TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Category: Civil War Units

  • Review: The Rifle Musket in Civil War Combat

    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: Those Damned Black Hats! The Iron Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign

    Those Damned Black Hats! The Iron Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign by Lance Herdegen Product Details Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Savas Beatie (October 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 1932714480 ISBN-13: 978-1932714487 The Iron Brigade was one of the premier combat units of the Army of the Potomac.  Comprised of western regiments their distinctive headgear made them […]

  • Sharpshooters in Action

    While looking through Francis A. Walker’s Second Army Corps in the Army of the Potomac I came across this passage, which describes the fighting between Heth’s division and Hancock’s Second Corps at the Battle of Boydton Plank Road: It may be interesting to pass to the Confederate side and see how the operations of the […]

  • Chasseurs and Pennsylvanians

    American Civil War units often copied their European counterparts. The best known were the flashy zouaves, but there were others as well, such as the chasseurs. The name means “hunter” in French, and they were light infantry, the functional equivalent of the German Jägers. Chasseurs came in both infantry (chasseurs à pied) and cavalry (chasseurs […]

  • A Silver Stadia

    Bill Adams sent me a link to a nice piece of Civil War militaria—a silver stadia. Normally made of brass, the stadia was a primitive range-finding instrument with scales on one side for cavalry and infantry on the other. I’ve never seen a reference to anyone actually using one (estimating by eye usually worked better […]

  • Review: The 11th Wisconsin in the Civil War: A Regimental History by Christopher C. Wehner

    Christopher C. Wehner. The 11th Wisconsin in the Civil War: A Regimental History. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers (April 16, 2008). 248 pages, 16 maps, roster, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN: 978-0786432103 $45.00 (Library Binding). What does one look for in a good regimental history? First person accounts? Check. Social breakdown of the regiment […]

  • B&G Article on Fort Stedman: the Attacks on Battery IX

    After having looked at the initial assault, it’s time to take a look at the northern sector and attacks on Battery IX and Fort McGilvery. Maj. Gen. Orlando Willcox, whose division was attacked, stated that there were three Confederate columns: “One column moved toward the right of Battery No. 10, a second column moved toward […]