ago today, the fire-eaters of South Carolina lit the fuze for the tinderbox of the Civil War by enacting an Ordinance of Secession. I doubt that they realized what their actions would trigger, and I seriously doubt that any of them anticipated that 600,000 Americans would die as a consequence of their foolhardy and ill-considered actions.

I know that some view the passage of that ordinance of secession as a good thing, but I don’t. I view it as one of, if not THE, greatest tragedy in the history of our Republic. For reasons that are nearly a complete mystery to me, a Secession Ball is being in held in Charleston tonight, as if this tragedy is something …

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Prof. Glen LaFantasie teaches American history at Western Kentucky University. Glenn is a respected scholar known for his excellent work the fighting at Little Round Top and on Col. William C. Oates. Glenn has written a really interesting analysis of the phenomenon of secession–clearly illegal in 1860 and clearly illegal now–and how its threat is rearing its ugly head again now. With thanks to Jim Epperson for bringing it to my attention.

How the South rationalizes secession
150 years later, a campaign to deny that the South’s exodus from the union was a revolution is in full force
BY GLENN W. LAFANTASIE

Secession is making a comeback. Tomorrow is the 150th anniversary of South Carolina’s secession from the

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My co-author, Michael Aubrecht, and I learned some great news today that I want to share with you.

When I was 13 years old, I came up with the idea of doing a book about the worst teams in the history of major league baseball. The problem is that I knew nothing about how to research or write such a book, and the idea was shelved. Several years ago, I described my idea to Michael, and he loved it. We decided to tackle the project, and completed the manuscript about 18 months ago. The project is titled YOU STINK! Major League Baseball’s Terrible Teams and Pathetic Players. It’s a lighthearted but respectful look at just what the title …

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I’ve been invited, and have accepted that invitation, to be the keynote speaker for the Saturday, March 26, 2011 Harrisburg Area Community College seminar at HACC’S Gettysburg Campus. Here’s some information on the program. I will be delivering the primary talk that morning and then leading a battlefield tour that afternoon.

Saturday, March 26, 2011 also happens to be my fiftieth birthday, and I cannot imagine a better way of spending my entry into a new age bracket and eligibility to join AARP than in my very favorite place doing what I enjoy most in the world. I hope that some of you will be able to join me in my celebration that day.

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This article by historian/analyst D. L. Adams is thought-provoking and worth reading. My antipathy toward Nathan Bedford Forrest is well-known and I need not repeat it here, particularly in light of his racist roots. I’m not 100% certain that I agree with Adams or his conclusions here, but they are worth considering. Since I assume that most of my readers are not familiar with Adams and his writings, much of his commentary has to do with the threat to national security posed by radical Islam, so read this article with that in mind.

See what you think and draw your own conclusions.

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After being one of the founding members of the excellent Civil Warriors blog, my friend Prof. Brooks Simpson has struck out on his own and has begun his own solo blog, which is called Crossroads. It would not be appropriate to welcome Brooks to the blogosphere, as he’s hardly a newbie, but he is a newbie to having his own blog. I’ve added a link and will make Brooks’ blog a regular stop. And thanks very much for the kind words, Brooks. It’s always a pleasure.

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I first met my friend Dave Lingenfelter 25 years ago. Dave was a law school classmate of mine and we quickly became close friends. I was Dave’s best men when he got married the first time, and he was my best man when Susan and I got married. He also is someone I envy because he can honestly call himself a recovering lawyer, something I aspire to be. Dave had the first personal computer I ever saw, an Apple IIe (this was before the McIntosh, after all). My, how times have changed.

Dave is also a fabulous writer. I’ve always envied his ability with words, and I wish he would write more often. Last Friday, in commemoration of Remembrance Day, …

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Prof. Brooks Simpson sums up my position on the issue of Black Confederates quite nicely here. So what, indeed.

Neo-Confederates and Lost Causers like to argue that blacks served in the Confederate army willingly because it puts a more human face on the issue of slavery. A few may well have served for reasons entirely of their own. Most would have done so involuntarily for the simple reason that they were slaves.

At the end of the day, though, so what?

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Ken Williams has written an especially flattering review of my Brandy Station book in the November issue of The Civil War News:

The Battle of Brandy Station:
North America’s Largest Cavalry Battle
By Eric S. Wittenberg
(November 2010 Civil War News)

Illustrated, photographs, maps, notes, appendices, bibliography, 271 pp., 2010, The History Press, www.historypress.net, $24.99, softcover.

The History Press continues its Civil War Sesquicentennial Series with another concise history of a major battle in the war — this time the June 9, 1863, fight at Brandy Station between the cavalry forces of the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac.

Veteran Civil War cavalry author Eric Wittenberg brings his considerable skills to the task of describing

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