TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

I came across some letters from a Georgia sharpshooter, Milton Barrett, in The Confederacy Is on Her Way Up the Spout, published in 1992 by University of Georgia Press. This is how I’ve gotten a lot of my information, by going through the letters and diaries of men like Barrett. Since most sharpshooters were detailed […]

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Nope, not the Confederate general but his namesake ferry across the Potomac at White’s Ford. For the last few years the ferry has been in a more or less continuous battle with the Coast Guard over its non-compliance with some regulations or other. So far the ferry Jubal Early, true to its namesake and ever […]

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I use Google a lot, both for searches and for research on Civil War topics. Google book search is now an immense and impressive repository of 19th Century books, including a great many on military matters. I’ve found some very scarce regimentals as well as many books on rifles. The other big advantage of the […]

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Ran across a privately published book about the shadowy 1st New York Sharpshooters. I’ve come across references to this unit but was unable to come with much information about it. Now John Bennett has done it for me, tracking down the sometimes tangled history of this unit in the first book about it. Originally intended […]

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The US Army Center of Military History has a number of military history materials available on line, including sections on wars ranging from the Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terror. TOCWOC readers will want to look at the Civil War section, which has a number of the excellent Army “Staff Ride” guides used […]

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Now this sounds like an interesting tour. Might be even better if they included something stronger than water, and perhaps a period condom. Beats having to tote that Enfield around. “Hard Liquor and Women” – How Off-Duty Soldiers Amused Themselves During the Siege of Petersburg At 11:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, […]

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Rev. James K. Hosmer left an excellent account of his meeting with a famous Rebel sharpshooter, dubbed “Old Thousand Yards” for his shooting ability. Hosmer, then a corporal, served with Co. D, 52nd Massachusetts, a nine-months outfit, and his description comes to us from the siege of Port Hudson. Also worthy of note are his […]

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