Category: Civil War Odds & Ends
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Stash of Civil War Newspapers Found
The Austin Coin Collecting Society, whom I have mentioned before as having silver Confederate half dollars, has come into posession of a number of copies of the New York Times dating from the Civil War. From the cellar of an old library being remodeled, we found a small hoard of original New York Times Newspapers […]
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Short Takes
Came across a very nicely done site on vintage battleships, including a section on the ships of the US Civil War. Some nice trivia here as well. Did you know that the twin-turret monitor Onondaga, which served on the James River, later went on to a distinguished career in the French Navy that ended just […]
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Save Those Confederate (half) Dollars, Boys!
Although most Confederate money was paper they did mint a small number of silver coins at New Orleans. The US Mint there was successively run by the briefly independent state of Louisiana and then by the Confederate government until the fall of the city in 1862. Almost none of these half dollars have survived, but […]
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Short Takes
My local Public Radio station, WNCW, has been playing cuts from a Civil War concept album by Russell Johnson and Barney Rogers, When the Bands Played. Since these are Tarheel musicians, it is sung from the Southern viewpoint. My favorite, naturally, was the “Sharpshooter’s Blues.” If you like Bluegrass or Old Time music, WNCW has […]
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Short Takes
Three men in Southampton County, VA (near Hampton Roads) have been arrested for desecrating a Civil War grave site. Kyle Sinclair Burks, 21, of Drewryville, Aaron Richard Howard, 20, of Courtland, and Justin Thomas Rainey, 23, of Franklin, have been charged with attempted grand larceny and violation of a sepulcher, both felonies, said Robert Morris, […]
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Short Takes
Came across a nice web site about James S. Robbins’ Last In Their Class: Custer, Pickett, and the Goats of West Point. Some great stories there—did you know Jeff Davis was court-martialed and convicted as a cadet (sentence remitted due to prior good behavior)? Or that Henry Heth and Ambrose Burnside were roommates? Burnside was […]
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Short Takes
Confederate motorcycles? You bet! I have a mental image of Stonewall Jackson burning rubber… More here…investors include Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds, and Bruce Springsteen. I want one. Recommended reading. Captain Francis Donaldson served in both the 71st and 118th Pennsylvania (the famous Corn Exchange regiment), and wrote quite a lot about it. Donaldson […]