Frequent blog readers probably know that I and a couple of others like Joe Bilby are always trying to confirm CW battle ranges. I recently came across an account of the battle of Corinth (Oct. 3-4, 1862) that talks about it. A soldier in the 2nd Iowa wrote:

The Rebel batteries silenced ours, and about 4 o’oclock they advanced … When they got within 200 yards we received the command to fire, and our fire told with fearful effect on the enemy.

It would help immensely to know that the 2nd Iowa (and the rest of the brigade—Hackelman’s brigade, consisting of the 2nd Iowa, 7th Iowa, and 52nd Illinois) were armed with. Rifles or muskets? If rifles this was a reasonable engagement range and at odds with the arguments of Griffith, Hess, et. al. that battle ranges remained very short. If they had smoothbore muskets then this was extreme range.

Anyone know?

UPDATE: Came across a section from a book on light infantry written by a British officer in 1806 (and quoted by an officer at the School of Musketry at Hythe in 1861).

Instruction in firing without elevating the sight forms part of the military teaching. In Cooper’s “Practical Guide for the Light Infantry Officer,” a target is described with three broad horizontal bars across it at equal intervals. The soldier is told to aim at the lowest of these when firing at from 100 to 200 yards, and at the highest of them when firing at 300 yards. The purpose of this is to accustom the soldier to aim always along the barrel, but at different points on the object, according to the distance.

The captain here is talking about the Baker rifle, but the P53 Enfield, though a refined version, is not materially different when it comes to muzzle velocity. So in CW soldier’s terms: at really close ranges—less than 100 yards—aim at knee level; at 100 yards (where the battle sight is set) at the enemy’s belt buckle; at 200 yards at mid-chest; and at 300 yards at the top of his head. All this can be done in mid-battle without resetting the sight.

If you want a look at the trajectories and the Enfield battle sight (the Springfield was similar) I did a previous post about it.

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Weapons of the Second Iowa?

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J.D. Petruzzi just posted about a new Civil War blog called To Appomattox.  It’s maintained by Greg Caggiano and Steven Hancock.  The most exciting news for me personally about this project?  Dexter’s Michael C. Hall is cast as Ulysses S. Grant.  Anybody who can convincingly play both a gay funeral parlor director and a blood spatter expert/serial killer is a great actor.  This series looks extremely exciting for Civil war buffs.  Follow along with the writers as we get closer to the show’s expected 2013 premiere.

UPDATE: The series will NOT be on HBO per J.D.’s update below.  Stay tuned for more details.

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New To Appomattox Blog Launched (Mini-Series)

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Civil War novelist Kim Murphy takes a look at contraception during the mid-Nineteenth century.

In the decades before the Civil War, there was no organized movement to advocate or control contraception. Freethinking printers and publishers began spreading the word about reproductive choices, and Charles Knowlton became the first American legally tried for the publication of contraceptive material. Fruits of Philosophy was copyrighted in 1831 and printed anonymously in 1832. The advanced scientific writing on women’s anatomy and reproduction was an innovative work. His response to moralists was that “Mankind will not abstain.” In December 1832, Knowlton was arrested for obscenity.

I’ve mentioned the subject of faked photographs before, something that started about the same time as the invention of the camera. The real kings of altering reality, however, were the Communists.  English Russia, which is quite an interesting site on its own, has a roundup of faked and altered photos from that era.

On this shot you can see Lenin with his wife sitting in the middle, surrounded by farmers and their kids.

But just a little time passed after this photo was made and many of those farmers were executed – just because they had too much money and didn’t want to share it freely with surrounding poor neighbors.

So the photo that was published looked like that. All those who were executed were removed. Including kids.

Revolutionary War scholar Thomas Fleming reviews Thomas B. Allen’s Tories, a book about “America’s first civil war,” by which he means the conflict between those Americans who remained loyal to the King and those who wished to separate from the mother country.

One of the book’s themes is that the conflict between the loyalists and rebels amounted to “America’s first civil war.” But not until the later pages, when the fighting with the British shifts to the South, does a semblance of civil war become evident. The Irish Presbyterians of the Southern backcountry had a history of feuding with wealthy coastal planters, who supported the insurrection. The ingrained antipathy for the planters, more than any fondness for King George, prompted the backcountry boys to ally themselves with the British—leading to vicious seesaw fighting.

