Civil War Navy, the History Profession, and Other Historical Musings

Rowdiness and Revolution are Calling

2012-02-12T10:10:00.000-05:00

February has turned out to be a busy month for me. Last weekend, my shipmates and I participated in a War of 1812 living history program at Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC along with the gents of the 10th US and Wake Volunteer Guards. As far as standard living histories go it was a really good program and we saw about 1000 visitors. Here's a photo taken of me at the program; I'm really getting the grumpy old sailor look down, I think.

The rest of this month will consist of general rowdiness and revolution. On February 18, I will be participating in a program at Brunswick Town-Fort Anderson State Historic Site that focuses on the Stamp Act Crisis. We will be doing an evening torchlight program where we reenact, through scripted vignettes, the protests that took place in the Cape Fear region.

On February 25-26 I will be joining other members of the Craven Regiment of militia for the annual anniversary of the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. This program is in sort of a transition period right now due to some changes being made by the park staff, but we are looking forward to helping make this a better program in years to come. This year will be a big test of how things are going to shape up.

I might as well get used to this kind of schedule because March is even more hectic.

AASLH Military History Affinity Group Newsletter

2012-01-26T08:32:00.000-05:00

As some of you may already know, I am in my second go 'round as a Board member for the AASLH Military History Affinity Group. Check out the link below for our latest newsletter. Also, if you are a member of AASLH (or even if you aren't) you are welcome to become a member of the Military History Affinity Group. There are links in the newsletter that will tell you how to do that!

AASLH Military History Affinity Group Newsletter

What Lies Ahead?

2012-01-01T16:12:00.001-05:00

So here we are on the first day of 2012, and I'm thinking of the incredibly busy first half of the year ahead. It is going to be a generally busy year overall, but the first five or six months are shaping up to be extremely challenging from a scheduling standpoint. While I can't list every single thing that's already on my schedule, here are a few highlights coming up in the next few months:

*147th anniversary, Second Battle of Fort Fisher, all Navy/Marine living history weekend on January 21-22

*Civil War Naval Symposium, Mariner's Museum, Virginia coinciding with 150th anniversary of the Monitor-Virginia battle on March 9-10. I will be presenting a panel session focusing on North Carolina built Confederate ironclads with two friends.

*150th anniversary, Battle of Fort Macon reenactment on April 21-22.

*OpSail 2012, Norfolk, VA/War of 1812 living history at Fort Norfolk on June 9-10.

*War of 1812 Bicentennial kickoff symposium, Beaufort, NC on June 25-26.

The events I've listed here are only the major, once in a lifetime type of events; it certainly does not include events and programs that I participate annually. On the college front, I'll be teaching a class I've never taught before (Western Civilization II) which means I'll have to sharpen my focus on that. Add to all this that my wife is transitioning into a new job, which will undoubtedly bring changes on the homefront and the next few months are going to be not only busy, but very interesting. Welcome to the new year!

Trying to Get Into the Spirit

2011-12-07T14:06:00.000-05:00

The holiday season is upon us, but today I am having a hard time getting into the spirit. I am doing things that I always do at this time of year, i.e. grading final exams, preparing for Christmas programs at historic sites, decorating the house, etc. However, no matter how much decorating I do, how many Christmas cards I write, or how much Christmas music I listen to, it is hard to get into the spirit of the season when the temps are in the mid-70s and I am wearing shorts. I guess its a good damn thing I don't live in Florida or some other such place. I'm sure all you folks up north who have already had a couple of snows this year are cussing me right now, but damn it, it isn't supposed to be 75 in December! At any rate, I think Mother Nature will take care of all this for me in rather short order as the temps are supposed to be a good 20 degrees cooler starting tomorrow.

This weekend's activities should also help get me in the spirit. We will be partaking in our annual tradition of Colonial Christmas at Historic Halifax. As always, we will be set up in the Tap Room at the historic site, with some form of holiday refreshments, tavern games, and of course the usual swivel gun and musket demonstrations throughout the day. Some of our members will march in the town's Christmas parade as well. We always have a ton of fun at this program and if you find yourself in or traveling through northeastern NC this Saturday, you should stop on by Historic Halifax. Its a short six mile drive off of I-95 and well worth the time.

Now, back to grading final exams, putting up a Christmas tree, and maybe getting some of those cards done!

Call me politically correct, but....I have a problem with this

2011-11-13T11:51:00.000-05:00

On Friday, November 11 (Veteran's Day), a paid advertisement ran on page 9 of the Jacksonville (NC) Daily News. This ad took up two-thirds of the page, sharing space with the continuation of a local writer's column (the column and the ad had nothing at all to do with one another). The ad consisted of this very "Lost Cause-y" artwork

from 1896. Above the image were the words "Remembering all the gallant men who wore the Gray on Veteran's Day - Deo Vindice" and below the image was a quote from Major R.E. Wilson, CSA that simply oozes Lost Cause nostalgia. At the very bottom are the words "Paid for by ....".

The quote by Major Wilson reads, "If I ever disown, repudiate, or apologize for the Cause for which Lee fought and Jackson died, let the lightning's of Heaven rend me, and the scorn of all good men and true women be my portion. Sun, Moon, Stars, all fall on me when I cease to love the Confederacy. 'Tis the cuase, not the fate of the Cause, that is glorious!"

Now, I have absolutely no problem with someone spending their money on an ad such as this. If that's how you choose to allocate your dollars, that's great. What I have a problem with is the fact that it was run on Veteran's Day. Some of you may say that this is a tribute to veterans like any other, but I beg to differ. I feel this ad would be more appropriately run on Confederate Memorial Day. Some of my friends and colleagues will call me a liberal, academic South hater (which, by the way, is an inside joke). Something about this ad just struck me all wrong. Veteran's Day as we know it was established after World War I and I don't see a place for an ad such as this on this holiday. If one truly believes that the Confederate States of America was a sovereign nation, then why would you want to remember its heroes on a day set aside to remember veterans of the United States military?

I don't know why this simple newspaper ad got me so stirred up except to say that its stuff like this that really diminishes my interest in the Civil War. Too many people still fighting it, too many thinking the South will rise again, and a Lost Cause that simply won't get lost. The Civil War encompasses so much of what I do in my job, in my hobby, and in life in general, that I will never fully escape it. I just wish I could escape this side of it and focus on other aspects of it.

Switching Gears

2011-11-13T09:24:00.001-05:00

Or at least time periods. Three weekends of colonial events are finished and now I have to retool and gear up for the annual Confederate Navy weekend at the CSS Neuse State Historic Site and the Carolina Living History Guild annual business meeting. It appears that most of our members will be present this year and we certainly have lots to discuss, including a very busy schedule for 2012.

The Colonial Heritage Day at Brunswick Town went very well. Though the weather was cool and overcast at times, on Saturday afternoon the sun came out and it warmed up quite nicely. I enjoyed my day spent with the fine fellows of Capt. William Dry's Company of New Hanover County militia.

The men of Dry's Militia assembled for the manual exercise (yours truly closest to the camera)

The Celebrate NC program at the NC Museum of History was a great event! There were more artisans, craftsmen, historic sites, and entertainers than I've ever seen and the museum staff estimated 5000 visitors for the day. We saw plenty of those folks and had great conversations with a few of them, while representing Historic Halifax.

Yesterday's "Bath in the American Revolution" event went very well. Though I was only one of two militia men present, His Majesty's 64th Regt. of Foot had a very good turnout. Bath is a very small town that is off the beaten path, but they still managed to get 250-300 visitors out for the day. I talked to a lot of fine folks about militia service, both Loyalist and Patriot, in Revolutionary era North Carolina. The Brits did a fine job of drill and musket demonstrations, and musician Simon Spalding kept our ears perked up all day with his lively tunes.

All in all, its been a really fun three weeks.

Lots of Colonial Stuff on the Horizon

2011-10-26T19:26:00.000-04:00

For the next three weeks I'll be immersed (at least part of the time) in colonial North Carolina history. Three events in three weekends should prove to be interesting and fun.

October 28-29, I will be at Brunswick Town-Fort Anderson State Historic Site assisting with their Colonial Heritage Days. Friday I'll be doing maritime interpretation for fourth grade students and Saturday will be open to the public. I will likely put aside the maritime interpretation and fall in with the militia company.

November 5, I will be representing Historic Halifax at the Celebrate NC program at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh. Me and my messmate Chris Grimes will be discussing the recruitment of Continental Line and militia units at Halifax during the American Revolution. Even better, our display will be set up at the entrance of the museum's "Call to Arms" military history exhibit. And what's even better still, is that right outside the entrance to that exhibit is a mannequin dressed in the uniform of the 6th NC Continental Line, recruited at Halifax. Should be a great venue for a display!

November 12, I wrap up my three week whirlwind tour of colonial North Carolina at Historic Bath. I will be working with the Craven Regiment militia and His Majesty's 64th Regt. of Foot to present a living history program titled "Bath in the American Revolution." It should prove to be a great ending to this run of colonial/Revolutionary programs.

I'll try to be better about posting event reports and photos as we go, instead of waiting a month to get caught up. Stay tuned!

Updates

2011-10-26T19:16:00.000-04:00

How did a month slip by? It has actually been that long since my last post, and for that I am truly sorry. Things have been busy, but I didn't realize they had been THAT busy. So, a quick update than a follow up with another post about upcoming events.

The War of 1812 Garrison Weekend at Fort Macon State Park could not have been better! We had beautiful weather, great camaraderie, and approximately 3200 visitors over two days. A few photos will show our merry little band.

Immediately following that event, I taught a safety course for new historic weapons safety officers. We had a good group, most of whom were very new to historic weapons, but they all did a great job and learned a lot. I look forward to having most of them in the next full-length class.

War of 1812 Garrison Weekend

2011-09-28T20:04:00.000-04:00

This weekend (October 1 and 2) my living history group will be sponsoring our annual War of 1812 Garrison Weekend at Fort Macon State Park in Atlantic Beach, NC. Last year was our inaugural event. We held the event the second weekend in June thinking that the weather would be pleasant, but not terribly hot. We were unpleasantly surprised by August temps in June. The event went very well, but we were miserably hot. Because of that and other circumstances of scheduling, we decided to move the event this year and chose the first weekend in October to coincide with the NC Seafood Festival, taking place just across the bridge in Morehead City.

We will be hosting fellow reenactors from North Carolina, as well as a group from Maryland for a weekend of living history displays, infantry drill and musket firing demonstrations, and artillery demonstrations thanks to our good friends from Ship's Company. We also have to thank the Friends of Fort Macon for generously supporting the program with some financial assistance. The weather looks like it is going to be gorgeous this weekend so I hope a lot of folks will take the opportunity to come on out and learn something about North Carolina during the War of 1812.

Civil War exhibit opening in Beaufort, NC

2011-09-23T21:17:00.002-04:00

Catch up - yes, that's what I've been doing a lot of lately and I've finally gotten around to the blog. Sorry to keep you all waiting for new material, but I think my head may have just stopped spinning. Tomorrow I will be in Beaufort at the NC Maritime Museum; my wife is the curator for the museum's Civil War Sesquicentennial exhibit which opens tomorrow. There will be a lecture by Dr. Judkin Browning at 3 p.m. followed by a reception from 4-6 p.m. If you aren't busy tomorrow and you are in ENC, come on down to Beaufort and check out the new exhibit. This event kicks off a year of Civil War events at the museum, which will include a speaker series (one lecture a month from now until next September) and a living history program to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the occupation of Beaufort in late March 2012. Kudos to my wonderful wife Lori, for putting together all of these activities!

Two Road Trips Down

2011-09-23T21:13:00.001-04:00

I have not been intentionally neglecting this blog for the past three weeks; I've simply been too busy to find enough time to post. A lot has happened since the reenactment of the 1802 duel between John Stanly and Richard Dobbs Spaight, the topic of my last post.

I was in Pennsylvania for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. As most of you know, Flight 93 went down very near to where my father's family home is. I was not in PA specifically for the commemorations, but it was an interesting coincidence. I didn't go anywhere near the crash site memorial, but instead watched many of the proceedings on television with my grandmother. My mother and I were there for the annual Mountain Craft Days festival at the Somerset County Historical Center, which this year seemed to be greatly overshadowed by the 9/11 activities. It didn't help that it had rained there all week long and the grounds were nothing but mud and muck. I also got a chance to go fishing with my brother, as he and his girlfriend went up for a visit too. I caught two largemouth bass, the first being pretty nice (about 2.5 pounds and 14-15 inches long), so I was pretty pleased. My brother and I also got a chance to talk to a fellow who is working on restoring an old farm up in the mountains (we were fishing in his pond) which includes a house built in 1870. Not only is the farm a wonderful, peaceful, and beautiful place, but Jim is a really interesting guy who has a passion for making that place the best it can be. I may post some photos later.

After a quick turnaround, I was back on the road last weekend. I was in Richmond, VA on Friday and Saturday for the annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) where I was on the program as a session moderator. I put together a session titled "Aren't We Forgetting Something? The War of 1812 Bicentennial in the South." I had presenters from North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia; each one did a great job and the panel was better attended and more well-received than we ever expected. I sat in on some other very good panel sessions, got to catch up with folks I hadn't seen in a year or two, and met some new folks as well. It was one of the best conferences I've been to in a long time even though I was only there for part of it. Before leaving Saturday I had a chance to catch up with a friend from college who lives in Richmond. We hadn't seen each other in 15 or 16 years and it was real nice to catch up. And that leads us to........

Dueling on Labor Day

2011-09-05T10:03:00.000-04:00

This afternoon I will be taking part in the annual reenactment of the duel between John Stanly and Richard Dobbs Spaight at Tryon Palace. I do not have a speaking part in this event, but will serve as one of the pistol loaders alongside my long time reenacting friend, Ken Sewell. It should prove to be interesting.

