Month: January 2018

  • Finding the Clotilda, America’s Last Slave Ship

    Led by a local reporter, archeologists think they may have found the wreck of the Clotilda, the last ship reasonably documented as transporting slaves to North America. What’s left of the ship lies partially buried in mud alongside an island in the lower Mobile-Tensaw Delta, a few miles north of the city of Mobile. The […]

  • Shooting the Sharps Rifle

    The breech-loading Sharps rifle was one of the most advanced firearms used in the war. Although used by infantry and sharpshooters, it was used most extensively by Federal cavalry as a carbine, and was an important factor in their superiority in the second half of the war. Three models figured in the fracas, the 1852 […]

  • Historical Cleansing Update

    Dollywood has renamed the Dixie Stampede. Now it’s just a Stampede. Dolly says it “streamlines the name of the show, will remove any confusion or concern about it, and will help efforts to bring the show into new cities.” I agree with Knox County mayor Tim Burchell. Well, like everybody else, I love Dolly, and […]