American history

Fort Donelson’s Legacy by Benjamin Franklin Cooling

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War and Society in Kentucky and Tennessee, 1862-1863

This nonfiction resource book begins with the Confederate surrenders of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in February, 1862. A few days later, the Confederates moved from Nashville to Murfreesboro.

Citizens in the middle section of Tennessee learned of this with sinking hearts. They knew tough times lay ahead. They could not have foreseen just how difficult those bad times would become.

After the Battle of Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862) Union General Grant stopped ordering his troops to protect private property regardless of owner loyalty.

This book shows what Tennessee citizens endured in 1862-1863, and how their circumstances grew progressively worse.

Excellent book for Civil War research and history lovers.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Reasons Women Fought as Civil War Soldiers

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The Civil War brought tough times for civilians as well as soldiers. Neither the Union nor the Confederate armies allowed women to fight as soldiers, leading some women to disguise themselves as men to muster into the army.

There are about four hundred women known to have served as soldiers on either side. Mary Livermore of the U.S. Sanitary Commission wrote in 1888 that she was convinced the number was much higher. Since most were discovered after being a soldier two years or more, Mrs. Livermore believed that some were never detected.

Why did women join the army?

Newspapers printed stories about soldiers involved in gambling, drinking, and other immoral behavior. Some women mustered in to keep an eye on husbands and beaus.

There were women who chose the army as an escape over unbearable family situations. Some women living in poverty joined for the pay. Some sought adventure, love, or excitement. Others wanted to be near a brother, husband, or fiancé.

As the war continued, bonuses offered to new recruits as well as soldier’s pay enticed some women to enlist.

A myriad of reasons, as individual as the women themselves, drove them to don a soldier’s garb and march into danger.

In my Civil War novel,  A Musket in My Hands, two sisters have no choice but to disguise themselves as men to muster into the Confederate army in the fall of 1864—just in time for events and long marches to lead them to the tragic Battle of Franklin.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Blanton, DeAnne. “Women Soldiers of the Civil War,” National Archives, 2018/09/29 https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1993/spring/women-in-the-civil-war-1.html.

Blanton, DeAnne and Cook, Lauren M. They Fought Like Demons, Louisiana State University Press, 2002.

Massey, Mary Elizabeth. Women in the Civil War, University of Nebraska Press, 1966.

Silvey, Anita. I’ll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War, Clarion Books, 2008.

 

Women Wanted to Enlist as Civil War Soldiers?

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It’s 1861. Before Abraham Lincoln can be sworn in as the new president of the United States of America, Southern states begin leaving the Union.

Everyone is on edge. What will happen next? Then the first shots are fired at Fort Sumter by the Confederates on April 12, 1861.

The Civil War had begun.

Early on, there were women on both sides who wanted to fight in the war as soldiers. Girls who tried to muster into the army by going to recruiting stations were praised by war journalists for their courage.

The Confederate Secretary of War received a letter from a group of over twenty women who offered to organize a volunteer regiment. These ladies from the Shenandoah Valley wanted to join the fight. Their offer was rejected.

Black women—residents of Northern cities like New York and Philadelphia—offered to serve their country as warriors if needed. Their request was refused by local officials.

Soldiers wrote home upon discovering women soldiers in their regiments during the war. Folks were aware of female soldiers fighting in both sides of the conflict.

In 1862, when a Southern woman was found in a Confederate training camp, a Georgia newspaper labeled her a “gallant heroine.”

Reporters and editors praised the patriotism of women soldiers throughout the war. Newspaper articles were reprinted in other cities, spreading the news.

In my Civil War novel, A Musket in My Hands, two sisters have no choice but to disguise themselves as men to muster into the Confederate army in the fall of 1864—just in time for events and long marches to lead them to the tragic Battle of Franklin.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

“Battle of Fort Sumter,” Wikipedia, 2018/09/18 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Sumter.

Blanton, DeAnne and Cook, Lauren M. They Fought Like Demons, Louisiana State University Press, 2002.

Massey, Mary Elizabeth. Women in the Civil War, University of Nebraska Press, 1966.

Silvey, Anita. I’ll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War, Clarion Books, 2008.

 

Battle of Gettysburg: Lee’s Long Line of Ambulances

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Ambulance outside Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s plan to transport thousands of wounded soldiers after the Battle of Gettysburg was a daunting task. He ordered General John Imboden to lead them to Cashtown before heading south to Williamsport, Maryland. When they reached Williamsport, they paused for a break. Once men and horses rested, they resumed their journey back to Virginia.

The ambulance wagon train stretched for 27 miles.

Tragic.

And 7,000 Confederate soldiers, wounded too severely to travel, were left behind in Gettysburg. Characters in my novel set during the Battle of Gettysburg, A Rebel in My House, had to deal with this issue.

Conservative estimates for Confederate wounded number around 13,000. Other sources report over 18,000. Either way, 27 miles of ambulances means a distressing number of injured soldiers traveled south, groaning in agony as rickety wheels jostled them over rutted dirt roads.

I wondered how many ambulance wagons might have been required and thought it might be fun to try to figure it out.

Ambulance outside of Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg.

Many models in use at the time were 10 feet long or 10 feet, four inches. The heavier wagons required 4 horses to pull them while lighter ones needed only 2.

Some carried 10 patients—4 prone and 6 seated. The driver and 2 patients sat on a closed chest holding medical supplies.

A lighter model carried 5—15 wounded, depending on how many needed to lie prone for the journey.

It seems almost certain—with the number of wounded requiring transportation to Southern hospitals—that folks squeezed onto wagons meant to hold fewer men.

I confess that I got lost trying to figure the length of an average horse—it seems the larger horses are about 6 feet long. An ambulance 10 feet in length with a two-horse team might require about 20 feet. A four-horse team and wagon might need 30 feet.

Allowing 30 feet for each wagon to estimate how many ambulances might have been in this ambulance train … a staggering 4,752 wagons. The actual count was probably less because some patients with minor injuries walked.

Some ambulances held only 5 patients. If folks had to travel in a laying down, less patients could ride with them.

7,000 were left in Gettysburg. Going with the highest estimate of 18,000+, some 11,000 wounded traveled south. That means 2-3 folks traveled in each wagon.

If we allow 50 feet of space for each wagon, there are about 2,851 or 3-4 patients per wagon. If this is true, then lots of soldiers were in bad shape along the way. Possibly greater numbers of slightly injured weren’t included in the total count.

Has anyone run across this in their research?

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

“Battle of Gettysburg,” Encyclopeadia Britannica, 2018/06/15 https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Gettysburg.

“Battle of Gettysburg,” HistoryNet, 2018/06/15 http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-gettysburg.

“Battle of Gettysburg Facts,” Stone Sentinels, 2018/06/15 http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/battle-of-gettysburg-facts/.

“Civil War Ambulance Wagons,” Civil War Home, 2018/06/17 http://www.civilwarhome.com/ambulancewagons.html.

Compiled by Editors of Combined Books. The Civil War Book of Lists, Da Capo Press, 1994.

Edited by Kennedy, Frances H. The Civil War Battlefield Guide, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990.

“Gallery: Field Medicine,” Trans-Mississippi Theater Virtual Museum, 2018/06/17, http://www.civilwarvirtualmuseum.org/medicine/field-medicine/ambulance.php.

Long, E.B and Long, Barbara. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac 1861-1865, A Da Capo Paperback, 1971.

Sheldon, George. When the Smoke Cleared at Gettysburg: The Tragic Aftermath of the Bloodiest Battle of the Civil War, Cumberland House, 2003.

 

Civil War Battle of Gettyburg’s Numbers

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Post and rider fence common around Gettysburg in 1863 — at Gettysburg Battlefield

 

 With the July 1st—3rd anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg approaching, I thought it would be fun to dig into some “number” facts pertaining to the battle.

How many soldiers fought in the famous Pennsylvania battle?

Sources disagree on this number due to inaccurate, incomplete, and missing records.

HistoryNet

 82,289 Union soldiers

75,000 Confederate soldiers

157,289 Total

Stone Sentinels

93,700 Union

 70,100 Confederate

163,800  Total

Book of Lists

93,693 Union (Corps Strength)

 70,136 Confederate (Corps Strength)

163,829 Total

Some sources reported round numbers:

Encylopaedia Britannica

94,000 Union

 71,000 Confederate

165,000 Total

The Civil War Battlefield Guide    

170,000+ soldiers fought

When the Smoke Cleared At Gettysburg

172,000+ soldiers fought

As you can see, some of these numbers are very close. The difference between the lowest and highest estimates is 14,711.

How many casualties did both sides suffer?

We first have to understand that casualties were broken down as follows: Killed, Wounded, and Missing. Sources also disagree on this number for the same reasons as above.

HistoryNet

3,155  Union killed

14,529 Union wounded

  5,365 Union missing

23,049 Total Union casualties

 

3,903  Confederate killed

18,735  Confederate wounded

  5,425  Confederate missing

28,063  Total Confederate casualties

 

23,049 Union (all casualties)

28,063 Confederate (all casualties)

51,112 Total casualties

Stone Sentinels*

3,150  Union killed

14,500 Union wounded

  5,165  Union missing

22,815  Total Union casualties

 

4,400  Confederate killed

12,950 Confederate wounded

  5,350  Confederate missing

22,700  Total Confederate casualties

 

22,815 Union (all casualties)

22,700 Confederate (all casualties)

45,515 Total casualties

*Stone Sentinel acknowledges their estimates are conservative, with actual casualties possibly as high as 51,000.

