Charges Dropped for Durham Confederate Statue vandals

by Fred Ray February 24, 2018

The Durham DA has dropped all charges for the remaining vandals who pulled down a Confederate statue. District Attorney Roger Echols did not take questions after a terse statement in which he essentially said it did not make sense to pursue charges against the remaining suspects given that District Court Judge Frederick S. Battaglia Jr. […]

Read the full article →

Cotton Pickin’ and Black Geography

by Fred Ray February 18, 2018

Two recent articles are worth a look, one on the changing geography of Black America and another on how mechanization took over cotton farming. Mona Chalabi maps black populations in the US for the last 118 years, but unfortunately does not go back to the 1850s. However, the distribution in 1900 was probably not that […]

Read the full article →

Short Takes

by Fred Ray February 4, 2018

What is old is new again. Who would have thought that John C. Calhoun, in spite of having his named purged from a school, would be the most influential thinker in the liberal West? Yet nullification (okay, they call it resistance) and even secession (Calexit) are the issues of the day. It even extends to […]

Read the full article →

Finding the Clotilda, America’s Last Slave Ship

by Fred Ray January 27, 2018

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 […]

Read the full article →

Shooting the Sharps Rifle

by Fred Ray January 17, 2018

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 […]

Read the full article →

Historical Cleansing Update

by Fred Ray January 13, 2018

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 […]

Read the full article →

Some Fun With An Original P56 Enfield

by Fred Ray December 29, 2017

Wonder why the Confederate sharpshooters (and I mean here the light infantry battalions) were so feared? Cap and Ball will show you with an original P56 two-band Enfield rifle, which shoots very well indeed. And, he’s in the correct uniform.

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →