Articles & Commentary

Last week and early this week I had the pleasure of taking a Civil War Battlefield tour with Dr. Tom Murphy, Dr. Watson Arnold and Mac Arnold. It was a great trip with a focus on the Shenandoah Valley with a final day at the Antietam NBP. The first day we spent “down” the Valley […]

By Charles Deur I never thought a visit to New York could be considered a “Civil War vacation,” but the trip with my wife to the Big Apple and its environs turned out to be one of the best little Civil War trips we have done. I identified three basic themes: Antecedents, Secret Missions and Agendas, and Memory. […]

This report just in from Mr. and Mrs. Lynn Waller, Members of the Fort Worth Civil War Round Table: “When Curt Fields spoke at our February meeting as Ulysses S. Grant, he mentioned that he would be portraying the general at the 150th anniversary of the surrender at Appomattox. We were so impressed with his […]

Peter Cozzens and Pete Brown at the site of Ranald MacKenzie’s first camp for the Red River Indian War of 1874

This is an outstanding facility. It was started by the same people who were responsible for the Huntington Library in California. The Museum tells the story of ships, sailors and their exploits for the past 1,000 years. It is a well organized, beautifully displayed museum that covers everything from the ancient Chinese to Lord Nelson. […]

Earlier this month my wife, Kathy, and I were at a Convention in Williamsburg, Virginia. After it was over we decided to visit the USS Monitor and Mariner’s Museum in Newport News. What a great experience! The Curator of the Museum is Anna Holloway. She is our speaker for November. When I contacted her she […]

By Justin Parkoff, MAProject Manager / ConservatorConservation Research LaboratoryTexas A&M University This past Fourth of July, I went to Port O’Connor to watch the fireworks over Matagorda Bay. Thousands of people watched in awe along the shoreline, while hundreds of little fishing boats dotted the water. The display was loud and magnificent, contrary to the […]

On a recent trip to Indiana we found a small but interesting Civil War Battlefield site. Here is the story: In the midst of the American Civil War, what began as a small diversionary foray into the North by the Confederate Army during the Tullahomma Campaign, became a full-fledged Southern invasion that stretched across a […]

In order to enter the laboratory where the USS Monitor is being restored, Kathy was asked to wear rubber boots to protect her feet. All of the parts that have been raised from the Monitor are saturated with salt from being in the sea water for 150 years. Before these items can be displayed they […]

Only a small part of the USS Monitor is currently being restored. The balance is still at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape Hatteras. The turret house and the big guns of the ship are at the Museum. One of the guns is shown here in the restoration tank. The […]

While it will take years to restore many of the pieces of the Monitor, there were some items that were found virtually untouched by the wear of nearly a Century and a half at the bottom of the Ocean. Here is a brass wheel that was used on one of the cannon. It looks like […]

The prop of the USS Monitor is on display in the Museum. It is not clear whether it was damaged before the ship sank in a storm or was damaged when the ship hit the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also in excellent condition and looks like with a few repairs it could […]

Berkeley Plantation with it’s beautiful grounds and mansion is a delightful stop. Berkeley was the sight of the first Thanksgiving in the New World in 1619. It was also the sight of the first whiskey distillery, a shipyard that built an 18 gun ship for the Revolution and a stopping place for Abraham Lincoln when […]

This small, beautiful church is in operation today with an active congregation. Guided tours are available on weekends or can be arranged by contacting the Church in advance. It’s claim to fame is that this was the spot where the Virginia patriot Patrick Henry gave his “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” speech. The […]

The Museum of the Confederacy has an outstanding collection of Civil War artifacts. They are only able to exhibit a very small percentage of their collection at any given time. But everything they display is meaningful to the battle or event they are trying to illustrate. For example, their exhibit of an officer’s field tent […]

Museums need capable and enthusiastic volunteers. The Museum of the Confederacy is lucky to have their share including Abdur Ali-Haymes – our tour leader for the visit to the White House of the Confederacy (which is next to the Museum). Abdur was born and raised in Richmond, served his career in the U.S Army and […]

During the siege of Petersburg, Union troops who had been coal miners before the War convinced the Union Command that they could dig a mine beneath the Confederate works, load it with explosives and blow a hole in the Confederate lines. This would be followed by a frontal charge through the gap and a Union […]

This famous 13″ mortar lobbed shells into Petersburg throughout the siege.

Five Forks was the decisive battle that broke the defense of Petersburg and forced General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia to retreat westward. This led to the fall of Richmond and to the surrender of Lee’s Army at Appomattox. The Five Forks Battlefield was purchased by the National Park Service in […]

Last year I was doing some geneology research and found that one of my distant cousins received the Congressional Medal of Honor. I mentioned this to my wife, Kathy, during our trip to Virginia and she did the research to find that he received the Medal for his actions during the Battle of Five Forks […]