TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Brett’s post last month on the new book by Frank Varney inspired me to write this post. In my view, the standard conclusion about the Battle of Iuka is wrong, but not in the way Varney would like. I agree that the winner of the battle has been unjustly overlooked, but its not Rosecrans that […]

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A few days ago I wrote about the ‘Ewell Option ‘ — a plan for General Richard Ewell to strike at US forces in northern Virginia in April or May 1862 — and how instead Ewell decided to stick with Stonewall Jackson and support his efforts in the Shenandoah Valley. The resulting campaign became famous and […]

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We have a tendency to view history as if through a rear view mirror, looking back along the path taken and framing what happened by how it turned out.  Since we know that in May and June of 1862 General Thomas Stonewall Jackson led a famous campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, the events leading up […]

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Hess, Earl J. Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign. (The University of North Carolina Press, April 22, 2013). 344 pages, 25 illustrations, 21 maps, 1 table, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN: 978-1-4696-0211-0 $35.00 (Cloth). Why did William T. Sherman decide to attack one of the most strongly fortified and imposing positions the Confederates held […]

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April 1863 did not go well for Confederate General Richard Taylor.  At the beginning of the month he had hoped to take the initiative against US forces in lower Louisiana; but by end of the month he was struggling to hold together his broken army after having lost the initiative, lost half his fleet, and […]

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On April 14th 1863, 150 years ago this week, a naval battle occurred in the Atchafalaya Basin that could have had a big impact on the war; but instead of a dramatic showdown, it turned into a turkey shoot. ———————————————————————————————- In the beginning of 1863 Confederate naval forces in the Gulf Coast region enjoyed a […]

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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 […]

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