Random Thoughts on History

I had remembered seeing The Colors of Courage: Gettysburg's Forgotten History - Immigrants, Women, and African Americans in the Civil ...

I've been reading Margaret S. Creighton's excellent book, The Colors of Courage: Gettysburg's Forgotten History - Immigrants,...

Last December I started the tradition of sharing a complete list of books that I during the year, so I thought that since it doesn't ...

F rederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight was one of my top three anticipated books of 2018. The problem with anticipati...

I've posted on here about a couple of hospitals that focused on treating slaves in the South. Those facilities were  Jackson Street H...

It is well known that Frederick Douglass, the noted black abolitionist, had two sons, Charles and Lewis, who served in the famous 54...

I mentioned in a recent post that I am currently reading David Blight's Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom . It is a fascinati...

Incidences of fugitive rescues happened with increasing frequency in the decade after the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. The mos...

After viewing the World War I documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old , last evening, I feel a certain obligation to start writing some of t...

It's fairly obvious that my primary history interests do not stray too far from the United States, 1800-1880 time frame. However, ton...

If you've ever been to Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, and then made the short walk to the ...

My birthday landed on Thanksgiving this year, and thanks to my wonderful wife, I received Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by Davi...

When I come across these types of advertisements while browsing historic newspapers I always try to share them, because they tell importa...

During (and following) the Civil War, some regiments and brigades achieved legendary status. The Stonewall Brigade, the Iron Brigade, the...

Perusing Civil War newspapers in effort to catch bits of military information almost always turns up peripheral social, economic, and pol...

One never knows what one will find while browsing through old newspapers. Today, while looking through old issues of the Richmond Enquire...

Much of the historical debate over slavery's divisiveness rests on whether the institution would be accepted or prohibited in the fut...

If you are a history podcast fan, or if you're just a Civil enthusiast, I'd like to invite you to tune into Civil War Talk Radio ...

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of the most enjoyable parts of traveling for me is seeing how communities remember their involvement in the Civil War. While driving ...