This event will begin a very hectic few weeks for me. On Thursday morning I am leaving to take my mother to Pennsylvania for the annual Mountain Craft Days event at the Somerset County Historical Center. For the past few years I have participated in this event as well, but I am taking this year off since I am still rehabbing my ankle and I'm not sure it would stand up too well for the entire weekend. Instead, I plan to visit friends, finally make that visit to Fort Necessity I've been wanting to make, and find a good bar at which to watch the Steelers game on Sunday.

The next weekend (Sept. 16-17) will find me in Richmond, attending the annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History. There, I will be serving as moderator and presenter on a panel entitled "Aren't We Forgetting Something? The War of 1812 Bicentennial" which will take a look at three southern states' (TN, NC, and VA) efforts to commemorate the Bicentennial while being overshadowed by the much larger and more popular Civil War Sesquicentennial. I will also be attending a breakfast sponsored by the AASLH Military History Committee (of which I am a member) and Presidential Sites committee. The featured speaker will be from James Madison's Montpelier. Of course, I'll also be trying to catch up with a few old friends in the brief time I am in Richmond as well.

All in all, it looks like the next few weeks are going to be very busy, but in a generally good way. I'll report as I am able on all these activities.

My Personal Hurricane History

2011-08-26T20:02:00.000-04:00

So here we are, riding out Hurricane Irene. If we're lucky this is the only one we'll have to deal with this year. My personal hurricane history goes back to 1985 when my family moved back to North Carolina from Pennsylvania. We had only been living here for a couple of weeks when Hurricane Gloria made an appearance. I had no idea what to expect, having never been through a hurricane before. Since we lived in a mobile home, my parents decided it was best for us to stay with some friends who lived in a brick house. I just remember watching the trees swaying in the wind that night and being told that if the tops of those trees touched the ground we'd be evacuating to the high school, which was the nearest shelter. I wondered what the hell I was in for when that comment was made. Gloria turned out to not be all that bad.

Since then I've ridden out my share of hurricanes, most of them minimal. The ones I remember best are Bertha and Fran in 1996; Bonnie in 1998; and Dennis and Floyd in 1999. I probably remember these best because they were the most destructive and disruptive I've ever dealt with. And they all have stories attached to them.

1996 - Bertha hit near the end of the summer. I had graduated from UNCW in May and come home to work for the summer and made decisions about grad school. Eventually, I decided to go back to UNCW for grad school and I was in Wilmington, looking for an apartment as Bertha was nearing. In fact, I was on campus making a call from a pay phone (remember those?) when I was approached by a university staff member and told the campus was closing for the storm. I was working at a trailer park in Jacksonville and spent the rest of my summer cleaning up debris around the park, taking down uprooted trees, and other maintenance related work. Just a few weeks after returning to Wilmington, along came Fran and really thumped us pretty good. I lost power for a few days, but that was OK because I hung out with my buddy Joe, ate MREs for a couple of days, and generally had a good old time.

1998 - I was still living in Wilmington, only now in a new apartment near the hospital. My roommate was a Marine on delayed OCS; he was a full-time college student who had four years active duty under his belt and was serving in the reserves while he finished school. My friend Charlie came over to ride out Hurricane Bonnie with us that summer. We popped every package of popcorn we had in the apartment and when the power went out we proceeded to eat all the ice cream in the freezer so it wouldn't go to waste. In the middle of the storm my roommate pulled out his sniper rifle and started cleaning it. When asked why he was doing that at that particular moment in time he replied, "Gotta be prepared for looters." We put on ponchos and went out in the middle of the storm just to see what was happening. Good times.....

1999 - Of course, no one in eastern NC will forget the summer of 1999 when we got visits from Dennis and Floyd. I was living in Morehead City and rode out Dennis there (it was really nothing much to speak of except a lot of rain). With Floyd coming on, things looked more ominous. I had already planned a trip to Raleigh to visit friends that weekend so that seemed like a good idea. What Floyd brought us was a whole lot of flooding - some of the most devastating flooding ever in the area. A lot of folks who escaped to the west got stuck and couldn't return home because most of the highways were under water. I was lucky and got back home just in time to avoid being stranded. In some ways, this area is still recovering from Floyd and it was 12 years ago.

So that's my brief, personal hurricane history. So let's see what's happening outside right now!

Riding Out Another One

2011-08-26T19:40:00.000-04:00

Well, contrary to my last post, things really have slowed down, but only because we are currently experiencing Hurricane Irene. The Flags Over Hatteras event was obviously cancelled due to the impending doom, so no cannon firing this weekend. Luckily, Irene is turning out to be a little bit tamer than we expected, which is always nice. What appeared earlier in the week to be a solid Category 3 storm has downgraded to a low Category 2 and that certainly makes us happy. Sure there will still be some damage, flooding, etc., but it shouldn't be nearly as bad as we initially thought. We are scheduled to get the worst of it tomorrow, late morning or early afternoon. I have plenty of reading material to keep me occupied if the power goes out (or even if it doesn't). Not exactly how I intended to spend my weekend, but at least I'm doing something productive - I'm reading over and editing my wife's exhibit text for the Civil War exhibit she is curating at her museum. If you are in the storm's path stay safe. The rest of you have a good weekend!

Busy Week (and things aren't going to slow down)

2011-08-20T11:33:00.000-04:00

A week ago yesterday the doctor told me to take the walking boot off and start wearing a regular shoe again. I have to say the first few hours of wearing a shoe, after three months of not wearing one, felt kind of weird. I still have to do some physical therapy, I still have some swelling and pain, but the doctor says I should be 100% within another month or so.

I tested things out right away, spending a weekend on the Battleship USS North Carolina in Wilmington. Our living history group did a Civil War living history there on Saturday and saw over 1,500 visitors come through. We also spent two nights aboard "The Showboat" which was really fun.

Fall semester classes at both colleges started this week, so I've been busy answering student emails, adding students who registered late, and doing all manner of administrative work that has to be done at the start of a semester. So far things seem to be going well and hopefully that will continue for the next three and a half months.

Things will really start picking up both at work and on the living history front over the next six weeks or so; be on the lookout for lots of posts from me in the next couple of months. Next weekend will kick it all off, as I'm headed to Cape Hatteras with the artillery crew from Fort Fisher to help commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Hatteras. We'll actually be doing artillery demonstrations on the ground of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which should make for some really cool photo ops!

The Moment of Truth/Jumping Feet First Back Into the Fray

2011-08-11T19:37:00.000-04:00

This post really has two parts and both will take place tomorrow. First, as many of you know, I have been dealing with a quite significant ankle injury for the past three months. Tomorrow morning I have a doctor's appointment and he will hopefully tell me that I no longer need the walking boot, and will recommend any further action that needs to be taken. The ankle is doing well, but its nowhere near 100% yet and won't be for some time. However, I think it has healed enough that I should be able to get out of the walking boot. This would be a very good thing because.....

Part Two: I will be heading to Wilmington tomorrow to take part in a Civil War living history program at the Battleship USS North Carolina. The program won't be much different than what we did last year. We will be highlighting the history of the 1824 ship of the line USS North Carolina and the Confederate ironclad CSS North Carolina. This year we will be allowed to bunk on board the ship, in the Marine Compartment. We'll have a smaller group than last year, but we are looking forward to it. I'm just hoping that I'll be climbing those ladders on the ship in a regular shoe and not a walking boot.

For the remainder of August and through the middle of October, my schedule will be almost non-stop so I'll have plenty to write about. Stay tuned!

Companion Volumes Finished

2011-07-31T13:24:00.001-04:00

Upon receiving my pre-ordered copy of Brooks Simpson's new book The Civil War in the East: Struggle, Stalemate, and Victory I decided to read it and it's companion volume Decision in the Heartland: The Civil War in the West by Steven Woodworth. I have just finished reading both and I am very impressed with them. I think it was definitely a good idea to read them back-to-back.

Each author makes a case for their respective theater being the deciding theater of the war, and both make convincing arguments. Both authors take very definite stands on various issues of debate in Civil War historiography. For instance, though many folks will argue that the Civil War was won (or lost) in the western theater, Simpson very adeptly argues that the East was for political/public reasons the primary theater and that the war was won in that theater. He is also very critical in his evaluation of almost every Union military officer not named Grant, and reserves a special disdain for McClellan. Woodworth is very clearly not a fan of Joseph E. Johnston, but is also very aware of the flaws of Jefferson Davis and all of the Confederate generals in the West. If anything, he gives Braxton Bragg more credit than most historians, while realizing his limitations. Like Simpson, he is also critical of the Union command save for Grant, Sherman, and a few other lesser generals.

Taken together, these two books are very good, brief overviews of each theater. Neither is longer than 140 pages, making them easy to finish in a rather short period of time. Each provides a solid view of the war without getting bogged down in details about each major battle or campaign. These books would be a good starting point for anyone wanting a quick and dirty explanation of the war.

Couldn't Finish a Book

2011-07-20T10:12:00.000-04:00

Last time I updated the What I'm Currently Reading section, I was working on T.H. Breen's American Insurgents, American Patriots (see previous post). I'm sad to admit that I couldn't finish it. I don't know if I just couldn't get into the material, or if it was Breen's writing style, or what, but I just had to put it down. This was particularly discouraging because I got more than a third of the way through it before I quit. The book received a lot of favorable reviews, but I guess it just couldn't stand up to the previous two books I had read (David Goldfield's America Aflame and Stephen Budiansky's Perilous Fight)

After putting down Breen's book, I decided to read a short work by Gordon Wood, The American Revolution: A History. Though it is only 166 pages, this book is an excellent, basic history of the Revolution. If you are looking for an in-depth study this certainly isn't it, but it is a well-written overview that highlights the causes of the war and the development of republicanism in America. There's very little military history here, aside from the one chapter that deals specifically with the conduct of the war. This book can be purchased from Amazon for well under $10 which would make it a perfect book for an undergraduate class on the time period. If I were able to select my own books for my classes I would seriously consider having my students read this as a supplement to their textbook. I am almost finished with it and getting through this book has made me feel better about not finishing American Insurgents, American Patriots.

Progress (in more ways than one)

2011-07-20T10:01:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update on my ankle injury for those who may not have spoken with me lately. The walking boot has been a tremendous improvement over the cast. I have about three weeks left in the boot and should be back to normal then. I'm a bit concerned because I still have enough swelling that I can't put a shoe on, but we'll see what happens in the next few weeks. I have gotten to the point where I can walk short distances without the boot, and I made my first attempt at driving last night, which seemed to go pretty well at least for a short distance. My doctor's appointment is August 12 and my living history group has a program on August 13 (more on that later) so the timing is working out pretty well. Hopefully by the time the weather cools off and autumn arrives I'll be back at full speed. It will be nice to enjoy my favorite time of year without worrying about this stupid injury.

Book Updates

2011-06-30T21:35:00.000-04:00

If you have looked at the "What I'm Currently Reading" sidebar you'll see that I listed Robert Ramsey's Carolina Cradle: Settlement of the Northwest Carolina Frontier, 1747-1762. I can say that I honestly did not read this cover to cover. The first half of the book or more is great if you are doing genealogical research, but other than the chapter introductions I found little of use. However, the last few chapters that deal with the society, economy, etc. are very good and worth a read.

I have now switched gears and started reading T.H. Breen's American Insurgents, American Patriots: The Revolution of the People. I haven't really gotten far enough into this one to have anything meaningful to say yet so stay tuned!

A Few Thoughts on "Perilous Fight"

2011-06-30T21:29:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week, I finished reading Perilous Fight: America's Intrepid War With Britain on the High Seas, 1812-1815. Without going into a lot of detail, here are a few random thoughts about the book.

For the most part, it is a quick and easy read. There were one or two spots that moved kind of slowly, but that was the exception. Budiansky does a pretty good job fleshing out the relationships among the various "characters" in the story (i.e. high ranking naval officers and politicians, mainly on the American side, but on the British as well). He gives the reader a lot of background information to start with, almost too much in my opinion, as the book seems a bit slow to get started. However, once you get past the first chapter or two the book really takes off. If there's one problem I had with this book it is that the author sometimes takes on a sarcastic tone, which in my opinion is a little less than professional. I appreciate humor and wit in a book, but I think in some instances (mainly early in the book) Budiansky goes a bit overboard with it. Otherwise, I think its a fine book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the War of 1812 or the history of the US Navy.

Final Thoughts on "America Aflame"

2011-06-16T06:43:00.000-04:00

I have finally finished David Goldfield's critically acclaimed new book America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation. Be prepared to spend some time on this book if you read it because the text runs over 500 pages, but it is a fairly quick read and won't feel like a 500 page book. The book is very nearly equally divided into three parts. The first third of the book deals with the causes of the war beginning in the 1840s. Goldfield covers all of the issues and crises, all the while using them to support his interpretation of events. Without going into great detail I will mention that Goldfield's basic interpretation relates everything to evangelical Christianity and explains how all the events leading up to the war and during the war itself were influenced by the religious climate of the time period, and how that religious climate changed during the war until American religion was a totally different thing by the end of the conflict. In all instances, his interpretation is well supported and argued.

The second third of the book deals with the war itself, but don't expect any in-depth analysis of battles. Military history is definitely not Goldfield's interest and that may be the weakest part of the book. However, that really isn't a weakness necessarily because his focus in not specifically on the battles; rather he uses the battles to illustrate certain points that he wants to emphasize. Without going into a lot of strict military history he manages to navigate through the war very well.

The final third of the book focuses on Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. This is an area of history that I have always had very little interest in, but Goldfield really makes most of this interesting, even to me. He concludes the book at the 1876 national centennial. He expertly summarizes all the phases of Reconstruction and gives an excellent overview of how America changed between 1865 and 1876. Of the 22 chapters in the book there were only three that I found a bit difficult to get through and two of those were in this last third of the book.

