TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Some time ago I put up a post about a letter I have from a Union soldier who mentions Indian sharpshooters at the battle of Olustee, and also mentions them as bushwhackers. The most desperate enemy that we have to contend with here is the Florida Indians, who have organized themselves into roving bands of […]

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Which brigade was the best brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia? So, which brigade deserves that title?  I’m keeping the definition of “best” purposefully vague.  Use the criteria which you think define “best” to make one, and only one vote below.  I’ve got an agenda here, I’ll freely admit.  I want to see what […]

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Last month I wrote a bit about the Massachusetts Militia before the war.  That led me to think about the response of Massachusetts at the start of the war 152 years ago this week. Years later chroniclers of the Massachusetts militia boasted of their impact:  “To the fact that Massachusetts for years had maintained a […]

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On September 18, 1861 roughly 850 men were mustered in as the 50th New York Infantry (later 50th NY engineers) and ordered to Washington without arms. The trip to the capital began with train ride to New York City. Arriving there on the 21st they were marched to the Battery where they made camp. Their […]

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Bridging the James River was a monumental task and its successful completion led to much disagreement over who was responsible for it. Both the Regular Battalion and the volunteers sought to claim the bulk of the work. LTC Spaulding, reporting for the volunteers, claims that he arrived at 8:00 a.m. on June 14, 1864 to […]

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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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Last time I introduced a 1902 New Orleans newspaper series on the Donaldsonville LA Artillery at the Siege of Petersburg.  John Hennessy is again responsible for sending along a great newspaper series on a unit at the Siege of Petersburg, this time the 140th Pennsylvania, a Second Corps regiment which saw a lot of action, so […]

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