Civil War Letters

One of the greatest and bloodiest battles of modern days has just closed, resulting in the complete rout of the enemy, who attacked us at daybreak Sunday morning...The Slaughter on both sides is immense...

--New York Herald, April 9, 1862

   reporting the first word about the Battle of Shiloh

University of Virginia history professor Gary Gallagher talks about the Seven Days' Battles, a series of conflicts fought during the last week of June 1862. In those battles, Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee thwarted George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac in the Union attempt to take the Confederate capital of Richmond. Professor Gallagher argues that, in many ways, the Seven Days' Battles were more of a turning point in the Civil War than was the Battle of Gettysburg a year later. The Virginia Historical Society hosted.

Woman Arrested For Vandalizing Boston Statue

People should get there facts straight before doing something stupid! BOSTON (CBS) – A woman was arrested for vandalizing a statue in the Boston Common Tuesday afternoon. Witnesses saw the suspect throwing yellow paint on the Shaw Memorial, which features a statue of Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment. Read the rest here

Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’ to open Nov. 9, after election

The much-anticipated Steven Spielberg movie “Lincoln” will open Nov. 9, a date chosen to come after the presidential election. Earlier this year, Spielberg announced a release sometime in November but not before the election for fear that his movie would become political fodder. The movie will open at a limited number of theaters but will be more widely available beginning Nov. 16, according to news reports. Click here for more info. Washington Post by Linda Wheeler

Civil War Vocabulary

Abatis: One of the most formidable obstacles laid around defensive positions during the war, abates were tangles of trees and large limbs carefully arranged with the branches pointed toward the attackers. Small branches and leaves were stripped away to prevent their use as cover for the enemy. Remaining branches were sharpened at the ends, and large chunks were often covered with earth, staked to the ground, or nailed to crossbeams to inhibit efforts to dismantle obstacles.

Review: Cain at Gettysburg

Cain at Gettysburg by Ralph Peters Ralph Peters has done it again. Cain at Gettysburg, a novel, which remains true to the historical facts by taking you to the actual battle by way of telling the stories of what it was really like. Yes, you can get any other book out there that will teach you the tactical aspect but there just aren’t that many that you will get the real feeling from what really happened. Peters has brought the battle’s fighting to life by using fictional characters right along with the true historical characters. You will feel the challenges the men felt and how they fought the battles. Peter does an excellent job of telling what the Union and Confederates men were doing, talking about, how they felt without getting confused as you read page to page. You will discover what was happening the days leading up to the battle and during the three days of fighting. You will read of the men with the 69th Pennsylvania, 26th North Carolina and the 26 Wisconsin. You will learn that war wasn’t just all glory. It took blood and guts, brave men that fought for what they believed in. What they had to endure, for example stepping in the middle of a dead man’s belly. Now don’t get the impression this book contains graphic images the will form in your mind. Peter does a good job at telling you what it the men experienced without all that. If you are interested in learning about the Battle of Gettysburg then this is a great book to start with. Even if you know about the battle and think, a novel, why would I want to read a novel? You will be very surprised in what you will learn. I highly recommend this book! Enjoy

Williamsburg, VA Redoubt #1

Hello All! It’s been quite some time since you have heard from me. Life has been quite busy around the Evans house hold. So for a quick up-date: The house and yard are all finished. Everything is back to where it was before the tornado and I have to say it looks even better than before. At the end of May I went to Williamsburg, VA for 7 weeks. Our daughter went back to work for the summer at Colonial Williamsburg so I took the time to visit with my parents, my siblings and their families. Had a great time! I visited a lot of historical places and lots of wineries. I have been home for a couple of weeks and am finally caught up since being gone for so long. I would like to share some pictures of #1 redoubt that is in Williamsburg, Va. I visited just this one, there are 17 (if I remember right) there is another one that is not very far from this one but it’s back in the forest and with the heat Williamsburg has had this summer it was just too hot to go trampling through the woods. A lot of the other redoubts are on private properties so you can’t visit them.

