Member Article: Unconventional Warfare during the Civil War - John S. Mosby's campaign for the Shenandoah
by Kryn Miner
Since man picked up a weapon against his fellow being, he has always looked for
a way to defeat his opponent in a more efficient and lethal way. It is our
nature to seek out and exploit the weaknesses of our opponent thus maximizing
our gain verses our risk. It's this thinking that brought about the evolution
of unconventional warfare, or "Special Operations," and the men that mastered
its effective use.
Member Article: Sun Tzu and the Overland Campaign of 1864
by Richard Podruchny
This particular work looks at comparing the Overland Campaign of 1864 against
Sun Tzu's six strategic principles that were extracted from the, "Art of War"
by Mark McNeilly through his work, "Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Warfare." The
six principles that will be used are; win all without fighting, avoid strength,
attack weakness, deception and foreknowledge, speed and preparation, and
shaping the enemy.[1]
Member Article: Shifting Strategies: Military Theory in the American Civil War
by Daniel T. Rean
In four years of civil war stretching from the deserts of New Mexico to the
valleys of Vermont, more than 620,000 Americans died. Many of those soldiers
were victims of violent combat, shot by rifles or pistols, run through by
bayonets, or blown apart by cannon fire.[1] However, many of those soldiers
were also victims of a combat style that combined nineteenth century technology
and weapons with eighteenth century tactics.
Member Article: Bear River Massacre
by Lonny L. Grout
Along U.S. Highway 91, in the Southeast corner of Idaho, twenty miles from the
Idaho/Utah border is the site of the Bear River Massacre. The site is one of
the best kept military history secrets in America. On the 29th of January,
1863, during the American Civil War occurred one of the greatest massacres of
Native Americans by U.S. troops in American history.[1]
Member Article: Nutmeggers on Antietam Creek:
Major Generals Joseph K. F. Mansfield, John Sedgwick, and Connecticut Regiments
in the Maryland Campaign. 2 September through 20 September 1862
by Larry Freiheit
This paper will present the activities of four Connecticut regiments during the
Antietam Campaign as well as participation of two prominent Connecticut
generals, Maj. Gen. Joseph King Fenno Mansfield and Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick.
Mansfield was mortally wounded during the Battle of Antietam while Sedgwick was
seriously wounded. To help understand these two regular Union army veterans,
their non-military lives and their military careers before the Civil War will be
summarized. To help set the stage, an overview of the Antietam Campaign
including events leading up to it will be presented first, followed by details
about the regiments, and finally, the two generals.
Member Article: Was Nathan Bedford Forrest the Best Confederate Cavalry Leader in the West?
by Larry Freiheit
Had the Civil War not occurred when it did allowing Nathan Bedford Forrest to
serve as a cavalry officer, we very likely would not be studying or even reading
about him today. Of course the same could be said about Ulysses S. Grant and
many other notable Civil War commanders. What separates Forrest from other
successful general officers are his accomplishments despite his almost total
lack of education or military background and his impoverished upbringing. His
rise from private to lieutenant general was clearly earned, not gained through
political influence or social standing. His military success are due to
virtually every element which made up this man, but more importantly, how he
conducted his martial career given his physical, mental and spiritual makeup is
what arguably made him the best Confederate cavalry general during the war.
Member Article: The City Point Explosion
Review by Bruce L. Brager
Saturday, July 30, 1864, Federal forces besieging Petersburg, Virginia,
completed tunneling under Confederates lines, blew a giant hole in the lines,
stunned their enemy in the area, and then sit and waited before attacking. The
net result was a lot of dead soldiers, and a new phrase "snatching defeat from
the jaws of victory," created by Abraham Lincoln.
 Press Release: Historic Photos of Petersburg
by John S. Salmon
Historic Photos of Petersburg is second in a series highlighting the
key figures and events of the Civil War. Turner Publishing's Historic Photos
series has been acclaimed as a staple in the collection of anyone who loves
history.
Turner Publishing has assembled a comprehensive collection of photographs
surrounding the monumental Battle of Petersburg and its aftermath. These
historic photographs are reproduced in a large, high-quality format. The 10 x
10 gift book showcases the black-and-white images, and John and Emily Salmon
narrate the experience in knowledgeable, well-researched text, telling the
story of the Overland Campaign like never before.
Member Article: Dalton to Atlanta - Sherman vs. Johnston
by Allen Parfitt
On November 28, 1863 the Confederate Army of Tennessee lay in camp at Dalton,
Georgia, discouraged and defeated. It had been only 76 days since the army,
reinforced by Longstreet's Corps from the Army of Northern Virginia, had
finally won a long-sought victory over the Yankees at Chickamauga Creek. But
their enigmatic commander, General Braxton Bragg, had frittered away the
victory, electing to besiege rather than assault the beaten Federals in
Chattanooga, then with President Jefferson Davis' misguided encouragement,
sending General Longstreet and his corps away on a fool's errand to capture
Knoxville.
