TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Wittenberg, Eric J. Like a Meteor Blazing Brightly: The Short But Controversial Life of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren. Edinborough Press (August 1, 2009). 318 pages, 7 maps, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN: 978-1-889020-33-4 $29.95 (Hardcover). Young Ulric Dahlgren, like his father Admiral John Dahlgren, had a burning ambition to rise as high as his many talents […]

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What were the consequences of the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren raid? In operational terms, not much. Casualties were minimal and the raid accomplished little. The indirect consequences, however, were important. For one, it convinced the Confederates to strengthen Richmond’s defenses and move their POWs away from the capital, thus removing a tempting target for raids. The biggest fallout […]

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Eric Wittenberg scored a coup in Like A Meteor Blazing Brightly by finding a letter from former Confederate John Mosby about meeting Col. Isaac Wistar after the war. Wistar confirmed to Mosby the truth of the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren’s raid’s purpose—assassination—which he’d heard from Judson Kilpatrick himself. Wistar also claimed to have been ordered to do the […]

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Like a Meteor Blazing Brightly: The Short but Controversial Life of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren by Eric Wittenberg Edinborough Press, Roseville, MN ISBN-10: 1889020338 ISBN-13: 978-1889020334 August 1, 2009 Hardcover, 6×9”, 288 pages, $29.95 The Kilpatrick-Dahlgren cavalry raid, aimed at Richmond in the early months of 1864, continues to fascinate historians and provoke controversy. Although ostensibly […]

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