In the end, I think this is an excellent book that should be widely read. It really puts the Civil War era in a different light than most of us are used to looking at it. I don't think everyone is going to agree with all of Goldfield's points, and some probably won't like his overall interpretation, but I think it will give anyone cause to think about things a little differently than they might have otherwise. It is extremely well-written and easy to read. Goldfield's writing is really at its best in this book. Whether you like his interpretation or not, I highly recommend this book.

Update: At the Halfway Point (Almost)

2011-05-28T17:04:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post I am currently reading David Goldfield's latest book, America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation. By the end of this Memorial Day weekend I will be halfway through the book. The writing throughout so far has been superb, except for one chapter (don't remember which one) that I felt got a bit bogged down. Though this book as a whole certainly is not meant to be used as a textbook for a high school or undergraduate class, I really feel that chapters 8 and 9 could easily be used in an undergraduate class. These two chapters very succinctly sum up the secession crisis after Lincoln's election and end after the First Battle of Manassas. Goldfield does not dwell too much on the military aspects of the war (and I never thought that he would) but includes enough to get where he wants to go. His main focus is on the socio-religious and political realms, which he covers very well. At the near halfway point, I am really enjoying this book.

David Blight's Keynote Address from May 20

2011-05-26T19:45:00.002-04:00

As mentioned earlier, here's David Blight's keynote. Enjoy!

VA Sesquicentennial Signature Conference - May 21

2011-05-26T13:49:00.002-04:00

Virginia's Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission has already sponsored two Signature Conferences in Richmond (2009) and Norfolk (2010), both of which were excellent. This year, the conference was hosted in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech. Dr. James I. Robertson, one of the leading scholars in the field, was the conference host and it was his last official act prior to his retirement. That made this conference a little more special than the previous two. Dr. Robertson was presented with the annual award given by the Commission for lifetime achievement at the start of the conference and he presided over the event like a proud grandfather all day long, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd at the end.

This year's theme was Military Strategy and the list of speakers was impressive, as always. The opening session outlined military strategy at the onset of the war. Dennis Frye, Chief Historian at Harper's Ferry, gave an impassioned speech about the use of John Brown's raid on the arsenal as a rallying cry for the newly seceded Confederate states. Richard Sommers, Senior Historian at the Army Heritage and Education Center and US Army War College, discussed the military education system of the time and the general lack of preparedness and bloated seniority system of the US Army at the war's outbreak.

The next session focused on strategy in the eastern theater of the war. Sommers was once again at the podium to begin, discussing the failure of Union strategy in the first two plus years of the war. From there Dr. Gary Gallagher of the University of VA took over and discussed the mid-war period. Gallagher was as solid as ever in his presentation. The panel was concluded by Dr. Joseph Glatthaar of the University of NC talking about the Army of Northern Virginia and Confederate strategy, while wrapping up the end of the war. This panel was very good and certainly met expectations, if not exceeding them.

Lunch featured a performance of the Stonewall Brigade Band. I'm not a big fan of marching band music anymore these days so I took the opportunity to check out the rest of the coliseum, the book shop, and the rest of the exhibitors.

The first afternoon session focused on strategy in the western theater of the war. William C. Davis of Virginia Tech gave an excellent overview of both Union and Confederate strategy in the west early in the war. Dr. Richard McMurry discussed the horrible relationship between Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. He basically laid the failure of Confederate strategy in the west at the feet of Davis and his poor relationship with Johnston. The session was brought to a close by Dr. Steven Woodworth of TCU, discussing the western theater after the fall of Vicksburg. I was looking forward to hearing him speak, and though he was good, I was a bit disappointed. I'll give him a pass though, because he did agree to sign three books for me outside of the assigned book signing time. Thanks to him and the Virginia Tech conference organizer for allowing that to happen.

The final session focused on "forgotten elements" of the Civil War. John Bowen, a highly regarded veterinarian talked about the horses and mules that perished in the war effort. William C. Davis did an interesting presentation on weather, how it effected operations, and how often and in detail soldiers wrote about it. Finally, Dr. Robertson ended the day with a discussion of water and how important (and scarce) it was for both armies.

All in all, this was a very good conference. The staff at Virginia Tech was by far the friendliest of any of the three conferences so far. They went above, beyond, and well out of their way to make the conference easy for me (remember, I've got one leg in a cast and have to use either crutches or a knee walker to get around). They were very accommodating and helpful all around and I can't thank them enough! Next year's conference will be held March 22 (the day after my birthday) at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, the topic being Leadership and Generalship. I can't wait!

NC Civil War Sesquicentennial Symposium - May 20

2011-05-26T13:23:00.005-04:00

I'm finally getting around to writing my reflections on the two Civil War symposiums that I attended last weekend. I'll start with the first of three programs being held in North Carolina throughout the commemoration, this one dealing with the topic of Memory, held at the NC Museum of History in Raleigh.

The keynote speaker for this conference was David Blight, and as you all know I am a big fan of his. I could listen to him talk all day long and he did not disappoint in Raleigh last Friday. His address was thought provoking, timely, and humorous.

I can only evaluate the speakers that I heard (sessions ran concurrently throughout the day), but generally I heard plenty of good remarks about all the sessions. Shannon SanCartier, soon to embark upon her Ph.D. work at Penn State gave an excellent historiographical presentation tracing the field of Civil War memory from the centennial in the 1960s to the present. Her presentation was very good and I felt she really separated herself from her co-panelist who clearly was nearing the end of his career. I won't say anything much about him except to say that I was not impressed.

John Coffey of the NC Museum of Art did an interesting presentation on the history of a marble bust of John C. Calhoun in the museum's collection. While his presentation was nice and quite humorous, he went way over his allotted time. Tom Vincent of the NC Office of Archives and History did an excellent presentation on his specialty, North Carolina Confederate soldier monuments. Chris Meekins of the NC Archives wrapped up this session with a discussion of the NC sarcophagus/monument at Appomattox and the controvery it stirred when it was originally placed and unveiled on the battlefield.

Historian and blogger Michael Hardy did an excellent presentation on Civil War monuments in western North Carolina. This is the first time I've had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Hardy in person and I really enjoyed his presentation. He was followed by Leonard Lanier, a doctoral candidate at LSU, who presented a talk about the opposing memories of eastern North Carolinian Gen. Bryan Grimes and the attempts to secure his legacy by his son and wife in the wake of his untimely murder after the war. I didn't stick around for the entire presentation, but what I heard sounded pretty good.

Finally, I got to hear one of my mentors speak at the end of the day. Dr. John Haley gave a presentation called "Risky Remembrances: African American Accounts of the Civil War and Reconstruction." Click the link to see this presentation on YouTube. Dr. Haley, though he went past his allotted time and was not at his best, was still very good. I really enjoyed hearing him speak again and remembered how great it was to sit in his classes at UNC-Wilmington.

As an aside, many of the presentations were videotaped and will be uploaded on YouTube. I really hope that David Blight's keynote address is available soon. Go to YouTube and look up the channel "ncculture" for more. All in all, I think this was a very successful effort for the North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee, especially considering they had almost no budget to speak of. The next symposium will be on the topic of Freedom and will be held in 2013 at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.

Civil War Sesquicentennial Begins Officially in NC

2011-05-19T17:23:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow will mark the beginning of the Civil War Sesquicentennial in North Carolina, the anniversary of the state's secession from the Union in 1861. To get things started on a proper note, the NC Civil War 150 Committee is sponsoring thehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif first of three symposiums to be held in the state over the next five years. Tomorrow's symposium focuses on Memory and will be held at the NC Museum of History in Raleigh. Click on the link for an excellent Washington Post article about the symposium and the commemoration.

My Love/Hate (but mostly love) Relationship with David Goldfield

2011-05-17T07:49:00.004-04:00

And with a title like that, I'm sure you're thinking the pain meds have finally put me under. Not so, and you'll understand the title as I get further into this post. I have just begun reading Dr. David Goldfield's latest book, America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation (for Amazon link see the "What I'm Reading" sidebar on the right). I've read the Introduction and the first two chapters so far and I am impressed. Goldfield's writing is as impressive as I've come to expect.

My "relationship" with Goldfield goes back to graduate school when I was studying modern Southern history. I read a number of his books, most importantly Cotton Fields and Skyscrapers. I knew of Goldfield and his work prior to actually reading any of it because my friend Jeff had received his MA in history at UNC-Charlotte where Goldfield teaches. Goldfield took on the image of the "rock star" historian to me (as did many others who I won't mention here).

Needless to say, I was giddy when I found out that he would be moderating the panel that I would presenting on at the UNCC Graduate History Forum in the spring of 1999. I had presented at that forum the previous year and all had gone fairly well. As luck would have it in 1999 however, I was nearing the completion of my MA thesis and was nearly burned out. Because of this my paper was not nearly as good as the one I had presented the year before, though I didn't realize that at the time. I was not prepared to present either and ended up exceeding my time limit and being cut off. In his comments, Goldfield absolutely destroyed me (and the other speaker on the panel as well). As far as I know, the other speaker on that panel still holds a grudge against Goldfield, but with hindsight I've let go of that bad experience. I realize now that the paper I presented was not good and my presentation was probably even worse. Goldfield has remained a rock star in my mind, and his new book is proving to live up to that reputation, at least for now.
A photo of me and Dr. Goldfield at the 1999 UNC-Charlotte Graduate History Forum (which I had totally forgotten about until I wrote this post)

Plymouth Event Report

2011-05-16T10:34:00.002-04:00

We have always said that the draw for us in attending this event each year is that it is the only event we go to that we are able to work on a boat. Once again this year we manned the replica 30-foot steam launch and took to the Roanoke River to do battle against the replica ironclad CSS Albemarle. The weather was beautiful this year and we had a blast! Al Mitchell and I manned the bow gun, while Myron Rolston and Connor Jeannerette served as riflemen. Chris Grimes was at the helm, with Allen Mordica as our Boatswain/Coxswain. We almost as much time on the water as on land, which is always a good day. I didn't stick around for Sunday's activities, but I heard that a good time was had by all. It appears that this was my last true reenactment for awhile, so I'm doubly glad that I attended!

Fort Dobbs Event Report

2011-05-16T10:16:00.003-04:00

The weekend of April 9-10 I attended the annual War for Empire event at Fort Dobbs State Historic Site in Statesville, NC. This was scheduled as a Craven Regiment event. Four of us attended, portraying North Carolina militia. This year saw a huge reenactor turnout for the event which was set in the year 1761. Along with the regular garrison from Fort Dobbs, other units present included the South Carolina Rangers, the Washington County Regiment of NC Militia, Ballard's Virginia Militia, and the Independent Company of South Carolina out of Fort Loudoun, TN. Of course, there was also the Cherokee representation by His Majesty's Southern Indian Department.

There were many sutlers and vendors this year, and despite a forecast of bad weather the visitation was good. Most of the bad weather occurred in the evening so the program was not affected. We took part in the battle scenarios both days and manned an artillery piece for demonstrations on Sunday. As always, Fort Dobbs put on another very high quality event. This site does some of the most authentic and progressive programming in the state. Though it is a long drive for most of us, it is always well worth the trip and we enjoy ourselves whenever we go. I look forward to many more quality events at Fort Dobbs in years to come, as they continue to build both the site and their reputation.

240th Anniversary, Battle of Alamance

2011-05-15T11:27:00.003-04:00

I received a report from the field today from my friends who are attending the 240th Battle of Alamance event this weekend. I certainly wish I could be there with them, as it sounds like they are having a good time. The big festivities this wehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifekend included the unveiling of new exhibits at the site and the release of a new book by Elon University professor Carole Troxler entitled Farming Dissenters: The Regulator Movement in Piedmont North Carolina. I'll post more about this event later, and I can't wait to get a copy of the new book, which one of the gang will be bringing back from the event for me.

New Blog on the Blogroll

2011-05-14T07:03:00.003-04:00

Check out my blogroll on the right hand side of the page if you haven't done so lately. I've added a few things, most recently Historian on the Warpath which looks like a very promising venture.

Time to Catch Up

2011-05-14T06:56:00.002-04:00

Well friends, I have let the blog languish for a little while now, but my plan was to do one big post encompassing last month's events at Fort Dobbs and Plymouth, as well as this weekend's 240th Battle of Alamance commemoration. Obviously I am not now at Alamance and with reason - I have dislocated my right ankle and it looks like I'll be laid up for about 12 weeks. This should give me ample time to catch up on this long-neglected blog of mine so stay tuned over the next few months. I hope to get caught up on event postings like the ones mentioned above, as well as a book review or two and maybe some other general thoughts and observations. Maybe this break in the action is just what I needed to get this blog jump started.

Presentation Tonight

2011-04-18T06:57:00.003-04:00

After lunch with a friend in Wilmington and a meeting at Fort Fisher this afternoon, I'll be giving a presentation to the Federal Point Historic Preservation Society. I have spoken to this group in the past, but it has been a number of years. I will be speaking on the interpretation of the Civil War Navies and Marine Corps at historic sites in North Carolina. I've only given this particular presentation once before, for the annual Confederate Navy and Marine Day sponsored by the SCV in Annapolis, MD. Some things have changed since then and I've had to alter the presentation a bit, but its nice to dust one off that I haven't done in a while.

Stay tuned for a report from the Fort Dobbs event; I've been too busy lately to get around to it, but I promise its coming!

War for Empire, 1761

2011-04-06T17:42:00.003-04:00

This weekend I'll be heading off to Statesville, NC and Fort Dobbs for their annual War for Empire event, this year focusing on the year 1761. Fort Dobbs is probably the most progressive historic site in our division and does some of the best programming, in my humble opinion. I first took part in this annual program last year and I am looking forward to doing it again this year. If you are in the North Carolina backcountry this weekend and looking for something fun, educational, and historical to do, look no further than Fort Dobbs. You can find a link to the weekend's activities HERE.

