PEA RIDGE (Part the Fourth)
In which we conclude our discussion of the Battle of Pea Ridge, which took place in northwest Arkansas on March 7-8, 1862.
Our book recommendation for this episode isn’t actually a book; it’s a CD. We’re pleased to recommend the album Dream of a Good Death: New Songs of the Old War by Clark Hansbarger. You can check out the website Clark has set up for the album at www.civilwarsong.com
Listen to Episode 104: PeaRidgePartFourth
PEA RIDGE (Part the First)
In which we set the stage for the Battle of Pea Ridge, which took place in northwest Arkansas on March 7-8, 1862.
Our book recommendation for this episode is “The Battle of Pea Ridge: The Civil War Fight for the Ozarks” by James R. Knight.
Listen to PeaRidgePartFirst
BELMONT
In which we discuss (among other things) the Battle of Belmont, which took place on November 7, 1861.
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| Leonidas Polk (1806-1864) |
Our book recommendation for this episode is The Battle of Belmont: Grant Strikes South by Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes, Jr.
“In this definitive study of U.S. Grant’s first Civil War battle, Nathaniel Hughes has done for Belmont what Wiley Sword did for Shiloh and Peter Cozzens for Stones River. This is a lively account, as well researched as it is well written.” ~ James I. Robertson
Listen to Episode 82: Belmont
FREMONT’S FOLLIES
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| John Charles Fremont (1813-1890) |
In which we look at John C. Fremont’s tenure as commander of the Federal’s Western Department in 1861 and see how troubled Missouri proved to be his downfall.
Our book recommendation for this episode is Pathfinder: John Charles Fremont and the Course of American Empire by Tom Chaffin.
“The most eloquent, understanding, and yet very candid biography of Fremont that has appeared to date.” ~ Howard R. Lamar, Yale University
Listen to Episode 69: Fremont’sFollies
“BATTLE OF THE HEMP BALES”
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| Sterling Price (1809-1867) |
In which we discuss the successful siege of Lexington by Sterling Price’s Missouri State Guard in September, 1861.
Our book recommendation for this episode is actually a back issue of North & South magazine. Issue #3 of the magazine, from February 1998, has an excellent article about the siege of Lexington by Jeff Patrick.
Listen to Episode 68: BattleHempBales
WILSON’S CREEK (Part the Second)
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| Ben McCulloch (1811-1862) |
In which we cover the action at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek (August 10, 1861).
Our book recommendation for this episode is Wilson’s Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It by William Garrett Piston & Richard W. Hatcher III.
“The definitive study of a long-neglected but important battle… It should be seen as a blueprint for the way all Civil War books ought to be written.” ~ Journal of American History
Listen to Episode 67: WilsonsCreekPartSecond
WILSON’S CREEK (Part the First)
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| Nathaniel Lyon (1818-1861) |
In which we discuss the activities and maneuvering of both sides prior to the Battle of Wilson’s Creek (August 10, 1861) in southwest Missouri.
Our book recommendation for this episode is Campaign for Wilson’s Creek: The Fight for Missouri by Jeffrey L. Patrick.
Listen to Episode 66: WilsonsCreekPartFirst
MAYHEM IN MISSOURI (Part the Second)
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| Franz Sigel (1824-1902) |
In which we continue our look at the mayhem that broke out in Missouri at the start of the Civil War. In this episode, we cover the ‘Battle of Carthage,’ and set the stage for the Battle of Wilson’s Creek.
Our book recommendation for this episode is The Civil War in Missouri: A Military History by Louis S. Gerteis.
“Making a case for the national importance of Civil War military campaigns in Missouri, Louis Gerteis portrays the operations of Union and Confederate armies in vivid detail. Although Missouri was notable for the intensity of its guerrilla warfare, this book demonstrates that conventional armies largely determined developments in the state, forming the anchor of Union control in the trans-Mississippi theater.” ~ James M. McPherson
Listen to Episode 65: MayhemMissouriPartSecond
MAYHEM IN MISSOURI (Part the First)
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| Claiborne Fox Jackson (1806-1862) |
In which we look at the mayhem that broke out in the important border state of Missouri at the start of the Civil War.
Our book recommendation for this episode is actually a magazine article in a back issue of North & South magazine. Volume 2 #5 (June, 1999) of North & South has an article titled “Don’t Yield an Inch! The Story of the Missouri State Guard” by William Garrett Piston & Thomas P. Sweeney.
Listen to Episode 64: MayhemMissouriPartFirst
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| Henry Clay (1777-1852) |
In which we take a look at the acrimonious debate surrounding the Missouri Crisis, and Henry Clay of Kentucky’s pivotal role in brokering the Compromise of 1820.
Our book recommendations for this episode is The Missouri Compromise and Its Aftermath: Slavery and the Meaning of America by Robert Pierce Forbes. The inside flap of this book says that the author “goes behind the scenes of the crucial Missouri Compromise, the most important sectional crisis before the Civil War, to reveal the high-level deal-making, diplomacy, and deception that defused the crisis…”
Listen to Episode 3: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML8851342507.mp3?updated=1694099766