[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents U.S. History, 1861-1865: Seminar and Discussion Forum
The American Civil War, as seen through news reports of the time and later historical accounts

First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: May 2025.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed.

Posting history, in reverse order

https://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:homerjsimpson/index?tab=articles

To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by reply or freepmail.

Link to previous Harper’s Weekly thread

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4218677/posts

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Quaker Exemption – 2
Delenda Est Carthago – 2
France and the United States – 2
The Democratic Party – 2-3
About Flowers – 3
Profanity – 3
Domestic Intelligence – 3-4
Foreign News – 4
Army and Navy Items – 4
The Disappointed Showman – 4
Fire in Colt’s Armory– 5-6, 9
Hospital Trains – 7-8
A White Hand and a Black Thumb, in Thirteen Chapters, Ch. IX-XI – 9-10
The Heart of Miriam Clyde – 10-11
George Washington – 12
Humors of the Day – 13
My Wife’s Father – 13-14
The Romance of a Poor Young Woman – 14-15
The Malden Bank Murder – 15-16
Shelling of a Blockade Runner – 16
The Paris Fashions for February – 17-19

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of a Confederate Soldier: John S. Jackman of the Orphan Brigade, Edited, with an introduction, by William C. Davis

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, February 27, 1864 (“Seward told me in a whisper that we had met a serious reverse in Florida. It is [not] mentioned in the papers.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/07/diary-of-gideon-welles-saturday_17.html

Brigadier-General Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, February 27, 1864 (“Fire, havoc, desolation, and ruin have marked our course. The blow has been terrible, crushing. The enemy have fled before us like frightened deer.” “To-day is the twenty-seventh of the march” I think he means February, but not positive-HJS)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/brigadier-general-thomas-kilby-smith-to_11.html

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Mead, February 27, 1864 (“I have been a good deal occupied with an attempt I am about making, to send a force of cavalry into Richmond to liberate our prisoners.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/major-general-george-g-meade-to_31.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: February 27, 1864 (“Were all searched again to-day but still keep my diary, although expecting to lose it every day; would be quite a loss, as the longer I write and remain a prisoner the more attached am I to my record of passing events.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/03/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_25.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: February 27, 1864 (“The “associated press” publishes an unofficial dispatch, giving almost incredible accounts of Gen. Forrest’s defeat of Grierson’s cavalry, 10,000 strong, with only 2000”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/12/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-february_13.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from February 25 (reply #34).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4218677/posts#34

David Herbert Donald, Lincoln

[Homer_J_Simpson]

With Lincoln in the White House: Letters, Memoranda, and Other Writings of John G. Nicolay, 1860-1865, edited by Michael Burlingame

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Inside Lincoln’s White House: The Complete War Diary of John Hay, edited by Michael Burlingame and John R. Turner Ettlinger

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Johnny Green of the Orphan Brigade: The Journal of a Confederate Soldier, Edited by A.D. Kirwan

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: February 28, 1864 (“Had the honor (?) of seeing Jefferson Davis again and part of his congress to-day.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/03/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_27.html

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: between January 19 & February 28, 1864 (The re-enlistment furloughs for the 7th Illinois are over and the regiment is proceeding to Pulaski, TN)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/04/diary-of-private-daniel-l-ambrose_29.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: February 28, 1864 (“No war news; nor denial or confirmation of the wonderful victory of Forrest in Mississippi. That he captured the enemy’s artillery and drove them back, is official.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/12/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-february_10.html

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: February 28, 1864 (McGuire relates the sad story of a refugee from Fredericksburg.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/12/diary-of-judith-brockenbrough-mcguire.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from February 22 (reply #16). See the editorial “Popular Manifestations for Mr. Lincoln” in today’s NY Times.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4218677/posts#16

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from Continued from December 25, 1863 (reply #39).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4204432/posts#39

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2

3

Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee, an abridgement by Richard Harwell

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, edited by C. Vann Woodw

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Monday, February 29, 1864 (“A strong effort is on foot by naval officers who have been retired and their friends to set aside the law and the action under which they were retired.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/07/diary-of-gideon-welles-monday-february_17.html

