Way back in the fall of 1981, the first semester of my junior year in college, I participated in a wonderful program sponsored by American University called the Washington Semester. Students from colleges and universities all over the country send students to AU for this program. When I was there, there were 35 of us from my alma mater, Dickinson College, by far the most participants from any school. I did the foreign policy program, meaning that I did an internship two days per week, we had seminars around Washington two days per week, and Friday was reserved for a large independent study paper due at the end of the semester. At no time in my life did …

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Hat tip to Rea Redd for bringing this sad story to my attention. It’s a shame that flogging is considered cruel and unusual punishment.

Man arrested in eBay sale of historic documents
Tue Jan 29, 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A New York state employee who had access to government-owned archives has been arrested on suspicion of stealing hundreds of historic documents, many of which he sold on eBay, authorities said on Monday.

Among the missing documents were an 1823 letter by U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun and copies of the Davy Crockett Almanacs, pamphlets written by the frontiersman who died at the Alamo in Texas.

Daniel Lorello, 54, of Rensselaer, New York, was charged with grand larceny, possession

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I wanted to introduce some of you to one of my favorite niche publishers, Tony O’Connor’s Vermont Civil War Enterprises. Tony lives in Newport, Vermont, and has created a nifty little niche for his business. Tony publishes books only on Vermont’s contributions to the Civil War.

Tony produces a really high quality book. Some are leather bound, and others are well bound in fabric with gold lettering. His offerings run the gamut from replica reprints of long out of print works, such as regimental histories and the reports of the Reunion Society of Vermont Officers to new works, such as a very nice regimental history of the 3rd Vermont Infantry of the Old Vermont Brigade. The books are not …

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Having decided that we were going to take on the Monocacy project, I’ve immersed myself into the process of gathering research ideas and sources so as to develop our research strategy. Doing so is not only wise, it saves a lot of aggravation because we lay out a roadmap and then follow it to its conclusion. Of course, things always turn up unexpectedly and have to be dealt with, but for the most part, we try to stick to the plan.

Today, I spent some time going through the reference bibliographies of the U. S. Army’s Heritage Collection Online, looking for sources to use in the course of researching the Monocacy project. As I made my way through …

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In the 1980’s, a publisher from Lynchburg, Virginia named Harold Howard undertook a magnificent–and pretty much unparalleled–project when he decided to publish a history of EVERY regiment, battalion, or battery fielded by the Commonwealth of Virginia during the Civil War. The scope of the project is really pretty staggering. The series itself is a mixed bag. The books are of mixed quality. Some are definitely better than others, and some are really bad. Fortunately, they were always very affordable, with many of the volumes priced at $19.95.

There are a number of gripes that spread across the spectrum of the series. The production values are inconsistent at best. There is almost no detail in the history section of each book, …

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Chris Army, whom I’ve known for years as a Gettysburgaholic, has started a new blog. Chris only has two posts so far, so it’s hard to predict what the future holds, but knowing Chris, I believe it will be a good addition to the blogosphere. I’ve added a link.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Chris.

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For those who might be interested, I wanted to announce a couple of upcoming events I’ve committed to attending.

First, I have accepted an invitation to be the keynote speaker at the commemoration of Jeb Stuart’s birthday in Richmond on February 9. The program is sponsored by the Stuart-Mosby Historical Society. The event begins at 11:00 with a wreath-laying ceremony at General Stuart’s grave in Hollywood Cemetery, and then there is a luncheon at the lovely downtown Commonwealth Club. I will be the lunchtime speaker, and will be doing a presentation on Stuart’s ride during the Gettysburg Campaign. Susan and I will be flying into Richmond that Saturday morning.

The other event I’ve committed to attending is my …

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One of the reasons why the Battle of Monocacy fascinates me is that it represents one of the only instances during the Civil War where militia not only stood and fought, but did so quite effectively. The northernmost portion of the battle occurred at the stone “jug” bridge, which carried the National Road across the Monocacy River.

Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace’s Federal command consisted of three brigades. Two of those brigades belonged to Brig. Gen. James Ricketts’ Third Division, Sixth Corps. These two brigades did the bulk of the fighting, on the main battlefield. The third brigade, consisting of troops from the Eighth Corps, a hodgepodge command based in Baltimore, was made up largely of 100 days’ militiamen raised as …

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After more than six months without a single post–I had written it off as a dead blog–Touch the Elbow, the excellent blog by the authors of the regimental history of the 18th Massachusetts Infantry, is back! I always really enjoyed the insights of Tom and the others, and was very sorry to see the blog die. I’m even more pleased to see it back. I’ve added it back into the blogroll. Welcome back, guys.

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My profiles of forgotten cavalrymen usually focus on men whose outstanding contributions to their cause made a difference in the outcome of the war. Every once in a while, though, it’s fun to pay tribute to a scoundrel. Today, we pay tribute to a true rascal.

Col. Sir Percy Wyndham was born on the ship Arab in the English Channel on February 5, 1833, while his parents were en route to Calcutta, India. Capt. Charles Wyndham, his father, served in the British Fifth Light Cavalry. With that pedigree, the boy was destined to be a horse soldier. However, fifteen-year old Percy Wyndham entered the French navy instead, serving as a midshipman during the French Revolution of 1848. He then joined …

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