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As a Southerner and native of the Shenandoah Valley, I offer reflections on the Civil War-era South… and sometimes a little more. But… expect the unexpected
Browsing All Posts filed under »Virginia in the Civil War«
A decade of Southern Unionist studies
After receiving a comment last night on a recent post, and while driving into work this morning, I realized that, for over a decade, I’ve been involved in the study of Southern Unionists in the Shenandoah Valley. It was ten years ago this fall when I started writing my thesis on Southern Unionism and disaffected […]
Virginia’s old SCV license plate – an observation
September 15, 2016 by Robert Moore
I saw this article, and taking the time to actually read it… and re-read it… I’m actually able to hear both sides to this argument. For one, the plate is no longer a legal plate in the Commonwealth of Virginia. So, under the law, being no longer legal, I understand the basic thought behind why […]
“I’ve got through crying long ago” – a refugee from the Shenandoah
September 13, 2016 by Robert Moore
A few months ago, I came across an old sketch on Ebay showing a woman and her children above the title “Flight from the Shenandoah Valley”. Wanting to know the source, I found it in the Pictorial Book of Anecdotes and Incidents of the War of the Rebellion, by Richard Miller Devens (1824-1900). While there […]
The SPLC’s report… more “purposed” opinion than history?
April 22, 2016 by Robert Moore
I saw, today, that the Southern Poverty Law Center issued their “Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy” report, yesterday. Anyone who has watched the SPLC over the years knows how they are inspired and, to be clear, they simply don’t recognize complexities in the story of anyone associated with the Southern Confederacy. Of course, it’s […]
A recent acquisition with ties to a Virginia Unionist
November 1, 2015 by Robert Moore
Though I usually limit myself to collecting titles written by residents of the Shenandoah Valley during the antebellum period, or those focused on the antebellum Shenandoah written after the fact by those who lived it, I do stray from that path from time to time. In one such instance, not too terribly long ago, I […]
A placemarker in my considerations of the American Colonization Society
August 12, 2015 by Robert Moore
For those who have continued to follow my ramblings through old annual reports of the American Colonization Society, I’ve got a little more to follow. I’ve skipped around a bit between the 1820s and the 1850s, and looking at a few other resources at my disposal, I found something worthwhile from the 1850s regarding the […]
In the wake of Nat Turner – further encouragement to the American Colonization Society?
August 1, 2015 by Robert Moore
I find what follows to be worthy of introduction into the discussion about the American Colonization Society. How did the Nat Turner Rebellion impact the efforts of the ACS? Perhaps more importantly, what did the discussions of 1831/32 mean to Virginians by 1861? You’ll note that I link freely to Encyclopedia Virginia… a rich resource […]
“That slavery is an evil no one can deny”
July 8, 2015 by Robert Moore
As we look to the past, we might be familiar with wording similar to what follows: Africa, the pride of antiquity, and the original seat of the arts and sciences, has for three hundred years been visited with every act of oppression which could be devised by the tyranny or injustice of mankind. After improving […]
Magill, on the initial hours of the evacuation of Richmond
April 2, 2015 by Robert Moore
Picking-up from the previous post, and continuing with Magill’s account: No pen can describe the horror of the moment. In the streets all was confusion. Officers hurried to the different departments of the Government. The Banks were open, and the depositors eagerly embraced the opportunity to withdraw their gold, while the Directors superintended the removal […]
April 2, 1865, from a vantage point within the Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond
April 2, 2015 by Robert Moore
Taking the time to read various works of fiction from the antebellum period (and shortly after the war), one comes to understand that, quite often, the authors of these works were writing accounts of their own experiences. Mary Tucker Magill was one of those authors. Interestingly, in 1886, Magill’s story (which had originally appeared in […]
A different contribution to the “Sesqui landscape”, on the last days of the war
March 26, 2015 by Robert Moore
It shouldn’t be too hard to imagine… I subscribe to a number of different Civil War-related blogs, sites, Facebook pages, etc., and over the last week or so, I’ve watched as many have focused on the closing fights… at places like Bentonville and Fort Stedman. While even I noted the anniversary of the attack on Stedman (not in […]
“Marion Harland’s” Civil War
December 27, 2014 by Robert Moore
Though not a Shenandoah Valley author, Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune (aka… “Marion Harland”) is still someone who caught my attention. Yes… Virginia-born, but… she comes with a particular twist when dealing with the Civil War. Here’s what the entry in Encyclopedia Virginia has to say about her and the war… Harland’s novels were written over […]
Happy 239th, Marines! Here’s to “Chesty”… and with a Civil War tie-in.
November 10, 2014 by Robert Moore
Ask any Marine, and he/she will know the significance of Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller… period. Likewise, it should be no surprise that the legend of “Chesty” finds its way to the kids of Marines. And, so it goes with me. I don’t know when, exactly, but… it was probably before I was nine, when I thumbed my […]
What might we learn from C.J. Faulkner’s speech of Jan. 1832?
