Looking for the Confederate War

The battlefield at dusk.  Over three decades, this crazy life I live has taken me to some pretty remarkable places. The archives and li...

In November 1863, a group of dissidents left Wilkes County, bound for Knoxville, and the 10th Tennessee Cavalry (US). As the story goes, t...

   He probably started off as a Confederate soldier, deserted, joined the Union army, and even had a fort named for him. But when it comes ...

There are a half dozen people from the 1860s whom I have spent a great deal of time researching: Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, James H. Lane...

How about a few updates! General's Lee's Immortals: The Battles and Campaigns of the Branch-Lane Brigade in the Army of Northern ...

Paul Cameron Do you even know who Paul Cameron is? In 1860, he was considered the wealthiest man in North Carolina. He reportedly owned...

Friends - I'll be speaking at Lees-McRae College this Thursday evening, April 6, at 7:00 pm, in the Evans Auditorium. Topic is Richmond...

If you go to Google, and type in Old Red Fox, the image and story of East Tennessee Unionist Dan Ellis pops up. The Carter County native pi...

We don't seem to talk much about Statesville and the War. And to be honest, not that much went on there during the conflict. Or, maybe ...

   On September 1, 1863, Joseph Grubb, a private in the 4th Tennessee Infantry (US), made a recruiting sweep through the Laurel community o...

   As spring and summer approach, I seem to find myself talking more and more about Gettysburg. People stop me and want my take on what to ...

Not long ago, I was listening to a podcast, and the host confessed that he had yet to watch any of the PBS series Mercy Street. The host s...

One of those questions floating around my mind on Sunday as I drove to Raleigh was how many governors in North Carolina had Confederate s...

   No discussion about salt and the War is complete without some mentions of the Quakers, Moravians, and Wesleyan Methodists in central Nor...

Preserving old textiles is no easy feat, especially when they are made of silk. My friends in the Yadkin Gray Eagles Camp, Sons of Confeder...

For the past couple of weeks, I've been poring over the various accounts of the Shelton Laurel event in January 1863. A little bac...

In November 1861, a group of dissidents/Unionists burned several bridges in East Tennessee. They had been told that Federal soldiers were o...

This week, I am writing about the Shelton Laurel Massacre. Traditionally, this story starts with the Unionist-leaning Shelton Laurel people...