TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Month: March 2010

  • Those Rainbow Trajectories

    Commentators on the rifle musket have made much of its so-called “rainbow” trajectory that made the rifle ball travel in a much higher arc than than today’s rifles due to its slow muzzle velocity. However, a lot of misunderstandings have also crept in. Most pundits seem to have looked at the illustration in Jack Coggins’ […]

  • Review: The Long Shadow of the Civil War: Southern Dissent and Its Legacies

    Bynum, Victoria E. The Long Shadow of the Civil War: Southern Dissent and Its Legacies. The University of North Carolina Press (2010). 240 pages, 9 illustrations, 1 map, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN: 978-0-8078-3381-0 $35.00 (Hardcover). Was the Lost Cause tradition of a “Solid South” a myth?  Author Victoria Bynum conclusively answers this question in the […]

  • More on Battle Ranges

    Last week I looked at a study by a serving US Army officer, Maj. Thomas Erhart, about the need for longer range infantry weapons in Afghanistan. While looking at some of the supporting material I came across a fascinating study the Army conducted in 1960 (once classified secret) that led directly to the introduction of […]

  • Col. G. F. R. Henderson on the Civil War

    We have had a lively discussion of my observations of the Civil War and landscape (comments welcome, as always), so I thought I’d take the opportunity to post some of the thoughts of Col. G.F.R. Henderson of the British Army, who wrote and lectured prolifically on the American Civil War, and is best remembered for […]

  • The Largest Civil War Reenactment on the Eastern Seaboard (Outside of Gettysburg)

    I was recently contacted about helping to spread the word about the 21st Annual Civil War Reenactment at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, PA on May 1-2, 2010.   The proceeds from the event go to the Civil War Preservation Trust, making this a very worthwhile event to attend.  Details follow: 21ST ANNUAL CIVIL WAR RE-ENACTMENT […]

  • Review: Chicago’s Irish Legion: The 90th Illinois Volunteers in the Civil War

    Swan, James B. Chicago’s Irish Legion: The 90th Illinois Volunteers in the Civil War. Southern Illinois University Press (2009). 306 pages, roster, notes, maps, bibliography, index. ISBN: 978-0-8093-2890-1 $32.95 (Hardcover). What was life like for western Irish volunteers in the American Civil War? Historian James B. Swan attempts to answer that question in Chicago’s Irish […]

  • Beyond the Crater Petersburg Campaign Progress Report: 3/08/2010

    BTC Petersburg Campaign progress reports are a way to keep readers informed about new changes to my Petersburg Campaign web site, especially new pages to explore which do not show up in the RSS Feed.  Look for these reports about once a month, sometimes more often, sometimes less often. It’s been about a month since […]