An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
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.…
I almost wrote this one off. For a long time, I questioned whether the Skirmish at Bowman’s Place, which is listed in The War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol. II and elsewhere by simply a name and date, even happened. The usual sources revealed few other details besides the Union regiments involved and a…
Continue reading ➞ Page Added for the Skirmish at Bowman’s Place
The Confederate Army of the Kanawha was formed on June 6, 1861 under the commander of former Virginia governor Henry A. Wise. Its mission was to defend the Kanawha River Valley in what was then western Virginia (today the state of West Virginia). Despite its name, the Army of the Kanawha was never more than…
Of the 27 separate engagements I'm tracking in Virginia prior to the Battle of First Manassas, I’ve completed stub pages for all but one. I found mention of a skirmish at Harper's Ferry when Union troops re-occupied the town after crossing the Potomac River, and two closely-related engagements near Newport News that took place in…
I'm now tracking 27 separate engagements in Virginia prior to the First Battle of Bull Run, and I've completed stub pages for all but four. Information is hard to come by for some of these and fully researching them will be difficult. The new pages are: Skirmish at New CreekSkirmish at Middle Fork BridgeSkirmish at…
My goal this month is to at least publish a stub page for every Civil War engagement in Virginia prior to the First Battle of Bull Run. Each page will contain a short description and a map to where it was fought. I am tracking 20 separate engagements from May 7, 1861 to July 17,…
Spirit of '61 