TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Month: June 2012

  • Traffic Management & Snake Creek Gap

    A civil war army on the move uncoils and stretches out like a slinky.  The rougher the road, tighter the terrain and longer the march, the more attenuated the force becomes — “When these marches commenced, the men would be in regular military order, four abreast; but the first half-mile usually broke up all regularity.” […]

  • The Last Campaign of the War: Albert Stickney’s Unpublished Five Forks Manuscript

    Researcher and Petersburg author/editor Bryce Suderow is the gift that keeps on giving.  Bryce was kind enough to pass along to me the unpublished Five Forks manuscript of Albert Stickney.  The first two parts are available now at The Siege of Petersburg Online, with the last three parts appearing over the next three days. Who […]

  • The Other Western Siege – Port Hudson Part 3

    Cooperation Confusion By mid-March 1863 it was clear that Union forces had the opportunity to achieve one of the strategic stepping stones laid out by the war planners in Washington as a path to eventual victory; control of the Mississippi River. With the Confederate Navy a nonfactor only the land based defenses at Vicksburg and […]

  • June 2012 Civil War Book Notes

    Those that can’t write, Review! June 2012 James W. Durney *********************************************************** New books with June publication dates or in the stores Corinth 1862: Siege, Battle, Occupation by Timothy B. Smith will fill the void between Shiloh and Vicksburg. Corinth, critical to the Confederacy’s survival, was a major objective in the West. Smith brings considerable knowledge […]

  • The Other Western Siege – Port Hudson Part 2

    The Union Offensive Operations Begin The 1862 mid-term elections in the North were a disaster for Lincoln’s Republican party. The Republicans lost 23 seats in the House of Representative. The Democrats captured a majority of seats in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio and made gains in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The disaster prompted Indiana Governor Oliver […]

  • Morale and Willpower – thoughts on the low point of Jackson’s command in the Shenandoah Valley

    Since  it is the 150th anniversary of the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862, I am going to discuss a particular aspect of the campaign – the condition of Major General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s command at the end of April.  During the preceding weeks Major General Nathaniel Banks had advanced up the Shenandoah Valley as far […]

  • DE ARAGON, The Chronicle of a Confederate Surgeon – Part 10

    Author’s Note: This is the 10th installment on the series about Major Ramon T. de Aragon. In May, 1864, Federal General William T. Sherman launched his advance on Atlanta from Ringold, Georgia, just south of Chattanooga. Leonidas Polk’s corps, including Major De Aragon’s brigade, is summoned by Confederate Joseph E. Johnston to rejoin the Army […]