Book of Lists

22,807 Union (Corps)

22,557 Confederate (Corps)

45,364  Total casualties

When the Smoke Cleared At Gettysburg

3,155  Union killed

14,530 Union wounded

  5,365  Union missing

23,050  Total Union casualties

 

4,500  Confederate killed

18,750 Confederate wounded

   5,250 Confederate missing

28,500  Total Confederate casualties

 

23,050 Union (all casualties)

28,500 Confederate (all casualties)

51,550 Total casualties

 

Some sources reported round numbers:

Encylopaedia Britannica

23,000 Union casualties

28,000 Confederate casualties

51,000 Total casualties

The Civil War Battlefield Guide    

50,000+ Total casualties

Again, some numbers are close. The difference between the lowest and highest estimates is 6,186. It’s been surprising to find so many discrepancies in these numbers. As an author of a Civil War romance set during the Battle of Gettysburg, A Rebel in My House, I’m often asked these numbers. It’s not an easy answer.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

“Battle of Gettysburg,” Encyclopeadia Britannica, 2018/06/15 https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Gettysburg.

“Battle of Gettysburg,” HistoryNet, 2018/06/15 http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-gettysburg.

“Battle of Gettysburg Facts,” Stone Sentinels, 2018/06/15 http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/battle-of-gettysburg-facts/.

Compiled by Editors of Combined Books. The Civil War Book of Lists, Da Capo Press, 1994.

Edited by Kennedy, Frances H. The Civil War Battlefield Guide, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990.

Long, E.B and Long, Barbara. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac 1861-1865, A Da Capo Paperback, 1971.

Sheldon, George. When the Smoke Cleared at Gettysburg: The Tragic Aftermath of the Bloodiest Battle of the Civil War, Cumberland House, 2003.

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

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Four Women Undercover in the Civil War

This book is classified as a biography.

Belle Boyd was a rebel who shot a Union soldier. She became a spy for the Confederate army.

Emma Edmondson enlisted as “Frank Thompson” to become a Union soldier. She fell in love with Jerome Robbins while acting as a soldier. He knew her secret and returned her love, though she seemed a bit too fond of her tentmate, James Reid.

Widow Rose O’Neal Greenhow was a Confederate spy living in Washington D.C. She passed on information she learned from political connections and eventually was arrested.

Elizabeth Van Lew lived in Richmond but was an abolitionist. She acted as a Union spy.

The book is written more as a novel and is an easy read. Filled with surprises from the Civil War, this book is a page turner.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Cherokee General Watie Surrenders First Indian Brigade

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Degataga, Cherokee for “stand firm,” was the name given to Stand Watie at his birth. He was baptized as Isaac Watie so Stand Watie is a blend of his Cherokee and English names.

Watie supported the relocation of the Cherokee Nation to Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma.) Even though Chief John Ross and the majority of the Cherokee opposed the removal, Watie and a few other tribal members negotiated and signed the Treaty of New Echota. The treaty with the United States forced the Cherokee to leave their lands, traveling what was later called the Trail of Tears.

The treaty signers weren’t popular. A friend’s timely warning allowed Watie to escape being killed with other signers in 1839.

He joined the Southern cause in 1861. As colonel, he raised a Cherokee regiment, the Cherokee Regiment of Mounted Rifles. He and his troops helped drive pro-Union Native Americans from Indian Territory to Kansas.

Watie and his men excelled as scouts and skirmishers. His courage was noticed and he became Brigadier General Watie on May 6, 1864—the only Native American to receive this rank in the Civil War. He commanded the First Indian Brigade, made up of Cherokee, Seminole, Osage, and Creek soldiers.

After General Kirby Smith surrendered the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, Watie knew his turn was coming.

On June 23, he surrendered at Doaksville in Indian Territory.

The last Confederate general to surrender was Cherokee chief Stand Watie.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

“Conclusion of the American Civil War,” Wikipedia.com, 2018/03/21 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conclusion_of_the_American_Civil_War.

“Conclusion of the American Civil War,” Wikiwand.com, 2018/03/22 http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Conclusion_of_the_American_Civil_War.

Long, E.B. and Long, Barbara. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac 1861-1865, A Da Capo Paperback, 1971.

Plante, Trevor K. “Ending the Bloodshed,” National Archives, 2018/03/21

https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2015/spring/cw-surrenders.html.

“Stand Watie,” Civil War Home, 2018/04/22 http://www.civilwarhome.com/watiebio.html.