A climax to this war within the larger war came in late 1780 with the battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina, a purely American versus American, loyalist versus rebel fight. The rebels won a total victory, and in the process quashed British dreams of creating a native-grown loyalist army that might provide a decisive advantage.

Martha C. Boltz, writing in the Washington Times, wades into a controversial subject—Black Confederates.

I’ve met and talked with a delightful older gentleman who for many years was a press man for The Washington Times, Bobby Chandler.  I’ve heard Bobby give a talk on his ancestor Silas Chandler of Mississippi, who served beside his ‘master’ during the war; I have seen a photograph of  the two of them in the war period, both holding long knives, and a rifle lying across Silas’ lap, his hand at the ready..  And when young Andrew Chandler was badly wounded, and battlefield doctors wanted to amputate his leg,  it was his servant, Silas Chandler, who  picked him up and carried him all the way home to be cared for.

Bobby Chandler tells the story with a high degree of pride and a sense of accomplishment. It happened.

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Short Takes

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In honor of the upcoming Civil War sesquicentennial The American Interest has begun The Long Recall: An Aggregator of the Civil War.

Walter Russell Mead explains:

We will use a modern form to present the daily news: our Civil War aggregator that combines a short daily summary of the news along with links to articles that a well-informed Civil War-era reader would have wanted to read.  Our goal is to allow readers today to get a feel for what it was like to experience the conflict in real time, to hear the many voices trying to make sense of the conflict, and to sift through sometimes confused and misleading news accounts to try to discern what was actually taking place.

Looks like an interesting and worthwhile project. It’s often difficult for us moderns to visualize the information sources of the people of the 1860s—what they knew and didn’t know, and most of all that they didn’t know how things would turn out any more than we do about future events today.

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The Long Recall

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I received an email from Facebook tonight which alerted me to Scott C. Patchan’s new battle blog, Shenandoah 1864: The Valley Campaign. Scott is an expert on the lesser known 1864 Valley Campaign, much less covered than its famous 1862 cousin. He has authored three books on the subject, The Forgotten Fury: The Battle of Piedmont, Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign, and the upcoming Opequon Creek: The Last Battle of Winchester. Scott introduces the blog with the following comments:

My purpose in writing this blog is to move beyond the bounds of traditional publications and share aspects of my research with fellow Civil War enthusiasts that might not otherwise see the light of day. Having met so many good friends over the years in the course of my research, I hope to make many more through this blog.

I’m looking forward to reading more of this new information compilation Civil War Battle Blog. Go check it out, and welcome Scott to the Civil War Blogosphere!

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New Civil War Battle Blog: Scott Patchan’s Shenandoah 1864

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Blogger/journalist Jules Crittenden reminds us that today is the 146th anniversary of the doomed assault of the 54th Massachusetts on Fort Wagner, near Charleston. Although the attack was a failure it proved that Black soldiers would fight and led to their integration into the Union armies. By the end of the war some ten percent of the Federal armies were African-American.

On another subject, I took a quick look at the term “tarheel” after seeing Brett’s posting. Both come from Land We Love, a magazine published after the war by former Confederate general Daniel Harvey Hill (and now available on Google).

On one occasion, as a portion of our Virginia cavalry was passing by some North Carolina infantry, one of our boys said, “halloo, tar-heels, have you any tar left in your State?” A rough looking fellow straightened up and cooly replied, “not a single drap. Our Guvnor has sold it all to the Government to pour on the fields, whar you cavalry have to fight to make you stick better nor you have been a doin.” As we had been licked a short time before, we felt the additional tar plaster applied to our sores.

We get an account of a similar hit which comes to us from Hudsonville, Mississippi:

After the close of the seven days’ fight around Richmond, and when Hanson’s North Carolina brigade (of which I was then a member) was en route to Drury’s Bluff from Malvern Hill, we came upon some Virginians encamped upon the Richmond and Petersburg turnpike about two miles from Manchester. There began at once the usual running fire of wit and sarcasm between the troops of the two States. As we were approaching the Virginians, I noticed a big, burly, dark-visaged Lieutenant step out before his companions, as though he was to be the champion of their side. He was of so dark a complexion as to indicate descent from Pocahontas or of some one else not belonging to the Caucasian race. The wink was given to our “acknowledged wit ” and he moved over to the side next to the Virginians. The dark-visaged Lieutenant noticed the movement and at once accosted “old Stonewall,” the name by which our wag was known.

