Category: Political History
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Secession (again)
Secession again rears its ugly head, this time on The Volokh Conspiracy. Professor Eugene Volokh opines “I keep hearing the claim that the legitimacy of secession from the U.S. was “settled at Appomattox,” and I wanted to say a few words about why I think that makes little sense.” While he thinks that “today, secession […]
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“A House Divided”
Scott Johnson of Powerline blog has a post commemorating the birth of Abraham Lincoln today. He quotes Lincoln’s famous 1858 “house divided” speech, calling it “one of the most incendiary speeches in American history;” one that propelled the prairie lawyer to the White House. Maybe so (it was perceived differently at the time), but it […]
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Consequences of the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid
What were the consequences of the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren raid? In operational terms, not much. Casualties were minimal and the raid accomplished little. The indirect consequences, however, were important. For one, it convinced the Confederates to strengthen Richmond’s defenses and move their POWs away from the capital, thus removing a tempting target for raids. The biggest fallout […]
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Lincoln in 1863-64
At the end of the last post we looked at Lincoln at the end of 1863 and the disappointments he faced. Even though he’s got the hard-fighting (and drinking) US Grant coming in for the 1864 spring campaign, the overall situation seems as gloomy as the Washington weather. No more could be expected from the […]
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Review: Like a Meteor Blazing Brightly: The Short but Controversial Life of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren
Like a Meteor Blazing Brightly: The Short but Controversial Life of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren by Eric Wittenberg Edinborough Press, Roseville, MN ISBN-10: 1889020338 ISBN-13: 978-1889020334 August 1, 2009 Hardcover, 6×9”, 288 pages, $29.95 The Kilpatrick-Dahlgren cavalry raid, aimed at Richmond in the early months of 1864, continues to fascinate historians and provoke controversy. Although ostensibly […]
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Thirty Years War
I’m going a bit afield here to look at a war most people have never heard of—the Thirty Years War. Bear with me, because I’m going to tie it in with the Civil War. Right now I’m working on reviews of several books dealing with guerilla warfare and the treatment of civilians, and as we’ll […]