Just a reminder- but as we announced at the end of the last show, there won’t be a new episode this weekend. We’re taking a bit of time off to celebrate our anniversary and Easter. We’ll be back on April 28 with the first installment of the Vicksburg story arc.

Civil War Podcast, Episode 276

“MOUNTAINEERS ARE ALWAYS FREE”: How West Virginia Became a State (Part the Second)

Francis Harrison Pierpont (1814-1899)

In which we wrap-up the story of how West Virginia, in the midst of the Civil War, became the thirty-fifth state of the Union.

Our book recommendation for this episode is “A House Divided: A Study of Statehood Politics and the Copperhead Movement in West Virginia” By Richard Orr Curry.

Listen to Episode 276: WestVirginiaPartSecond

Strawfoot Brigade Moving to Patreon

We’re making a big change to the membership program. You see, when we first started the Strawfoot Brigade we put together a wordpress website ourselves and found a membership plugin to use with it, and although both have performed yoeman duty up to this point, they’re beginning to show the strain as the number of members continues to climb steadily. A  growing membership is a good problem to have, obviously, and we think we’ve hit upon the best solution to address that “problem” as we continue to move forward with the podcast.  We’re going to transition all of the Strawfoot Brigade material to a proven membership platform named Patreon that is already used by thousands of other creators, including many of our fellow podcasters. Our page there is all set-up and ready to go, so you can check it out right now at www.patreon.com/civilwarpodcast
Although we think this is the best long-term solution for us as we move forward with the show, we realize that there may be some short-term disruption, since unfortunately there’s no way to simply transfer all of our current members to Patreon. That means you’ll have to close out your current membership through Paypal and open up a new membership through Patreon. To help ease this transition for current members, we’re going to plan for a transition period of six weeks, during which we’ll leave all the membership episodes up on the website, but after May 10, 2019 the only way to access membership material will be through Patreon.
Thank you for your support of the podcast.  We’re still as excited as ever about continuing to tell the story of the Civil War & Reconstruction. We hope we can continue to count on your support as we keep telling that story, one episode at a time.

Civil War Podcast, Episode 272

CHANCELLORSVILLE (Part the Fifteenth)

Evening rush hour traffic flows heavily on Route 3 past the 23rd New Jersey Infantry Regiment standing guard on the Salem Church battlefield.

In which we see Robert E Lee fail in his attempt to “demolish” Sedgwick on May 4, 1863.

Our book recommendation for this episode is “The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies” by Peter S. Carmichael.

Listen to Episode 272: ChancellorsvillePartFifteenth

Civil War Podcast, Episode 270

CHANCELLORSVILLE (Part the Thirteenth)

John Sedgwick (1813-1864)

In which we shift our focus to the fighting that took place east of Chancellorsville, at Fredericksburg and Salem Church.

Our book recommendation for this episode is “Chancellorsville’s Forgotten Front: The Battles of Second Fredericksburg and Salem Church- May 3, 1863” by Chris Mackowski & Kristopher D. White.

Listen to Episode 270: ChancellorsvillePartThirteenth