JOHN BANKS'
CIVIL WAR BLOG
"Stories are everywhere. You just have
to pay attention." — Dave Kindred
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Podcast: Antietam ranger Brian Baracz on Elliott burials map
Friday, April 05, 2024
Podcast: 'When Hell Came To Sharpburg' author Steven Cowie
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Video: Franklin (Tenn.) battlefield reclamation effort explained
I nearly plunged into the stump of a battlefield 'witness tree'!
It took quite the effort for me to get this far. (Image courtesy Jonathan Perryman) |
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A look into the black heart of the Resaca (Ga.) battlefield "witness tree." (Image courtesy Tony Patton) |
While my fellow battlefield trampers watched, I inelegantly made my way to the top of the four-foot high stump for a brief view of its rotten core. As this was St. Patrick’s Day, I had beginner’s luck, coming close but not plunging into the belly of the massive beast. If I had, I'm pretty sure there’d be no getting out and I would have missed the grilled lemon pepper trout dinner at my favorite Cracker Barrel in Chattanooga.
When I showed the photo at top to the disgusted Mrs. B at breakfast on Monday, she only mumbled a few words: “That’s your best side.”
Irishman Cóilín Ó Coigligh and I have a fondness for "witness trees." |
Friday, March 15, 2024
Farewell to 'The Irishman,' who's on epic Civil War journey
Before departing for the rest of his Western Theater trip, Cóilín Ó Coigligh visited Shy's Hill, where John Bell Hood anchored his left flank during the Battle of Nashville. |
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But first BREAKING NEWS! The Irishman’s name doesn’t translate to “Little Pub,” as I thought he told me outside a Franklin, Tenn., bar the other night, but to “Little Pup.” Either his brogue or my mighty strong drink threw me off. Or perhaps I was just delirious.
The Irishman posed at Shy's Hill by the 114th Illinois monument. |
From there, we ventured over to my friend Jim’s house. (Like most Americans, he has a real Civil War cannon in his front yard.) Jim — a Battle of Nashville expert — showed off his impressive Civil War collection and gifted Cóilín — pronounced CO-lean — with honest-to-goodness relics from the battle. The smile on the Irishman’s face was priceless.
I sent Cóilín packing with a copy of Tony Horwitz’s magnificent Confederates In The Attic, a gigantic copy of an Antietam image by Alexander Gardner and the knowledge (I hope) that most Americans are OK.
Well, except for Aaron Rodgers.
The Irishman stands by a battlefield witness tree in Oak Hill, a tony Nashville suburb. |
My friend Jim gave the Irishman Battle of Nashville relics, but the cannon was not included. |
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Podcast: Irish historian Damian Shiels on famed Irish Brigade
So I met a real, live Irish Civil War buff in a Tennessee pub ...
Irishman Cóilín Ó Coigligh (right) bought a copy of my book in Ireland and brought it to Tennessee for me to autograph. |
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Over drinks Monday night in Franklin, the delightful Irishman and I bonded over the Civil War and compared road trip notes. I signed a copy of my book for him — an honor for me — and peppered him with questions about Ireland and his epic journey.
“I’ve always loved America,” said Ó Coigligh, who years ago made a swing of Eastern Theater battlefields.
Cóilín Ó Coigligh at the cannon ball monument on the Franklin (Tenn.) battlefield, his first visit to the hallowed ground where fellow Irishman Patrick Cleburne fell. |
“She doesn’t get it,” he said with a grin.
Join the club, “Little Pup.”😬
Minie balls purchased decades ago by my dad — “Big Johnny” — in Gettysburg hooked me on the Civil War. I was 12. Topps Civil War bubble gum cards purchased at Mrs. Moloney’s shop in his hometown hooked Cóilín. He was six or seven.
Since then, Ó Coigligh has fed his obsession — visiting battlefields and reading everything he can on our war. “I have 183 books on the Civil War,” he told me. On a rainy day in County Cork, he even visited the graves of Cleburne’s parents.
After drinks, I suggested a drive down Columbia Pike to the Franklin battlefield for his first visit to the killing field. We parked, crossed the pike and briefly examined the cannon ball monument near where Cleburne fell. Night had fallen, leaving only the beams of passing vehicles and street lights to illuminate the monument.
Minutes later, my new friend and I parted.
“May God bless you, John,” he said.
God bless you, “Little Pup.”
