TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Author: Fred Ray

  • Shock Troops on Kindle!

    It’s done, finally. I have had Shock Troops of the Confederacy ported over to Kindle format and it’s now ready for download at only $9.99. It’s a big download but I and my conversion guy spent considerable time seeing that everything made the transition correctly. In spite of what you may hear, it’s not a […]

  • Review: The Massachusetts Andrew Sharpshooters: A Civil War History and Roster

    The Massachusetts Andrew Sharpshooters: A Civil War History and Roster by Alden C. Ellis, Jr. Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-6489-0 Ebook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8820-9 76 photos, glossary, notes, bibliography, index 276pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2012 $40.00 Alden Ellis’ book covers the history and organization of two Massachusetts sharpshooter companies, the so-called Andrews Sharpshooters, named for the state’s […]

  • Book Alert

    Just a heads up to various TOCWOC readers – bookseller Edward R. Hamilton has a lot of remaindered and discontinued books of all kinds, but they have an excellent selection of Civil War books. Nice folks to deal with, shipping is prompt and reasonable. Some examples: STAFF OFFICERS IN GRAY: A Biographical Register of the […]

  • Crowdsourcing a Phrase

    I’ve been transcribing a number of letters from Maj. Eugene Blackford CSA (which is why I haven’t posted much). He has excellent penmanship but occasionally I run into parts of his letters I have trouble with. One of those cases is presented below, which may involve a foreign phrase. Blackford often salts his letters with […]

  • Short Video Takes

    Some videos that might interest TOCWOC readers: Watch an Australian re-enactor of the Napoleonic-era 95th Rifles fire a Baker rifle in sustained fire. He manages quite a respectable rate of fire, especially for a flintlock. It’s easy to see how the 95th established the superiority of the rifle on the skirmish line. The same lads […]

  • Was Justice Scalia wrong About Citizen Militias Having “Cannon” Under the Second Amendment?

    In a recent interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News, Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the Court’s conservative justices (and one known for his support of citizen gun rights), said: Wallace: You wrote in 2008, the opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller, the majority opinion that said the Second Amendment means what it says, […]

  • Guns of the Second Iowa & Hackleman’s Brigade

    Some time ago I put up a post asking about the rifles carried by the Second Iowa, and now I finally have an answer thanks to Bill Adams, who kindly looked it up for the Corinth battle. 52nd Illinois – Enfield Rifle .577 cal. 2nd Iowa – M1842 rifled musket .69 cal. 7th Iowa – […]