TW, may I suggest that perhaps President Lincoln actually took his oath of office seriously--"to preserve and protect the constitution of the United States against ...   Sat Nov 21st, 2009 02:33 pm

TW, I see what you are saying in the abstract--I disagree with your premise-- but for the sake of argument, let's say the states of ...   Sat Nov 21st, 2009 02:25 pm

TW, the Confederate government was constantly presenting themselves as the true heirs of the American revolution to the Europeans. The closest the Confederacy ever ...   Fri Nov 20th, 2009 04:04 pm

TW, I am confused by your post. Are you suggesting that the Confederacy could have been saved by simple semantics? No matter what ...   Thu Nov 19th, 2009 08:56 pm

Looks informative. I'll have to try listen over my lunch break. Thanks for the link. -Mark ...   Wed Nov 18th, 2009 11:26 pm

Brown is quite the enigma. I admire his passion for the cause of liberty, however, I think he was one of the first "homegrown" ...   Wed Nov 18th, 2009 06:40 pm

I think Ole hit the nail on the head. The Antietam Campaign was as much about political gain as it was about tactical gain. ...   Tue Nov 3rd, 2009 07:18 pm

Not necessarily Ole... the 13 colonies did so in the revolution (which the people of the Confederacy were fond of remembering).  I would argue that ...   Wed Oct 21st, 2009 03:27 am

Only once so far, but it was a long tour.  I spent 15 months patrolling Southern Baghdad as part of the Iraq 'surge' between February ...   Tue Oct 20th, 2009 02:44 am

The biggest issue the state governers had with the Confederate government was the institution of the draft.  The Federal government wasn't even prepared to go ...   Mon Oct 19th, 2009 07:04 pm

Currently mail from deployed Soldiers is not required to have a stamp. It was a pain in the neck to get used to using ...   Mon Oct 19th, 2009 06:53 pm

You have a great question that professional historians are still very much debating.  There is a large school of thought that believes the Confederacy crumbled ...   Sun Oct 18th, 2009 01:37 pm

Thanks for the help!  I guess I should have looked it up in the dictionary first. -Mark ...   Mon Oct 12th, 2009 06:48 pm

All, does anyone know what "franking" a letter was? I have run across this term several times looking over ACW letters. The first ...   Mon Oct 12th, 2009 05:28 pm

All, thanks for the comments. I just finished the book and I think that it is one of the best works of Civil War ...   Fri Sep 25th, 2009 02:42 am

I went to school at James Madision University which is located in Harrisonburg, VA. There was a skirmish outside the town in June of ...   Fri Sep 11th, 2009 02:11 am

If only I still lived in Colorado... I did send the link to my Dad, and he will probably show up. Cheers! Mark ...   Fri Sep 4th, 2009 07:01 pm

Phooey.  Well, it was worth a shot.  I meant the name of the Parson:  Rev. Dr. Michael Jacobs.  That might lead you to the orginal ...   Tue Sep 1st, 2009 02:12 am

My mistake... he was a parson.  Here is a link to the data for days leading up to the battle and the battle itself.  The ...   Mon Aug 31st, 2009 11:59 pm

There was a professor in Gettysburg who kept accurate weather data as a hobby.  I know I have looked at it before but I cannot ...   Mon Aug 31st, 2009 11:55 pm

All, does anyone know where the expression, "Mister here's your mule," comes from and what the connotation is?  I see it all the time in ...   Sun Aug 30th, 2009 10:53 pm

I think Javal hit it on the head pretty nicely, but on point two...  I've seen soldiers do some pretty heroic things under fire in ...   Sun Aug 30th, 2009 03:54 pm

Has anyone read "Nothing But Victory" by Steven Woodworth and have any comments?  I picked it up for cheap at a local second hand shop ...   Mon Aug 17th, 2009 03:30 pm

I commissioned through Army ROTC at James Madision Univserity in 2005.  I think my favorite ROTC story involved a field problem at Warrior Forge 2004 (LDAC, ...   Mon Aug 17th, 2009 03:10 pm

I am most interested in the history early American Republic, say from about 1800 to the end of the Civil War.  It's such an exciting time ...   Tue Aug 11th, 2009 01:01 pm

All, while on vacation to Emerald Isle, NC, I had the opportunity to drag the in-laws and my wife to Fort Macon, which is on ...   Fri Jul 24th, 2009 02:01 pm

I think in general you are right.  McDowell was put in a near impossible position.  He had not led soldiers in any capacity in more ...   Fri Jul 24th, 2009 01:38 pm

My father's friend a collection of letters from a relative that he let me borrow to transcribe for him.  The author of the letter is ...   Tue Jul 7th, 2009 07:01 pm

I think you are exactly right 20th MA.  In the next few years we will see a lot more ACW "products."  I just hope in ...   Tue Jul 7th, 2009 06:53 pm

My vote (at least from the Federal side) would be breach-loading and repeating rifles.  The government had the capacity to manufacture them and their ammunition ...   Sun Jun 28th, 2009 07:11 pm

I was there back in 2005 when I was stationed at Ft. Knox for a spell. I thought it was the best preserved state ...   Thu Jun 25th, 2009 11:16 pm

Hank, today's Army defines an insurgency as "an organized movement aimed at the overthrow of a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed ...   Mon Jun 22nd, 2009 07:50 pm

Wow MSG! Quite a career. CID is no joke. I am a tanker (19K) at Ft. Bliss for the moment. ...   Wed Jun 17th, 2009 06:42 pm

Welcome to the forum Mike -Mark ...   Wed Jun 17th, 2009 12:55 pm

Welcome to the forum MSG! What was your MOS? -Mark ...   Tue Jun 16th, 2009 07:06 pm

Brett, yes I have read "The Last Citidel," and I think it is one of his best ones. Have Southern Storm on my shelf ...   Fri Jun 12th, 2009 07:10 pm

Great topic!  It is hard to pick just one author, so I cheated and picked a couple.  First off, I enjoy reading Peter Cozzens’s battle ...   Fri Jun 12th, 2009 06:31 pm

All, if you are ever in the Louisville, KY area (I was stationed at Ft. Knox for a time), you simply must visit the Fraizer International ...   Thu Jun 11th, 2009 01:41 pm

Has anyone read "The Black Flower" by Howard Bahr? I've read it twice and it is by far my favorite piece of Civil War ...   Wed Apr 29th, 2009 07:04 pm

"Sirs, though the issue be clouded by time, and the motives alien to me, I would never slander the contestants. It's been my observation that ...   Sat Apr 18th, 2009 02:00 am