Author Archives: Rich & Tracy Y

Civil War Podcast, Episode 79

ULYSSES S. GRANT (Part the First)

In which we set out to tell U.S. Grant’s life story and bring it up to speed with the point where we find ourselves on the podcast timeline- November, 1861.

Our book recommendation for this episode is Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph over Adversity, 1822-1865 by Brooks D. Simpson.

“Brooks Simpson has crafted a superb military biography. His Ulysses S. Grant is exhaustively researched, impressively judicious, and eminently readable, giving us an objective and penetrating look at an important and enigmatic American, warts and all. Simpson’s book is destined to stand as our generation’s definitive study of Grant. If your bookshelf has space for only one Grant biography, this is the one that should be there.” ~ Gordon C. Rhea

Listen to Episode 79: UlyssesGrantPartFirst

Sorry, folks. No new show this weekend. We’ll aim to have the U.S. Grant episode out to you next Saturday, June 21.

Civil War Podcast, Episode 78

REHEARSAL FOR RECONSTRUCTION (Part the Second)

Salmon Portland Chase (1808-1873)

In which we discuss the Port Royal Experiment on South Carolina’s Sea Islands, which many people considered a dress rehearsal for the South’s postwar reconstruction.

Our book recommendation for this episode is Rehearsal for Reconstruction: The Port Royal Experiment by Willie Lee Rose.

“A triumph of historical analysis and a detailed re-creation of some of the Civil War’s noblest hopes and greatest tragedies.” ~ David Brion Davis

Listen to Episode 78: RehearsalForReconstruction

Civil War Podcast, Episode 77

REHEARSAL FOR RECONSTRUCTION (Part the First)

In which we set the stage for a discussion of the Port Royal Experiment, which took place on South Carolina’s Sea Islands and which many people view as a “rehearsal for reconstruction.”

Our book recommendation for this episode is Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in America, 1861-1865 by James Oakes.

“Was Lincoln really a ‘Reluctant Emancipator’? Freedom National answers that question eloquently and fully. Oakes argues that Lincoln, from the moment of his inauguration, began using every political and military means at his disposal to wipe out slavery forever.” ~ Howell Raines, Washington Post

Listen to Episode 77: PortRoyalExperiment

Civil War Podcast, Episode 76

PORT ROYAL SOUND

In which we look at the Battle of Port Royal Sound, South Carolina (November 7, 1861).

Our book recommendation for this episode is Now for the Contest: Coastal & Oceanic Naval Operations in the Civil War by William H. Roberts.

“Now for the Contest tells the story of the Civil War at sea in the context of three campaigns: the blockade of the southern coast, the raiding of Union commerce, and the projection of power ashore. The book also examines how both sides mobilized and employed their resources for a war that proved to be of unprecedented intensity and duration. For both antagonists, the conduct of the naval war was complicated by rapid technological change, as steam power, metal armor, and more powerful ordnance sparked experiment and innovation both in naval construction and tactics.”

Listen to Episode 76: PortRoyalSound

Civil War Podcast, Episode 75

THE ORDEAL OF GENERAL STONE (Part the Second)

In which we continue our discussion of the ordeal of Brigadier General Charles P. Stone.

Our book recommendation for this episode is Over Lincoln’s Shoulder: The Committee on the Conduct of the War by Bruce Tap.

“Tap’s case is one worth making. He argues that the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War produced little good and some harm, polarizing politicians against professional soldiers, limiting strategic options, and inflating the reputations of military incompetents. These errors, he shows, stemmed from ignorance of military art and from partisanship. Although his conclusions will raise some eyebrows, he provides good evidence for his case. A solid and readable old-fashioned political history, this book will correct our image of the relationship between Republicans and the army in the Civil War.” ~ Mark E. Neely, Jr.

Listen to Episode 75: GeneralStonePartSecond

Civil War Podcast, Episode 74

THE ORDEAL OF GENERAL STONE (Part the First)

In which we discuss the persecution of Brigadier General Charles Stone by the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War.

Our book recommendation for this episode is Controversies and Commanders of the Civil War: Dispatches from the Army of the Potomac By Stephen W. Sears.

“There is drama and intrigue aplenty here, and Sears lays it out with great skill.” ~ Noah Andre Trudeau

Listen to Episode 74: GeneralStonePartFirst

Civil War Podcast, Episode 73

BALL’S BLUFF

Edward Dickinson Baker (1811-1861)

In which we look at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, which took place near Leesburg, Virginia on October 21, 1861.

Our book recommendation for this episode is A Little Short of Boats: The Battles of Ball’s Bluff and Edwards Ferry by James A. Morgan, III.

“Jim Morgan is a masterful writer and military historian. This revised and expanded edition is the definitive account of Ball’s Bluff. His excellent tactical analysis has been augmented with more firsthand accounts, many previously unpublished, that make a good work even better… This is Civil War history at its best.” ~ Ted Alexander, Historian, Antietam National Battlefield

Listen to Episode 73: BallsBluff

Civil War Podcast, Episode 72

McCLELLAN TAKES CHARGE

In which we discuss George McClellan’s arrival in Washington in July of 1861, and his taking command of the defeated & demoralized force that would become the Union’s famed Army of the Potomac.

Our book recommendation for this episode is George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon by Stephen W. Sears.

“A dozen years after the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant said that ‘McClellan is to me one of the mysteries of the war.’ Historian Stephen Sears has finally unraveled most of that mystery. He has probed the puzzling personality of this complex, brilliant man of whom so much was expected but who delivered so little. A fascinating story of the reasons for the Union military failure in Virginia during the first half of the war.” ~ James M. McPherson