As I have announced here, I am branching out a bit into studying the Revolutionary War. So, too, has Michael Aubrecht. In fact, Michael has reconfigured his blog from a Civil War blog to a Revolutionary War blog called Blog or Die: A Historian’s Journey Through the Revolution. It will be interesting to see what Michael does with his reconfigured blog.

Continue reading

Loyal reader Valerie Protopapas is also the newsletter editor for the Stuart-Mosby Historical Society. Although I am not a member of the Society, I have given the address on the anniversary of Jeb Stuart’s birth. Valerie is kind enough to make certain that I receive the newsletter whenever one is published–thank you, Valerie. I do read them, and I do appreciate them.

The November-December 2009 issue had an article titled “Two Accounts of Mosby’s Affect on the Battle of Brandy Station” that’s worthy of some more exploration. The first is a quote from John Formby’s 1910 book The American Civil War–A Concise History of Its Causes, Progress, and Results:

It was in the spring of 1863 that the celebrated

Continue reading

I’m going to profile a forgotten horse artillerist today. Today’s profile is of Maj. Gen. William Montrose Graham.

William Montrose Graham was born in Washington, D.C. on September 28, 1834, the son of James Duncan and Charlotte (Meade) Graham. His mother was a sister of George Gordon Meade. His father was a member of the West Point class of 1817, and achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. He was a distinguished and gifted topographical and civil engineer who died in 1865. His uncle and namesake, Col. William Montrose Graham, was killed during the Mexican-American War while commanding the 11th U.S. Infantry at Molino del Rey.

William M. Graham was appointed a second lieutenant of the 1st …

Continue reading

Blindly lashing out in response to the letter from the four preservation entities opposing the Gettysburg casino, the spin doctors hired by David LeVan have issued an especially ignorant and intentionally misleading response:

We are extremely offended by the decisions of the Civil War Preservation Trust(CWPT), National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Pennsylvania & the National Parks Conservation Association to not remain neutral in regards to the application of Mason Dixon Resort & Casino in the Adams County/Gettysburg Area. These Washington D.C. and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania based lobbyist groups are only interested in one thing and that is to use this casino “debate” to raise money for their own greed. Not one of these groups has helped to create or

Continue reading

I suppose one has to give that moron David LeVan some credit for persistence. Rebuffed in his first effort to bring a grossly inappropriate casino to Gettysburg, LeVan–the same person responsible for the enormous and enormously loud Harley-Davidson dealership in Gettysburg–is trying again. This time, he wants to put his casino at the Eisenhower Conference Center, which is just a few hundred yards south of South Cavalry Field. The ground where this place sits was used as the campground for Judson Kilpatrick’s division on the night of July 3, 1863, and it served as a staging ground for the fighting on South Cavalry Field. There is absolutely NO place for a casino there. Imagine how casino nowadays evolved, now you …

Continue reading

My first book, published in 1998, was titled Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions, and it won the Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award, given by the Robert E. Lee Civil War Roundtable of Central New Jersey for each year’s best new work interpreting the Battle of Gettysburg.

It’s a short book, only 130 or so pages, but it was the first really detailed treatment of the aspects of the battle it addresses–Farnsworth’s Charge, Merritt’s fight on South Cavalry Field, and the Battle of Fairfield–and it was well received. It was published by Thomas Publications, and was a very steady but not spectacular seller. It sold nearly 7500 copies before Thomas, over my objections, permitted it to go out of print. I believed that …

Continue reading

It’s been a LONG time since I last profiled a forgotten cavalryman, so here goes…

Julius Wilmot Mason was born in Towanda, Pennsylvania on January 19, 1835. He was named for his father’s law partner, David Wilmot, who later became a U.S. Senator and the founder of the Republican Party.

He graduated from the Kentucky Military Institute in June 1857 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering. He then enrolled in Shelby College, also in Kentucky, as a resident graduate. He studied there for a year, and then received a master’s degree in engineering from the Kentucky Military Institute in 1859. He took a job as a division engineer with the Brooklyn Water Works, and was employed there when the Civil …

Continue reading

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I’ve decided to expand the scope of my work to include the American Revolution. I firmly believe that change–challenging oneself–is a good thing. It’s good to take on a new challenge and shake things up.

Along the way, I discovered a magazine focused on the Revolutionary War called Patriots of the American Revolution, which is published about an hour from here. I made contact with the publishers and have established a relationship with them. Along the way, we reached an agreement whereby I have now been appointed the review editor for the magazine. Effective now, I am in charge of book and media reviews for the magazine, and I …

Continue reading

I’ve been invited to participate in a cavalry conference being sponsored jointly by Longwood University and the Appomattox Court House National Historic Park at Longwood University on February 27. For those of you who might be interested in attending, here’s the flyer for the program:

ELEVENTH ANNUAL CIVIL WAR SEMINAR

THE CAVALRY: WEAPONS, LEADERS, and BATTLES

Cavalry Generals J.E.B. Stuart (CSA) and Philip Sheridan (USA)

WYGAL AUDITORIUM
LONGWOOD UNIVERSITY
FARMVILLE, VIRGINIA

February 27, 2010

Schedule

9:00 a.m. Doors open

9:25 a.m. Introduction by Dr. David Coles, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of History, Political Science, and Philosophy, Longwood University

9:30 a.m. Robert Dunkerly
“Horsepower and Firepower: Weapons of the Cavalry.”

10:00 a.m. Eric Wittenberg
“Little Phil: A Reassessment of the

Continue reading

The following threat to develop critical land near the Brandy Station battlefield was reported in yesterday’s edition of the Culpeper Star-Exponent newspaper:

‘Civil War Williamsburg’

By ALLISON BROPHY CHAMPION
Published: January 8, 2010

Union forces clashed with Confederates in two separate fights at Rappahannock Station — the wartime name for modern-day Remington — in August 1862 and November 1863.

A major crossing here was the Orange & Alexandria railroad bridge, which the Yankees burned in October 1863, the Library of Congress records.

Both sides wanted control of the vital waterway at the site and many died fighting for it.

Now, a local developer wants to return the place to its roots with the establishment of Culpeper Crossing, a Civil War-themed

Continue reading