TOCWOC - A Civil War Blog

I never quite grasped where such strong feelings towards the Confederacy come from. Some southerners (certainly not all) pine for and bemoan a government that barely existed 150 years ago- a country founded in war and never tested for its mettle outside that war. As a “northerner” born and [...]

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I think that sometimes as we are looking back on the war we tend to get lost in the research and in the controversy. We look at things from a detached view. We see the general, or the army, or the campaign. THE CAUSE! Every so often I think it is important [...]

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2. Buying Time
One of the reasons there were only 300 Spartan’s at the battle of Thermopylae was that the king could not win support of his constituents to go to war, and so took his own “bodyguard” of 300 off for a stroll. Apart from winning support for the war at home, Leonidis’ actions gave [...]

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Lessons of Thermopylae
The battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC has long stood as the premier example of defending against a force that largely outnumbers the defenders. Fought in a small pass in the northern province of Greece, Analyzing this battle can teach many aspects of tactical planning and development that can be used even in [...]

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In the great debate of Slavery Vs. State’s rights, there is a new recruit on the field. One who immensely researched letters, diaries, and journals from soldiers on the front line to get, straight from their own mouths, what they as individuals were fighting over.
Chandra Manning’s What This Cruel War was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and [...]

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They say you are a green troop, a rookie if you will, until your baptism by fire. “See the elephant” and you will truly be inducted into the great armies of the world. My first glimpse at this elephant was when I was about 7 or 8 years old.
My [...]

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