TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Hope everyone is having a fine day feasting with family and friends. Let’s take a moment to remember that it was  Abe Lincoln who proclaimed Thanksgiving to be a national holiday in 1863. The idea, however, came from a tireless agitator named Sarah Josepha Hale, whose other accomplishments included writing the children’s poem “Mary Had […]

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Henry Morton Stanley is best remembered for his role as an African explorer. His 1874-77 journey, charting the Congo river, started the Scramble for Africa. Before Stanley, the white man had been largely content to nibble at the edges, staking little more than ports such as Freetown, Cape Town and Mombasa. After Stanley, the white […]

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Rob Neufeld has posted the third part of the series on the Tom Dula saga, detailing the role of his chief defense council, former NC governor Zebulon Vance. Neufeld begins by stating that Vance himself had run afoul of the Yankee government. On May 13, 1865, Federal General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick had Vance arrested at […]

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Will Ronald Reagan replace US Grant on the fifty dollar bill? A US Representative right here in NC, Patrick McHenry, thinks so: “Every generation needs its own heroes,” McHenry said in a written statement. “One decade into the 21st century, it’s time to honor the last great president of the 20th and give President Reagan […]

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Following up on my post about the recent Dahlgren bio, an excellent dissection on HistoryNet about the authenticity of the papers found on that officer’s body: It can be accepted then that the authenticity of the Dahlgren papers is established beyond a doubt. There is not the least scrap of credible evidence for their forgery. […]

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The remnants of a blockade runner have come to light in Tampa, Florida. Chief researcher John William Morris said the dimensions of the wreck are within inches of that of the Scottish Chief, and it’s in a spot where the vessel was believed abandoned by Confederate troops after Tampa’s one and only Civil War skirmish. […]

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I came across this reminiscence of an infantry attack and thought I’d post it as it’s one of the best descriptions I’ve seen not only of the tactics but of the feelings of the men making it. The attack appears to be part of the battle of Hatcher’s Run (5-7 February, 1865). I’ve been unable […]

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