TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Watched Glory and parts of it several times before the holidays, AHC was pretty much showing it non-stop, which gives you time to dissect things more completely. Conclusion: made in 1989, it holds up pretty well, and I think it’s one of the best Civil War movies from Hollywood. It also got Denzel Washington into […]

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Capandball, whom we have met before, does a very nice video about light infantry jaegers in Central Europe. He is Hungarian, which was at the time part of the Austrian empire. As you will see, these old jaeger rifles were quite accurate but rather slow to load. He also discusses the theory of how and […]

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Several times in the past (here, here, here, and here) I have posted  about the movement of the Army of the Tennessee through Snake Creek Gap, Georgia in May 1864. In discussions about that event, I have often seen it said “if only Johnston had defended the gap”. The opposing armies returned to the area later […]

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Picking up where I left off a while back in Part 6… As the end of April approached, Grant became more focused on the main offensives in Virginia and Georgia. As a result his interest in the Red River campaign decreased and his frustration increased. Halleck, using his position as intermediary, pushed his own ideas. […]

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Continued from Part 5. In previous posts I wrote about Grant’s orders to Banks on March 15 and March 31, 1864.  Grant continued to be anxious about the situation in Louisiana so in mid April he sent another set of orders to Banks.  This time he tasked Gen. Hunter with hand delivering the message and […]

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Continued from Part 4. Grant’s first order to Banks reached him on March 26 at Alexandria, Louisiana, where the forces for the campaign had concentrated. Though delayed by the navy’s effort to get the boats over the rapids, Banks still hoped he could reach Shreveport around April 10 and return Sherman’s troops after that.1   […]

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Continued from Part 3. During the first week of March, 1864, Grant traveled from Nashville TN to Washington DC to meet President Lincoln for the first time. He was promoted to Lieutenant General on March 9th and the next day assigned to be general-in-chief of all US armies. He made a quick visit to the […]

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