74 Pages
Cover Story
Capital Defense…..28
by Marc Leepson
When Rebel flags were in clear view from Washington, a ring of Union forts proved the best offense was a good defense.
The vulnerability of Washington, D.C. to Confederate attack was seen early in the war. George McClellan appointed Engineer George Barnard to the job of constructing forts around the city. He did so while ignoring the property rights of individuals, seizing and removing houses and other impediments to the defense of the city. By 1864 there were 68 forts and 100 open artillery batteries in a 37-mile-long string of defenses around the city. They helped to prevent Jubal Early from taking Washington in July 1864.
Features
Unfriendly Fire…..36
by Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White
Did James Longstreet’s Wilderness wounding kill the Confederacy?
In a scene eerily reminiscent to Stonewall Jackson’s wounding at the hands of his own men a year earlier, James Longstreet was severely hurt by friendly fire in the Wilderness on May 6, 1864, as he was leading a successful flank attack on the Union lines. The same volley killed Brigadier General Micah Jenkins. Interestingly, Longstreet’s wounding has received scant attention when compared to that of Stonewall Jackson. The authors concluded that Longstreet’s wounding had a severely negative effect on the Army of Northern Virginia until he returned.
A Man of Constant Sorrow…..44
Longstreet’s life was full of drama; the war was just one scene.
A two page spread details the many troubles plaguing Longstreet’s life, from his feud with A.P. Hill and the death of his three youngest children in 1862 to the 1889 fire which destroyed his home and through all of the criticism leveled at him by his former Confederate brothers in arms.
Tent Pups…..46
Those little bundles of fur often proved to be a soldier’s best friend.
Pictures of dogs in camp with the soldiers are presented in this pictorial piece.
Mapping Out a Total War Strategy…..52
by Earl McElfresh
Sherman’s cartographers chart the way to conquering Georgia.
The Army of the Cumberland’s mapping unit, led by Orlando Poe and containing men such as Ambrose Bierce, was the best in the entire war. William Tecumseh Sherman used his mapmakers to his advantage in the Atlanta Campaign and his March to the Sea in 1864.
Has General Garnett been Found?…..60
by Robert K. Krick
Everybody knew his Gettysburg story. Hardly anybody knew his face.
No known photograph of General Richard Brooke Garnett has been found, until now…possibly. Robert K. Krick goes over the evidence, which seems to point toward a newly discovered photograph in Maryland with “Gen Garnett” written on the back as a likeness of the elusive Garnett. He also compares it to a picture of Garnett’s half-Sioux son Billy Garnett. While Krick is not 100% positive this is Garnett, he says the evidence for that case is “intriguing”.
Departments
Letters…..6
Open Fire!…..11
Civil War News and History
In October of 2008, the remains of a soldier surmised to be from a New York Regiment were uncovered at Antietam National Battlefield.
Historians and preservationists continue to fight against a Super Wal-Mart planned for the Wilderness Battlefield.
The nation’s oldest Civil War monument, a tribute to the 32nd Indiana’s fallen at the Battle of Rowlett’s Station in on December 17, 1861, has seriously eroded over the years and is now being restored.
Ford’s Theater has undergone an intense restoration process since 2007, and is again open to the public.
Pamplin Historical Park near Petersburg, Virginia has decided to remain open to the public after having previously closed to all but private tours.
Civil War reenactors may march on the Iowa Capitol to ensure the proper preservation of Iowa’s Civil War flags.
Five Questions…..18
Robert K. Krick: Chronicler of Robert E. Lee’s army.
This interview with renowned Army of Northern Virginia historian Robert K. Krick covers the origins of his Civil War interest, his opinion on the proposed Wal-Mart in the Wilderness, and his upcoming and current book projects.
Anecdotes, Legends & Lies…..21
by Ron Soodalter
Murder with a vengeance: John Yates Beall, John Wilkes Booth and the killing of a president.
Ron Soodalter retells the legend that Booth kiled Lincoln because Lincoln had his friend John Yates Beall as a spy. The major problem with this story, relates Soodalter, was that zero proof exists of any supposed friendship between the two men.
The Gathering Storm…..25
by Parke Pierson
A slave’s special delivery.
Henry “Box” Brown took an unusual route to freedom. He mailed himself in a box to abolitionist James Miller McKim in Philadelphia in March 1849.
Prologue…..27
A picture of a cat curled up next to a standing soldier in a photograph.
Reviews…..65
1. Heroes and Cowards: The Social Face of War by Dora L. Costa and Matthew E. Kahn
2. Confederate Ironclad vs. Union Ironclad: Hampton Roads 1862 by Ron Field
3. The Rebel and the Rose: James A. Semple, Julia Gardiner Tyler, and the Lost Confederate Gold by Welsey Millett and Gerald White
4. Cleburne: A Graphic Novel by Justin S. Murphy
5. Decision in the Heartland: The Civil War in the West by Steven E. Woodworth
6. Brandy Station 1863:First Step Towards Gettysburg by Dan Beattie
Smeltzer’s Six-Pack
1. Custer and the Front Royal Executions of 1864 by Jay W. Simson
2. Victims: A True Story of the Civil War by Philip Shaw Paludan
3. I’ll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War by Anita Silvey
4. The Golden Book of the Civil War
5. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War by H.W. Crocker III
6. Don’t Know Much About the Civil War by Kenneth C. Davis
Lincoln Lit
1. Lincoln and His Admirals by Craig L. Symonds
Silver Screen
1. Cold Mountain (2003) directed by Anthony Minghella
Struck!…..74
A memento from the pit of hell.
A picture of a bullet or shrapnel damaged musket barrel from a Model 1842 .69-caliber smoothbore musket which was recovered from the Crater (July 30, 1864) reminds readers just how awful that battle was.
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