What's New

 

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Slide Presentations *

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Events *

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Links *

  • Congress Apologizes for Slavery and Jim Crow Laws - It seems somewhat unbelievable that the House of Representatives has made a public apology for nearly 350 years of human bondage.  Equally amazing is that it took Congress over 100 years to enforce the Constitutional Amendments. 

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Travels *

  • We were pleasantly surprised by the Texas Civil War Museum's great display of Civil War uniforms and weapons. There are many treasures  including a lock of hair from General J.E.B. Stuart and boots worn by General Benjamin Butler. You could easily spend several hours studying the collection of memorabilia.  The museum features a film on Texas' role in the Civil War. In addition to the military exhibits, the museum features a display of dresses from the 1860s to 1890s. The store has many books on Texas in the Civil War.  The Texas Civil War Museum is located in White Settlement, TX just west of Fort Worth on Route 820.
  • On April 8, 1864, Confederate troops under Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor stopped Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks' Red River Expedition in a battle just south of Mansfield, LA.  Although outnumbered, Taylor's District of West Louisiana forces attacked the flanks of Banks' troops that were positioned behind a snake-rail fence and drove them from the field. Mansfield was the decisive battle of the Red River Campaign, influencing Banks to retreat back toward Alexandria.
    The Battle of Mansfield is commemorated at the Mansfield State Historic Site about 30 miles south of Shreveport, LA.  The battlefield features a film on the battle and subsequent engagement at Pleasant Hill, LA. There is a short walking trail that traces the Union defenses and an Civil war camp exhibit. The site also contains a museum with letters from the soldiers who fought in the Red River campaign.

  • On January 19, 1862 Union forces under General George H. Thomas and Confederate units under General George B. Crittenden met near the what is now Nancy, KY in the Battle of Mill Springs. The Mill Springs Battlefield Association has done a splendid job in creating a lasting monument to the battle. The battlefield tour has nine stops which track the movements in the engagement.  The tour begins at the visitor with an excellent video on the battle.  The visitor center museum has exhibits of items found on the battlefield and the Confederate camp.
    The tour starts at the Mill Springs National Cemetery.  The cemetery contains the graves of Union soldiers killed at the battle.  The Confederate dead are buried in a mass grave located at the second stop of the driving tour.  A list of the Confederate dead was compiled and headstones were placed on the site.  An interesting sidelight to the battle involves the death of
    Brig. Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer who was killed when he encountered Union troops. The battlefield describes the main conflict in the area where Zollicoffer was shot and the Confederate retreat and escape to Mill Springs. The ruins of Camp Beech contain markers where battlefield artifacts were recovered.  This is definitely a site to visit.

  • The Battle of Perryville was the decisive engagement in Gen. Braxton Bragg’s invasion of Kentucky.  On October 7th, the Federal army of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell converged on the small crossroads town of Perryville, KY. Union forces skirmished with Confederate cavalry on the Springfield Pike and the fighting increased when the Confederate infantry arrived.  At dawn the following day, fighting began again around Peters Hill as a Union division advanced up the pike and stopped before the Confederate line.  After noon, Confederate forces struck the Union left flank and forced Union forces to fall back. Union troops on the left flank, reinforced by two brigades, stabilized their line, and the Confederate attack stalled.  A Confederate brigade assaulted a Union division on the Springfield Pike but was repulsed and fell back into Perryville. The Yankees pursued, and skirmishing occurred in the streets in the early evening.  With Union reinforcements threatening the Confederate left flank and the Army of the Mississippi short of men and supplies, Bragg's forces left during the night.  Confederate forces withdrew into East Tennessee ending the offensive and giving the Union control of Kentucky.
    The Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site has approximately seven miles of mown paths and over 28 stops. A short loop trail of 1.3 miles contains stops 1-12.  The park also has a gravel road that allows visitors easier access to stops 13-22. This is one battlefield that the terrain needs to be seen and walked to fully appreciate the battle.  We arrived as the visitor center was closing and were unable to view the exhibits. 
    One advantage of touring battlefields in the summer is that they are open until dusk which allows you to walk the trails in the "cooler" early evening.      

  • The Battle of Franklin took place on November 30, 1864 between Union forces lead by Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield and Confederate troops led by Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood. After the battle of Spring Hill, Schofield arrived in Franklin at about 6:00 am and began preparing strong defensive positions around breastworks originally constructed for the First Battle of Franklin in 1863. The defensive line formed approximately a semicircle around the city, from northwest to southeast; the other half of the semicircle was the Harpeth River. Schofield's decision to defend at Franklin with his back to a river was because he had insufficient pontoon bridges available to cross the river and he needed time to repair the permanent bridges. By noon the Union line was ready. Hood's army arrived at 3:00 pm. and he ordered a frontal assault against the  strongly entrenched Union forces behind three lines of breastworks. The Confederate attacks involved 20,000 troops that marched into the guns across two miles and conducted seventeen distinct assaults lasting over five hours. Schofield ordered an overnight withdrawal to Nashville and the Union army reached  Nashville on December 1st. 
    Please see The Carter House-Battle of Franklin for more information.

  • The Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park is located on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon near Summersville, WV.  On September 10, 1861 Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson farm which overlooked the Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander , Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd retreated across the ferry to the south side of the  Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg. The failure of the Confederate drive to control the Kanawha Valley allowed the movement for West Virginia statehood to proceed without a major threat from the Confederates. Please see Battle of Carnifex Ferry for more information. The park contains three walking trails.

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New Features *

  • Please see our new page on Lone Star Generals

  • Please visit our Civil War Blog called Salient Points and send us your comments.

  • Please check out our new page, The Civil War at a Glance, that has answers to the top 25 questions about the war.

  • Our home page now includes Today in the Civil War as compiled by BlueandGrayTrail.com.

  • We have added a Lincoln quote of the day to the quotations page.

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This Month in the War *

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Revised 11/20/2008