Member Article: The Maple Leaf Adventure
by Thomas M. Fleming
The sinking of the troop transport Maple Leaf on April 1, 1864, by a
Confederate mine floating in the St. Johns River near Jacksonville, Florida, is
an event unknown even to most people well-versed in the history of the American
Civil War. It took place in a relative backwater of that conflict, resulted in
comparatively few casualties, and determined the outcome of no major battle or
campaign. Yet, a colorful story lies behind the Maple Leaf and the
people she carried, on dinner cruises and later to war, in cool Northern waters
and in warm Southern ones. It is a story of bustling commerce and small-town
recreation in the mid-19th century Northeast, as well as of military daring,
frustration, and suffering along the coasts and rivers of the rebellious
Southeast.
Member Article: The Battle of Pea
Ridge
by Allen Parfitt
The story of the Confederate States of America usually starts in places like
Charleston and Richmond, goes on to Nashville and Montgomery, and winds up at
New Orleans and Vicksburg. But the Confederacy did not end at the Big River.
There were three Confederate states, and potentially a fourth beyond the
Mississippi, and some visionaries dreamed of extending the young nation clear
to the Pacific Ocean. But through most of the Civil War the Trans-Mississippi
was a backwater, an afterthought to events happening elsewhere. There were many
reasons for this, but perhaps the most important was a fierce battle fought in
the wilds of northwestern Arkansas on March 7-8,1962. When Major General Henry
Halleck assumed command of the Western District of the United States Army in
November 1861 he inherited a mess.
Member Article: "They will not be
forgotten": A Narrative History of the 138th Pennsylvania
by Stephen Light
"ADAMS COUNTY TO ARMS!" read an advertisement in Gettysburg's Star and Banner
newspaper on July 17th, 1862. President Lincoln had issued a call for 300,000
more troops, and Gettysburg was preparing to answer that call. The ad which
appeared that day appealed to the "patriotic, able-bodied men of Adams County
to come forward immediately and enroll themselves in the defense of the
Union."[1] Thus began the recruitment of Companies B and G of the 138th
Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. This regiment, like many of the regiments
in the Civil War, was composed of citizen soldiers who had volunteered to leave
their families, homes, and jobs to serve the United States. In fulfilling their
duty to their country, many men would fall wounded, killed, or victim to
disease. Others would survive the war and go on to do great things in their own
private lives. All should be remembered. This is a narrative history of the
138th regiment.
Read more...
Member Article: The Battle of Franklin
by Allen Parfitt
In late 1864, with the war looking bleak for the Confederacy on all fronts, the
Army of Tennessee under the leadership of General John Bell Hood marched north
on the last great Confederate offensive of the war. This is a brief account of
that offensive through the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864.
Read more...
Member Article: For Want of a Nail:
An Evaluation of the Confederate Ironclad's Construction History, Service
History, Tactical & Strategic Employment
by Larry Parker
"He is not impressed with the necessity of building ships." John N. Maffit
entered those prophetic words in his diary following a meeting with Jefferson
Davis shortly after the civil war began. Future Captain of the commerce raider CSS
Florida , Maffit was one of the first United States naval officers to
resign his commission and offer his services to the South. Those ten words make
a fitting epitaph for the Confederate States Navy, and with it, the Southern
cause.
Read more...
Member Article: The Battle of
Wilson's Creek, Missouri, August 10th, 1861
by Caleb Greinke
"Sir--Your requisition is illegal, unconstitutional and revolutionary; in its
object inhuman & diabolical. Not one man will Missouri furnish to carry on
any such unholy crusade against her Southern sisters," once spoke Governor
Claiborne Fox Jackson in response to Abraham Lincoln's call for 75,000 recruits
to quell the Rebellion. As if to cement his already treasonous position,
Jackson would add for good measure to all of Missouri, "Rise then, and drive
out ignominiously the invaders who have dared desecrate the soil which your
labors have made fruitful, and which is consecrated by your homes!" Clearly,
Jackson was rearing for a fight -- and surely enough, he would have it and
much, much more.
Read more...
Member Article: The Life and
Death of the Tenth New Jersey Infantry
by Kyle Morrissey
The Tenth New Jersey Infantry was organized under the provisions of an act of
congress approved July 22 1861, and by authority issued by the war department.
