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96 Pages
Page 6
Editorial
by Keith Poulter
Page 7
Crossfire
Letters to the Editor
Page 8
Featured Museum
Page 10
Al Nofi’s Knapsack
by Al Nofi
Page 14
A Certain Bullheadedness
by W. Todd Groce
Lafayette McLaws did not hold a high opinion of his commander James Longstreet. Groce covers this feud in the article. According to McLaws, Longstreet had “nothing to recommend him as a commander but the possession of a certain bullheadedness.”
Page 23
Do You Know?
Page 24
Battle of the Rams
by Chester G. Hearn
Charles Ellet, Jr., a pre-war bridge builder, took his engineering prowess and came up with a fleet of rams for the Union cause. At the Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862, the rams played an important role in a complete victory over the Confederate Navy, although Ellet died of blood poisoning not long after the battle as a result of a wound suffered there.
Page 33
Building A Civil War Library
by David J. Eicher
David Eicher discusses ways in which a Civil War buff should approach building a Civil War library of books. Given the fact that there are literally hundreds of new books being published each year, the possibility of buying something not worth your while is a real possibility.
Page 34
Freedom Began Here
by Edward Steers Jr.
The Christiana Riot of 1851 was an important milestone in the movement to free the slaves. Edward Gorsuch, a Baltimore area farmer, had gone to retrieve some of his runaway slaves in the Quaker and free Black community of Christiana. Much to Gorsuch’s surprise, he received no help once there, and faced a fight if he wanted his slaves back. That fight came, and the result made national news when Gorsuch and his son Dickinson were killed.
Page 44
Story of a Poem
by Mel Young
The first two stanzas of “Lines on the Back of a Confederate Note” were featured in Margaret Mitchell’s classic book Gone with the Wind. Mel Young discusses the background of the poem and its author, Samuel Alroy Jonas.
Page 46
The Defense of Battery Wagner
by Hon. Lieut. Col. T.D.D. Twiggs
Many people have seen a rendition of the Union assault on Battery Wagner from the Northern perspective in the movie Glory. This article contains excerpts from T.D.D. Twiggs’ diary, a Confederate officer defending the fort, providing readers with the Southern view.
Page 58
Pickett Before Gettysburg
by Lesley L. Gordon
George Pickett is often depicted as a heroic caricature of a man as the leader of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg. Lesley Gordon looks deeper, and finds a human being with flaws and traits all his own.
Page 76
Decision In The West, Part III: Five Battles in Eighteen Days
by Keith Poulter
Editor Keith Poulter describes the part of the Vicksburg Campaign just after Grant crossed the Mississippi, from April 29 to the Battle of the Big Black River, on May 17, 1863. Between those dates, the two armies fought five battles, Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, and the aforementioned Battle of the Big Black River. Grant was now poised to close in on the hilltop citadel on the Mississippi.
Page 88
Briefings
Book Reviews
Page 95
Cover Story
Page 96
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