Emerging Civil War
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Emerging Civil War serves as a public history-oriented platform for sharing original scholarship related to the American Civil War. Follow this blog for original and free content for civil war scholars, historians, and enthusiasts!
Emerging Civil War
14h ago
My Dearest Lilla: Letters Home From Civil War General Jacob D. Cox. Edited by Gene Schmiel. Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press, 2023. Paperback, 260 pp. $ 34.95.
Reviewed by Joseph D. Ricci
Over the last decade, Gene Schmiel has contributed greatly to the understanding of one of the Civil War’s most overlooked figures, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jacob D. Cox. My Dearest Lilla, the latest addition to Schmiel’s catalog of works pertaining to Cox, peels back yet another layer to one of the war’s most fascinating participants. Throughout his life Cox was a student, soldier, statesman, educa ..read more
Emerging Civil War
20h ago
Decisions of the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign: The Sixteen Critical Decisions that Defined the Operation. By Robert G. Tanner. Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press, 2023. Softcover, 160 pp. $29.95.
Reviewed by Doug Crenshaw
With the publication of Decisions of the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign: Sixteen Critical Decisions that Defined the Operation, historian Robert G. Tanner offers a welcomed addition to The University of Tennessee Press’s “Decisions” series. These works study many of the campaigns of the Civil War, analyzing the situations, options, and decisions that shaped ..read more
Emerging Civil War
1d ago
Recently, ECW has been getting a number of inquiries about writing for us. As Chair of the Editorial Board, I wanted to take a moment to address some frequently asked questions! We’re always excited to hear from either established or new writers who are looking for a place to showcase their unique work.
First, be sure to read our submission guidelines here: https://emergingcivilwar.com/mission-statement/submission-guidelines/. This will have all the information you need, especially the “For the Blog” and “To Be Considered for Authorship” categories.
Here’s a few specific notes I want to highl ..read more
Emerging Civil War
1d ago
Mary Day Brown’s Headstone at Madronia Cemetery in Saratoga, CA
(Photo by Tonya McQuade)
What’s a wife to do after her husband is hanged for treason?
In Part I of this post, I provided some background information about Mary Day Brown, the widowed wife of famed abolitionist John Brown, and what prompted her move to California with her surviving family members in September 1864. Here, I pick up the tale of her life after she settled in Saratoga, California – a small town with a population at the time of about 300 on the western edge of Santa Clara County, about fifty miles south of San Fr ..read more
Emerging Civil War
3d ago
Mary Ann Brown with Annie (left) and Sarah (right) about 1851
Library of Congress
What’s a wife to do after her husband is hanged for treason?
Much has been written about the abolitionist work of John Brown, the part he played in the “Bleeding Kansas” border wars, and his disastrous raid on Harpers Ferry. His prophetic dying words anticipated the bloodshed of the Civil War, and his hanging outside of Charles Town, Virginia, and later burial in North Elba, New York, both sparked big headlines and drew large crowds.
Far less has been written about John Brown’s wife, Mary, and how she and his su ..read more
Emerging Civil War
3d ago
To the Confederate prisoners of war held at Fort Delaware, Emily Blackiston was a godsend. “Every week,” remembered Emily’s daughter Kate, Emily visited the prisoners “with food and clothes, and these were sent or given to the prisoners, for theirs was the greatest need.” During one of her visits, the post commander, Colonel Henry Burton, asked Emily, “You want to see Claggett Fitzhugh?” Emily, a friend of Fitzhugh’s, said she did. Burton ordered the prisoner to be brought to Emily. While waiting, Burton described the prisoner’s condition to Emily: “This young man is in a damp cell in solitary ..read more
Emerging Civil War
3d ago
John B. Gordon
Doing some work on an Overland Campaign project this past weekend, I was once again reminded why I find John Brown Gordon’s memoirs so entertaining. His writing style is so over the top, nearly breathless in its sweeping delivery, that I can’t help but chuckle. “Hyperbole” doesn’t seem big enough to do it justice. Kris White and I always joke that Gordon is always about to not only sweep the Yankees from the field but then capture Washington, defeat Hitler’s panzer divisions, and take Moscow in the winter.
Here’s the passage that caught my eye this time:
Fragments of broken iron ..read more
Emerging Civil War
4d ago
Our Banner in the Sky (1861) by Frederic Church. Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection.
When I consider contemporary artistic depictions of the Civil War, there’s no shortage of mediums. Often prints spread on the pages of Harpers Weekly or the photographic galleries hosted by Mathew Brady get the most attention, but there were other artists more famous before the war that took their own views. My personal favorite has long been Our Banner in the Sky (1861) by Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900). He was a student of Thomas Cole and member of the Hudson River School, a mid ..read more
Emerging Civil War
4d ago
It’s been a while since we’ve had this question…
Who’s your favorite cavalry commander from the American Civil War?
The post Question of the Week: 3/25-3/31/24 appeared first on Emerging Civil War ..read more
Emerging Civil War
6d ago
Emerging Civil War is welcomes back Patrick Young, author of The Reconstruction Era blog.
Photo from: Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Meeting and Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans Held at Memphis p. 67.
The 1909 Convention of the United Confederate Veterans was held in Memphis, Tenn. between June 8 and June 10. The annual conventions of the premier Confederate veterans organization brought together men from around the country who had fought on behalf of the “Lost Cause” during the Civil War. A whole variety of related-groups also attended and sometimes spoke at the meetings ..read more