Lieutenant. ” Halloo, Tarheel, did you know that Tar River was burnt up.”

Stonewall. “No I did’nt, boss, is it true?”

Lieutenant. ” Oh yes, I was there and saw it burn up.”

Stonewall. ” Well, I am afraid it is too true, for your face looks badly smoked.”

The North Carolinians did not always get the best of the verbal encounter, however, as the next anecdote shows:

The following occurred December, 1864, when Hoke’s division was sent out on a reconnoissance upon the Darby Town road. Kirkland’s N. C. brigade (of as true metal as men are made of) was passing us to take position on our left, and greeted us with “Rice-birds,” “Sand-lappers!” “Hagood’s foot cavalry!” etc. One of our men cried out, “Go it, tar-heels!” This title the North Carolina troops were justly proud of, it having been given them at the battle of Manassas, where a general remarked, “That regiment of North-Carolinians must have tar on their heels to make them stick as they do.” To this retort of “Go it tar-heels!” one of Kirkland’s men replied: “Yes, we are tar-heels, and tar sticks;” and “Yes,” shouted back another of the South-Carolina rice-birds, “when the fire gets hot, the tar runs.”

Check out Brett’s list of the Top 10 Civil War Blogs!

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Glory and Tarheels

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It’s July, and that means it’s time for the 78th edition of the long running History Carnival here at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog!  We move from one Brett to another this month.

Historians’ Methodology and Academic History

We start this month’s carnival at Crooked Timber, where Michele Lamont discusses what constitutes quality among historians and how to recognize it.  Tenured Radical Claire Potter  takes exception to a recent New York Times article decrying the decline of “traditional” history classes on college campuses.  Historian Rachel Leow guides researchers on how to get the most out of newspapers as sources at A Historian’s Craft.

Interesting Individuals

Romeo Vitelli of Providentia discusses the strange and gruesome circumstances surrounding Jean Lanfray’s successful attempts to kill his wife and daughters. Despite heavy drinking throughout the day by Lanfray, the “Green Fairy” was singled out as the sole cause.  Elizabeth Kerri Mahon explains how “Scandalous Woman” Lizzie Siddal, Victorian supermodel, found that she couldn’t live with or without the love of her life Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  The lifelong friendship of deaf/blind Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan Macy is examined by Kim Nielsen at her eponymous blog.  She finds that contrary to what one would think, Macy relied more on Keller than the deaf/blind woman relied on Macy.

Military Individuals

The “Good Death” of Captain Charles W. Billings, Co. C., 20th Maine Volunteers, at Gettysburg in July, 1863 is examined in a four part blog series by David S. Heald at My Morbid Obsession.  Billings’ wife Ellen suffered much tragedy in her life, missing seeing her husband alive one last time by mere hours, and living long enough to bury all three of the couples’ children.  Meanwhile, at Soldier’s Mail: Letters Home 1916-1918, Sergeant Sam Avery of the 26^th “Yankee” Infantry Division in the A.E.F. writes home to his sister “Em” about the new men coming to relieve his outfit in France in June 1918.

Military History

Scott Manning produces sobering statistics regarding the Nazi Body Count in Europe at Digital Survivors.  Manning breaks down the deaths by country and by what groups of people were killed.  Former Civil War book publisher David Woodbury criticizes a recent Wall Street Journal article on “Seven Civil War Stories You Didn’t Learn in High School” and offers up his own, more interesting anecdotes from the war.  Civil War cavalry expert and prolific author Eric Wittenberg examines exactly which cavalry units were with Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg and how Lee utilized what was available to him in the absence of J.E.B. Stuart and several of the best cavalry brigades in the army.  Author Bob Thompson dissects the confused and confusing command structure of the Army of the Potomac…and how it led to the Union disaster at Cold Harbor.  He believes George Meade and Ulysses S. Grant should shoulder the lion’s share of the blame.  Brett Holman remarks on the possible effects and use of gas attacks on the British and by the British in World War 2 at Airminded.  British worries about desperate Nazi gas attacks turned out to be unfounded.

