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Telling History vs. Making Art: “Story is a central component of ‘history'”
Part eight in a series The ability to evoke emotion easily stands out as The Civil War’s greatest strength: From its opening shot of a canon silhouetted against a fire-orange sky and the use of the...
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Telling History vs. Making Art: Fictions told until they are believed to be true
Part nine in a series “Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true,” Ulysses S. Grant said in his Personal Memoirs.[1] Grant was specifically...
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Telling History vs. Making Art: Fictions and Histories
Final part of a series “[H]istory and historical fiction,” says historian Paul Ashdown, “are alternate ways of telling stories about the past.”[1] In that context, Ulysses S. Grant spoke more truth...
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Lincoln brilliantly captures the icon’s humanity
One of the things I’ve found most remarkable about the Civil War is the physical change that overcame President Lincoln during his time in office. The distinguished, thoughtful lawyer from Illinois who...
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Not Your Average Lincoln Movie: Saving Lincoln
Anyone who has read a post or a blog by me knows that I am a serious fan of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth and Ward Hill Lamon, both good friends of Abraham Lincoln. I love those guys, and I write about them...
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Does the American Civil War Need a Theme Song?
Like so many, I have been captivated by the mournfully lovely tune “Ashokan Farewell.” I am sure most of us first heard it when we were watching Ken Burns’s The Civil War, and wondered about it. I...
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A Cat Man: Mr. Lincoln
There are times when research seems repetitive. Battles, generals, troop movements, the effects of one thing upon another, and on and on. It is an endless stream, and once one dips one’s toes in it,...
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“Telling History” vs “Making Art”: Richard Ewell on July 1
My favorite scene in the movie Gettysburg comes when a fiery Isaac Trimble, taught as an over-coiled spring, appears before Robert E. Lee to recount the events of July 1. Frustrated by Richard Ewell’s...
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Day Four: I Have Seen the King
Part nine in a series I’m not going to pretend to make a Civil War connection between Elvis Presley and the Civil War. We’re passing through Tupelo, Mississippi, on our way from Vicksburg to Corinth,...
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Day Four: The Stream of American History
Part eleven in a series Because Dan is working on a book about Corinth, for the Emerging Civil War Series, the town is a “must” on our tour. While I’ll help him grab some photos for the book, my main...
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Review: The Gettysburg Cyclorama
Having worked so much at the Wilderness, I don’t buy into that whole “Gettysburg as the turning point of the Civil War” nonsense. Aside from that premise, though, there’s little negative to say about...
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A Monumental Discussion: Chris Mackowski
How many of you remember Piss Christ? In 1987, photographer Andres Serrano took a small plastic crucifix and submerged it in a glass of his own urine. He then took a photo and included it in a touring...
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Turning Points: Gone With The Wind
December 15, 1939, marked a turning in interpretation and image of the American Civil War. Perhaps one could argue that the turning point had started earlier in 1936 when the novel that inspired the...
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CW & Pop Culture: Our Last Chapter (for now)
from the restroom in Triple Crossing Beer, Richmond, VA We all have that first movie, that first book, that took us back in time to the 1860s. We’ve all had an earworm carry us back to yesteryear. I...
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