Col. Isaac E. Avery of the 6th North Carolina Infantry was frightfully wounded while leading Hoke’s Brigade in the assaults on East Cemetery Hill on the night of July 2, 1863. Left unable to speak, Avery scrawled a farewell note to his father in his own blood. Avery died while being transported in the Wagon Train of Wounded. His grave was lost for more than a century. That grave has now been located. Here’s a newspaper story:

From the Associated Press…

The Civil War spawned countless human narratives, each seemingly more heart-wrenching than the last. But few of those narratives matched the drama surrounding the final moments of Confederate Col. Isaac Erwin Avery.

The date was July 2, 1863, the …

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Stephen W. Sears was kind enough to agree to write a foreword to the Dahlgren biography for me. In addition to being a terrific writer in his own right, Steve’s done a lot of editing in his day, including serving as an editor of the late, lamented American Heritage magazine. Steve not only wrote an excellent foreword for the book, he also gave me some really good suggestions for making it a better book.

I had originally written the conclusion by presenting the range of possibilities for what Lincoln knew and when he knew it and then permitting the reader to draw his or her own conclusions about this critical issue. Steve suggested that I should instead take a position–tell …

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We’re back home in Columbus after a long weekend of travel. Due to Susan’s work schedule, we couldn’t leave for Pennsylvania until Thursday morning. We dropped the dogs off on Wednesday night, as the boarding place was not taking drop-offs on Thursday morning. We got out early on Thursday and arrived at my parents’ house about 3:00 on Thursday, after checking in at the hotel. Due to their health and our schedule, we ended up going out to dinner. The problem with going out to dinner on Thanksgiving is that there are no seconds, there are no leftovers, and there is no turkey carcass to pick. I would much prefer to eat at home.

We braved the Black Friday crowds, …

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Washington, D.C., October 3, 1863
By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved …

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On October 8, I posted the good news that the long-overlooked diaries of Lt. Col. Theodore H. Lyman of George Gordon Meade’s staff had finally been published.

After an embarrassingly long delay, I finally got around to buying a copy of it tonight. The first thing that I did was go to the index to see whether there were any references to Ulric Dahlgren or to the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid, and I wasn’t disappointed.

In a prior post here, I set out the unusual correspondence sent across the lines under flag of truce, asking whether the Dahlgren Papers represented the policy of the United States government. Here’s what Lyman wrote about that episode on April 18, 1864:

Last night Gen. …

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I know that what I’m about to say won’t sit well with some of my friends/peers in the preservation community. As I have said here previously, I very much take a pragmatic approach to battlefield preservation, recognizing that not every inch of battlefield land can possibly be preserved. Given that fact, I believe that it makes sense to pick preservation fights wisely.

This post stems directly from an excellent comment posted here today by Charles Kann. I got to thinking about Charles’ post and, after responding to him, decided to expand my response into a full-blown post here. Again, I know that what I’m about to say will rankle some of my colleagues in the preservation community, but it can’t …

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Old friend Jim Morgan asked me to put up an announcement here that he will be speaking on his excellent book on the Battle of Ball’s Bluff before the New York Civil War Roundtable on December 12. I’ve included a link to Roundtable’s page that provides the necessary information for anyone who might be interested in attending. Jim’s written an excellent book on a small but extremely important early battle in the Eastern Theater.

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From June 19-22, 2008, I will be leading a tour for the Civil War Education Association titled The Clash of Cavalry in Virginia. I will be the sole tour leader for this event.

Here’s the description that I’ve written for the weekend event, which I’m really looking forward to:

Join the CWEA for a tour of some of the most hard-fought cavalry actions of the American Civil War. We will tour three cavalry battlefields in Culpeper County, and one in Louisa County. Join Civil War cavalry historian Eric J. Wittenberg for this intensive tour of the cavalry actions of 1863 and 1864.

The March 17, 1863 Battle of Kelly’s Ford marked one of the earliest large scale clashes of the …

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Well, it never fails.

Some of you might recall that I had breathlessly announced that the retreat book was not only finished, but that it had been submitted to the publisher, Ted Savas.

Last night, my friend Scott Mingus spoke to the Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable, and brought me a copy of his new book, Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign, Vol. 2. Sure enough, while thumbing through the book last night, I found six really nifty items that ought to be included in the retreat book, as they really add to the story. So, today, I had to call Ted Savas and get permission to add stuff (Ted has already complained that the thing …

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An important but all too often overlooked portion of the 1862 Maryland Campaign is the September 19-20, 1862 fight at Shepherdstown Ford. In a hard-fought and bloody action, the men of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry, with its novice ieutenant colonel, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, saw its first combat.

I’ve been to the site once. A portion of the battlefield is preserved, as it was fought along the banks of the Potomac River. This means that some of the fighting took place on the towpath to the C & O Canal, which is part of a national park that is the steward of the canal. Thus, much of the important ground on the north (Maryland) side of the river is safe.…

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