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
'Extraordinary' William Sherman collection to be auctioned
William Sherman's sword will be among the items from the general's personal collection up for auction. (Images of Sherman collection courtesy of Fleischer’s Auctions) |
”This man in Ohio is auctioning off Gen. William Sherman’s sword and other artifacts,” I said, practically spitting out the words. “It’s an incredible collection.”
William Sherman |
For those of us ingrained in the Civil War community, though, this is big news.
On May 14, Fleischer will auction off the remarkable collection, long owned by Sherman’s western Pennsylvania-based descendants. On a visit to a Gettysburg museum, they asked for recommendations for an auction house for the collection, most of which they had stored for decades in an attic. (They kept the sword in Sherman’s trunk.)
Use Fleischer’s, they were told.
“It’s an honor to be handling this,” Fleischer told me.
Besides the sword, which would look great in my home office, the collection includes the “War Is Hell” general’s personal copies of Ulysses S. Grant’s memoirs, his uniform’s rank insignia worn during the Civil War, the Sherman family bible with “meticulous records” written by the general himself and Sherman’s copy of Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign — George Barnard’s photographic record of the general’s “March to the Sea.”
“When I saw this collection for the first time, I had goosebumps,” Fleischer said.
Sherman’s copy of Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign. |
In pencil, the general had written in the margins of the book, including a mild criticism of Grant.
Fleischer has handled big-time collections before. Over the years, he has dealt with the nation’s leading repositories and institutions, including the Smithsonian, Library of Congress and National Portrait Gallery. But the Sherman collection tops them all for him.
“Extraordinary,” Fleischer calls it.
I know where I’ll be on May 14. Oh, Mrs. B…
For information on the auction, go here.
William Sherman's uniform’s rank insignia worn during the Civil War. |
Monday, March 04, 2024
Tales from the road: Who cares about Battle of Knob Gap?
During the Battle of Knob Gap on Dec. 26, 1862, United States troops advanced toward the gap between the nobs on Nolensville Pike. (CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.) |
Across busy Nolensville Pike, a lonely historical marker tells any visitors who dare view it that “foraging and skirmishing took place here during the Civil War.”
Today, though, Nolensville — which sprouted along Mill Creek late in the 18th century — is morphing into Anywhere, USA. Here, along the pike roughly 12 miles south of Nashville, you’ll find a mishmash of suburban schlock — an excellent BBQ restaurant, service stations, apartment complexes and a joint that makes honey golden wings to die for. An ancient cabin that somehow staggered into the 21st century still stands along the pike, but I imagine few pay it notice.
A historical marker in Nolensville briefly mentions the town's Civil War connection, but the battlefield nearby is unmarked. |
Judging from the look on her face, it’s probably the first time anyone has asked about the Battle of Knob Gap, fought two miles from town on Dec. 26, 1862. It’s one of those 10,000 battle sites historian David McCullough told us about in Ken Burns’ epic Civil War doc — as obscure as Sacramento, Ky. , and Hartsville, Tenn., hallowed ground I’ve recently visited.
“Have you tried the museum?” she tells me.
Damn, the museum — housed in an old schoolhouse up the pike — closed an hour earlier. It looks like I’m on my own. So I push down the road — a muddy, mucky mess for U.S Army soldiers in late winter 1862, a two-lane drag strip in 2024.
Beyond town and the schlock, the ground opens up. To my right, amid the rolling fields, is a horse farm and a field of yellow daffodils beyond a gleaming, white fence. In the distance, smoke from a fire wafts into a deep-blue sky.
“In front and to our left was an open plain for some distance in which is located the little Southern town of Nolensville,” a U.S Army officer described this scene in 1862. “Surrounding this plain, or rather basin, is a continuous chain of hills, high and precipitous.”
The pike, bordered by farmland during the war, splits the knobs. On the high ground, a small Confederate force and artillery awaited.
The Rebels positioned cannon on this hill. |
I swerve into a driveway, park and take in this unmarked, forgotten battlefield. To my left is a steep hill — that’s where soldiers from the 15th Wisconsin captured a cannon from Georgians, who had captured it at Shiloh months earlier. I wander if the folks who live in the one-story house on the hill know what happened here long ago.
Few casualties resulted at the Battle of Knob Gap — perhaps several dozen or so — but it left an impression on those who fought here.