Commemorating the Scuttling of an Ironclad

2011-03-23T15:33:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, March 12 the CSS Neuse State Historic Site in Kinston commemorated the anniversary of the scuttling of the ship and honored the crew members who served on board. Our living history group was there portraying the crew of the ironclad. We had five displays for folks to look at and we were able to crew the 3-inch ordnance rifle, borrowed from Bentonville Battlefield for artillery demonstrations throughout the day.

The US Colored Troop Symposium was also in Kinston that weekend and they brought all their folks out to the site to commemorate and honor over 20 black men from Lenoir County who enlisted in USCT units during the war. It turned out to be a very nice day and a fairly well-attended program. The Kinston Free Press gave the event good coverage as well.

This was our only unit event scheduled for March, so we are taking a much needed breather. April will be moderately busy, but May and June will be absolutely crazy.

AAR for a Busy February

2011-03-04T08:37:00.003-05:00

February is finally over and I have a month to relax a little. I figured I'd post a report from the field, so to speak. The February 19-20 program at Brunswick Town-Fort Anderson went very well. I was concerned that blending two separate programs on the same weekend wouldn't work so well, but it went off much better than I ever expected. In fact, the evening Stamp Act Defiance program went off better than I could ever have expected and should only need minor tweaking in the future. I'd like to see them conduct that program as a stand alone program eventually and I think they will.

We had a great time last weekend at the 235th anniversary of the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. We had a decent turnout from the Craven Regiment and probably had the best looking camp out there (at least in our opinion). We participated in musket demonstrations all weekend and ate A LOT. We had more food than we could ever have eaten and it was all good. The crowds for this event were larger than I've ever seen for Moores Creek National Battlefield, so the park staff and support group should be well pleased. There were some changes this year that ruffled some reenactor feathers, but then again reenactors are slow to change when they've been doing things the same for years and years. I personally saw no issues with the changes and hope that some of the grumblers won't stew about it all year long. Following is a photo (or maybe two) from the event. Next up, commemoration of the scuttling of the CSS Neuse on March 12!

A Busy February

2011-02-12T06:25:00.002-05:00

This month is setting up to be one of a number of very busy ones on my calendar. There just seems to be a lot going on in terms of meetings, workshops, etc. But there are also a lot of events this month that are occupying my weekends (except for this weekend).

Last Saturday, members of the Craven Regiment held a militia muster at Tryon Palace in New Bern as part of their "Free Day." Eight members showed up to drill in the rain and hang out in the stables. A great lunch was provided and good fellowship was enjoyed by all. I'm hoping to have some photos soon.

Next weekend I'll be taking part in an interesting program at Brunswick Town-Fort Anderson. Not only are they marking the 146th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Anderson, but they are also commemorating the 245th anniversary of the Stamp Act Defiance. I'm generally not in favor of blending two totally different programs, but we'll see how well they pull it off.

Finally, on the 26th and 27th the Craven Regiment will take part in the 235th anniversary of the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge, one of the earliest battles of the American War for Independence. The weekend will feature the normal living history, wreath ceremony, etc., but this year they are having more musical performances and a couple of guest lecturers including the ageless wonder Ed Bearrs. He will speak on Sunday afternoon, the topic being military tactics during the American Revolution.

Lots of fun stuff going on, but I'll sure be glad when March arrives and I get a break.

New Cannon Dedicated at Fort Macon

2011-01-30T18:58:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I took part in a dedication ceremony for a new cannon at Fort Macon State Park. Now, anytime one of our historic sites gets a new cannon its a big deal because the things aren't cheap, but this one is even a little bit more special. This cannon represents a collaboration between the park and the Industrial Technologies program at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro. Instructors and students at the college built the aluminum carriage for the cannon because traditional wooden carriages had proven unable to survive the brutal conditions of this coastal fortification. The new cannon is a reproduction of a Model 1841 Navy 32-pounder, a type that was used at Fort Macon. The college is committed to build more carriages for the park, and of course we're hoping that the park can come up with the money to buy barrels for them. It was a great day for everyone involved. And speaking of Fort Macon State Park, if you haven't been there in a while it is well worth the visit. The new visitors center is really awesome, the orientation video is second to none, and the brand new exhibits are top notch. And of course, don't forget to take a stroll around the fort and the exhibits inside the fort.Photo from the Carteret County News-Times, 1/30/11

Onslow County African-Americans in the Union Navy

2011-01-18T09:14:00.002-05:00

I received an email last week from Richard Phillips who authors a blog about African-American soldiers and sailors from Onslow County, which of course is my home county and where I currently live. He has found four brothers, the Everetts, who all joined the Union Navy. Follow this link to his blog, African American Soldiers and Sailors. There are a number of posts on the Everett brothers and a lot of great images, including numerous scanned documents. Excellent work, Mr. Phillips!

Just in Time for the Bicentennial.......

2011-01-13T15:33:00.002-05:00

.....Rene Chartrand has just reissued in new form this book, A Most Warlike Appearance: Uniforms, Flags, and Equipment of the US Forces in the War of 1812. This is very exciting news for all of you War of 1812 enthusiasts out there. This will definitely go on my wish list!

Glory Enough for All - 146th Fort Fisher

2011-01-13T15:21:00.002-05:00

This weekend marks the 146th anniversary of the Second Battle of Fort Fisher. Along with the standard living history fare, a list of speakers include Josh Howard, Eric Kozen, and Bill Jayne. There will also be special tours available and children's activities. The program is this Saturday and for more information you can visit Fort Fisher's website and click on the link for their latest newsletter.

What Lies Ahead for 2011?

2010-12-28T14:55:00.003-05:00

Admittedly, 2010 turned out to be a much busier year than I expected. In these last few days of December I am starting to think ahead to what 2011 will hold. There are a lot of things on the list at work, to be sure. With the state budget in bad shape there's only so much we're able to do, but we do the best we can with limited resources; this trend will definitely continue into the foreseeable future. Aside from that there's plenty to look forward to.

I'm hopeful that I'll get to attend a number of conferences in 2011, including ALHFAM, AASLH, and the Civil War Sesquicentennial conferences in North Carolina and Virginia. I've submitted a session proposal to AASLH, which would make it even more fun if my proposal is accepted.

I'm also looking forward to a good year of living history. We have a good number of events on our calendar, fairly evenly distributed amongst the time periods that we portray. Nothing should get too dull. Plus, we are embarking on a new endeavor with a group called the Craven Regiment. This new group is a collection of living history interpreters from three or four different units that have formed a loose association to portray North Carolina militia at 18th century events. It is a promising collaboration.

Of course, 2011 is the first of a busy five year cycle that has just begun with the opening of the Civil War Sesquicentennial. Some years will be much busier than others with Sesquicentennial events and War of 1812 Bicentennial events (for instance, 2012 is going to be brutal for us), but 2011 will slowly ease us into this commemoration wave. I even had someone recently ask me what I thought North Carolina might do to commemorate the centennial of World War I. My answer: since US involvement in that conflict didn't start until 1917, we've got plenty of time to think about it.

I hope you have all had a great 2010, a restful and joyous holiday, and wish you all the happiest of New Years in 2011!

Catching Up

2010-12-26T10:50:00.002-05:00

I trust that everyone has had a happy holiday so far. The last of our Christmas plans have been postponed due to snow here in eastern NC. I know that all my northern friends find this amusing, but when it snows here everything pretty much shuts down. We don't have a lot of snow on the ground yet, but it's enough that I don't want to be on the roads myself, let alone with all the other idiots out there. So I guess we'll be going to my mom's house for dinner tomorrow night if the roads clear up tomorrow. That leaves me with plenty of time today to do other things, like catching up on the blog, so here we go.

Back on November 20-21 our merry band known as the Carolina Living History Guild attended the annual Confederate navy living history program at the CSS Neuse State Historic Site in Kinston. This is always our annual meeting as well so pretty much everyone shows up. This year we were also afforded the opportunity to put a navy crew on the 3-inch ordnance rifle from Bentonville Battlefield. The annual meeting went well; we got our 2011 schedule set, voted on officers for the coming year, and discussed various points of unit business.

December 11 found us at Historic Halifax for their annual colonial Christmas program. Not much changes with this program from year to year. The weather this year wasn't very good, being rainy and cold. We spent much of our time inside the Tap Room playing tavern games and drinking warm cider. The visitation was surprisingly good for such a bad weather day. This event wound down the year for the Guild. We don't have another event until February.

The week prior to the Halifax event found me at Brunswick Town-Fort Anderson State Historic Site, teaching a certification class for 18th century small arms. An in-house militia unit has started up at that site and a number of their members wished to obtain the state's volunteer level of certification. I was assisted in teaching the class by Scott Douglas from Fort Dobbs State Historic Site. We had nine students in the class, all of whom passed with flying colors. It was a cold weekend, but sunny and as pleasant as possible with such cold temps. Our class braved the cold all day Sunday as we had them outside drilling in the manual of arms, conducting the blank firing exercise, and cleaning their weapons. Everyone had a good time and now they have a well certified volunteer group.

That pretty well covers the end of year activities. The new year will bring new ventures. I will be participating in my first Twelfth Night program at Tryon Palace on January 5. This celebration is set in the 1790s in the Stanly House, which is my favorite house at that site. I am very much looking forward to something new for the new year!

So Here I Am.......

2010-12-16T10:35:00.002-05:00

.....two weeks since my last post. I am home today because I am working on end of semester type things like grading final exams and answering ridiculous student emails. Grades will be turned in at one college today and at the other on Monday. This is the latest in the year I've ended a semester since I started this adjunct instructor thing back in the fall of 2000. On the surface it kind of sucks, but in actuality it was helpful to me this year because my schedule the first two weeks of December was pretty hectic.

So, as for the ridiculous emails, let me explain. The class whose grades are being turned in today were given a final exam deadline of midnight last night and of course over half of them went late into the evening finishing up their exams. I went to bed about 10:00 p.m. as per my usual. When I checked email this morning (knowing I would have frantic and in some cases idiotic emails awaiting) I was not disappointed. I had a student who said they had a problem with their final exam not posting correctly that had sent me four frantic emails between 12:30 and 1:00 a.m. Their main concern was formatting, saying that when they copied from Word onto the Blackboard platform things weren't formatted correctly and they desperately needed to change things, so could I reopen their exam. I went and looked at the exam in question and saw nothing at all wrong with, so I went ahead and graded it. The person not only got an A on the exam, but an A in the class, making their frantic emails even that much more hilarious to me. In my email reply I stated that I sincerely hoped they had gotten some sleep last night and that if they emailed me after 10:00 p.m. they should not expect an immediate response. Sometimes I wish everyone in my classes would be frantically insane A students like that one.

Once this end of semester business is over with I certainly have some catching up to do on the blog. I still have to write an entry for the CSS Neuse living history that is now almost a month behind us, as well as an 18th century small arms certification class, a colonial Christmas program, and a conference I attended. Y'all bear with me for now.

New Blog on the Roll (and yes, I am slack)

2010-11-30T08:51:00.003-05:00

Sarah Adler has returned to the blogging world. You may remember her former blog "Ten Roads" that she authored as a high school student. She is now in college at American University in Washington, DC and has started a new blog called Dead Guys and Ships which I have gladly added to my blogroll. She is also a contributor to the Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial blog, which you can also find on my blogroll and to which I am also a contributor. So, welcome back Sarah!

I also want to apologize for being so slack on the blog lately. The busy six weeks I mentioned in my last post has been even busier than imagined and I have gotten behind on the blog. I do have a report on the CSS Neuse event and I am waiting to receive photos for that post. There's plenty going on the next two weeks as well so I assure you there are lots of posts to come. Thanks for your patience.

The Next Six Weeks

2010-11-07T10:20:00.003-05:00

I sure am glad that I had this weekend free because the next six weeks are going to be very busy, indeed. There's a lot going on in eastern North Carolina as the holidays approach and I have plenty to keep me busy, holiday related or not. Here's a rundown of the next six weekends.

November 13 - I will be headed to Fort Fisher for their Friends group's annual meeting. We'll be showing off the new uniforms my friend Wade Rogers made this summer for their artillery crew and will be firing the 12-pounder for the Friends luncheon. After that's over I will scurry back up the coast to attend an evening lantern tour of Fort Macon. This is a new program that is being offered and it gives visitors a chance to interact with living history interpreters portraying characters from the fort's long history. For more info on this program click the link above. It should be interesting.

November 20-21 - This is the weekend of the annual Confederate Navy living history program at the CSS Neuse State Historic Site in Kinston, NC. This is always a maximum effort event for our living history group and it serves as a time for us to conduct our annual business meeting. The annual meeting is important because we elect officers for the following year, vote on our schedule of events for the following year, and conduct any other necessary unit business such as accepting new members, voting on bylaws changes, etc. This year we will also be putting a navy crew on the 3-inch ordnance rifle from Bentonville Battlefield, which will add something to our normal interpretation. Should be lots of fun as always.

Thanksgiving weekend - My family from Pennsylvania (aunt, uncle, and grandparents on mom's side) will be in town for the holiday as is the usual custom. We used to go up to PA for Thanksgiving and sometimes I miss going up for it, but the weather is always tricky up there and it's just easier for them to come down here.

December 4-5 - The first weekend of December I'll be teaching an 18th century small arms certification class for volunteers at Brunswick Town-Fort Anderson State Historic Site. They have formed a site-based militia company, Captain William Dry's Company, and many of the members would like to receive volunteer certification, so I'll be headed to Brunswick Town to get them all certified.