“Stand Watie,” Civil War Trust, 2018/04/22 https://www.civilwar.org/learn/biographies/stand-watie.

I’ll Pass for Your Comrade by Anita Silvey

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Women Soldiers in the Civil War

This nonfiction resource book talks about the many women who wanted to be soldiers or became soldiers.

A group of over twenty Virginia women wanted to organize a volunteer regiment. They wrote to the Confederate Secretary of War and he rejected their offer.

Black women in Northern cities offered to be “nurses, seamstresses, and warriors if need be.” Local officials refused.

But some women did muster into the army. Fanny Wilson and Nellie Graves wanted to be near their boyfriends.

Malinda Pritchard Blalock served both the Union and the Confederacy as a soldier.

Women cut their hair short and dressed in soldier’s uniforms, often escaping detection simply because no one expected it.

Great book for Civil War research and history lovers.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Battle at Fort Michilimackinac

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Today’s post was written by talented editor and author, Pegg Thomas. The location of her book is a place I’ve longed to visit. Reading and loving one of her stories,  Embattled Hearts, has made me look forward to reading this newest novella.  Welcome to Historical Nibbles, Pegg!

 First, let me help you pronounce that fort, it’s mish-ee-lee-mack-in-aw. Right. Exactly how it’s spelled.

This fort sits at the top of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, at the point where the two peninsulas are the closest. It’s called the Straits of Mackinac and today is spanned by the very impressive 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge. The fort has been rebuilt on its original foundation and is the longest ongoing archeological dig in the United States. It’s open for tourists and staffed with a good crew of reenactors to make the experience memorable.

My May release, Her Redcoat, which is part of The Backcountry Brides collection, takes place here in 1763 during the Indian uprising, Pontiac’s Rebellion. While Pontiac organized multiple tribes and led the uprising against Fort Detroit, other Indians who supported him also attacked Fort Pitt and Fort Niagara. Those major forts stood against the attacks, while eight smaller forts were overrun. Including Fort Michilimackinac.

Pontiac and his followers had been used to the level-handed relationship they’d built with the French fur traders. When the British ousted the French and moved into their forts, the Indians rebelled against the arrogant and heavy-handed methods of the British.

In the background of my story is the history of Fort Michilimackinac. The British commander with his forty-some troops was vastly outnumbered by upwards of five hundred warriors. But in his full British arrogance, the commander could not see the danger all around him. He could not believe that savages—as he thought of them—could best the mightiest military in the world.

They did.

The results were devastating. Most of the regular soldiers were slaughtered. The officers were captured and held for ransom. There was one man, a British fur trader, who escaped the attack. He wrote his first-hand account of the story which has been made into the book Attack at Michilimackinac 1763. If you’re interested in this time period and the unrest in the backcountry of Britain’s American colonies, you’ll enjoy this book.

-Pegg Thomas

Bio:

Pegg Thomas lives on a hobby farm in Northern Michigan with Michael, her husband of *mumble* years. A life-long history geek, she writes “History with a Touch of Humor.” When not working or writing, Pegg can be found in her barn, her garden, her kitchen, or sitting at her spinning wheel creating yarn to turn into her signature wool shawls.

Her Redcoat teaser:

Laurette Pettigrew grew up in the northern frontier. Henry Bedlow arrived against his will. Their chance meeting changes everything. Will a deadly clash of cultures keep them from finding happiness?

Buy her book on Amazon or Christianbook.com.

Subscribe to Pegg’s Newsletter.

Enter Pegg’s Giveaway for this beautiful shawl by subscribing to her newsletter!

Pegg gives away one of her signature handspun, handknit, wool shawls with the release of each new story. To celebrate the release of Her Redcoat, Pegg is giving away the shawl Northern Lilacs. The Straits of Mackinac are known for their abundance of lilacs each spring and this shawl showcases their varied and gorgeous colors. Everyone who subscribes to Pegg’s newsletter is automatically entered in the drawing.

 

Women of the War by Frank Moore

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Their Heroism and Self-sacrifice

True Stories of brave women in the Civil War

This nonfiction resource book shows the many different ways that women served in the Civil War effort.

There are examples of women as soldiers, such Anna Etheridge and Kady Brownell.

Women worked in the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, serving the soldiers.

The women of Philadelphia volunteered at The Cooper’s Shop Saloon, preparing food for Union soldiers passing through the city. There was also a hospital where they received medical care.

Women also traveled to Gettysburg to help with thousands of wounded.

Originally published in 1866, the book includes many examples of women going above and beyond to help soldiers.

Great book for Civil War research and history lovers.

I read this book to learn more about women who served in the Civil War as soldiers as part of my research for my upcoming November release, A Musket in My Hands.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon