Category: Social History
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Hope everyone is having a fine day feasting with family and friends. Let’s take a moment to remember that it was Abe Lincoln who proclaimed Thanksgiving to be a national holiday in 1863. The idea, however, came from a tireless agitator named Sarah Josepha Hale, whose other accomplishments included writing the children’s poem “Mary Had […]
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Short Takes
Civil War novelist Kim Murphy takes a look at contraception during the mid-Nineteenth century. In the decades before the Civil War, there was no organized movement to advocate or control contraception. Freethinking printers and publishers began spreading the word about reproductive choices, and Charles Knowlton became the first American legally tried for the publication of […]
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The Long Recall
In honor of the upcoming Civil War sesquicentennial The American Interest has begun The Long Recall: An Aggregator of the Civil War. Walter Russell Mead explains: We will use a modern form to present the daily news: our Civil War aggregator that combines a short daily summary of the news along with links to articles […]
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Short Takes
The city of Harrisburg, PA, held a Civil War Grand Review Saturday to honor Black soldiers in the Civil War. The event itself is a re-enactment of a similar review held in the fall of 1865 for Colored regiments that were unable to participate in the Grand Review in Washington. Hari Jones, curator of the […]
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Short Takes
The Wisconsin Historical Society looks at election chicanery in 1864 when the Republicans, like the Democrats today, faced a stunning defeat. They did, however, have an ace to play, the military vote. Since they controlled the Legislature, Republicans passed a bill in September that enabled soldiers to vote while serving in the field, and authorized […]
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My Whitworth Article in Civil War Times
My article on Sir Joseph Whitworth is out in the new issue of Civil War Times. It’s a very much expanded version of a post I did a couple of years ago and delves more into the man’s prickly personality as well as his rifles and other accomplishments. I mention but do not really get […]
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One Union Regiment
The infantry regiment is the basic building block of Civil War armies. This unit is administrator, trainer, supply point, responsible for discipline and medical service. The regiment is home for the majority of soldiers for their entire service. Mission assignments go to regiments, who are responsible to garrison, escort, protect or hunt down whatever the […]