TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Month: January 2011

  • The Civil War 150 Years Ago: January 1861

    The Civil War 150 Years Ago January 1861 by James W. Durney America is on a slippery slope as the New Year starts.  Each day brings news of secession or states taking over Federal installations. During the first week of January, President Buchanan refuses to accept a letter from the South Carolina commissioners and orders […]

  • Citadel Cadets Fire on Star of the West

    Not really, although they did 150 years ago. CHARLESTON, S.C. – Gray-clad cadets from South Carolina’s historic military college fired cannons Saturday on a barren, wind-swept island on Charleston Harbor to re-enact the 150th anniversary of a key episode leading up to the Civil War. The event recalled what some consider the first shots of […]

  • Civil War Book Review: The Rashness of That Hour by Robert Wynstra

    The Rashness of That Hour: Politics, Gettysburg, and the Downfall of Confederate Brigadier General Alfred Iverson by Robert J. Wynstra 6×9, 360 pages, hardback, $32.95 32 photos, 6 maps ISBN 9781932714883 Savas Beatie, December 2010 The “banners and bugles” regimental history has fallen out of favor lately in favor of a more socially oriented narrative […]

  • Was it Really John Wilkes Booth?

    Just watched part of a History Channel show that taps into the article I posted on previously about whether it was really John Wilkes Booth who was shot by Union cavalry. I will summarize it so you won’t have to watch. The man , so ’tis said, was actually James William Boyd, a former Confederate […]

  • Help a Fellow Civil War Buff Find His Ancestor

    UPDATE: Mr. Short’s ancestor was paroled in April 1865, not 1864 as was posted originally. TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog reader John Short recently sent us the following email: Hi – in the midst of an ever-expanding geneaology project, I’ve discovered that one of my ancestors was a POW at Andersonville.  Isaac Bobb (OH) […]

  • Short Takes

    I’ve been extremely busy with several projects which hasn’t left much time to blog, even though I have a lot of material. Thanks to co-bloggers for keeping the flame burning here at TOCWOC. Talked to an FSU history professor at a party over the holidays, a woman of about thirty. What was most interesting was […]

  • January 2011 Civil War Book Notes

    Those that can’t write, Review! January 2011 James W. Durney *********************************************************** My “to read” list I am reading Slavery and the Supreme Court, 1825-1861 by Earl M. Maltz.  This is a look at how the Supreme Court looked at slavery in the years leading up to the war.  Unlike most books on legal history, this […]