TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Category: Strategy & Tactics

  • Union Brigade Sharpshooters

    One of the most interesting but at the same time frustrating parts of researching sharpshooters is finding new sharpshooter units. Of course if you find one there are probably more, but the information on them if often maddeningly vague and incomplete. I’ve recently come across evidence of Federal brigade sharpshooters. We’ve know about the Confederate […]

  • Ft. Stedman Anniversary

    Today, March 25th, is the anniversary of the battle of Ft. Stedman, the last offensive of Lee’s Army. Civil War Trust is featuring an article I wrote a while back for America’s Civil War on the battle. By this time, of course, the battle—one of the shortest of the war—was long since over. Near Petersburg, […]

  • More on the Origins of “Sharpshooter”

    I’ve addressed the origins of the term “sharpshooter” several times, and it seems to be a popular one for commenters. Lately I’ve dug up a few more comments on its origin and first use in America. One of the more intriguing units in the Revolutionary War is the Althouse Sharp-Shooters, which was a spin-off of […]

  • Review: Civil War Infantry Tactics by Earl Hess

    Civil War Infantry Tactics: Training, Combat, and Small-Unit Effectiveness by Earl J. Hess Hardcover: 368 pages 6.1 x 9.4 inches ISBN-10: 0807159379 ISBN-13: 978-0807159378 Publisher: LSU Press (April 13, 2015) Earl Hess has added yet another tome to his ever-growing list of Civil War books. His latest is devoted to infantry tactics, which I must […]

  • Author Interview: Dennis Rasbach, Author of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the Petersburg Campaign

    Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared earlier today at The Siege of Petersburg Online and has been cross-posted here. Medical doctor Dennis Rasbach became interested in his ancestor’s unit during the Civil War.  In the course of his research, he realized the 21st Pennsylvania (Dismounted) fought in a brigade from the same division as that […]

  • Sharpshooters on Jackson’s Flank March

    Good article on the Civil War Trust web site on Stonewall Jackson’s flank march at Chancellorsville by Robert K. Krick. Using new information Krick gives full credit to the vital role of Maj. Eugene Blackford’s Alabama sharpshooter battalion, and in general how Jackson and Robert Rodes used these new units. While Fitz Lee and his […]

  • The Top 13 Controversies at Franklin: Part 14

    Editor’s Note: After I’d posted my recent comments on Lee’s possible endorsement of John Bell Hood for army command in 1864, I started going back over a lengthy nine or ten part series I did on Eric Jacobson’s book For Cause & for Country: A Study of the Affair at Spring Hill and the Battle of Franklin.  I had totally […]