How Does It Feel? Americans as a whole are now realizing what it’s like to be treated as the South has been treated for a century and a half: Your heritage, culture, and sovereignty mean nothing. You are stupid and backwards and lazy, never mind any history which suggests otherwise—that’s actively being erased and…
Category: History of the Civil War
On This Day in History: December 20, 1860
South Carolina’s state convention voted 169-0 on this day in favor of “dissolving the union now subsisting between South Carolina and the other states” declaring itself an “Independent Commonwealth.” Five states were to follow South Carolina’s lead within weeks – Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. Then came the big one of Texas, followed…
Know Your Southern History: Causes of Southern Secession in the Upper South, Part 1
Part 1: Causes of Southern Secession in the Upper South “If centralism is ultimately to prevail; if our entire system of free Institutions as established by our common ancestors is to be subverted, and an Empire is to be established in their stead; if that is to be the last scene of the great…
Know Your Southern History: The Battle of Sabine Pass
The Battle of Sabine Pass Less rowdy Irish were found in the Davis Guards, formally known as Co. F, First Texas Heavy Artillery. They were posted at Ft. Griffin at the mouth of the Sabine River, as it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The site was near Beaumont, Texas, an important railway junction. The…
On This Day in History, November 4, 1862
Built over 150 years ago, the first machine gun is still influential American inventor Richard Jordan Gatling patents the hand-cranked Gatling machine gun in Indianapolis. “It occurred to me that if I could invent a machine gun which could by its rapidity of fire, enable one man to do as much battle duty…
Know Your Real Civil War History: Pushing Back Against the Indoctrination
Pushing Back Against the Indoctrination It seems that we are regularly bombarded by attacks upon Southern heritage, history, Confederate flags and monuments, and often hear such ignorant comments as, “Confederates were traitors,” “Democrats are the party of slavery, racism, and the KKK,” and the favorite one, “the Civil War was fought to free the…
Know Your Real Civil War History: The Whitworth Sniper Rifle
Whitworth “Sharpshooter” Rifle The Whitworth was widely considered to have been the first rifle used for true sniping. They were reportedly accurate up to 1,800 yards or more. At shorter distances, such as 500 yards, the Whitworth was far more accurate with tighter groupings than the Enfield rifles of the time thanks…
Literary Corner: The Wildwood Boys
When it comes to good, gritty outlaw western novels off the beaten path, one author always stands out: James Carlos Blake. The first book of his I read was In the Rogue Blood and I gotta tell you; as a writer it blew my socks off! The character development and attention to historical detail…
Know Your Real Civil War History: Blue Belly Commies
H/T: Identity Dixie (Al Benson Jr.) The Consummate Marxist The first time I ever heard of Joseph Weydemeyer was way back in 1978 – ancient history now. A friend and mentor, Pastor Ennio Cugini, who was a Reformed Baptist pastor in Rhode Island and also a historian, sent me a picture from…
Guerilla Warfare History: Because Now It’s Personal – Causes that Produce the Guerilla
Because Now It’s Personal: Causes that Produce the Guerrilla Most of the men who fought with William Quantrill didn’t own slaves. They were just Missouri farm boys who wanted to be left alone, raise families and run farms of their own. What caused them to turn into the so called “bloodthirsty savages” they later…