“The Civil War: The Third Year Told by the People Who Lived It”

The year 1863 was likely the critical one in the Civil War, largely because of two battles. Both were fought about the same time, in July. Gettysburg happened over three days, while Vicksburg had been considerably longer and far more complex, with Grierson’s Raid, the Battles of Jackson and Port Gobson, and the long siege that saw town citizens hiding in caves from the shelling and subsisting on whatever food sources might be available. 

But the year saw far more than only two battles. The Emancipation Proclamation went into full effect; former slaves were forming into Union regiments; the Union instituted a conscription act, which resulted in days of draft riots in New York City; Knoxville was occupied by Union forces; the Confederates experienced a great victory at Chancellorsville; and more.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Dancing Priest.

Some Wednesday Readings

 

Les Miserables and the American Civil War and Les Miserables, the American Civil War, and the Future of Republican Government – Sarah Kay Bierle and David Dixon at Emerging Civil War

 

“Seated Lincoln” in Newark, N.J. by Gutzon Borglum, Sculptor of Mt. Rushmore – Patrick Young at The Reconsruction Era.

"The Civil War: The First Year by Those Who Lived It"

The refusal of Fort Sumter to surrender and the subsequent shelling by South Carolinian authorities might have been the immediate cause of the American Civil War, but it had been a long time coming. In retrospect, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Mexican War of the mid 1840s, which opened up vast new tracts of land for settlement; the Compromise of 1850; the Kansas-Nebraska Act; the Dred Scott decision in 1857; and John Brown’s Raid in 1859 all edged, pushed, or shoved the nation towards an internal military war. The spark that lit the fuse was the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860, followed by the secession of several Southern states.  

Documentation abounds. Few things occupied American minds in the 19^th century like slavery. And Americans expressed their thoughts and deeds in diaries, letters, journals, newspapers, speeches, laws, and court decisions. Under the auspices of The Library of America, that documentation has been curated and published in four volumes collectively called The Civil War, edited by Brooks Simpson, Stephen Sears, and Aaron Sheehan-Dean. Each volume is devoted to a specific year; volume 1 is The Civil War: The First Year by Those Who Lived It.

To continue reading, please see my post at Dancing Priest.

Some Additional Readings

 

Echoes of Reconstruction: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in Defense of the 14^th Amendment – Patrick Young at Emerging Civil War. 

 

Commanding the Regiment: Galusha Pennypacker, the Civil War’s Youngest General – Meg Groeling at Emerging Civil War.