December 6-9 - Immediately following the Brunswick Town class, I will be involved in the week long Southeastern State Parks Programs Seminar being held in Atlantic Beach, NC. Though I am presenting a session on Tuesday morning, I will be attending the rest of the conference as well, including a number of really cool field trips. I am really looking forward to the field trip on Wednesday the 8th which will take use to the NC Estuarium and Goose Creek State Park in Washington, NC.

December 11 - Our living history group will be converging on Historic Halifax, NC to do a 1776 living history in conjunction with their annual Christmas program. This is always a fun and laid back way to end our year. We get to set up in a period tavern called the Tap Room. All the furnishings are reproductions so we get to have the run of the place and use it as it was intended, all the while interpreting to visitors.

Once we are through with Halifax, I think I will finally get another break. Starting December 13, it should be clear sailing on into the Christmas and New Year's holidays. Until then, it should be interesting.

New Book by Dougherty

2010-11-04T08:11:00.002-04:00

If you've noticed my current reading list on the right hand side of the page you'll see a book called Strangling the Confederacy by Kevin Dougherty. I didn't even know about this book until I stumbled upon it on the History Book Club web page. I was surprised to find that there was a new book dealing with the Civil War navies of which I was unaware. I'm usually pretty good about keeping up with the current scholarship. At any rate, I ordered the book from HBC and when I finished Stoker's excellent work I started reading Dougherty's book. I have to admit that I am more than a bit disappointed. I read the first few chapters (all of which are very brief) and decided it wasn't worth finishing. Don't get me wrong; there is plenty of very good information in the book. I found no grave factual errors in the little bit that I read, and all the information presented was fine. The problem is there's nothing new. The entire book is rehashed information from other secondary sources or well-known published primary sources. What kills me is that rather than basing his analysis on any primary sources, the author quotes other historians' works. In the brief amount that I read there were numerous quotes from Shelby Foote and Ivan Musicant. I've read works by both of these authors, so I really don't need Dougherty to rehash what they wrote. I suppose this book would be really good for someone who knows little or nothing about the Union Navy in the Civil War or combined operations (which is really what this book is about). It would provide them with the most basic of information and enough interpretation to get them started. For my purposes, it will only be slightly useful as a reference work.

New Civil War Exhibit at National Archives

2010-11-04T08:08:00.005-04:00

The National Archives is opening a new Civil War exhibit on Wednesday, November 10. Here's a link to a YouTube video explaining the exhibit. I only wish this were longer and a bit more detailed. Sounds like an interesting exhibit to check out if you are going to be in the DC area anytime soon.

National Archives Video Link

Busy Times

2010-10-25T20:44:00.003-04:00

Last week I spent three days on the road, interpreting two time periods. On Thursday and Friday, I was at Brunswick Town helping with the site's Colonial Heritage Days school program. All the 4th graders in Brunswick County attend and go through various stations including cooking, candle making, blacksmithing, woodworking, colonial militia, and crime & punishment. I was assigned to work the crime & punishment station this year and got to talk to the kids about how the law was administered in colonial times. Of course they all got to take their turns in the stocks and the pillories. There were some kids I think could have benefited from some time in there.

On Saturday, my friend John Moseley and I set up a small maritime display for Fort Fisher's fall civilian living history program. I portrayed a blockade runner and talked to visitors about military goods that came into NC through the port of Wilmington during the Civil War. John portrayed a Union sailor on blockade duty and explained period navigation, particularly in the tricky waters of the lower Cape Fear. Attendance was light by Fort Fisher standards, but it was a nice program and we had a lot of fun. There was also something very interesting going on with the artillery demonstrations that day, but more about that later.

Maritime History Conference Report, Day Two

2010-10-02T19:42:00.002-04:00

Thankfully, everyone really enjoyed my presentation today. I was followed by Sarah Watkins-Kenney with the QAR Conservation Lab. Her presentation wasn't really news to me, but I enjoyed looking at some of the photographs she showed. The final presentation was from ECU graduate student Theresa Hicks discussing an early 18th century plantation landing site along the Cashie River in Bertie County, which is the focus of her thesis research. I'm not too big on archaeological survey presentations, but she did a pretty good job and shared some interesting information. I also enjoyed a conversation with Dr. William Still this morning. Anyone who studies maritime history in North Carolina, particularly in the Civil War era will be familiar with Dr. Still. When, at the conclusion of my presentation, he said he wanted to speak with me, I thought I had really gotten something wrong. Turns out he wanted to talk about a totally unrelated issue involving his forthcoming book on North Carolina shipbuilding.

After the presentations we were given a special tour of the almost-but-not-quite-finished North Carolina History Education Center at Tryon Palace. Words cannot describe this place adequately. It is an absolutely gorgeous and ground breaking facility. The official opening is October 21 and I encourage all of you to go see this place soon afterward. Ticket prices are not cheap, but I think the experience will be worth the cost. That being said, they have a WHOLE LOT OF WORK to do for that place to be opened in three weeks.

All in all it was a very enjoyable conference. Dr. Craig Symonds' keynote address last night was wonderful. He was engaging, smart, funny, and very easy going. As the conference chairman said, he made the time melt away. We didn't even realize how late it was when we got out of there (almost 10 p.m.). Of course, there were things that were less interesting to me, but that's the case with most any conference. For a small organization with few members and little funding, the NC Maritime History Council did a great job putting this conference together and I would encourage anyone interested in maritime history to attend future conferences. Next year's conference will be either in Wilmington or somewhere on the Outer Banks.

Maritime History Conference Report, Day One

2010-10-01T18:04:00.003-04:00

The conference today was very interesting for the most part. The stage was set by the first speaker, Dr. Alan Watson. He gave a very interesting overview history of New Bern and Craven County from its founding up to the Civil War. Of course, anyone who knows Dr. Watson will also know that probably 70% of that talk dealt with the colonial and Revolutionary period. But it was excellent nonetheless. He was followed very ably by Josh Howard of the Research Branch of the NC Office of Archives and History who gave an excellent presentation on privateering in North Carolina during the American Revolution (the topic of his MA thesis). The morning concluded with presentations on the history Barbour Boat Works of New Bern by Dr. Paul Fontenoy of the NC Maritime Museum, and an overview of the North Carolina Registry of Historic Vessels by Council member Barbara Snowden.

This afternoon we had tours of Tryon Palace led by Karen Ipock, Curator of Education and the John Wright Stanly House and George Dixon House led by architectural historian Peter Sandbeck. The tours were both excellent, though probably much too brief. Afterwards, most attendees went to the docks to visit a skipjack name the Ada Mae, the only one of its kind left in North Carolina. Due to misty weather and my desire to get coffee and check email, I headed to Port City Java and skipped out on the boat tour.

In less than one hour we will convene our dinner at the Chelsea Restaurant and listen to a keynote presentation by Dr. Craig Symonds, who will be discussing the Civil War at Sea in North Carolina. I am very much looking forward to this presentation and spending more time with friends like Dr. Chris Fonvielle who are in attendance. Day Two and my presentation are tomorrow.

NC Maritime History Conference

2010-09-29T19:31:00.003-04:00

Beginning tomorrow evening and running through Saturday, the North Carolina Maritime History Council will convene it's annual meeting in New Bern. The site was chosen because New Bern is celebrating the 300th anniversary of it's founding this year, and the colonial capitol has played a vital role in the state's maritime history. The program definitely includes some good speakers. One of my mentors, Dr. Alan Watson, will be discussing the maritime history of New Bern from it's founding through the Civil War. Research historian with the NC Office of Archives and History, Josh Howard will talk about privateering in North Carolina during the American Revolution. The keynote speaker on Friday evening is Dr. Craig Symonds, who will be doing a presentation on the Civil War naval history of North Carolina. I am on the program for Saturday morning's session, giving a presentation on the Confederate raid on the USS Underwriter in February 1864. There are, of course, many more speakers, plus a number of tours taking place during the conference. For more information go to the NC Maritime History Council's website and click on the "Annual Conference" link on the left side of the page.

My Review of the 2010 VA Signature Conference

2010-09-26T07:44:00.002-04:00

Friday's conference in Norfolk was outstanding. Overall, I don't think it was quite as good as last year's conference, but it was quite good nonetheless. Kudos to Norfolk State University for their excellent hospitality. I was very impressed with their Wilder Performing Arts Center; it is a very nice facility.

The morning session was good, although I was more interested in the afternoon session. Spencer Crew and Cassandra Newby-Alexander gave very good overviews of the Underground Railroad and its maritime counterpart. Edna Greene Medford's presentation on the quest for black rights in the midst of the Civil War was excellent. I must say, however, that I was most impressed with Ira Berlin's talk on African-American soldiers and the struggle for equality. His presentation was entirely off the cuff, with no notes and came across in a wonderful, conversational style that was just great. Bruce Levine's presentation titled "The Myth of Black Confederates" was also excellent, although unfortunately he was preaching to the choir. None of the folks who espouse the myth of black Confederates ever attend such academic gatherings.

Immediately following the lunch break, John Hennessy of the NPS site at Fredericksburg was honored with the first annual award for excellence given by the Virginia Sesquicentennial Committee. It was quite an honor for him and I'm glad I was present to see him receive the award. I just wish there had been something written in the program about it.

The afternoon session was everything I had hoped it would be and more. James McPherson's presentation on blacks in the Union Navy was good, though not quite as good as I had hoped. He certainly was the most polished, if a bit stuffy, of the afternoon presenters. David Blight was excellent, as usual. I could sit and listen to him talk all day long. I just think he's one of the best, most thoughtful speakers around. I was very impressed with Harold Holzer and not simply his presentation, but his involvement in the discussions as well. He interjected a lot of good commentary throughout the session. The only speaker on this session I was not impressed with was Jean Fagan Yellin. I felt she was certainly out of her league on this panel. Dwight Pitcaithley was also very good, though I wanted to hear more from him. I think most of what he has to say is very relevant and timely.

The one major disappointment to me with this conference was the moderator. I've heard James O. Horton speak at other conferences and he is generally very good. However, in my humble opinion, he failed miserably in his duties as moderator. Basically, he talked too much. Throughout the entire conference he interjected himself at times and in ways that I felt were just not as important as what the presenters were trying to say. I could see some of the afternoon panel members visibly getting tired of his interjections as well. By the end of the day, it seemed that every time he opened his mouth there was a collective sigh and eyeball rolling in the audience and to a lesser extent among the panelists. In some ways, he almost overshadowed the presenters, which is not what a moderator is supposed to do. Last year's moderator, Edward Ayers, was much, much better.

Next year's signature conference will be held on Saturday, May 21 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. The theme is American Military Strategy in the Civil War. The list of speakers is impressive, to include Gary Gallagher, William C. Davis, Joseph Glatthaar, Richard McMurry, Steven Woodworth, and conference host James I. Robertson, Jr. among others.

What's Happened the Past Five Weeks?

2010-09-23T18:19:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned in the last post, not a whole lot. I did take a trip to Pennsylvania the second weekend in September to visit family and participate in the annual Mountain Craft Days festival at the Somerset Historical Center. As was the case two years ago, I was stationed at the maple sugar camp on Friday afternoon and all day Sunday talking to visitors about the process of making maple syrup and sugar. Somerset County is the largest maple product producer in the state of Pennsylvania and it's a big part of their heritage. Mountain Craft Days is always a lot of fun in general because there are good folks, talented artisans, good music, and great food.

Otherwise, there hasn't been much happening of any note other than the fact that I am now a contributor to the Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial blog. You can find the link in my blogroll on the right.

Signature Conference in VA Tomorrow

2010-09-23T18:14:00.004-04:00

First, I owe apologies to all of you since this is my first post in over a month. Seems I got a little slack in late August and early September. There really wasn't a whole lot going on to talk about, but I'll do another post to update everyone on a few things.

However, tomorrow is the day. Virginia's second Sesquicentennial of the Civil War Signature Conference will take place at Norfolk State University. The boss and I are leaving at the ever-popular "oh dark thirty" to get up there, and we will be met by a slightly larger contingent from the state archives in Raleigh. I'll be honest, I'm looking forward more to the second half of the conference than the first half, but the whole thing is chock full of renowned historians. Yes, tomorrow I will be in the presence of greatness. Should be a lot of fun, and I'm hoping to run into some old friends from Virginia while I'm there.

Another New Blog on the Roll

2010-08-19T12:29:00.002-04:00

Drew Wagenhoffer has started a companion blog to his already popular Civil War Books and Authors. It is called Upcoming American Civil War Books and it will highlight forthcoming titles. It's on the blogroll so check it out!

New Blog on the Roll

2010-08-18T13:35:00.001-04:00

Check out the blog of the Fort McHenry Guard. Quite an impressive headline photo. This one is going on the blogroll.

Battleship Event a Success

2010-08-18T12:22:00.007-04:00

We had an absolutely great time at the Battleship USS North Carolina last weekend. It was the largest group we've had together for quite some time (14 people) and we had every impression and display covered. It was nice to all be together and get to socialize and put on a quality program. We saw over 1,600 visitors on Saturday. Granted, not all stopped to see what we were up to, but they all had to walk right through the middle of our displays to get to the ship so I think we probably got at least a little bit of interest out of almost all of them. Some stood around and talked for a long time. We certainly hope to do this program again. Here are some photos from the event. Enjoy!
Quite possibly the largest weapons display we've ever had at an eventExcellent bosun's displayMr. Mosley talking about navigationMr. Oakley and his model steam engines

Civil War history at a World War II battleship

2010-08-13T06:51:00.002-04:00

This weekend the shipmates and I are descending upon the Battleship USS North Carolina in Wilmington, NC. Obviously, the first thing that comes to mind is World War II and the exploits of the BB55 in the Pacific theater. However, this weekend we will be set up inside the exhibit area talking about the Civil War. You see, the mission at the Battleship museum is to tell the story of all the ship's named North Carolina throughout history. This includes a World War I dreadnought, a modern day nuclear submarine, and the two ships we will be talking about, both of which were used during the Civil War.