2 Great Book Reviews: Life After J.E.B. Stuarts and Civil War Sketch Book: Drawings from the Battlefront

I'm back and I have a couple great book reviews to tell you about. I know...I have been slow in getting anything posted but life in the Evans household has been very busy so my book reading time does dwindle down some but I still get the books read. I will have some exciting news later this summer coming from Williamsburg, VA. They have opened several new redoubts for the public to visit, number 1, 3, and 6. The actual battle was fought on redoubt number 16 but it's on private land so can't get to it. Now on to the reviews! The first book is titled: “Life After J.E.B. Stuarts the Memoirs of his Granddaughter, Marrow Stuart Smith. Edited by Sean M. Heuvel. The story is put together with the memoirs that Marrow wrote throughout her life time and before of the stories her grandmother told her about her grandfather, Confederate Cavalry leader J.E.B. Stuart. She begins when the Stuarts came to America in 1729 and ends around 1950 when she stopped writing. No one really knows why she stopped there. Upon the death of J.E.B. Stuart, Flora his wife had to go to work. She landed the position of headmistress of a girl’s boarding school, which is now called “Stuart Hall.” In those days of Marrow’s growing years she was expected to go to college but the career chooses for women were numbered. Basically you would become a school teacher but Marrow had other dreams. Growing up she loved to draw and wanted to become an artist. She had a tough challenge ahead of her but she made it with all the ups and downs that came along. As you will read, she will become an inspiration to any young person facing the challenges of making something of themselves even in today’s world. Marrow was an ambitious and energetic woman. She landed an art teaching position, married and had a baby in 1917. Her husband, Drewry, I guess you can say a wonderer. He went from job to job but it seemed the majority of their marriage was a happy one. They had hard times; especially when their house burned and they lost everything. But Marrow was a fighter. Guess she inherited that! I have to say that Sean Heuvel did a great job in putting her memoirs into story form. You won’t have any problem following along. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in women’s history also anyone interested in what became of J.E.B. Stuart’s family after the Civil War. The second book I have for you is a Coffee-Table Book that I think you are really going to like. The tittle is: Civil War Sketch Book: Drawings from the Battlefront. By Harry L. Katz, Vincent Virga. This amazing coffee-table book is filled with 250 drawings and illustrations that are in full color. As you follow along in chronological order you will see the majority of the drawings are from soldiers who had submitted them to newspapers at the time the battles happened so, many of these drawing have never been seen before now. There are the usual illustrations that any Civil War readers will recognize but what is also great about this particular book is you will learn about the artist, what they were seeing at the point they were drawing plus you will read exactly where the drawing is located today so you can go see the original in person if you choose. This is extremely rare since most drawings are kept hidden away in archives or family members’ homes. This is truly a stunning book! I know anyone Civil War historian and/or Civil War buff will truly enjoy having this Coffee-Table book in their collection.

Powered by VA Loan Rates

Strange Fact

The South had its own Abraham Lincoln, but he didn't stick around with his fellow soldiers in Company F, 1st Virginia Cavalry, to see it through to the end of the war. Private Abraham Lincoln was listed as a deserter in 1864.

Update: Things Coming Along

Just a quick update for you. I finally finished getting all the genealogy papers back into their rightful surname folders. Remember these were blown all over the library when the tornado blew the window in. And have finished scanning what I hadn't done yet, so all that's finally in the computer. I have started on the photo albums of the kids. Brought them all down from the library upstairs and now have them in a safe, water tight crate. If you didn't know we where in the moderate risk for tornadoes the other day but thank the Lord all the storms that went over us didn't produce a tornado. There were all spinning though so it was a very worry and watching day. So glad that is over. All next week is to be sunny and in the 60s here in Alabama.

The house is coming along. They have started on our 6 foot fence that was destroyed, the roof is finished and the ceiling inside the house are all painted. Hopefully this week they will get the fence done, house painted and front porch fixed. So everything is coming along.