Category Archives: Civil War

Two new blogs, whew

Posted on July 2, 2010 | Comments Off on Two new blogs, whew

I’ve added two new blogs to my repertoire. One is for the promotion of the novel and the other is the first blog I know of for my great grandfather’s old outfit, the 13th Mississippi Infantry Regiment. Both will capitalize on the sesquicentennial of the Civil War which begins next spring.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Civil War, Library

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The Joy of Marketing. Not

Posted on June 29, 2010 | Comments Off on The Joy of Marketing. Not

So I finally get a review of my Civil War battle novel “Knoxville 1863” up on two sites (here and here, in addition to Amazon) and some free advertising on a third site here and what happens? Amazon crashes for the afternoon. And when they finally come back, they’ve got a little notation on my paperback sales page to “sign up to be notified when this item becomes available.” Sheesh. This is print-on-demand, people. Not boxes of books in a warehouse.

Meanwhile, I was trying unsuccessfully to twist an arm for another review. The joke is that DIY authors and small publishers rely on family and friends for their book reviews. I do have the friends part down, luckily, but the family? Not a chance. The ones who actually read books have this phobia about writing reviews. So they say. Maybe they secretly hated mine and just don’t want to be honest.  If not, then the family part of the joke is on me.

UPDATE:  Well, Amazon fixed their problem sometime after midnight, so that irritation is gone. Onward Through The Fog!

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Juneteenth

Posted on June 19, 2010 | Comments Off on Juneteenth

“On this day in 1865, Union general Gordon Granger read the Emancipation
Proclamation (originally issued by [Republican President] Abraham Lincoln in 1863) in Galveston, thus belatedly bringing about the freeing of 250,000 slaves in Texas.

“The event, now celebrated as ‘Juneteenth,’ eventually gave rise to
an annual day of thanksgiving ceremonies, public entertainment, picnics,
and family reunions. Some communities have set aside land, known as
Emancipation Parks, for celebrations on Juneteenth.

“In 1979  Governor William P. Clements [the first Republican governor since Reconstruction] signed an act making the day a state holiday. The first state-sponsored Juneteenth celebration took place the next year.”

It’s worth adding that Lincoln didn’t have the power to free the slaves. That required legislation and, eventually, a Constitutional amendment. But the South’s defeat in the war made the legalities moot and slavery  ended with the collapse of the Confederacy and the surrender of its armies.

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Posted in Civil War, Texana

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Hood’s Texas brigade

hoods brigade

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Posted on June 17, 2010 in Civil War, Texana

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The odious Confederacy

Posted on June 13, 2010 | Comments Off on The odious Confederacy

Slavechildren

An apparent Matthew Brady studios photograph of slave children, taken either during the Civil War or shortly after emancipation. Found recently in an estate sale in North Carolina, in a photo album for which collector Keya Morgan paid $30,000. The flip side of my earlier “ode” photo. Morgan’s site on original Abraham Lincoln photos is fascinating, each digital copy scanned from an original and therefore sharp as a tack.

The man “who freed the slaves,” as the saying goes. Lincoln didn’t, of course, to put a fine legal point on it. But they certainly might not ever have been freed without him.

Via The Confederate Book Review.

UPDATE:  A commenter at this site claims the photo could be from a Caribbean banana plantation. Doesn’t explain the “Brady” on the card, tho.

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Posted in Civil War, Library, Texana

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Terry’s Texas Rangers

Posted on June 10, 2010 | Comments Off on Terry’s Texas Rangers

rangers1This Civil War unit, part of Wheeler’s Cavalry, plays a role in “Knoxville 1863.”

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Posted in Blogosphere, Civil War, Library, Texana

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Civil War reenactors

Posted on June 2, 2010 | Comments Off on Civil War reenactors

soldierACW reenactors are an interesting bunch, most often portraying Rebels. Their story is perhaps best told here–despite the author’s ignorance of history and regrettable air of liberal Yankee embarrassment. (It’s said that in Germany, where reenacting also is popular, you have to be Union for two years before you can be a Rebel. Elsewise they’d have no Union reenactors.)

But, wherever they are found, I dislike the Rebel reenactor’s usual odor of unreality. (See above.) Their clothes are too uniform and almost never patched or ragged, much less dirty. Their cap boxes and other accoutrements are too shiny. Moreover, their hair is too short and too clean and their beards (when they have them at all) aren’t scraggly. And, whoa, get this, they all are well shod. T’ain’t realistic t’ all.

UPDATE:  Playing at being Confederates is one thing. Playing at being Union Colored Troops is quite another. The latter are little known and therefore of immense educational value to anyone, whether interested in the war or not.

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