"A gang of cattle got between the lines during the fight and ran wildly from line to line. One of them had its leg broken by a Rebel shell and was devoured by the heroes of the day,” an Illinois private wrote.
A Wisconsin soldier, though, remembered the sounds of battle.
“The air resounded with the hideous noise of the shells whizzing and bursting before us, behind us, above us, and among us,” he recalled about Knob Gap.
Minutes after stopping, I return to my vehicle and swerve back into traffic. In a flash, the 19th century and crackle of gunfire and whizzing and bursting of shells are left behind.
U.S. troops advanced through this field, now a haven for daffodils. |
For more stories like this, read my book, A Civil War Road Trip Of A Lifetime. Email me at jbankstx@comcast.net for details on how to get an autographed copy.
SOURCE
HAT TIP: Dan Masters’ excellent blog — the source for the soldiers’ quotes.
Thursday, February 29, 2024
Podcast: Antietam guide Laura Marfut on The Bloody Cornfield
Marfut graduated from the U.S. Army War College with a master’s degree in strategic studies. In 2019, she was certified as an Antietam National Battlefield guide. Marfut is also a board member of the Antietam Institute, which you can read more about here. | Join the Antietam Institute.
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Tales from the road: Beady-eyed gnomes on Lookout Mountain
No gnomes for Mrs. B: She's not a fan of these gents spotted at Rock City. |
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At Point Park — where brother-in-law Nels paid the entrance fee, so the visit seemed way better than a regular visit — my traveling companions peppered me with questions about Civil War artillery and Mrs. B enjoyed watching her husband bound about like a jackrabbit on an adrenaline rush. (The sight of cannons often does this.)
Ruby Falls: A spectacular scene, but don't drink coffee before making the trek here. |
Also: If you despise expensive pizza, unruly children and gnomes, never in the history of ever visit Rock City, where a suspicious- looking gnome — a small, humanoid-like figure with beady eyes — spied us as we made our way through “Fat Man’s Squeeze.”
“Creepy,” Mrs. B calls them.
One would think that after 31 years of solid-gold marriage (mostly) one would know everything about your mate. 😬 But Mrs. B broke news at Rock City that she is rabidly anti-gnome.
Damn! So no gnomes, please, for our 32nd wedding anniversary in May.
Before we leave Chattanooga, I am hoping to squeeze in some actual Civil War history adventurizing with my non-Civil Ear enthusiast traveling companions. In the meantime, I’ll torture you with photos from Lookout Mountain, Rock City and Ruby Falls.
Let’s keep history alive. 👊
Brother-in-law Nels squeezes through an opening at Rock City. |
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Tales from the road: Going 'nuclear' in Hartsville, Tennessee
Oh, deer: The enormous cooling tower at the nuclear power plant. |
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Inside, a tall man wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses ambled over to us strangers and engaged in small talk.
“You know,” the local told us, “there’s an abandoned nuclear power plant just down the road. It’s near the prison.”
“OMG! What good fortune I have,” I thought to myself.
The massive remains of the nuclear power plant loom behind a chain link fence. |
So naturally, I obsessed about the nuclear power plant while Jack and I drove the 17-stop Hartsville battlefield tour. (The tour and accompanying podcast were excellent — well, except for the ornery cows behind the ancient farm walls and the vicious hounds that yapped at us while I manuevered Mrs. B’s SUV near the frigid Cumberland River.)
Every three or four minutes, I tortured Jack with: “Hey, I want to see the nuclear power plant before we leave.”
We obeyed all warning signs. |
What a surreal scene: The massive skeletons of the nuclear power plant buildings and the enormous cooling tower seemed like something worthy of a Stephen King novel. We also spotted vultures, crows, deer, cows and other animals — none, thankfully, with five eyes, six tails or glowing body parts. That’s because the Tennessee Valley Authority shut down the nuclear power plant in 1984. (Google it.)
Before leaving, of course, I had to see the prison. How amazing! The glint of afternoon sunlight off razor wire with the cooling tower as the backdrop would have made for an award-winning photo, but Jack got nervous and we had to go. 😬
A few weeks ago, law enforcement arrested three men — two from Pennsylvania (hmmm) — who parachuted into the cooling tower. (Note to law enforcement: I’m afraid of heights.) Per the news report, people sneak into the plant “thinking there is top-secret government information inside.”
