TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Category: Western Theater

  • Exploring Fort Donelson in Civil War Books and Games

    Editor’s Note: I originally meant for this post to go out yesterday, the 150th anniversary of the Confederate surrender at Fort Donelson, but spending time with two very small boys and a busy work schedule caused me to post a day late.  I beg forgiveness and hope you still find this post useful. Confederate Surrender […]

  • Review: An Iowa Soldier Writes Home

    An Iowa Soldier Writes Home: The Civil War Letters of Union Private Daniel J. Parvin Edited by: Phillip A. Hubbart Carolina Academic Press 2011 Paper 196 pages $25.00 ISBN: 978-1-59460-978-7 • LCCN 2011002478 Phillip Hubbart, a retired Florida appellate judge, transcribed 117 letters of his great-great-grandfather Daniel J. Parvin, an infantryman who fought with the […]

  • A New Look at Fort Pillow

    Few battles in the Late Unpleasantness have aroused such passions as Fort Pillow. Battle or massacre? Truth or propaganda? Steve Cole is looking at the men who actually fought the battle and their fates. The Battle of Fort Pillow was part of General Forrest’s raid into western Tennessee in 1864.  Fort Pillow was the first […]

  • AMU’s Battle of Shiloh Webinar is Now Online

    The Battle of Shiloh webinar I wrote a short summary of earlier this week has now been posted online for anyone to view.  Professor Steve Woodworth and Civil War Times editor Dana Shoaf provide an overview of the first day of the battle of Shiloh.  Go check it out!

  • Review: The River of Death: Regimental Wargaming Scenarios for the Battle of Chickamauga

    Butkovich, Brad.  The River of Death: Regimental Wargaming Scenarios for the Battle of Chickamauga. Historic Imagination (2010). 144 pages, 12 maps, orders of battle, appendices, bibliography. $14.95 (Downloadable PDF). I was excited to read recently about a new book of Chickamauga scenarios for miniature/tabletop wargamers at The Miniatures Page message boards.  Brad Butkovich’s initial effort […]

  • Review: Southern Storm: Sherman’s March to the Sea

    Trudeau, Noah Andre. Southern Storm: Sherman’s March to the Sea. Harper (August 5, 2008). 688 pages, maps, illustrations, index. ISBN: 978-0060598679 $35.00 (Hardcover). What event in Civil War history excites more emotions and is the subject of more misconceptions than any other?  The answer is probably Sherman’s famous (or infamous depending on your home’s direction […]

  • Short Takes

    Regardless of what you think caused the Late Unpleasantness, state’s rights remain a live issue, enough to make the Christian Science Monitor devote an article to it. As you might expect, South Carolina is involved: Atlanta – There’s an old joke in South Carolina: Confederate President Jefferson Davis may have surrendered at the Burt-Stark mansion […]