Bethel Place in Columbia, Tenn.                Like this blog on Facebook | Follow me on Twitter | My YouTube videos Saturday’s history adventure begins in the farm office of my early 80ish pal Campbell Ridley, a quasi-town historian of Columbia, Tenn., aficiando of Arby’s jamocha milkshakes and master of playful cats named Marco and Polo. Ridley, a descendant of Confederate Brig. Gen. Gideon Pillow, has a delightful sense of humor that he deploys liberally with friends, family and assorted hangers-on. Exhibit 1: A sig ..read more

On Episode 18 of "The Antietam And Beyond Podcast," Antietam On The Web creator Brian Downey talks with co-hosts John Banks and Tom McMillan about his remarkable web site on the battle. Downey's longtime labor of love features bios and roughly 2,000 photos of soldiers who fought at Antietam, a searchable database, battle maps, a blog and much more ..read more

In a freewheeling Episode 17 of "The Antietam And Beyond Podcast," co-hosts and published authors John Banks and Tom McMillan talk about approaches to writing about history, Confederate Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead at Antietam, what motivates them to return to the battlefield again and again and much more ..read more

                  Like this blog on Facebook | Follow me on Twitter | My YouTube videos The humidity was, like, a billion percent Sunday afternoon here in Middle Tennessee, so naturally I travelled roughly an hour from Nashville to Clarksville for a tattoo of Mrs. B on my forearm at Love Blood Ink (kidding) and a launching of my drone at Fort Defiance. "Fly" Williams Over the past year, I’ve examined impressive earthworks at Rocky Face Ridge, Ga., Petersburg, Va., Kennesaw Mountain, Ga., and points in betwee ..read more

On Episode 16 of "The Antietam And Beyond Podcast," Gettysburg licensed battlefield guide Larry Korczyk talks with co-hosts John Banks and Tom McMillan about the many ties between the battles at Gettysburg and Antietam. Plus, we have a brief discussion of Korczyk's real gig (think Robert DeNiro movie), talk about following in the footsteps of A.P. Hill from Harpers Ferry to Sharpsburg and much more. Korczyk co-authored Top Ten at Gettysburg, published March 2017. Since 2002, he has reenacted with the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry Volunteers, acting as company commander. A longstanding member of ..read more

"Turner Ashby" rests in his "coffin" where the real Turner Ashby lay in 1862.                  Like this blog on Facebook | Follow me on Twitter | My YouTube videos So en route to Nashville last April, I passed through the Shenandoah Valley on I-81 — “The Devil’s Highway” and a route that seems like a magnet for every tailgater and ornery driver in the United States.  Along the way, I made a pit stop in tiny Port Republic, Va., to score a “witness tree pen” and a tour from my friend Aaron of the Frank Kemper ..read more

..read more

In Episode 15 of "The Antietam And Beyond Podcast," renowned Antietam historian Dennis Frye and Troy Cool talk with podcast co-host John Banks about their historic properties near the Antietam battlefield. (Podcast co-host Tom McMillan is on vacation.) Frye's house served as Ambrose Burnside's headquarters in the battle's aftermath, and in early October 1862, President Lincoln visited the general there. Cool and his wife, Emily, live in a historic house on a farm that served as a major hospital site for the Union Army's Ninth Corps. On Sept. 15, 1862, two days before the battle, the Ninth Co ..read more

A couple takes a selfie with kids at the confluence of Duck and Little Duck rivers. Alas, they didn’t know of the site of the Confederate gunpowder works.                 Like this blog on Facebook | Follow me on Twitter | My YouTube videos After a wonderful bike ride through the wilds of Middle Tennessee, I did what many (bored) Americans do on a beautiful Saturday: traveled an hour from Nashville to Manchester, Tenn., in search of the site of Confederate gunpowder works deep in the woods near the fork of the Duc ..read more

Sharpshooter Lewis Branscomb, an Alabaman, suffered a mortal wound in the yard of this house.                 Like this blog on Facebook | Follow me on Twitter | My YouTube videos Each morning during my stay in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., I walked a short distance over the hill from the inn on Washington Street once owned by Robert E. Lee’s father, “Light Horse” Harry Lee, and on into the heart of town. I walked past this house every day during a three-day stay in Harpers Ferry. Along the way, I passed two Civi ..read more