Let’s keep history — and abandoned nuclear power plants near Civil War battlefields — alive. 🔥
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Tales from the road: Going 'nuclear' in Grand Gulf, Mississippi
Mac Drake bought a copy of my book, cementing his place among my favorite Mississippians. |
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About two miles past the entrance to a nuclear power plant — the most powerful in the U.S., according to sources — I pull into the parking lot for the Grand Gulf Civil War museum. (Entry: five bucks.) It’s manned this afternoon by a gem of a human named Mac Drake, who regales me with nuclear power plant humor that we plan to keep just between us.
Sleepy Grand Gulf was engulfed by civil war, too. |
Drake is a descendant of a Confederate soldier named Henry H. Myers of the “Liberty Hall Volunteers” of the 4th Virginia, which saw hard fighting throughout the Eastern Theater — including at Sharpsburg (Antietam to us Northerners), Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. According to family lore, Robert E. Lee gifted a chair to Myers — it still remains with the Drakes.
The small but excellent Grand Gulf museum, roughly a half mile from the Mississippi River, is filled with historical treasure: a letter from George Washington, a bullet-riddled U.S. Army belt plate found by Burnside Bridge after Antietam and the usual assortment of artillery shells, muskets and Civil War accoutrements that Mrs. B will never let in our house.
A Mastadon leg bone. Hi ho! |
Sure enough, the remains of the prehistoric animal rest in all their glory in a display case.
Before departing, I try to persuade Mac to gift me one of the artillery shells, but he doesn’t bite. However, I strongarm him into purchasing a copy of my book and posing with it for a photo — acts that propel him to No. 2 on my ranking of Mississippians, just behind my “psychotic connection, Sid Champion V of Champion Hill battlefield renown, and Bud Hall. (They are co-No. 1s.)
What a great visit. Let’s keep history alive. 👊
Grand Gulf is the first Civil War-related site I've visited near a nuclear power plant. |
Monday, February 12, 2024
Podcast: Dr. Emilie Amt on 'Black Antietam'
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Podcast: Maryland Campaign/Antietam expert Tom Clemens
- One of Save Historic Antietam Foundation's recent great saves of battlefield property.
- The origins of SHAF.
- Veteran Ezra Carman, who served as the historical expert for the board that created Antietam National Battlefield.
- The greatness of Bonnie's at The Red Byrd restaurant in Keedysville, Md. (Brown gravy!)
Sunday, January 28, 2024
Will this Civil War soldier Bible find its way back to his family?
Blog reader Brian W. sent me images of this Bible and wondered if I could investigate who had owned it. (CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.) |
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In early January, blog reader Brian W. sent me information about a Bible found with the possessions of his father, who died in 2003. On an inside page a label included the signature of the long-ago owner — James Osborne of Company A of the 21st “NYLHS” — and these details:
James Osborne's obituary in the Poughkeepsie Eagle-News on July 3, 1928. |
On another page, someone — probably the long-ago Bible owner — had written about “800 rebel prisoners captured at Gettysbug, Pa.,” “Fort Delaware” and being aboard the “Propellor Putnam.”
With those clues, I did what any red-blooded Civil War detective would: I Googled like hell and plunged into newspapers.com and ancestry.com.
Per a geneaology site, “James B. Osborne, of the firm of Madison & Osborne, is a son of Obadiah C. Osborne. His mother was Sarah Ann, daughter of Jordon Lee. His parents were natives of Poughkeepsie. On the paternal side, his grandfather, Robert C. Osborne, was born in New York City and married Catherine VanVlack. His greatgrandfather, Dennis Osborne, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and was killed in the struggle for American Independence.”
Ancestry.com revealed James was a 19-year-old carriage maker apprentice in 1860. Newspapers.com revealed he became the prominent owner of a box company in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Another site revealed Osborne had served with the 21st New York State Militia, a 30-day regiment that formed in June 1863 and had traveled to Baltimore — that’s where James obtained the Bible from the Maryland State Bible Society.
Presumably, Osborne served as a guard for Confederate prisoners in the aftermath of Gettysburg. But this, of course, requires deeper investigation.
According to Osborne’s 1928 newspaper obituary, he was a well known in political and financial circles. “Voted both times for Abraham Lincoln,” reads a headline atop the 87-year-old Civil War veteran’s obituary.
With these clues and other breadcrumbs, Brian tracked down a descendant of soldier James Osborne. How cool is that? I’ll keep you posted about what happens next.
