• Civil War Book Review: Petersburg to Appomattox: The End of the War in Virginia edited by Caroline E. Janney

    Janney, Caroline E. (ed) Petersburg to Appomattox: The End of the War in Virginia. (University of North Carolina Press: April 2018). 320 pages, 13 illustrations, 3 maps, notes, bibliography, index.  ISBN: 978-1-4696-4076-1. $35.00 (Cloth) Petersburg to Appomattox: The End of the War in Virginia marks yet another solid entry in the University of North Carolina […]

  • McFarland Book of the Week: The Union Cavalry and the Chickamauga Campaign

    The Union Cavalry and the Chickamauga Campaign by Dennis W. Belcher TOCWOC’s Take: Dennis Belcher is rapidly becoming known as an expert on the cavalry organizations and actions in Tennessee and Georgia.  In addition to an overview of the Army of the Cumberland’s cavalry throughout the war, he has also produced looks at the mounted men […]

  • Silent Sam Falls to Vandals

    Silent Sam, the memorial on the UNC campus to the Confederate common soldier, fell to vandals yesterday. I’ve mentioned earlier that it has drawn protests but this time the mostly white mob was serious. In an action carried out with paramilitary precision masked thugs shrouded the statue with banners, tied ropes on it, and pulled it […]

  • Civil War Magazine Review: Civil War Navy: The Magazine

    McQuarrie, Gary & Williams, Charles (eds.). Civil War Navy: The Magazine. (CSA Media, LLC). 64 pages, images, maps, notes.  ISSN: 978-1-61121-216-7. 1 year (4 issues): $24.99; 2 years (8 issues): $45.99 Fans of the naval portion of the American Civil War have a solid alternative to the many Civil War magazines out on the market […]

  • Civil War Book Review: Challenges of Command in the Civil War, Volume 1: Generals and Generalship

    Sommers, Richard. Challenges of Command in the Civil War: Generalship, Leadership, and Strategy at Gettysburg, Petersburg, and Beyond: Volume 1: Generals and Generalship. (Savas Beatie: May 2018). 288 pages, 80 images, 7 maps, 7 tables, notes, bibliography, index.  ISBN: 978-1-61121-432-1. $29.95 (Cloth) Richard Sommers returns to Savas Beatie, this time releasing the first of a […]

  • Her Majesty Takes a Shot

    It is the summer of 1860. The British government, rattled by a French invasion scare, seeks to train a sizable corps of volunteers armed with the new rifles, much as the Americans had done to them eight-five years earlier. To properly kick things off the queen herself pulls a silken cord and fires the first […]

  • James Burton and Firearms Design and Development

    Nice article on James Burton, who, as it says, was one of the most important and influential men in firearms design and development, especially regarding manufacture. An American, he also figures prominently in the Civil War. In April 1844, Burton took a job as a machinist at the Harpers Ferry Armory. Coincidentally, the B&O Railroad […]

Got any book recommendations?