TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

On December 7, 1861, Blackford wrote his father a rather pessimistic letter about the state of Confederate leadership. He is at his pithy best here when he evaluates his division commander, Earl Van Dorn. By the way our Maj. Gen. [Van Dorn] is a sad example of what effect too rapid a rise in the […]

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Mention “Sheridan’s Ride” to a Civil War buff and they’ll inevitably think of Sheridan furiously riding the ten miles back to his retreating army at the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864, rallying his army and saving the day.  It’s what I thought of when I ran across a poem entitled “Sheridan’s Ride” […]

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Editor’s Note: This post was originally posted at The Siege of Petersburg Online and has been cross-posted here for the benefit of TOCWOC readers. *** July 19, 1864: William F. “Baldy” Smith is Relieved from Command of 18th Corps, AotJ Today marks the 150th anniversary of William F. “Baldy” Smith’s removal from command of the […]

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One hundred and fifty years ago today the bloody battle of the Wilderness was over and the even bloodier battle of Spotsylvania Court House just beginning. One of those who fell this day was was the commander of the Union Sixth Corps, Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick. Here’s an article that I wrote about the incident […]

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Hood, Stephen M. John Bell Hood: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of a Confederate General (Savas Beatie, 2013). 384 pages, illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography. ISBN: 978-1-61121-140-5 $32.95 (Hardcover). Note: Also available in Kindle format. Note: The author, Stephen Hood, is nicknamed “Sam” Hood, as was General John Bell Hood.  For purposes of clarity, this review […]

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Previously I wrote about who really won the battle of Iuka. This time I am going to dig deeper into Rosecrans’ performance at that battle. Attention has often been deflected from Rosecrans by questions about where Grant and Ord were during the battle. A lot of ink has been spilled about ‘acoustic shadows’, mis-communication or […]

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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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