TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

If you haven’t been to the Cedar Creek re-enactment I recommend you go. It’s one of the largest, maybe the largest re-enactment of the year, and at least on the occasions I’ve been there it’s been very well conducted. This year was different, however. In normal years, taps would be played and each side would […]

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Eugene Blackford is a fascinating character and it’s easy to get drawn into his life. I’m currently publishing his wartime letters, but I’m not the only one who’s interested in him. Here’s someone else, Jared Fuoss, who followed him also, with an emphasis on Gettysburg where he is a seasonal ranger. Studying at Gettysburg College […]

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I mentioned earlier that a group of vandals had pulled down a statue of a Confederate soldier in Durham. The good news is that the local sheriff has taken it seriously, arresting one woman a few days ago. Yesterday more people turned themselves in to face felony charges, bringing the total to eight. They of […]

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Today, July 3rd, was the climatic end to the battle of Gettysburg as Lee’s grand attack failed. Re-enactors will be there for the 154th anniversary, one of the largest events of its kind. Rain or shine, the battle went on, and it poured on them for a short time, but then, the sun came out […]

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Better late than, you know…. the Pennsylvania Patriot & Union retracts an 1863 editorial panning the Gettysburg Address. Most of us would love to own a real Civil War cannon, but it’s probably still ill-advised to fire it at your neighbor, even if it’s only loaded with wadding. Dr. Howard Markel at PBS takes a […]

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Some videos that might interest TOCWOC readers: Watch an Australian re-enactor of the Napoleonic-era 95th Rifles fire a Baker rifle in sustained fire. He manages quite a respectable rate of fire, especially for a flintlock. It’s easy to see how the 95th established the superiority of the rifle on the skirmish line. The same lads […]

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An AP article on women re-enactors: With her breasts tightly bound, shoulder-length red hair tucked under a shaggy auburn wig and upper lip hidden by a drooping mustache, Henry impersonates Lt. Harry T. Buford, a real-life Confederate soldier. The impression could hardly be more accurate since Buford, too, was a woman. He was invented by […]

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