Month: August 2012

  • Siege of Suffolk Part 3

    Union Guns Strike Back The day long duel between the Union boats and the Confederate gunners did not escape the attention of the Union army commander on the scene. Observing the fight from the east shore, BG George W. Getty decided to place some batteries of his own. He “immediately sent for guns and troops” […]

  • Red River 2.0: Canby tries to revive the campaign

    Books about the 1864 Red River campaign typically end in late May, when U.S. forces reached the Mississippi.  But there was a final act.  The following is the epilogue missing from existing campaign books… Since the beginning of the campaign, Gen. Grant had felt uneasy about Gen. Banks and about the fractured command structure along […]

  • Siege of Suffolk Part 2

    Faceoff at Suffolk The object of operations for both sides became the transportation hub city of Suffolk, Virginia. The city fell into Union hands when the Confederates evacuated Norfolk in May of 1862 but it had remained a military backwater until September of that year. As McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign played itself out the area became […]

  • Civil War Book Review: The Revolution of 1861: The American Civil War in the Age of Nationalist Conflict

    The Revolution of 1861: The American Civil War in the Age of Nationalist Conflict by Andre M. Fleche Product Details Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (March 1, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0807835234 ISBN-13: 978-0807835234 The American Civil War as part of a worldwide movement. We like to think of “OUR” […]

  • Book Alert

    Just a heads up to various TOCWOC readers – bookseller Edward R. Hamilton has a lot of remaindered and discontinued books of all kinds, but they have an excellent selection of Civil War books. Nice folks to deal with, shipping is prompt and reasonable. Some examples: STAFF OFFICERS IN GRAY: A Biographical Register of the […]

  • Siege of Suffolk Part 1

    Suffolk – Introduction Following the overwhelming Confederate victory at Fredericksburg in December of 1862 the primary Union army, the Army of the Potomac, fell into disarray and ceased to pose an immediate threat. Robert E. Lee took advantage of this respite to address another challenge by Federal forces. The growing number of Union troops and […]

  • Blunder Wonders

    Blunder Wonders By Jack McGuire I often wonder about the men, Union and Confederate who fought so valiantly for their beliefs under some of the harshest conditions imaginable.   At times plowing headlong across open fields into each other knowing full well a simple leg wound could mean the loss of life or limb.   How the […]