This is turning out to be a good year for books that I’ve always wished somebody would write. Back in March we got the first full-scale study of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, and it was everything I’d hoped it would be.
Today I ran across another new book that I’m frantic to read, Kevin T. [...]
Archive for July, 2009
Another book that needed to be written
Posted in Historiography, Tennessee History, tagged Lost State of Franklin on July 29, 2009 | 2 Comments »
How can I get a job like this?
Posted in History and Memory, tagged Civil War, reenacting on July 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Check out this story from Civil War News about the Rev. Alan Farley, “one of the few full-time reenacting preachers and certainly the one who has been doing it the longest.”
I didn’t know there were any full-time reenacting preachers, but Farley’s been doing it for two and a half decades.
During the 225th anniversary of the Battle [...]
A sample of Neo-Confederate historiography
Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, History and Memory, tagged Abraham Enloe, Abraham Enlow, Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's paternity, Civil War memory, Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln assassination, Lost Cause on July 22, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Ladies and gentlemen, I submit for your edification a few selections from the catalogue of The Confederate Reprint Company.
The Genesis of Lincoln by James Harrison Cathey. This startling tome informs us that “the man known to the world as Abraham Lincoln was actually the offspring of an illicit relationship between Nancy Hanks and a married man named [...]
Bait and switch
Posted in American Revolution, tagged Bunker Hill on July 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
So I find an article on Wikipedia that lists the titles of upcoming films, and I decide to scroll through it:
Hey, are my eyes deceiving me, or do I see a movie called Bunker Hill on that list? Could it be that Hollywood is going to give us its first major treatment of the Revolutionary War since The Patriot?
I head [...]
Lincoln at Tusculum
Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Tennessee History, tagged Andrew Johnson, Samuel Doak, Tusculum College on July 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
If you still haven’t gotten your Lincoln Bicentennial fix, you’ve got two more chances this fall with a couple of interesting events at Tusculum College in Greeneville, TN.
Tusculum itself has a pretty interesting history. It’s the oldest college in Tennessee, and one of the oldest in the country. Andrew Johnson was a trustee, and one of [...]
Cumberland Gap on MSN Travel
Posted in History on the Web, Museums and Historic Sites, tagged Cumberland Gap, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park on July 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Hey, speaking of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park—check out this list of “America’s Undiscovered National Parks and Monuments” that popped up on MSN’s front page today. Cumberland Gap is the fourth one featured.
I’m not sure the Gap is as obscure as they’re making it out to be. The crowds aren’t anything like what you’ll run [...]
Happy 50th birthday to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Posted in Museums and Historic Sites, tagged Cumberland Gap, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park on July 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This past Independence Day wasn’t just America’s birthday celebration. It was also the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.
When I was a kid my family lived just a few miles from the park. Years later, I lived in an apartment on the park’s edge, at the foot of Cumberland Mountain [...]
Get your very own Thomas Jefferson decoder ring!
Posted in American Revolution, tagged ciphers, codebreaking, Robert Patterson, Thomas Jefferson on July 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Actually, I just wanted you to read this article about a cipher found in Jefferson’s correspondence. A Princeton mathematician has cracked it using a computer algorithm, and it’s pretty interesting stuff.
This is one sub-discipline of history I won’t be working in anytime soon, and anyone who’s seen my math scores on the GRE can attest to it.
Thanks to Neela Vaswani [...]
Happy Original Independence Day
Posted in American Revolution, tagged American Revolution, Continental Congress, Independence Day, John Adams, Richard Henry Lee on July 2, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Go out to your backyard tonight and set off those fireworks a couple of days early. When your irate neighbors open their windows and lean out to ask you what the heck you think you’re doing, you can give them a little history lesson.
The Continental Congress actually voted to make America independent on July 2, 1776. [...]
Lincoln’s got a secret. . .
Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, tagged Abraham Lincoln, Steven Wilson, Civil War, historical fiction, President Lincoln's Secret on July 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
…but you’ll have to read this new novel to find out what it is. It’s the latest book from Steven Wilson, curator of one of the country’s best Lincoln/Civil War collections. He also happens to be the guy that taught me everything I know about public history.
