Grape & Canister

My regular update of Civil War news, books, videos, and an Otis pic.

News

Thanks to my friend and fellow historian Chris Mackowski, from Emerging Civil War, for the invitation to join a panel discussion on Civil War podcasting and the challenges of social media.

A statue of Abraham Lincoln in Chicago has been vandalized, apparently in connection to the celebration of Indigenous People’s Day. It shouldn’t be too difficult to clean. Don’t worry yourself over it.

This piece on Civil War reenacting doesn’t break any new ground whatsoever. In fact, I tend to think the author found exactly what he was looking for.

Former president Donald Trump is promising to restore the names of military bases once named in honor of Confederate generals. He seems particularly taken by Gen. Braxton Bragg. If only he knew. What a kook.

Jon Grinspan explores mid-nineteenth-century newspapers and their role in exacerbating the sectional divide over slavery. It’s well worth reading as is his new book on the Wide Awakes.

Later this month The Civil War Monitor magazine will debut its first-ever podcast called 1864. It’s hosted by John Heckman and will feature a number of expert historians on various subjects. I am very much looking forward to it.

In 2022, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was posthumously promoted to General of the Armies of the United States. Unfortunately, the final approval did not take place until earlier this year. Grant, no doubt, would have appreciated the apparent bureacratic delay.

Books

Ann K. Blomquist ed., This Cruel War: The Civil War Letters of Grant and Malinda Taylor (Mercer University Press, 2021).

Robert Curran ed., For Church and Confederacy: The Lynches of South Carolina (University of South Carolina Press, 2019).

John Daeble ed., Two Germans In The Civil War: The Diary of John Daeuble and the Letters of Gottfried Rentschler, 6th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry (University of Tennessee Press, 2004).

Justene Hill Edwards, Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman's Bank (Norton, 2024).

Jonathan Lande, Freedom Soldiers: The Emancipation of Black Soldiers in Civil War Camps, Courts, and Prisons (Oxford University Press, 2024).

Charles E. Rankin ed., Toward a More Perfect Union: The Civil War Letters of Frederic and Elizabeth Lockley (University of Nebraska Press, 2023).

Videos

I really enjoyed this brief lecture by Allen Guelzo on the Civil War’s meaning and legacy.

Historian Caroline Janney explores the preservation of the Bull Run battlefield and the dedication of some of the earliest battlefield monuments. Well worth watching. Peter Luebke discusses Robert E. Lee’s strategy during the Second Manassas Campaign. Both lectures are from a recent conference held at the John L. Nau Civil War Center at the University of Virginia.

The American Battlefield Trust is looking to preserve land at Shiloh and Chattanooga with your help.

Historian Jonathan White has a couple new books out about Abraham Lincoln. One of them is a book for children. He discusses both in this interview.

Historian David Blight is offering a new series of lectures on the history and memory of the Civil War and slavery at Yale University. This is the latest episode on the Mexican-American War, but make sure to check the rest of the series out as well.

Finally, Ron Coddington goes searching for Shelby Foote’s Civil War ancestor.

Otis

I am working away at completing the revisions for my Robert Gould Shaw manuscript, but someone always manages to get in the way and remind me of my priorities.