First, our Union contingent will be talking about the 1824 ship-of-the-line North Carolina, which was used as a receiving ship for new recruits in New York harbor during the war. Our Confederate cadre will be talking about the horribly decrepit Confederate ironclad CSS North Carolina built right there in Wilmington. It spent its entire service time (only about a year) in the Cape Fear River being used as a floating artillery platform. We are going to have a rather large crowd for us, about 16 guys, and we will have every display imaginable for the public to see including navigation, rope and knot work, small arms, heavy ordnance, ironclad ship construction, medicine, and steam engineering. We'll have US and CS Navy and Marines all represented. It is going to be our biggest program in quite some time and I think everyone is looking forward to it. We'll be at the Battleship from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday. It will be the first Civil War program ever at the museum and the staff is really excited to have us there. We're probably going to see somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,500 visitors so we'll definitely be busy. I'll post photos next week.

Adding a New Blog to the Roll

2010-08-05T18:30:00.002-04:00

I received an email today from the Conservation Project Manager at the Monitor Center/Mariner's Museum. They are looking to spread the word to interested folks about what is going on with the conservation of the remnants of the USS Monitor. I'm certainly happy to oblige since this blog started out primarily as a Civil War Navies blog. The link to the Monitor conservation blog can be found here, as well as on my blogroll. Check it out!

How Do We Think About History?

2010-07-28T19:41:00.002-04:00

Another hectic summer session is coming to an end, but rather than being rushed, hurried, and generally worn out, I've been thinking a lot about how my students think about history. My students have eight Discussion questions they must answer and debate each semester. For the final discussion I always give them the same question and there is no wrong answer because I am basically asking for their opinion. The question asks what they think are the three most important things that have happened in the United States since 1973. You can probably guess what the top five or six answers are (9/11, Katrina, the Internet, war on terrorism, Obama's election, etc.). However, I've thought more about this recently because I realize that the answers have changed quite a bit over the six or seven years I've been using the question. I think this points to a number of trends, and I've started to see all kinds of factors playing into my students' answers to this question. So this semester I decided to send an email to my students to hopefully get them to think more about this issue, as I've been thinking about it. I'm going to attach the text of the email below, so forgive the lengthy post. I'd like to hear what some of you, my blog readers have to say about this issue as well. Take a look.

I have just finished reading all of your discussion posts for Discussion 8. You will all receive the full 25 points available for this question because I asked simply for your opinion. I use this question every semester to gauge where students’ minds are in relation to the history that has happened in our lifetime. Over the years, the answers have changed quite significantly. Many of you listed events that have happened in only the last 10 years, not the last 35-40 years. While this partially reflects the age demographic of the class (many of you are under the age of 25 and therefore your memory is a bit shorter) it also shows how recent events can overshadow other not so recent events and relegate them to the back burner.

I choose the year 1973 as my starting point somewhat arbitrarily (it was the year I was born), but with some purpose as well. That year was nearly the end of our country's involvement in the Vietnam War, and really began a generational shift. It was the beginning of my generation, which eventually came to be known as Generation X. Loosely defined, Generation X kids were born between 1970 and roughly 1985 or so. So what I'm basically confining this question to is two and a half generations of history (Generation X, Gen Y, and what are tentatively being called Generation Next or "Nexters" although that generation is still being born). It is interesting to see the perspective that these two generations have. If I pushed the starting point back twenty years to 1953, I imagine the answers would change rather drastically because then the time period would include such monumental events at the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, Kennedy assassination, moon landing, etc.

So, as you can see, this is partially a study on my part of how my students view history, particularly that which they have lived through. I find some of the choices you have made to be very interesting and can tell what influence the media and other outside sources, as well as environmental factors play in your decision making. A number of you mention the Beirut embassy bombing; I doubt that event would receive much mention outside of our local community (this is what I mean by environmental factors). That particular event has such a strong connection to this community that it still resonates with subsequent generations. I also find it very interesting that one of the top answers is Hurricane Katrina. I believe this to be a media influenced answer. Yes, Katrina was a catastrophic hurricane, but there have been others in this time period such as Hurricane Andrew in Florida and Hurricane Floyd right here in eastern NC. As devastating as those storms were, they did not receive the type of media coverage as Katrina and took place much further in the past. Therefore, we remember the recent and the sensational first.

I hope this email causes you to think a bit more about history and what you have learned in this class. I hope it will prompt you to think about what history is, and what we think it is in our minds. Finally, I hope you have enjoyed the class and I hope you have learned something from it. I realize that not everyone likes history (just as I pretty much hate math), but I hope that you feel like you've gotten something out of this class, however small that may be. Thanks for a great semester and best of luck in your future endeavors!

Updates

2010-07-24T17:43:00.003-04:00

OK, I know I've been real slack on the blog here lately, but there honestly hasn't been a whole lot happening. As I mentioned before, our living history group basically took the month of July off and the first half of the month wasn't terribly busy at work. So there's just not been a lot to write about. I've used the month to catch up with old friends, take care of stuff around the house, and generally relax. Summer session classes are winding down, so I'll soon be turning in grades as well. However, here are a few notes to update all you loyal readers.

First, I would recommend everyone go read Drew Wagenhoffer's recent book review at Civil War Books and Authors on a book about the Mississippi River ironclad USS Carondelet. His review is very good. I also reviewed this book for the Nautical Research Journal. I generally agree with Drew's assessment, but I had a couple of criticisms as well. Overall it's a great book so go read Drew's review and pick up a copy if you are so inclined.

On the work front, most everyone in our office participated in some way in last week's Summer Teacher Institute sponsored by the NC Dept. of Cultural Resources. My boss was involved with the whole week's activities, while I simply attended the field trip day to Bentonville Battlefield and helped with an artillery demonstration. With the teacher institute over, we are turning our attention to our site staff and organizing a one-day workshop for historic interpreters which will be held this coming Thursday in Raleigh. We'll be talking about a lot of different topics from program planning to dealing with difficult subject matter to the new historic interpreter certification program we are beginning to develop. Should be very informative for them and for us.

Finally, I'll be doing a little side project on Monday to make a little extra cash. A documentary is being made about Fort Holmes, one of the defensive works in the Cape Fear located on Smith Island (now Bald Head Island). Me and a few other guys are going over to the island, which is now a private residential island, to do a Civil War photo shoot. We're taking every piece of Civil War clothing we have and will pose for photos at various locations and in various uniforms. We're getting paid pretty well to do it, so I think it will be worth it whether it's fun or not.

That's about all I have for now. Our next living history program isn't until August 14 so we still have a few weeks off. I'll update as warranted.

Doldrums

2010-07-02T13:32:00.002-04:00

Things have been pretty quiet around here since our War of 1812 event. We had a small living history program last Saturday at the NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort, NC. There were only three of us there, but it was a nice day. We saw about 300 visitors and enjoyed a nice presentation about the occupation of Beaufort during the Civil War by Dr. Judkin Browning of Appalachian State University.

Due to a lack of interest on the part of our living history group we have decided to cancel our participation in the July 17-18 living history program at Fort Macon and take the month of July off. It seems like the first half of 2010 has flown by and none of us has really had a chance to catch our breath. I think the break will be good for us, give us some time to tend to other things in our lives, and relax a bit. Our next event won't be until August 14 and we'll have a break after that until November. Most of the folks in our group will be doing events with other units in September and October (we all have little side projects, as I like to call them) but the Carolina Living History Guild as a group will have nothing on its calendar for a few months. I'm not worried about it; I certainly have plenty to keep me busy.

I hope everyone has a nice July 4th holiday. Have fun and be safe. Oh yeah, and while you're at it reflect on our nation's founding and independence. After all, that's what the day is all about. We'll be firing the cannon at Fort Macon on that day in honor of our nation's past, present, and future. Y'all come see us if you're down at the beach!

And another......

2010-06-21T09:33:00.001-04:00

Just added another new blog to the blogroll. This one is Cape Fear Historian and is authored by the historian at the Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington, NC.

Check out this new site

2010-06-21T08:23:00.003-04:00

Just wanting to help out a colleague and promote their site. There's a not terribly new web group dealing with the Civil War in Northeastern NC that is moderated by Bruce Long. A number of my regular readers are already members of this group (you know who you are). So, when you have a minute go check it out!

PS - I've also added it to the blog roll, even though it is more than just a blog.

Fort Hampton Garrison Weekend a Success!

2010-06-18T16:46:00.005-04:00

Yours truly at the event last weekend
Now that I've finally gotten caught up on things, I have time to write a post about last weekend's War of 1812 program at Fort Macon State Park. Our unit hosted the weekend-long event, the first War of 1812 event ever held at the park. We selected a date in June for numerous reasons, but one being that the weather is usually pretty good in June. It is normally warm, but not unbearably hot. Unfortunately, it seemed that August arrived early and we were hit with sweltering heat and humidity all weekend. The reenactors took it in stride and carried on in fine fashion despite the high temps. The other setback we encountered was the somewhat last minute loss of two units who had planned to attend. Although this cut our numbers nearly in half, we still had 20 reenactors for the weekend.

Our unit provided naval displays including medical kit, small arms, navigation, and rope work, as well as swivel gun demonstrations. Two folks from our unit also did the cooking in the fort's kitchen casemate, as we provided breakfast and lunch both days. Representatives of the 9th, 10th, and 20th US provided uniform talks, infantry drill, musket demonstrations, and period music. Civilian reenactors (aside from the cooks) demonstrated children's games and sewing. Each day began and ended with a dress formation for the public.Our sailing master explaining how a speed log is usedDress formation
Visitors seemed to generally enjoy and appreciate what we were doing, especially because it was so different from the usual Civil War programming at the fort. The park staff seemed very pleased about the whole thing. The reenactors all had a ball and plan to return for future programs. For our first effort, this program was a great success. Preliminary planning is already underway for a program next year. Hopefully, word will spread among the reenacting community about what a good event it was and we'll get even more participation next year.A parting shot: the entire group of soldiers and sailors assembled at dress formation

Busy Week Ahead

2010-06-08T19:23:00.003-04:00

I've just returned from a five day trip to Pennsylvania visiting relatives. I got to go fishing with my grandpa (who is 88 years old and still very active), spend a day in Pittsburgh with my youngest cousin who just graduated from college, and attend a party for my grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary, which was kind of like a mini family reunion. All in all it was a pretty good trip.The view from my grandparents' back porch. I'm all for renewable energy/green power, but I can't help but lament how the windmills have changed the viewshed.

Today I went back to work and sifted through the 30-some odd emails I had waiting for me. I also had my new issue of Military Collector and Historian waiting on my desk this morning, so I read through most of that. This evening I caught up on grading assignments for my online classes.

This will be a busy week because I'll be making preparations for one of the largest projects my living history group has undertaken. This weekend, June 12-13, we will be hosting a War of 1812 garrison weekend at Fort Macon State Park. We are very excited about this opportunity and the park staff are looking forward to it as well. We have reenactors coming from Virginia, Georgia, and other parts unknown to take part in the program. We should have about 30 reenactors present. Organizing and hosting such a program is a big job, but I think we are up to the task. We are hoping to put on a quality event that the reenactors will want to make a regular part of the calendar. The park staff is excited about the possibility of doing something more than just Civil War living history, and being able to commemmorate the upcoming bicentennial of the War of 1812. I'll make another post later this week about the history of the War of 1812 in this part of North Carolina. Until then, it's back to work for me!

Happy Memorial Day!

2010-05-28T16:57:00.002-04:00

I hope all of you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. It is the official start of summer and the kickoff to the next 8 very busy weeks for me. Just to bring everyone up to date, the event at Alamance Battleground was nice, if not well attended. A lot of our guys dropped out at the last minute for various reasons and we ended up with three guys there. Saturday night thunderstorms flooded us out of our tents, but otherwise we had a pretty good time. Hopefully we'll get more guys to go out next year.

The next few months will be extremely busy with lots of programs, including two cannon shoots at Fort Macon (the first of those being tomorrow). Throw in a five day vacation to Pennsylvania, a big War of 1812 living history, a big Civil War living history, and a smaller Civil War living history and you have the makings of some very busy times for me. Luckily, some of these events are one day affairs, making them a bit less time consuming, but there's still a lot on the plate. I'll explain in more detail as these things occur. But for now, it's off in the morning to shoot the cannon for the first batch of summer tourists, then we'll see what the rest of the holiday weekend holds. Stay safe everybody!

New Blog on the Blogroll

2010-05-13T21:27:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to draw your attention to a new blog on my blogroll. It is dedicated to the Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial, and oddly enough is named that. There is also a Facebook page by the same name and the two are both run by Matthew Eng. Check out both when you get a chance!

Back to the 18th Century This Weekend

2010-05-12T17:19:00.003-04:00

I've been doing a lot of jumping back and forth from 18th to 19th century events this spring. The progression goes something like 2 Civil War, 1 Rev War, 1 Civil War, 1 F&I War, and 3 Civil War. Now I am heading back into the 18th century (1771 to be exact) as the Craven Regiment of Governor Tryon's militia once again takes the field. We will be participating in the annual anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Alamance, in which Governor William Tryon and his militia (mostly from eastern North Carolina) marched west to put down a "rebellion" of backcountry farmers who were protesting taxes and government corruption. I'm not sure how many of us will be in attendance, but I'm thinking we will have somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 or 9 guys. Alamance is, in my opinion, an underappreciated historic site. That all should change however, as the Division is undertaking a revision and update of the site's interpretation, exhibits, and wayside signage. This should all make for a fun and relaxing weekend.

