TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Author: Fred Ray

  • Whitworth Correction and the Butterfield Revolver

    Ian at Forgotten Weapons posts a correction to his Whitworth video, and explains the difference between Minute of Angle, which is how accuracy is measured today, and Figure of Merit, which is how it was done in the 19th Century. Not only that, the British and the Americans had their own versions that differed considerably. […]

  • More Confederate Arms on Forgotten Weapons

    Ian McCollum seems to be on some sort of roll with forgotten and rare Confederate weapons. First up is the Griswold and Gunnison revolver. Griswold and Gunnison were rather unique among Confederate revolver manufacturers for their ability to actually create a reliable and high quality product and produce it on a regular and predictable schedule. […]

  • Cedar Creek Goes On In Spite of Threats

    If you haven’t been to the Cedar Creek re-enactment I recommend you go. It’s one of the largest, maybe the largest re-enactment of the year, and at least on the occasions I’ve been there it’s been very well conducted. This year was different, however. In normal years, taps would be played and each side would […]

  • Whitworth Rifles and Kerr Revolvers

    Ian at Forgotten Weapons has two recent looks at Civil War weapons. The first is at the fabled Whitworth rifle, used to telling effect by Confederate sharpshooters. This particular rifle actually has a Confederate provenance and a telescopic sight. Confederate Whitworth Sniper: Sub-MOA Hexagonal Bullets in 1860 One of the commenters recommends a book, The […]

  • Col. Harry Maury post updated

    I have updated a post on one of the Confederacy’s most colorful leaders, Col. Harry Maury, which now includes a photograph and info on his burial site.

  • General Lee’s Revenge and Other Tales of Modern Madness

    General Lee, never one to be counted out when the chips are down, exercised his demonic powers to crash the crane coming to take him down in Dallas. Who knows what’s next. Crop failures? Hurricanes? His powers are vast and nefarious. Seriously, it does seem like we’re seeing a re-primitivization of the West. Once long […]

  • Union Brigade Sharpshooters

    One of the most interesting but at the same time frustrating parts of researching sharpshooters is finding new sharpshooter units. Of course if you find one there are probably more, but the information on them if often maddeningly vague and incomplete. I’ve recently come across evidence of Federal brigade sharpshooters. We’ve know about the Confederate […]