Let’s keep history alive. 👊👊
The label inside the Bible provided great clues. |
Writing inside the Bible references "800 Rebel prisoners captured at Gettysburg, Pa." |
Friday, January 19, 2024
Podcast: Author Tom McGrath on Battle of Shepherdstown
We discuss:
- The 118th Pennsylvania and how a "Civil War badass" in its ranks became a hero.
- The amazing terrain of the battlefield.
- What you can see on the hallowed ground today (cement mill ruins and a house with a cannon ball embedded in it!) and much more.
McGrath is author of Shepherdstown: Last Clash of the Antietam Campaign, September 19-20, 1862, which you can purchase here.
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Tales from the road: Where 'The Wizard,' 'Stovepipe' fought
"Cannons are loud," reads the marker on the Battle of Sacramento (Ky.) reenactment site. |
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Adam "Stovepipe" Johnson |
Now, how many of you have heard of the Battle of Sacramento?
Here, on Dec. 28, 1861, notorious slave trader Nathan Bedford Forrest — the Rebels’ “Wizard Of The Saddle” — earned his first victory and honed fighting skills that would serve him later in the war. “Forrest’s First Fight,” the locals call the battle against United States cavalry.
Casualty figures are murky, perhaps as few as a dozen total, but loved ones mourned the dead of Sacramento just as they did the dead of major battles at Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg and elsewhere. Confederate Capt. Ned Meriwether — the father of six — fell here. Two bullets to the head. So did 45-year-old Captain Albert Gallatin Bacon of the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry (United States), mortally wounded by thrusts of a sword by Forrest.
A report in the Jan. 14, 1862, Daily Selma (Ala.) Reporter of the death of Albert Bacon. |
Forrest scout Adam “Stovepipe” Johnson — who later became a semi-famous Confederate guerrilla — fought here, too. The former drugstore employee earned his nickname during an 1862 raid by his scant force on Newburgh, Ind., a town astride the Ohio River. As a ruse, Johnson tied pieces of stovepipe to blackened logs and pointed out the “cannons” in the far distance to a Unionist in Newburgh. (What a day to not carry binoculars.)
Mollie Morehead's grave |
For the Rebels, this battle also featured a heroine/amateur scout. As Forrest’s cavalrymen approached Sacramento, they spotted a young woman riding a bareback horse. “There the Yankees are! Right over there!" 18-year-old Mollie Morehead shouted, pointing back over a hill.
In the northeast corner of Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery, near a toppled tombstone, I found Mollie’s grave. The wife of a dentist, she died during child birth in 1870, 13 days after her 27th birthday.
Let’s keep history alive. 👊
Enjoy stories like this? Consider purchasing a copy of my book, A Civil War Road Trip Of A Lifetime. Email me a jbankstx@comcast.net for details on how to get an autographed copy.
A Commonwealth of Kentucky historical marker in Sacramento. |
Where United States and Rebel cavalry clashed during the Battle of Sacramento (Ky.). Take the driving tour of the battlefield. |
Friday, January 05, 2024
Podcast: A conversation with 'The Mayor Of The West Woods'
The podcast is sponsored by Civil War Trails, which since 1994 has connected visitors with small towns and big stories across a network that now spans six states.
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Tales from the road: Mule Day, Elvis and a massive Rebel flag
Miss Sarah showed us around the dandy museum. Here, she stands before the "Mule Day" dress display. (CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.) |
The "Bigby Greys" flag display. |
On the second floor, “Miss Sarah” — the wonderful museum docent — captured my attention with displays for the “Mule Day” queen dress and Elvis impersonator outfit. I also enjoyed the antique birthing chair, which I’m supposed to show Mrs. B someday, and the multicolored quilt hanging on a wall.
The Elvis impersonator — supposedly Elvis’ ACTUAL FAVORITE IMPERSONATOR — is said to have appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and later left his glitzy outfit behind in Mount Pleasant after skipping town.
Anywho, Maury County (Tenn.) is the “Mule Capital of The Known Universe” — every April, Columbia, Tenn., even holds a Mule Day, an event you must attend at least once. Campbell — an early 80ish farmer with an endearing sense of humor — often regales me with tales of his aunt, who once led a Mule Day parade, and his dad, who was an actual Mule Day king.