Glad It's Over

2010-05-12T10:21:00.002-04:00

I'll be honest, this has been one of the WTF? kind of semesters. As most of you know, I am an adjunct history instructor at two community colleges here in ENC. I generally teach three or four classes per semester, all online, and mostly American History Since 1865 with usually one class of American History to 1865 thrown in. I actually prefer the earlier time period, but have somehow gotten pigeonholed (especially at one college) into the later period and can't seem to get out of it. At least I don't have to teach World Civilizations anymore.

At any rate, this semester has been very strange, particularly at one college. I had a regular, 16-week American History I class, but also a late start, 10-week American History II class. For those in the late start class, it was kind of like taking a summer session because it was about the same length. Those classes are usually a bit harder than regular semester long classes because you are cramming the material into a shorter time span. Both of these classes however proved to be challenging for me. In the American History I class, I had a lot of withdraws. This is to be expected and I usually lose about 20-25% of what I start with. In this class I lost 33%. On top of that, the grades were slightly below the normal class average (lots more Bs and Cs, as opposed to As and Bs).

The real doozy however was the late start American History II class. I only had 20% withdraw from the class, but that number should have been much higher. I handed out more Fs in that class than any single class I've ever taught (5 out of 20). That means 25% of students who stayed in the class failed, leading me to the inevitable WTF!? I'm chalking it up to a group of students who wasn't disciplined enough to keep up with the work and probably got in over their heads. Still, it makes me glad the semester is over. I hope summer session goes better than this.

This One's for You, Eric Jeanneret

2010-04-30T21:05:00.002-04:00

OK, so it's been three weeks since my last post. Last weekend at the Plymouth reenactment, one of our shipmates from the Tidewater Maritime Living History Association (TMLHA), Eric Jeanneret reminded me of how slack I've been on the blog lately. So, this post is for Eric (and all the rest of you who may have been wondering what the hell happened to me).

April was definitely a busy month. The Fort Dobbs event, War for Empire 1760, was a very good event. I spent much of the weekend with friends from Tryon Palace and was given the opportunity to run the swivel gun during the battle scenarios on Saturday and Sunday. Aside from the fact that I was sick all weekend (either from allergies or a spring cold, I can't tell which) my first French & Indian War event was great and I hope to do more at Fort Dobbs in the future.

As previously mentioned, last weekend was the annual reenactment at Plymouth, NC. We were joined by our shipmates from TMLHA, had a generally good time in camp, enjoyed some of Eric's excellent cooking, and got to work on the 30-foot steam launch, which is always a pleasure. A damper was put on the whole weekend, however, when one of the artillery crews had an accident during the land battle Saturday afternoon. Two crew members were injured, one of the seriously. I've spent much of this week trying to answer questions that I can't because I didn't actually see what happened.

So that pretty much sums up my month. The Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing. My Pens are in the second round. Me and the boss starting painting our new offices today and will hopefully be able to move into them soon. May is going to be busy, but maybe I can keep up a little better. We'll see.....

Heading West Today

2010-04-09T06:38:00.002-04:00

I am leaving this morning to head west to Statesville, NC and Fort Dobbs for their annual War for Empire event. Fort Dobbs is the only French & Indian War site in North Carolina. It is a site in development, with plans to build a reproduction of the original fort in the works. And it is situated in some of the most lovely countryside to be found in the western Piedmont of the state. I've been wanting to attend this event for a number of years, but this is the first time I've actually been able to make it. This year's event focuses on 1760, the year of the Cherokee attack on the fort (the 250th anniversary of said attack was observed in late February). For those of you on Facebook, you may want to check out the Fort Dobbs Group page and become members. If that link doesn't work, just go to Facebook and do a search for Fort Dobbs; it should come up easily.

The Big One is Over (and I'm finally caught up)

2010-03-27T10:10:00.003-04:00

The 145th anniversary of the Battle of Bentonville turned out to be bigger than any of us expected. About 3,700 reenactors participated in the event and the weekend's visitation total was approximately 50,000 people. All in all the program went very well and for those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you'll be able to see a link to the Raleigh News & Observer's photo collection, featuring over 100 photos from the first day's activities. I'm finally caught up on everything that fell by the wayside in preparing for the big event, and will get to put this puppy to rest on Monday when we have our post-event wrap up meeting. Below is a photo of me and my friend Jim McKee, inspecting the Federal artillery prior to Sunday's battle.

Gearing Up For "The Big One"

2010-03-15T19:45:00.003-04:00

If you've followed the blog at all much lately, you've seen that this is the 145th anniversary year for many of the larger Civil War battles in North Carolina. This weekend is the biggest of them all, the Battle of Bentonville. This event commands the most resources of any event our Division ever organizes. It pulls in staff from literally all over the state, as well as multitudes of volunteers to handle every imaginable task. I won't bore you with all the minutiae, but suffice it to say that this event becomes the focus of the majority of the Division for the better part of a month. There are some staff who will be at Bentonville more days and longer hours than I will be, but this year marks my heaviest involvement ever in this event. I will be in charge of all black powder safety and weapons inspections, as well as on field safety during the battle scenarios. I will be at Bentonville on Wednesday for school day and media day, then will return first thing Friday morning and remain there until the show is over late Sunday afternoon. The weekend will definitely be a busy one with 3,500 reenactors and approximately 30,000 spectators. Should be interesting if nothing else.

A Little Spring Cleaning on the Blogroll

2010-03-09T11:24:00.002-05:00

I've made a few adjustments to my blogroll. I've removed Ten Roads and North Cakalacky Travelers because they have ceased publication, and I've removed the Senator John Heinz History Center blog because of a lack of timely posting and because I prefer to follow them on Facebook. Two other blogs and a website have been moved to the "Friends Blog" list further down the page. Those include Civil War North Carolina (Wade Sokolosky), Doin' the Time Warp with Mr. Will, and Albemarle Soundings. I felt that Wade and Dr. Mike both fit better with the Friends Blog list. Chris at Albemarle Soundings was moved because he hasn't posted to the blog in 9 months, but I didn't want to completely get rid of the link because he is a good friend, even if he is a "slogger" (my completely made up term meaning "slack blogger"). At this point, he's gone way past "slack" but I'll keep his page around for awhile. I think he, like many of us, have cut back on the blog posts since we've gotten on Facebook. However, I am determined to maintain my blog, Facebook or not.

New Blog on the Roll

2010-03-01T10:42:00.001-05:00

I was contacted by this blogger recently and have decided to add his blog to my blogroll. It is an interesting blend of Age of Sail maritime history and medical history (Dr. Mike ought to LOVE this one). So here's the link, and you can find it on the blogroll as well. Enjoy!

145th Fort Anderson a Good Event

2010-02-24T12:54:00.004-05:00

I've been delayed in posting about the 145th Fort Anderson event due to lots of meetings this week and the head cold I brought home with me from the event. As previously mentioned, our merry little band gave up the navy impression for the weekend and fielded as Union infantry. Though we did have a few experienced ground pounders in our company, we generally looked pretty damn bad, but we had fun doing it. For most of the weekend, our company was paired with the 88th NY, a group from the Myrtle Beach area. Our two companies operated pretty much together on both days. Saturday's Battle of Fort Anderson was good, but I think Sunday's Battle of Town Creek was even more fun. Though we were ragged most of the weekend, our company had a couple of really solid volleys on Sunday; we almost started to look like a real infantry unit. The weather was beautiful all weekend, though cold at night, hence my current illness. The folks at Brunswick Town-Fort Anderson put on a good event that was enjoyed by reenactors and spectators alike.
Our company and the 88th NY (to the right of us) preparing to march toward the battlefield on Sunday.

NC's Latest Public Education Controversy

2010-02-15T08:13:00.002-05:00

I've been following this mainly via Facebook, but the group now has a blog through WordPress and I thought I'd provide a link here. I won't go into too much detail, but will allow you to take a look at this website to understand what's going on. Basically, there is a proposal in the Dept. of Public Instruction that would vastly curtail the teaching of US and NC history, especially in the higher grades. This would be a terrible move on the part of DPI and has produced, for lack of a better term, a shitstorm (a favorite idiom of my friends Brandie and James) amongst the academic community. Take a look.

http://realhistoryreform.org/

UPDATE: This issue may have been resolved. We'll have to wait until April to see what they've come up with, but apparently the shitstorm had some effect. Read the article in the Raleigh News & Observer.

Book Review - Waking Giant

2010-02-14T15:05:00.002-05:00

Honestly, it's been quite a while since I actually finished a book. I've started many with good intentions and for one reason or another have not been able to follow through. I have finally broken that streak and finished reading David S. Reynolds' latest book, Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson. The book is quite good and I enjoyed reading it very much. Reynolds covers the years 1815-1848 and the chapters are organized thematically. There are chapters on politics, religion, culture, and even one on all the wild, weird, and wonderful "reform" movements of the time. The chapters themselves are generally well-organized, though some are exceedingly lengthy in my opinion (the chapter on literature and culture is 72 pages and a couple of others are 50+). The author's writing style flows easily and makes the book a fairly quick read. There are endnotes and in place of a true bibliography, a "Suggestions for Further Reading" which is quite impressive.

There really isn't any new, groundbreaking interpretation involved in this book, and in fact, the information contained within is rather basic and well-established. Still, I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a more basic understanding of the Jacksonian period, or for someone who is simply looking to brush up a bit on certain aspects of the time. If I were teaching a class on antebellum US History, this book would definitely be on the reading list. It would serve as an excellent starting point to acquaint students with the material before leading them towards more in-depth interpretations. If you get a chance to pick up this book and have an interest in the subject matter, I strongly suggest putting your hands on it!

Getting Ready for the Next 145th Anniversary Event

2010-02-08T10:27:00.002-05:00

Its been busy since my last post nearly three weeks ago, but not busy in the sense that there's been much to write about. I've been helping with preparations for the 145th anniversary event at Fort Anderson. The event will be held February 20-21 and the staff has planned an ambitious program that includes a different battle scenario each day (the fall of Fort Anderson on Saturday and the Battle of Town Creek on Sunday) and an evening lantern tour after dark on Saturday. Aside from my duties as a Historic Sites employee, my reenacting unit will be participating in the event. Usually, we do a living history display as Confederate Navy and Marines. However, this year there was a need for more Federal participation (as there always is at these things) so we decided to don our Union duds and dust off our impression as 2nd North Carolina US Volunteers. Though some of our guys will be doing Union Navy and Marine, most of us will be playing infantry. We are looking forward to doing something a little different than usual and burning some powder. Should prove to be a fun event!

145th Anniversary of the Second Battle of Fort Fisher

2010-01-19T12:54:00.002-05:00

Wow! Two weeks since my last post, but what a two weeks it's been. This late winter/spring is proving to be much busier than I thought (and I knew it would be busy). Spring semester is underway now at both colleges and I have four online classes I'm teaching. However, the big story for the next few months is the ongoing 145th anniversary of many Civil War events in eastern North Carolina.

Fort Fisher got the ball rolling in style this past weekend with a three day long program that focused on US Colored Troops in North Carolina and the Second Battle of Fort Fisher. Friday evening there was a panel discussion held at UNC-Wilmington featuring Dr. Chris Fonvielle and Dr. John Haley of UNCW, Dr. Mark Elliott of UNC-Greensboro, and Dr. Richard Reid of the University of Guelph in Ontario. The panel was well-attended and made me miss my old alma mater more than I have in a long while. I was reminded especially of how much I miss my old advisor Dr. John Haley. To continue the focus on US Colored Troops, Dr. Reid gave a lengthier presentation at the historic site on Saturday. There were also a nominal number of US Colored Troop reenactors in attendance at the event.

On Saturday, it was all about the battle. Saturday morning we conducted small arms inspections, the Union Army conducted battalion drill, and there were artillery demonstrations. After lunch the troops formed up for the battle scenario, reenacting the Union breakthrough at the River Road sally port, which sealed the fate of Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865. I took the field with the Union Army in order to function as a safety officer and the battle went off quite well. There were a few glitches which are to be expected, but overall I think the public was well pleased with the action they witnessed. The program continued into the evening with lantern tours of the fort. Tour groups stopped at seven stations along the tour trail to encounter different "characters" from the fort's history. I played the part of Robert Watson, a Confederate sailor who served on one of the guns at the fort during the battle. The program closed with a night firing of the site's big 32-pounder cannon.

Due to heavy rains Saturday night into Sunday morning, the site staff decided to call off Sunday's activities. Aside from the fact that many of the reenactors had left, there was ankle deep standing water over much of the grounds. It was decided that having huge crowds out there would do more damage to the grounds and so the program was shut down early.

Still, I think that Fort Fisher has set the bar high for the rest of the 145th events going on this spring. Next up is the reenactment of the Battle of Fort Anderson, February 20-21.

Back at Work

2010-01-04T15:45:00.003-05:00

I returned to the office today after almost two weeks off. I enjoyed the break, but I wasn't disappointed to come back to work. They are doing some renovations in our building so concentration is a hard thing to come by around here (at least for me). I'm currently gearing up for Fort Fisher's 145th anniversary reenactment, which will take place January 16-17. Lots more about that later. So, Happy New Year everyone!

New Books for Christmas!

2009-12-28T13:46:00.003-05:00

Wow! Have I really neglected the blog for almost two weeks? Things have been busy, but really.....

So, no one actually bought me books for Christmas (which is probably a good thing), but I did get a couple of gift cards from Barnes & Noble. Thanks to a 30% employee discount courtesy of a friend of mine, I was able to stretch my money and parlay the gift card funds into three books. First, I got Francis Parkman's classic history of the French and Indian War, Montcalm and Wolfe. The other two books I picked up were both new titles (or fairly new anyway); Jay Winik's The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800, and Robert W. Merry's A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent.

