Several months ago, while pondering ideas for future posts, I re-read three reports in my files, all dated March 1, 1863, and all three describing, in some detail, the Union cavalry picket line around the Army of the Potomac. I have other reports from the same general time frame, but finding three written by different…

Several years ago, I examined several of the challenges confronting Brig. Gen. Montgomery Meigs, Col. Rufus Ingalls, and their subordinates in the Quartermaster Department, as they struggled to keep the men and animals of the Army of the Potomac supplied during the winter of 1862-1863. You can find those posts here and here. I want…

I truly appreciate the feedback I receive from you, and I especially appreciate hearing from readers familiar with a home I have written about or who are descendants of a soldier I have written of. I believe Maj. John Eells, 5th Virginia Cavalry, may have been the last trooper, North or South, killed in action…

For more than 161 years, Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s ‘Ride to Gettysburg’ has proved fertile ground for debate and controversy, and for more than 30 years I have tried to avoid such discussions. Confusing orders, missing orders, problematic decisions, and Stuart’s motivations are just a few of the unknowable or unsolvable factors that fuel the…

Friend, author and historian, Arnold Blumberg, has, for many years provided book reviews to a host of media outlets. In recent years, however, the number of outlets, especially for Civil War related content, has rapidly diminished. Arnold recently offered to continue writing reviews and offering them to me. I happily accepted and will post his…

In March of this year, I wrote an article regarding the Spencer carbine postwar. I had been intrigued as to why the army ordered several cavalry regiments, including those of the Michigan Brigade, to turn in their Spencers and later replaced them with single-shot Joslyn carbines. Searching for a definitive answer as to why the…

On the quarterly ordnance return for March 30, 1863, the men of the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry reported carrying the Merrill carbine exclusively; 555 Merrills in nine companies. On the June 30 report, the men carried 337 Burnside carbines and only Burnsides. On the September 30 return, the men of 11 companies reported carrying 528 Burnsides…

Before the pandemic forced a hiatus from the National Archives, I had several avenues of interest on my shortlist of topics to investigate, including finally looking at some of the Ordnance Department records. Shortly after the facility re-opened and while preparing a presentation on the Michigan Brigade after the Civil War, I read comments from…

In January, I wrote a piece on the Army of the Potomac’s advance back into Virginia in mid-July 1863. I focused on George Custer, temporarily commanding the 3rd Cavalry Division, in the Loudoun Valley, and you can find the story here. On July 22, Custer wrote a detailed message, telling Gen. Alfred Pleasonton of a…

Monday, June 22, 1863, must have been a hectic, tension filled day for the exhausted cavalrymen of Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton’s corps and Maj. Gen. Jeb Stuart’s division. Following the near constant combat of the past several days, Pleasonton had determined to return to Aldie on Monday morning. Col. John Taylor’s Brigade had not participated…