June 19, 2014 by Robert Moore
For years, I’ve thought an argument was extremely weak. Descendants defending Confederate ancestors…. that they did not fight for slavery. A lot of folks base it simply on the fact that an ancestor did not own slaves. It’s a poor foundation for an argument, and I don’t recommend it. On the other hand, we have […]
Tracking down those whose eyes glimpsed the pages of my SLMs
January 21, 2014 by Robert Moore
It’s a good, casual, snowy day topic… and actually, I’ve been giving it some thought for a couple of days. Since late last summer, I’ve been collecting (among other literary journals from the early 19th century) copies of the Southern Literary Messenger. I’m not one of those “no price is too high” kinda guys, but […]
A different Sesqui reflection – the fall of the Southern Literary Messenger
January 3, 2014 by Robert Moore
Recently, I purchased a copy of Volume 8 (1842), of the Southern Literary Messenger. I’ll have another post to discuss this, as well as other individual monthly copies I’ve purchased over the last few months. Anyway, last night, while a steady snow fell outside, I sat next to a lamp and took time to finally […]
The Civil War, “Puritan influence” and Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America”
December 30, 2013 by Robert Moore
First, I sincerely hope everyone had a pleasant Christmas and holiday season. I meant to post prior to Christmas, but time got away from me. So, back at it, then… This is a different sort of post, but… I’m in a discussion elsewhere, and this is the result. I’ve heard, on more than one occasion, where […]
Tallying agric. stats for losses during “the Burning” in the Shenandoah
September 27, 2013 by Robert Moore
A brief detour from my posts about antebellum literacy in the Shenandoah Valley… When I transcribed the post about navigation and commerce in the Shenandoah (as of 1847), the thought was always in the back of my mind that, long before it was known as the “Breadbasket of the Confederacy”, the Valley served as a […]
A manifestation of Scott’s reflections, in the Valley
September 4, 2013 by Robert Moore
I need to jump off this line of discussion about Sir Walter Scott in order to get to other topics pertaining to life in the early to mid 19th century Shenandoah Valley, but, I need to offer this post, and perhaps one other piece first. There’s a good deal about Scott’s influence on the 19th […]
The socially elite, Southern writers of the 19th century, and their legacy
September 3, 2013 by Robert Moore
I just responded to a comment on my post from yesterday, and thought that I should raise my thoughts to the level of a post. Who can we point to (among Southern writers/authors of the 19th century), for having had the most influence on defining the ideology of the 19th century South as it existed […]
“Grandpap”, General Ewell, cousin George, and a bigger story
August 24, 2013 by Robert Moore
Not long ago, while perusing the papers of Confederate civilians in Fold3, I dropped in the names of some relatives in the Valley, just to see what I might find. For starters, I found that my third great grandfather, William M. Dorraugh, was of help to Gen. Richard S. Ewell. It was a small thing, […]
Reconsidering 2nd Winchester
June 13, 2013 by Robert Moore
It might be hard to believe, but a decade ago, I probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Back then, it was clear to me… the Shenandoah Valley was Confederate and, any effort made by Confederates here was to rid “Yankees” from it. The understanding being that “Yankees” meant anyone who came in, from […]
A Southern Unionist claim from Fauquier… with a tie to Gettysburg
June 11, 2013 by Robert Moore
I never know what I’m going to come back with after I cast my net into the Unionist claims. Today was no different. Take the case of Jane Bradford. She, along with her siblings, laid claim for losses incurred by brother Robert Morrow (who died in 1869/70), when Union soldiers cleared a fair number of […]
For the memory of an uncle she never knew
May 2, 2013 by Robert Moore
It’s a major reason why I’m headed to Chancellorsville in just under six hours. I can list all my relatives in the 10th Virginia, the 33rd Virginia, and the Purcell Artillery who were there, fighting, on May 3, 1863. I can also list my relatives in the 7th West Virginia Infantry who were there, fighting, […]
He gave them victories
May 1, 2013 by Robert Moore
May 1, 2013… so begins the Sesqui of the Battle of Chancellorsville. As such, I’ve been thinking… What if Stonewall Jackson lived to command beyond Chancellorsville? Frankly, any forward speculation of his possible performances in battles after Chancellorsville is subject to so many factors that it’s not even funny. As such, forward speculation is a […]
Passing of the last real child of the Stonewall Brigade(?)
April 29, 2013 by Robert Moore
I’ve been seeing postings lately, mostly on Face Book, about the last four surviving children of Civil War veterans (actually, it focused on the last four just in Virginia alone… and I didn’t seem to catch that last part), and I added to each that I thought they were missing somebody. I’m sorry to say… […]
Interpreting USCTs in places where they were not…
March 10, 2013 by Robert Moore
Recently, there’s been a flurry of posts about USCTs (see Craig Swain’s, here; Emmanuel Dabney’s, here; Kevin Levin’s, here; and Jimmy Price’s, here), and, as I’m in the process of compiling a list of USCTs born in Shenandoah Valley counties, I find it timely. Should the interpretation of USCTs be incorporated into places in which they were not… […]
Unionism: Stacking the Valley against the rest of Virginia
March 4, 2013 by Robert Moore
The following is the result of tallying raw figures (for the entire Commonwealth of Virginia) from Fold3. I simply added the total number of claims that appear in their approved & barred/disallowed categories for Virginia and West Virginia. Sixty-three Virginia counties and nine West Virginia counties are represented in the approved claims. Meanwhile, all ninety-five […]
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September 19, 2016 by Robert Moore
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