You Civil War buffs would undoubtedly appreciate the display of the massive, well-preserved flag presented in 1861 by the ladies of Mount Pleasant to the “Bigby Greys” — a local unit of roughly 100 soldiers.
“When they meet the foe, we feel secure,” reads the motto on the flag.
The “Bigby Greys” became Company C of the 3rd Tennessee, who sent the flag home because as we flag aficionados know, only regiments were permitted to carry colors. U.S Army garrison troops stationed in Mount Pleasant later confiscated the flag.
Let’s keep history — and overstuffed chicken salad sandwiches — alive. 👊
Mount Pleasant (Tenn.) History Museum. |
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Podcast: Richard Clem and John Davidson on relic hunting
WARNING: Relic hunting is ILLEGAL on National Park Service property. Public property, both state and federal, is generally not open to metal detecting and removal of artifacts. Consult your local laws. You must have permission to relic hunt on private property.
FOLLOW DAVIDSON and his relic hunting on Facebook | Instagram | READ MORE about Clem and his finds on my blog.
The podcast is sponsored by Civil War Trails, which since 1994 has connected visitors with small towns and big stories across a network that now spans six states.
Sunday, December 03, 2023
Podcast: Historian/author Alex Rossino on Lee's 'Lost Order'
Monday, November 20, 2023
Updated: My favorite places to eat on Civil War road trips
When in Vicksburg, Miss., be sure to stop here. Steaks! |
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10. Ruby Sunshine, Franklin, Tenn.: New Orleans roast coffee, big portions (Battlefields: Franklin, Spring Hill battlefields)
Loretta Tacker, owner of Tacker’s Shake Shack in Marion, Ark. |
9: Tacker’s Shake Shack, Marion, Ark.: Chocolate shakes! burgers. (Home of Sultana museum and Sultana burger)
8: Jimmy Madison’s, Harrisonburg, Va.: Caramelized brussel sprouts with bacon (Battlefields: Cross Keys New Market, Piedmont, more)
7: Hagy’s Catfish Hotel, Shiloh, Tenn.: Ribs, sweet potato with cinnamon (Battlefields: Shiloh)
6: Heritage Bakery & Cafe, Harrisonburg,Va.: Coffee and neat, little outdoor courtyard, (Battlefields: Cross Keys, Piedmont, New Market, more)
5: Carter’s Pigpen, Bar-B-Que, Mechanicsville, Va.: Brisket sandwich, tea. (Battlefields: Cold Harbor, Gaines Mills, Malvern Hill, Beaver Dam Creek, more)
4. Walker's Diner, Farmville, Va.: Fast breakfasts, Outdoor dining. Great coffee. (Battlefields: Cumberland Church, Appomattox Court House)
3: Sweet Shop Bakery, Shepherdstown, W.Va.: Coffee, cheap oatmeal raisin cookies, (Battlefields: Shepherdstown, Antietam)
2. Bonnie’s At The Red Byrd, Keedysville, Md.: Breakfast, conversation (Battlefields: Antietam, South Mountain)
1A. The Press Room, Shepherdstown, W.Va.: Fabulous Italian fare, wine. Plus, it's in an old newspaper building. Who cannot love that? They don't know this, but this is the semi-official restaurant of "The Antietam And Beyond Podcast," co-hosted by yours truly and Tom McMillan. (Battlefields: Antietam, Shepherdstown)
1. Beechwood, Vicksburg, Miss.: Steaks! My gawd. So good. In November 2023, I dined here with my "psychotic connection," Sid Champion V of Champion Hill battlefield renown. We could barely move afterward. Tremendous filet mignon, reportedly from Iowa. (Battlefields: Vicksburg, Champion Hill, Grand Gulf and much more)
Thursday, November 16, 2023
Podcast: Historian Scott Hartwig and his epic Antietam book
Scott Hartwig |
PURCHASE HARTWIG'S BOOKS: I Dread The Thought Of The Place | To Antietam Creek, his first book on the campaign, was published in 2012.
The podcast is sponsored by Civil War Trails, which since 1994 has connected visitors with small towns and big stories across a network that now spans six states.
Join McMillan and me for regular podcasts about Antietam, the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War — the most compelling period in American history.
McMillan is author of the recently released Our Flag Was Still There. I am author of the recently released A Civil War Road Trip Of A Lifetime. Find us on Facebook at Author Tom McMillan and John Banks' Civil War Blog.