TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Month: September 2013

  • First Battle of Deep Bottom – Part V

    July 27 (0800-2400) Once across the river Hancock assembled his forces behind “a belt of timber “in Strawberry Plains. At dawn First and Third Divisions threw out skirmishers across the Malvern Hill road. On the right MG Greshom Mott deployed the 99th and 110th Pennsylvania with the 40th New York extending the line as flankers […]

  • Short Takes from the Web

    Why didn’t people smile in those old CW-era photos? Robinson Meyer gives some reasons, I can add a few more. First, it was a serious age. Young men grew beards to look older as soon as they could, quite unlike today when we have men in their 50s who try to look and act like […]

  • First Battle of Deep Bottom – Part IV

    July 27th (2400-0800) While Foster conducted his isolated fight to preserve the bridgehead Hancock began his move. His orders were to cross the Appomattox at dark and proceed to Deep Bottom. After crossing that river he was to travel by side roads “so that the cavalry, which was crossing at Broadway Landing, might have an […]

  • A Critical Review of Osprey Publishing’s “Shenandoah Valley 1862”

    To successfully describe the 1862 Shenandoah Valley campaign can be a challenge because the campaign was so dynamic. Osprey Publishing recently released a new book on the campaign, “Shenandoah Valley 1862”, and unfortunately it fails to meet the challenge. The following are some examples of why it falls short. Maps are a great way to […]

  • First Battle of Deep Bottom – Part III

    July 25-26th Kershaw responding to Lee’s call for aggressive action increased the pressure on the Union bridgehead. As a result the opposing sides conducted a series of back and forth forays for control of the batteries and road network. On the 25th a position gained and held by the 11th Maine was turned over to […]

  • The Road Not Taken

    After musing on the battle of Mansfield in my previous post, I come to the question of whether Banks was on the wrong road. The basics of the situation are this: by the first week of April 1864 U.S. forces had advanced as far as Grand Ecore and Natchitoches; it was about 75 miles further […]

  • First Battle of Deep Bottom – Part II

    Making Plans With the basic roles of the campaign determined (Grant-offense; Lee-defense) the commanders had to create the means to accomplish their goals. Frustrated by the lack of progress in front of Petersburg, Grant decided to make use of his two brigade bridgehead. He was determined to turn it into a base for a thrust […]