This video was played at the hearing before the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission today. No one who was involved in its production was paid. It’s 9:13 long, but those are nine magnificent minutes, and I commend this video to you: Our Gettysburg Legacy

I was asked to testify at the hearing. If I had been able to put together a panel, I would have rushed to do so. In spite of our differences in interpretation, Andrea Custer is as dedicated to the South Cavalry Field as I am, and she is also opposed to the project. Unfortunately, she had a professional obligation out of town. J. D. Petruzzi was scheduled to have hand surgery today. I couldn’t put together a panel, …

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With thanks to regular reader Barry Dussel for bringing this horrifying news to my attention….

Once upon a time, the Gettysburg Battlefield Protection Association really stood for battlefield preservation. It fought long and hard against the loss of the railroad cut on the first day’s battlefield–I even offered my professional services to help in that fight as a young lawyer–and it saved the Daniel Lady Farm, which although little fighting took place there, was an important spot linking the Benner’s Hill area to the Culp’s Hill sector of the battlefield. The organization did great work then.

That, however, was then. This is now. And now, the GBPA has sold its soul to the devil by coming out in favor of …

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I’ve got a couple of events coming up in the next few weeks, and I thought I would post some details in case anyone is interested in checking them out.

Next Wednesday, August 18, I will be speaking to the Civil War Forum of Metropolitan New York, which meets at the Roger Smith Hotel, located at Lexington Avenue and 47th Street. The cost is $35.00 for members and $45.00 for guests. An RSVP is required. Details may be found on the Forum’s web site. I will speaking on Jeb Stuart’s controversial ride to Gettysburg.

On Tuesday, September 14, I will be giving the same talk to the First Defenders Civil War Roundtable, which is located in …

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With my deep gratitude to regular reader Christ Liebegott, who brought this to my attention in a comment to yesterday’s post, I give you some more compelling arguments as to why a Gettysburg casino is a really bad idea. To be honest, there are plenty of online casino sites offering great deals, plus this Mecca Bingo Promo Code brings rewards by signing up for an account then you’ll get £ 50 to play, so you don’t have to spend money from your pocket in your first few rounds….

From the August 7 edition of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper:

Rivers Casino short of revenue projections

By Rick Stouffer
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, August 7, 2010

One year after its grand opening,

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The following editorial appeared in today’s edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Casinos again pose a threat to battlefield
It is altogether fitting and proper that gambling be kept away from Gettysburg’s hallowed ground.

By Mindy Crawford

In the months and years to come, Americans can expect to witness and participate in a wide variety of events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Official committees and commissions in numerous states, including Pennsylvania, are planning reenactments, exhibits, lectures, concerts, tours, and other opportunities to mark the occasion. The vast majority of events are planned to highlight the significance of this turning point in American history, to encourage thoughtful commemorations befitting such a solemn theme.

But here in the Keystone

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From the June 28, 2010 edition of Fredericksburg Daily, I am pleased to report another important preservation victory at Brandy Station:

Brandy Station win

Another victory for preservationists at Brandy Station

Date published: 7/28/2010

IMAGINE: It could have been a 3.4-million-square-foot development of condominiums, a multiplex theater, a water park, an equestrian center, a hotel and asphalt, lots of asphalt. Instead, thanks to some generous landowners, 443 acres in Culpeper County, part of the Brandy Station battlefield, has been preserved.

The property, owned by brothers Chuck and Pete Gyory, joins another piece of battlefield land–349 acres owned by Beauregard Farms LP–placed in conservation easements. These two parcels bring the total property in Culpeper and Western Fauquier counties donated by

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I was gone for two straight long weekends. Both were spent stomping battlefields, and there was one common theme through both: beastly heat and high humidity. That sort of heat saps your energy and your strength.

The first trip:

I flew to St. Louis on Thursday, July 15, and my friend Mike Noirot picked me up at the airport. We had lunch at a really neat microbrewery in St. Charles, which is a growing suburb of St. Louis, and then, after checking into my hotel, we went to check out some of the famous Civil War graves in St. Louis, and there are plenty of them worth visiting.

Our first stop was at Calvary Cemetery, where we visited the …

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Brig. Gen. William W. Averell left behind this excellent description of the traditional role of cavalry:

Reliable information of the enemy’s position or movements, which is absolutely necessary to the commander of an army to successfully conduct a campaign, must be largely furnished by the cavalry. The duty of the cavalry when an engagement is imminent is specially imperative—to keep in touch with the enemy and observe and carefully note, with time of day or night, every slightest indication and report it promptly to the commander of the army. On the march, cavalry forms in advance, flank and rear guards and supplies escorts, couriers and guides. Cavalry should extend well away from the main body on the march like antennae

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Last weekend, I traveled to Missouri and toured Calvary Cemetery and Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, caught a Dodgers/Cardinals game, toured Wilson’s Creek, Newtonia, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove battlefields, and also made a visit to Fort Smith.

Tomorrow, I leave for Ted Alexander’s annual summer soiree, which will include tours of Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, and part of the Antietam battlefield. I’m doing a talk titled “Pope’s Horsemen”.

Next week, when I’m back and the dust has settled, I will write up both trips and post some of my photos from Missouri and Arkansas. Please be patient. I hope it will be worth your while.

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With many thanks to Jim Schmidt for bringing this little gem to my attention, I give you more dumbass re-enactors…

From the July 6, 2010 issue of the Morris County [NJ] Daily Record comes these candidates for dumbass re-enactors of the year:

Hanover cops: 2 injured when mistaken Civil War gun powder tube explodes

By JAKE REMALY • STAFF WRITER • July 6, 2010

HANOVER — A 66-year-old Livingston man was burned when a man asked him for a light and, instead of lighting a cigarette as he thought, he lit a paper cartridge filled with gun powder.

Police said Joseph Princiotta, 42, of Jersey City, obtained the cartridge from his friend, a Civil War re-enactor, who had the tube

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