Month: February 2013

  • Franklin’s Crossing Conclusion

    June 6-9 The Federal VI Corps troops were firmly established on the south bank of the Rappahannock by nightfall on the 5th. The assault troops were reinforced by BG Albion Howe’s 2nd Division 3rd Brigade*. On the morning of the 6th the Vermonters pushed out a strong skirmish line to meet a refreshed effort by […]

  • Lincoln’s Search for Generals

    I follow discussions at other blogs and on online civil war forums and again and again I have seen debate about the choices Lincoln made in picking generals.  I believe that the usual view of why some so-called ‘political’ generals were chosen is incomplete or misguided. While there was a political element to all the […]

  • Civil War Book Review: Fury on the Bliss Farm at Gettysburg

    Fury on the Bliss Farm at Gettysburg by John M. Archer Product Details Paperback: 80 pages Publisher: Ten Roads Publishing, LLC. (June 13, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0983721394 ISBN-13: 978-0983721390 Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.2 inches Starting July 4, 1863 and continuing until they died the participants wrote and talked about Gettysburg. The […]

  • The Death of Mad Minute Games

    As a playtester for Take Command: 2nd Manassas and one of the OOB creators on Scourge of War: Gettysburg, I knew some things about the Norb Timpko/Adam Bryant relationship I couldn’t really share with the public.  That relationship ended on a sour note with the dissolution of their war gaming company, Mad Minute Games, several […]

  • Why Bobby Lee Had More Men (and Lost More Men) Than Anyone Knew in 1864

    The Overland Campaign: War of Attrition? The standard story of the Overland Campaign is this: Grant had at least a 2:1 advantage over Lee in the Overland Campaign (and Early maintains a 3:1 advantage!) Grant could gain ample new recruits, Lee had no manpower reserves to draw on Grant doggedly used these advantages to grind […]

  • Franklin’s Crossing Part 2

    Engineers Lead the Way On arrival at the river the engineers found themselves alone. A glance across the Rappahannock revealed “a small fort” that was “strongly garrisoned by the Rebels.” Seeing just a small opposing force the Confederate pickets made sport of calling the over to invite the engineers to come over to enjoy the […]

  • Who Was C[harles] C. Ackels?: Help Needed!

    Recently Kathryn Lerch (who so generously donated a large number of items from her 8th New York Heavy Artillery collection to me for use on my Siege of Petersburg site) contacted me via email with a mystery: Brett, I decided I have exhausted my usual search lines on Ancestry and Fold3, and still keep coming […]