In looking back over all my book purchases and acquisitions in 2009, I have noticed a trend. My library has been greatly expanded in the area of US history from 1781 to 1850. While Civil War books are always in the mix, my recent acquisitions have focused on the New Republic, Jacksonian America, and the Mexican War. Upon further reflection, it seems that in 2008 my collection grew in the areas of colonial/F&I/American Revolution. While I am still acquiring books that deal with those earlier time periods, this year's focus seems to have shifted forward, and thus has served to start bridging the gap between the earlier time periods and the Civil War.

My American history library is becoming more complete. Once my new office is finished and I can unpack all of it, you are welcome to come visit!

Two Down, One to Go

2009-12-15T12:30:00.005-05:00

The colonial Christmas program at Historic Halifax this past Saturday was a lot of fun. As always, we set up shop in the Tap Room. We did some cooking outside, as well as the usual musket and swivel gun demonstrations. My new 1728 French musket was fired for the first time and fired flawlessly all day. This Saturday we head to Tryon Palace for the muster of the Craven Regiment of Governor Tryon's militia. In the meantime, here's some photos from Halifax.

Living in Colonial Christmas

2009-12-08T09:36:00.003-05:00

I am in the midst of finishing up the 2009 living history year with three successive colonial Christmas programs. Last Saturday, my friend John Moseley and I joined a couple of others fine fellows in portraying a colonial militia company at Brunswick Town-Fort Anderson's holiday program. The visitor's center was very nicely decorated in the Colonial Williamsburg fashion, there was an artist demonstrating scherenschnitte (German papercutting art), wonderful refreshments were enjoyed, and the wonderfully talented Ken Bloom provided period musical entertainment. The weather was somewhat uncooperative, which stifled visitation, but we had a good time nonetheless. Photos will follow as soon as I can get my hands on some.

This Saturday, our merry little band will be at Historic Halifax for the third consecutive year for their annual Christmas program. We'll finish up the three week run at Tryon Palace on December 19. More to follow on these two programs in their wake.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

2009-11-25T08:30:00.003-05:00

Yes, it is my favorite holiday of the year. It's all about the three Fs for me - food, family, and football. My grandparents, aunt, uncle, and two cousins are making the trek from PA to be here for the holiday, which they do most every year now. It's been quite a while since we've gone to PA for Thanksgiving, although I wouldn't mind doing it again. The holiday will offer a nice break before the December craziness begins (more on that later). One place you won't find me this weekend is out shopping. I despise Black Friday and all that it signifies. I mean really, stores are opening and 3 am nowadays. Sorry, not for me. I hope everyone has a safe, happy, and meaningful Thanksgiving. We should all have something for which we are thankful.

Artillery School

2009-11-12T14:57:00.006-05:00

So the artillery school that I conducted November 1-4 went off very well. It was a very long four days, especially for the instructors, but everyone had a good time and the class ran very smoothly for the most part. Sunday afternoon training on the swivel guns and 32-pounder was quick and easy. We knew Monday would be the slow day, due to the fact that it was the day we were doing most of the classroom work. It was made even slower by the fact that when we did get outside it was chilly and misty. Tuesday and Wednesday could not have been nicer though. On Tuesday we drilled all morning and fired blank rounds all afternoon. We also had a visit from our Department head and Division director, which was well-received and appreciated by all the participants. Late Tuesday was test time, which was stresful for some. Wednesday we pulled the cannons to Camp Lejeune for our live-fire exercise, which is always the highlight of this class. We had the Commanding Officer and some staff from the 10th Marines (the artillery unit at Lejeune) attend and they were very interested. I think I've finally recovered and am moving on to other things, but when you spend months planning something like this it can be very hard to move forward. Without further adieu, here are some photos.Photo of me on the artillery range Blank firing the 3-inch ordnance rifle Officers from the 10th Marines watching us shoot Rev War 3-pounder live firing Fort Fisher's 12-pounder live firing (best photo from the whole class)

A Departure from the Reading List

2009-11-11T19:09:00.003-05:00

If you take a look at my current reading list on the right of the page, you will see a new book at the top of the list. I just received this one from History Book Club and decided to read it right away in the spirit of the season. The book is James W. Baker's Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday. Baker, a native of Plymouth, Massachusetts and Director of Research at the popular historic site, Plimoth Plantation, recounts the history of this distinctively American holiday, including how it came to be and how it has evolved. Through the first three chapters the book is very enjoyable and informative, so I'm plowing on through. As many of you will already know, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday so how could I resist this book? A number of years ago I read a history of Christmas, and this book seems like a nice companion.

Update Coming Soon

2009-11-11T19:02:00.002-05:00

My apologies for my lack of posts lately. I've spent the last week and a half either at artillery school, doing follow up work in the wake of artillery school, or playing catch up on all the stuff that didn't get done while I was at artillery school. I've also delayed posting about the school until I had some photos I could put up. I'll be receiving LOTS of photos tomorrow when I return to the office so I'll put some pics up here and tell you folks all about it!

Artillery School Starts Sunday

2009-10-30T08:30:00.003-04:00

The excitement has been building for weeks now (at least for me) and I'm at the point now where I just want Sunday to get here as quickly as possible. Yes, I know Halloween is tomorrow and it is my wife's favorite holiday, but I have an artillery school coming up! NC Historic Sites holds its historic artillery training and certification class every four years, in compliance with our Historic Weapons Program guidelines. I've taken the class twice, but this is the first artillery class that I have coordinated and will be the first full class that I've instructed. I have instructed a few refresher courses, but never a full blown class. This time around we have 33 students and 10 instructors in the class. It will be held at Fort Fisher State Historic Site in Kure Beach, NC. What separates the full class from the refresher courses is that the full class includes a live fire exercise on the artillery range at Camp Lejeune, the largest Marine Corps base on the east coast. Anytime you get to send real cannonballs downrange, it is a great experience! I will certainly post a report of the training and photos as soon as I get a chance. But, until Sunday arrives I plan to watch some sports, drink some Oktoberfest beer, and pass out candy to the neighborhood ghouls and goblins. The real fun starts once Halloween is over.

Photo from Reilly Dedication

2009-10-27T10:45:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to post a photo someone sent me from this past weekend's marker dedication ceremony for Major James Reilly. The photo shows our crew (one of three artillery pieces present) with the battery commander standing on the hill behind us. The ceremony was very nice, even though we had to endure one particularly over the top speech by an SCV official who wasn't even on the program, but was a last second addition invited by someone other than the ceremony's organizer. Luckily, I was in such a position that I couldn't hear much of anything, but what I did hear was more than enough to make me grit my teeth and simmer a bit. Sources tell me that most of the other folks who were present were not happy that this individual had been inserted into the lineup. Otherwise, it was a lovely ceremony and we managed to get the cannons loaded up and hauled out before the rain started. I also briefly visited General W.H.C. Whiting's grave and Captain Joseph Price's grave.

Honoring One of Fort Fisher's Heroes

2009-10-23T19:38:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow morning my friend Don Smith and I will hit the road to Wilmington for a grave marker dedication. The subject of the marker is Major James Reilly, commander of Co. D, 10th North Carolina and later second in command at Fort Fisher. Don and I will be on the cannon crew from Fort Fisher when the ceremonial rounds are fired. This will all take place in Wilmington's historic Oakdale Cemetery. A press release concerning tomorrow's program can be found HERE. There are many historic characters of Wilmington's past buried in this cemetery, including Major General W.H.C. Whiting, who commanded the Confederate Cape Fear District for much of the war, Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow, and Captain Joseph Price, third and final commander of the Confederate ironclad CSS Neuse. I normally don't do a lot of programs such as this, but because of the connections to Fort Fisher I decided to go. And besides, I haven't been to visit Capt. Price lately.

I've Been Busy Educating the Public!

2009-10-16T17:27:00.006-04:00

I haven't been intentionally neglecting the blog, but I've been very busy and haven't been able to find the time for an update. I've also been waiting to receive some photos from some folks so I can prove I haven't been just goofing off.

October 3, I assisted Tryon Palace with their Home School Day program. Not nearly as many kids as I expected, but a good day nonetheless. We were talking about Governor Tryon's 1771 militia that marched to Alamance and put down the Regulators. I also received the new coat that Wade Rogers, a Tryon Palace employee, had made for me.
Photos of me in my new coat

October 6 and 8, I was helping Brunswick Town State Historic Site with their Colonial Heritage Days program for the county's school children. I assisted long-time interpreter Bert Felton with a brief program on sailor life and naval stores in the colonial period.Me and Bert teaching the students how to tie some basic knotsTalking with students about naval stores (you can't see it but I have a small pot of pine sap in my hand)

October 10, I assisted Fort Fisher with a living history program that focused mainly on the civilian aspects of the was in the Lower Cape Fear. However, my main duty was to interpret the site's rifled and banded 32-pounder during demonstrations. I don't have any photos from the Fort Fisher program (sorry).

This week I've spent most of my time in the office catching up on all my other work. Our historic artillery training and certification class is coming up November 1-4 at Fort Fisher and I am making all the final preparations. In the meantime, I'll try to keep up with the blog a little bit better than I have. Please accept my apologies and enjoy the photos!

Teaching Home Schoolers About Gov. Tryon's Militia

2009-09-29T11:01:00.003-04:00

This Saturday, I will be assisting Tryon Palace with their annual Home School Day program. Along with a few others, I will be portraying Gov. Tryon's militia of 1771 that marched west to Alamance to put down the Regulator rebellion. We will also be firing the 3-pounder cannon from Alamance Battleground for the first time on it's new carriage. The galloper style carriage has been constructed over the past six months by David Stone, the blacksmith at Tryon Palace. This has been an exciting and interesting project, and I'm glad to say that it is almost complete. Once we test things out and make sure no alterations need to be made, the cannon will return to Alamance Battleground, just in time for their Colonial Living Week program the week of October 12.

The Most Wonderful Time......

2009-09-21T13:15:00.002-04:00

.....of the Year! And I'm not talking about Christmas. The official first day of fall is tomorrow and I am a happy camper. Fall has always been my favorite time of year, and is my wife's favorite time as well. I love cool weather, changing leaves, football, and everything else that goes with the season. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. It is always a busy time of year for me as well. There are always lots of programs taking place and plenty of stuff to do. We usually take a trip to the mountains in October, but it probably isn't going to happen this year due to work schedules and other obligations. We will still enjoy the season to its fullest. Football season is in full swing, I've had my first taste of Oktoberfest beer, and life is good!

Back to the Grind

2009-09-17T10:19:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was my first day back at work and now that I've gotten everything caught up I figured I should make a blog post. The event at Fort McHenry was very good, despite some spotty weather. The kindness of the reenacting community never ceases to amaze me. Due to rain all day Friday it was impossible to set up tents, so one of our compatriots from Maryland allowed me and my two shipmates to bunk at his house for the evening. That was much appreciated! Mist and drizzle most of the day Saturday couldn't put a damper on the activities, and cleared out before the big evening program started. The evening program was simply spectacular and Sunday was a gorgeous day. I had a lot of fun, met a lot of new folks, and reacquainted with some that I hadn't seen in a while.Photo of me waiting for formation to be called (taken by Vince Wilding, Ship's Company, USS Contellation)

I also had fun on Monday, spending the day in Johnstown, PA with my friend Gregory. He took me to an excellent museum, the Johnstown Heritage Discover Center. If you are ever in the Johnstown area it is well worth it to go. He also took me to the National Park Service's Johnstown Flood Memorial, which is also very nice. I had previously visited the Johnstown Flood Museum in downtown Johnstown, so it was nice to get a comparison. I was also able to acquire some new Steelers gear for the new season, as well as some Iron City beer for game days throughout the fall. I got to see most of my mom's family while there, including my two cousins from Pittsburgh. All in all, it was a great trip, but I'm glad to be back.

Road Trip

2009-09-09T14:05:00.003-04:00

I embark tomorrow on a six-day long journey. I am leaving in the morning and driving my mom to Pennsylvania. There, she will be staying with my grandparents and helping out with the annual Mountain Craft Days festival at the Somerset County Historical Center. This is something she's been doing for the past few years and I helped out last year. However, this year will be a bit different.

After crashing at the grandparents' house tomorrow night, I will turn around and head down to Baltimore to attend the 195th anniversary of the Battle of Baltimore (War of 1812) at Fort McHenry. I've actually been looking forward to this event for two years now because we were unable to attend last year. There are only three or four of us attending, and we will be falling in with another group. However, in looking at the program itinerary it appears to be a very full, but fun weekend.

Once I'm through in Baltimore on Sunday I will return to Pennsylvania, spend the day there on Monday visiting with some folks, and return home on Tuesday. While I'm looking forward to the trip, it will be a little strange because I will not have computer or Internet access for most of the time I'm gone. I'm not one to be disconnected for very long, so this will be weird for me. Usually when I am on the road I am staying in hotels and take the laptop with me. This time there's no point in it because my grandparents have no Internet (nor a computer for that matter) and while in Baltimore I'll be camping. Six days without email, sports news, Facebook, or any of the other things I'm accustomed to will be a big change, not to mention having to weed through all the various inboxes when I return. At any rate, don't look for any updates from me for at least six days.

Chupacabra in the White House - Did Abe Lincoln Have a Dark Secret?

2009-09-03T09:25:00.003-04:00

OK, folks so this really is a joke post. You can all blame Harry Smeltzer over at Bull Runnings. This morning I posted a story from Yahoo on my Facebook page about the supposed capture of a Chupacabra (that mythical creature). Harry suggested it was the perfect time for a blog post, you know, to boost the number of hits on the site.

But really, did Lincoln ever hear the legend of the Chupacabra. Were US Troops in the old southwest prior to the Civil War really searching for the mythical creature?

Just goes to prove that I'm not above a little bit of tom foolery, especially when someone else more brilliant than myself suggests such. Let's see if Harry's theory is correct and I get an uptick in hits today.