It was directed to private residents of the state of New Jersey, and not in any
way under the control or supervision of the state authorities. When the
organization of the regiment was completed on Oct 1st it proceeded to Camp
Beverly N.J. Then from there went to Washington DC on Dec 26th 1861 with 35
officers, 883 non commissioned officers and privates, a total of 918 men. After
they marched to Camp Clay on the Bladensburg turnpike a mile from Washington
DC, they were reorganized and designated the Tenth New Jersey Infantry.
Read more...
Member Article: The Death of Union General
Samuel K. Zook
by A. M. Gambone
This article is taken from a biography of General Zook, a life-long bachelor
who was mortally wounded in the Wheatfield at Gettysburg on the 2d day [02 July
1863]. He led the Third Brigade belonging to Brigadier-General John C.
Caldwell's First Division, part of Major-General Winfield Scott Hancock's II
Corps. We focus upon the center of that field about 3:00 p.m. on the 2d, after
Major-General Daniel Sickles moved his III Corps forward.
Read more...
Member Article: Ft. Barrancas: The First
Shots Fired in the Rebellion
by Walter Giersbach
 The
firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston's harbor traditionally marks the opening
salvos of the Rebellion. But before this assault on April 14, 1861, there was
another battle—the first shots of the Civil War—hundreds of miles to
the south in Florida.
On Jan. 8, 1861, United States Army guards repelled a group of men intending to
take Fort Barrancas in Pensacola Harbor. Historians say that this event could
be considered the first shots fired on Union forces in the Civil War.
Read more...
Member Article: Custer and the Battle
of Waynesboro
by William R. Betson
 No
American military figure is more controversial than George Armstrong Custer. A
general and national hero in his twenties, his fabled death at the Battle of
the Little Big Horn only increased his legendary status among his countrymen.
But history can be fickle, and history lately has not treated the "boy general"
well. His reputation has changed from grand, courageous hero to despised war
criminal. Indeed, for many his persona now embodies the sins of United States
policy toward Native Americans.
Read more...
Member Article: Skirmish in
the East Woods - September 16th, 1862
by Scott Mingus
Within two days after fighting had ceased at South Mountain, Union commander
George B. McClellan moved his forces into position east of Antietam Creek near
Sharpsburg, Maryland, opposite Rebel forces west of the creek. Still uncertain
as to how many men he actually faced in Lee's opposing army, McClellan and his
staff spent much of September 16th on a reconnaissance of the Rebel line,
nearly 4 miles in length snaking west of the creek. Lee was missing A. P.
Hill's "Light Division," which was still at Harpers Ferry, and other units had
yet to arrive in Sharpsburg.
Read more...
Member Article: The Battle
Rainbow: Jackson and his Chaplains
by Chaplain Russ Campbell
The Seven Days' Battles ended early in July, 1862 with Union Major General
McClellan's 106,000 man army withdrawing from the outskirts of Richmond.
General Lee's much smaller Confederate force had confused and confounded
General McClellan. Even though Lee's army suffered more casualties, it could
claim victory. After this series of battles, soldier R. E. Eppes wrote to his
wife, "I have not Received so much as a sratch. Surely God is with mee hee has
kept me in the hollow of his hand Surely he has heard theese heart pleadings of
those near and dear ones at home for the Fervent Effectual Prairs of the
Writious availeth much." (1)
Read more...
Member
Article: The Mistakes of All Mistakes
by Phil Andrade
This is how Shelby Foote, pre-eminent among historians of the American Civil
War, describes Lee's insistence on committing his Army of Northern Virginia to
the infantry assault forever after known as "Pickett’s Charge". Foote
elaborates "...And that was the mistake he made, the mistake of all
mistakes....and there was scarcely a trained soldier who didn’t know it was a
mistake at the time, except possibly Pickett himself..."
Gettysburg, Foote surmises, was the price the South paid for having R.E.Lee.
Read more...
Member
Article: Stony Hill Tour
by John Rincon
After a number of years of research I have put together a kind of self guided
tour of the fighting on and around the Stony Hill. I did not want to put this
in a narrative format simply due to the fact that the following format allows
you to better use the information in conjunction with a good map of the area. I
have found that the 1868 Warren Survey of the field is a wonderful tool to use
with the information. I hope the next time you are on that part of the field
you will be able to better understand the sequence of events on Stony Hill
using this information.
Read more...
Member
Article: The 6th Wisconsin at Gettysburg
by Joel Busenitz
The 6th Wisconsin mustered into the United States Army in the early months of
1861. Most companies were gathered in sometime between April and June. These
men came from all parts of southern Wisconsin. Some companies were from Fon du
Lac area, Captain Rufus Dawes’ (commander of the 6th at Gettysburg) company
arrived from Mauston, with two companies comprised of Italians and Germans from
Milwaukee. After mustering, they were shipped off to Washington D.C. and
drilled day after day for about a year.
Read more...
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Ft.
Sumter 
