An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
This encyclopedia will cover not only the battles and personalities, but also the places that featured importantly in the events of early 1861. Battles may not have been fought there, but they were the focal point of political and military activity, including forts, camps, federal installations, and critical infrastructure. Just a few that come immediately…
This encyclopedia will not only feature information about the battles of 1861, but also the personalities who fought them. Quality images of many of these individuals are hard to come by, since some died early in the war and others had lackluster military careers and were overlooked. So I've commissioned unique illustrations for each profile.…
As I've been steadily updating the battle pages in this encyclopedia, a standard format has emerged that I hope to replicate across all the pages. My idea is to supplement a description of the battle with multimedia--photos, video, and audio recordings (reenactments) of testimony from eyewitness. I want to include graphs, timelines, and transcriptions of…
Last spring, I created a series of blog posts commemorating the 160th anniversary of events in Virginia in April, May, June, and July 1861. Many of these were battles and skirmishes that didn't have complete entries. I've since gone back and updated the battle pages, including: Skirmish at GlenvilleSkirmish at Bowman's PlaceEngagement at Mathias PointSkirmish…
Hello, everyone! I'm back after a long hiatus. I've been working on other projects and couldn't devote as much time and energy to this encyclopedia as I needed to. Hopefully I can continue updating it diligently and regularly now that I'm not tied to getting articles posted in time for 160th anniversaries (exhausting!). There are…
Lately I've been working on filling out the order of battle for George McClellan's Army of the West, and I added stub pages for nine Ohio regiments from his five brigades. Since McClellan oversaw the Department of Ohio, it makes sense that volunteers from Ohio would make up the bulk of his troops. The State…
There were ten volunteer Indiana infantry regiments that participated in the first three months of the Civil War, and in my latest update I added stub pages for all. These mainly fought in the Union Army of the West, with two exceptions: the 11th and 12th regiments, which were unattached. The 11th operated under the…
Continue reading ➞ Added Stub Pages for Ten Indiana Regiments
Accuracy and detail is what will set this encyclopedia apart from other early Civil War resources, and a big piece of that is detailed and accurate casualty lists. Books and articles often cite figures from other works that are not primary sources. Even official reports and contemporaneous newspaper articles tend to exaggerate or downplay casualties.…
Continue reading ➞ Detailed Casualties Added for Indiana Units
While I was browsing the Ohio muster rolls for detailed casualty lists, I came across a previously un-reported engagement near the Greenbrier River between a Union scouting party from Burdsall's Dragoons and Confederate guerillas in present-day Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The Union patrol was ambushed and suffered one killed, one mortally wounded, and two wounded.…
Continue reading ➞ Page Added for Action at Greenbrier River
Accuracy and detail is what will set this encyclopedia apart from other early Civil War resources, and a big piece of that is detailed and accurate casualty lists. Books and articles often cite figures from other works that are not primary sources. Even official reports and contemporaneous newspaper articles tend to exaggerate or downplay casualties.…
Spirit of '61 