European History

Judith Weingarten tells the interesting tale of Lorenzo De’ Medici, Louis XI of France, and St. Zenobius’ magic ring at Zenobia: Empress of the East.  Philip Wilkinson of English Buildings describes the painting of St. Christopher, “Christ’s Strongman”, in the church of St Botolph’s, in Slapton, Northamptonshire.  The painting of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, is lined up facing the door to the church, and is the first thing a traveler sees upon entering.  Roy Booth at Early Modern Whale explores an early treatise on bee-keeping, where one would do well to remain sober and chaste while killing all of your bees before collecting the honey!

Miscellaneous: Reviews, Questions, and Pictures

Natalie Bennett reviews 428AD: An Ordinary Year At The End of the Roman Empire at Philobiblon.  Penny L. Richards has been investigating the use of wheelchairs at the Bronx Zoo in the 191os and wonders whether they were used for luxury or necessity at Disability Studies, Temple U.  If you have any information on this topic, let her know!  Last but not least, Tony L. Alexander gives readers a pictorial look at Nara, one of the ancient capitals of Japan at The Soul of Japan.

As for the 78th History Carnival, that’s all folks!  The next edition of the History Carnival should appear August 1 at History Today News.  Keep reading and keep blogging!

*****

Still here?  You might want to look over the Top 10 Gettysburg Books Civil War bloggers series, starting today and running through July 3 during the anniversary of the Civil War’s most famous battle.

Read many Civil War Book Reviews here at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog!

Check out Brett’s list of the Top 10 Civil War Blogs!

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History Carnival 78

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I’d like to announce an eventful first four days of July here at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog.  Events include the 78th History Carnival, a combined effort by Civil War bloggers to present a definitive Top 10 Civil War books on the Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg, and a free book giveaway on the Fourth of July to celebrate America’s Independence.  The following is a run-down of events in list format:

• July 1, 2009: The 78th Edition of the History Carnival goes live at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog.
• July 1, 2009: The Top 10 Gettysburg Books event officially gets underway with the Top 10 Gettysburg Books as chosen by Eric Wittenberg of Rantings of a Civil War Historian, Drew Wagenhoffer of Civil War Books and Authors, and John Hoptak of The 48th Pennsylvania Infantry/Civil War Musings
• July 2, 2009: The Top 10 Gettysburg Books event continues with the Top 10 Gettysburg Books as chosen by Harry Smeltzer of Bull Runnings, Craig Swain of To the Sound of the Guns, and Nick Kurtz of Battlefield Wanderings
• July 3, 2009: The Top 10 Gettysburg Books event winds to a conclusion with the Top 10 Gettysburg Books as chosen by Chris Wehner of Blog 4 History and Brett Schulte of TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog.  A final blog entry here at TOCWOC will tabulate the results and create a combined top 10 list for all of the Civil War bloggers participating.  A permanent page which will contain links to each blog entry and the final results has already been established and is only waiting for the posts to go live prior to being completed.
• July 4, 2009: A free book giveaway will occur to celebrate America’s independence from Great Britain.  Stay tuned for further details on the morning of July 4!

Check out Brett’s list of the Top 10 Civil War Blogs!

Read many Civil War Book Reviews here at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog!

Check out Brett’s Civil War Books!

Did you enjoy this blog entry?  Subscribe to TOCWOC’s RSS feed today!

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BIG News at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

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The 78th Edition of the long running History Carnival will be appearing at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog in only 5 days on July 1, 2009.  If you love history blogs, make sure you are on the lookout for excellent blog entries.  When you see one, nominate it for this edition of the Carnival prior to July 1 by either using the Contact Us form here at TOCWOC or by using the dedicated History Carnival nomination form.  I’m excited to host the next edition of the History Carnival.  Let’s make this a great entry in the series by sending in those nominations early and often!  Please spread the word via your blogs and/or Social Networking as well!

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Only 5 Days to Nominate Your Favorite History Posts for History Carnival 78!

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The 78th Edition of the long running History Carnival will be appearing at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog on July 1, 2009.  If you love history blogs, make sure you are on the lookout for excellent blog entries.  When you see one, nominate it for this edition of the Carnival prior to July 1 by either using the Contact Us form here at TOCWOC or by using the dedicated History Carnival nomination form.  I’m excited to host the next edition of the History Carnival.  Let’s make this a great entry in the series by sending in those nominations early and often!  Please spread the word via your blogs and/or Social Networking as well!

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Nominate Your Favorite Posts for History Carnival 78 Today!

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