Grape & Canister

A roundup of Civil War News, Books, Videos, and an Otis pic

Recumbent Statue of Robert E Lee by Edward Valentine

I though I would do a roundup for all of you since there is nothing else in the news today. :-)

News

I recently appeared on Martin Di Caro’s podcast, History As It Happens, to discuss the latest news on the history and memory of the Civil War. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently admitted that he has a “visceral reaction” when Confederate monuments are removed.

There were heroes in the Confederacy who didn’t have slaves. And, you know, I just, I just have a visceral reaction to this destroying history. I don’t like it. I think we should celebrate who we are. And that, you know, we should celebrate the good qualities of everybody.

It’s a reminder during your next doctor’s visit to check to see if there are any worms in your brain.

Georgia Republican Congressman George Clyde recently proposed an amendment to a militory funding bill that would return the Confederate monument recently removed from Arlington National Cemetery. His proposal was met with silence from his fellow Republicans, but that’s not the end of the story.

A little while later, Clyde was on his own again — voting against the overall military construction funding bill. He was the only Republican to join with Democrats in opposition.

“You’re recorded as a ‘No?’ ” asked a bemused panel chair, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who probably could have rattled off the various military projects in Georgia in the bill that Clyde was voting against.

Clyde quickly changed his vote to ”Yes.”

Brain worms?

The Edward Virginius Valentine Papers have now been catalogued at The Valentine Museum in Richmond. This looks like a treasure trove of materials that should be of great use to Civil War historians and art historians.

Edward Valentine in his Studio (Source: The Valentine Museum)

A new monument honoring Harriet Tubman will be unveiled this weekend in Beaufort, South Carolina at the historic Tabernacle Baptist Church, where Robert Smalls is buried.

Books

Ian Delahany, Embracing Emancipation: A Transatlantic History of Irish Americans, Slavery, and the American Union, 1840-1865 (Fordham University Press, 2024).

Allen C. Guelzo, Voices from Gettysburg: Letters, Papers, and Memoirs from the Greatest Battle of the Civil War (Citadel, 2024).

Robert Sullivan, Double Exposure: Resurveying the West with Timothy O'Sullivan, America's Most Mysterious War Photographer (FSG, 2024).

Videos

Here is Garry Adelman and Gary Gallagher discussing the legacy of the battle of Spotsylvania.

In this lecture historian Edda Fields-Black discusses here new book about Harriet Tubman and the Combee Raid.

Alexander Rossino recently lectured on his new book about the Antietam Campaign at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture in Richmond.

Otis

We just returned from a vacation in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, where Otis enjoyed his very own bed.

Hope all of you have a wonderful and safe weekend.