Blogging

Not in Memorium but in Defense was launched early this summer to chronicle the research of a Harvard student working toward her senior thesis. The research has apparently been completed and the thesis is apparently underway, as there hasn’t been a post since July 19. In other words, the last post was ten weeks ago, so presumably that means that the blog has been abandoned. Consequently, I am deleting the link. If I hear that it’s come back on line at some point, I will add it back in again, but for now, there’s no reason to keep it as an actitve link.

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One year ago today, I launched this blog. The first post was dated September 23, 2005, and it was simply a welcome post. Little did I realize that 303 posts and countless comments later, this thing would still be around. There’s a comment on the weekly blog roundup on Civil War Interactive this week that indicates that the CWI folks believe my blog draws more comments than all of the other Civil War blogs combined. I don’t know if that’s true, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if it was.

If it is true, it’s quite a tribute to you, my readers. Without you, this would just be my place to rant. There’s certainly a value to a good rant–there are times when I need to get something off my chest–but without all of you and the interaction we have here, this wouldn’t be half the fun that it is. Thank you to everyone who has made my little corner of the Internet a regular stop and who have helped to make this blog what it is.

And until I run out of things to rant about, this blog will go on…..

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The last several days when I’ve tried to click on the link for Adam Hendel’s blog, I’ve gotten a message that indicates that it can’t be found on Blogger’s site. That means that it’s been deleted from Blogger’s system. As a result, I have deleted the link to it from this site. If anyone knows where Adam’s blog can be found, I will be happy to put up a new link.

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I’ve added a link to Michael Aubrecht’s blog, Pinstripe Press Blog. Michael is a regular reader of this blog, and I’ve enjoyed interacting with him.

There are two reasons why I haven’t added his blog previously.

First, and foremost, it’s only partially about the Civil War, and the Civil War posts often delve into religion, an area that, to be very honest, holds very little interest for me. However, Michael has some good and interesting insights, and I think that it’s appropriate for me to share those with you since I read them myself.

Second, it’s in part devoted to the New York Yankees, the greatest team money can buy. As someone who firmly believes that George Steinbrenner is, without any doubt at all, THE single worst thing to ever happen to the game of baseball (which is one of the great loves of my life), I despise the New York Yankees with a deep and abiding passion exceeded only by my hatred for the Dallas Cowboys and George W. Bush, which makes them all pretty poor company no matter how you slice it. I have an absolute and inviolable rule: no matter how much I might like a player, the instant he joins the Yankees, I MUST hate his guts. Thus, I find myself hating Bobby Abreu, whom I loved when he wore a Phillies uniform, and Randy “The Big Unit” Johnson, who was one of my very favorite players for many years until he sold out and signed with the Yankees. I can’t support or endorse anything associated with the Yankees.

So, Michael, I’ve added you as a link in the blogs I like section, but that only applies to the Civil War portion. However, until you develop better taste in baseball teams, I can’t endorse that aspect of your blog. 🙂

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Sean Dail posted a note on his blog today indicating that he had decided to shut down his blog for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is a distinct lack of time to devote to the task of regular blogging. I’ve known Sean for a long time, and I know him to be a smart and diligent student of the Late Unpleasantness, and I regret seeing him abandon blogging. However, I understand, and, as he has suggested, I will be removing the link to his blog that has graced the list on the right side of my blog for the past several months.

Please stay in touch, Sean. Your insights will be missed.

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At the risk of sounding rude and/or ungrateful….

This is my blog. This is where I get to rant. You, my readers, also get to rant in the comments.

However, that privilege is not absolute. Nobody gets to make personal attacks in the comments, and nobody gets to shanghai them for their own agenda.

What I will not do is spend what little precious free time I have moderating my own blog. When I started this, that was never within the realm of contemplation, and I am not willing to do it. Likewise, the abuse of the comments section is not something that I will tolerate. My way of dealing with problems is to eliminate them. If the comments continue to be a problem, I will eliminate the problem by disabling the comments. That is neither subject to discussion nor appeal, nor are my decisions about how people are permitted to behave on my blog. I pay for this website. That means I get to make the rules. Bottom line.

Stuff like what transpired in the comments to the recent post on Dave Gaddy’s take on the Dahlgren controversy will NEVER happen again, or there will be no more comments.

End of story.

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I’ve been thinking about some of the feedback that I’ve received on Adam Hendel’s blog. I have to admit that I agree with the folks that noted that there are some flaws with the articles posted on Adam’s blog. Adam found a VERY old writing of mine that described John Buford’s defense at Gettysburg as a defense in depth. Once upon a time, I believed that to be the case, but after a great deal of additional study, I came to the conclusion that his tactic was, in fact, a covering force action. I’ll get into the difference between the two in tomorrow’s post here. Suffice it to say that I have publicly corrected myself numerous times and in numerous forums over the years, and he failed to pick that up. So, I sent him a comment about it. The comment was eventually posted, but it took three days. I have issues with that, as I don’t want the public thinking that something I said years ago, but which I have publicly repudiated is still my view of things.

In the past, I have simply pointed out the presence of a new blog, given a comment or two about the content, and just added it to the list of blogs linked to this one. After reading the criticisms of Adam’s blog and my own issues with it, I have decided to change my policy. From now on, I will wait a bit to put my seal of approval on them. I want to be sure that they’re worthy of bringing to the attention of my readers. I will probably remove the link to Adam’s blog in the next couple of days.

There are also a couple of bloggers who simply don’t post. One blog hasn’t had a new post since June 16, and another has had only two since June 1, one of which had nothing at all to do with history. Whether the bloggers’ jobs get in the way, or they don’t have anything to say, it’s hard for me to endorse blogs where nothing new is posted for more than a month at a time. If that remains the case, I will probably remove those links. So, please don’t be surprised if some of the links disappear, probably sooner than later.

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Adam Hendel also has a new Civil War blog, The American Civil War, which so far consists of some interesting scholarly articles. Have a look. Welcome to the blogosphere, Adam. I’ve added a link to your blog.

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Hat tip to Kevin Levin for pointing out that there’s a new blog in town….

The new blog is called Not in Memoriam, but In Defense. Although the blogger has told us virtually nothing about herself, she is apparently a student at Harvard named Sarah, working on a thesis of some sort (I can’t tell whether it’s a master’s thesis or not) that addresses some interesting social history issues pertaining to how Confederate monuments have fared in Richmond, Stone Mountain, and a small town called Moulton, Alabama. The first few posts have been quite interesting, although some information about the blogger, why this topic interests her, and what her ultimate objectives–other than fulfilling an academic requirement–for her research would be most interesting. Check it out.

In any event, welcome to the blogosphere, Sarah.

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Please welcome Tom Churchill, Stephen McManus, and Donald Thompson, authors of a useful book on Civil War research and all ancestors of members of the 18th Massachusetts Infantry, to the blogosphere. They have launched a new blog called Touch the Elbow. I have added a link in my blog directory. There’s some interesting material here. Check it out!

Welcome to the blogosphere, guys.

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