TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Category: Best of TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

  • Earl J. Hess on His New Book The Rifle Musket in the Civil War

    Author Earl Hess was kind enough to write to TOCWOC and provide some information on his important new book The Rifle Musket in the Civil War.  He had the following to say: Was Paddy Griffith right when he suggested in 1986 that the rifle musket had relatively little impact on changing the face of battle […]

  • Top 5 Most Important Civil War Books Winner: Ian Spurgeon

    I recently held a contest where readers had to answer the following questions: What are the five most important books you have read on the Civil War? Why is each important? Ian Spurgeon was the winner. His contest entry follows. The best contestant entries will be appearing here at TOCWOC over the next few Fridays. […]

  • Blue & Gray article on Fort Stedman

    In a previous post I looked at some order of battle problems with the recent Blue & Gray article on Fort Stedman. Today I’ll look more at the article itself, particularly the treatment of the sharpshooters. There are some issues, as I’ll try to point out, with which I disagree but are honest differences of […]

  • Top 10 Civil War Forums

    Update: Welcome to TOCWOC for those of you who have found this page through a Google Search!  If you enjoy what you’re about to read below, feel free to Subscribe to TOCWOC’s RSS feed.  Be sure to check out the Civil War Book Reviews which have been posted here and browse through TOCWOC founder Brett […]

  • Review: Unfurl Those Colors!: McClellan, Sumner, & the Second Army Corps in the Antietam Campaign

    Marion V. Armstrong, Jr. Unfurl Those Colors!: McClellan, Sumner, and the Second Army Corps in the Antietam Campaign. Tuscaloosa, AL: The University of Alabama Press (March 26, 2008). 424 pages, 32 maps, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN: 978-0817316006 $39.95 (Hardcover w/DJ). Does Edwin V. Sumner, commander of the Army of the Potomac’s II Corps at Antietam, […]

  • Controversies of a Campaign: Why Did French Attack the Sunken Road At Antietam?

    I just finished reading Marion V. Armstrong’s new book Unfurl Those Colors!: McClellan, Sumner, and the Second Army Corps in the Antietam Campaign, and one of Armstrong’s theories just doesn’t sit right with me.  Before we go into details let me give you a little bit of background.  The fight over the northern portion of […]

  • What is PFD and How Do You Find It?: Counting Heads In Civil War Regiments, Part 1

    Note: Prior to reading this post, it will be a good idea to have the Consolidated Morning Report of the 91st Pennsylvania for September 26, 1863 open in another browser window.  I’ve set up the link above to open in a new window for your convenience. Reader Mark Kucinic read my post Counting Heads: Civil […]