by BIG BYTE | May 22, 2021 | Civil War, Diaries
For sixteen exhausting years, Ulysses S. Grant provided heroic, uninterrupted service to America. As a general in the Civil War in the west, commander of all Union forces, General of the Army after the war, and then eight years as President of the United States, he... 
by readmore | May 4, 2021 | African Americans, Civil War
Among the least-studied areas of Civil War history is the role played by enslaved African-Americans in helping Union soldiers return to their lines after escaping from Confederate prison camps. I have published many memoirs by Union soldiers who experienced this. To a... 
by readmore | Mar 1, 2019 | Civil War
October 3, 1889 Dedication Speech by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: A quarter of a century ago on this rugged crest you were doing what you deemed your duty. Today you come with modest main, with care more for truth than for praise, to retrace and record the simple... 
by readmore | Jun 22, 2018 | Civil War
The image at the top of this post is rare. Victorians seldom smiled in photographs and almost never grinned. The reason is that long exposure times for early photographic equipment meant holding a pose for an uncomfortable stretch; the slightest movement meant a... 
by readmore | May 31, 2018 | Civil War
Considering the eventual fortunes of Ulysses S. Grant and George McClellan, the start of the American Civil War promised a very different outcome for each. Grant stated to a reporter after his presidency: “I was anxious to see McClellan. McClellan was then in... 
by readmore | May 25, 2018 | African Americans, Civil War
“The negro in slavery, before and during the War, was lazy and idle—he will always be that—but he was simple, true, and faithful. What he has become since his emancipation from servitude is a queer comment on the effect of the liberty bestowed upon him.”... 
by readmore | May 22, 2018 | Civil War
“I don’t believe in Secession, but I do in Liberty. I want the South to conquer, dictate its own terms, and go back to the Union, for I believe that, apart, inevitable ruin awaits both. It is a rope of sand, this Confederacy, founded on the doctrine of... 
by readmore | May 1, 2018 | Civil War, Diaries
“‘A hospital is no place to form attachments,’ said one lady in this hospital to another. The former had surprised the latter in a sudden flood of tears, in the pantry of Ward 1. The occasion was the arrival of that order for the kitchen man, and... 
by readmore | Apr 27, 2018 | Civil War
In the Gallagher Law Library at the University of Washington one day, I found a remarkable little book. I was looking for vintage true crime. I found a gem. Carlotta Shotwell was a young, wealthy woman who had been defrauded by her “husband,” the former... 
by readmore | Jul 27, 2015 | Civil War
One thing about being a publisher of historical works, a passionate consumer of the same, and having an interest in psychology, is that I can’t help viewing with fascination the way we view historical figures. Grant and Lee in the Civil War are a prime example.... 
by readmore | Jul 19, 2015 | Civil War, Custer
“Come on, you Wolverines!” With this spirited shout, young General George A. Custer led his Michigan cavalry into the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War. After his death at the Little Bighorn, Custer was at first lionized as a heroic martyr. In the... 
by readmore | Jul 17, 2015 | Civil War
The desperate times of the American Civil War spawned many a true romance. One of the most popular songs of the day was “The Girl I Left Behind Me,” which is referred to in nearly every Civil War memoir and regimental history. Many a soldier boy had his... 
by readmore | Jul 14, 2015 | Civil War
THE HUMAN SCALE OF HISTORY It’s history at the human scale that I find so compelling. When I get to peer behind the frozen images created by the mythology around historic people and events, they come alive in a way I can relate to; in a way that stirs my...