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Mead, February 29, 1864 (“My cavalry expedition for Richmond got off last night, and at 2 A. M. . . . I trust they will be successful; it will be the greatest feat of the war”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/09/major-general-george-g-meade-to.html

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Sophia Birchard Hayes, February 29, 1864 (Col. Hayes in Ohio on furlough.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2019/08/colonel-rutherford-b-hayes-to-sophia_1.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: February 29, 1864 (“The occasion of the excitement among the rebels is that Dahlgreen is making a raid on Richmond, acting in conjunction with Kilpatrick, for the purpose of liberating prisoners.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/03/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_29.html

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: Monday, February 29, 1864 (“All quiet to-day; the officers all busy equipping their companies. Soon we will be in the saddle in obedience to the call of the bugle.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/04/diary-of-private-daniel-l-ambrose.html

De Witt C. Chipman to Abraham Lincoln, February 29, 1864 (“Enclosed find a circular signed by S C Pomeroy and franked by Blow.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/06/de-witt-c-chipman-to-abraham-lincoln.html

Diary of Margaret Junkin Preston: February 29, 1864 (“Not having made any ice-cream since war-times, the child had never seen any, and so called it white mush. The only luxury I long for is real coffee.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/05/diary-of-margaret-junkin-preston_29.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: February 29, 1864 (“There is a rumor that Frederick’s Hall, between this city and Fredericksburg, was taken to-day by a detachment of the enemy’s cavalry, an hour after Gen. Lee passed on his way to the army.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/12/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-february.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: February 30 [sic], 1864 (“We hear that Dahlgreen has been shot and killed. At the very first intimation that our troops were anywhere near, the prisoners would have made a break.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/03/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_30.html

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, March 1, 1864 (“Old Mr. Blair called on me on Sunday evening to look to the interests of Acting Rear-Admiral Lee, his son-in-law, who is uneasy lest he shall not obtain promotion.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/07/diary-of-gideon-welles-tuesday-march-1.html

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, March 1, 1864 (“The idea is to liberate the prisoners, catch all the rebel M. C.’s that are lying round loose, and make tracks to our nearest lines.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/11/lieutenant-colonel-theodore-lyman-to_18.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: March 1, 1864 (“A dead calm after the raid scare. We much prefer the open air imprisonment to confinement.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/03/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_31.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 1, 1864 (“Couriers and horsemen from the country announced the approach of the enemy within the outer fortifications; a column of 5000 cavalry.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/02/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-march-1.html

Diary of Private Louis Leon: March 1, 1864 (“Snowing to-night. We had a hard road to travel, and when we got to our destination the enemy had gone.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-private-louis-leon-march-1-1864.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Wednesday, March 2, 1864 (“Rear-Admiral Dahlgren [father of the late Col. Ulric Dahlgren] came suddenly upon us this evening. I sent him leave three weeks or more ago. He is looking well after his long and fatiguing service.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/07/diary-of-gideon-welles-wednesday-march.html

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Mead, March 2, 1864 (“Custer, with fifteen hundred cavalry and two pieces of artillery, was sent to Charlottesville to try and cut the Gordonsville and Lynchburg Railroad near that place”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/09/major-general-george-g-meade-to_4.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: March 2, 1864 (“I was never tougher — seems as if your humble servant was proof against the hardest rebel treatment.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/04/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 2, 1864 (“This morning an excitement, but no alarm, pervaded the city. It was certainly a formidable attempt to take the city by surprise.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/02/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-march-2.html

Diary of Private Louis Leon: March 2, 1864 (“Started back to camp. The weather was clear and cold. Got there at 7 in the evening, and I stiff from walking. We marched eighteen miles today.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-private-louis-leon-march-2-1864.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from December 7, 1863 (reply #12).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4201381/posts#12

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Jean Edward Smith, Grant

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from February 22 (reply #18)

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4218677/posts#18

Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography, by Jack Hurst

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Thursday, March 3, 1864 (Sec. Welles withholds support for a Maryland officer and lobbies the President in support of a Connecticut officer.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/07/diary-of-gideon-welles-thursday-march-3.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: March 3, 1864 (“The ham given us to-day was rotten, with those nameless little white things crawling around through it. Promptly threw it out of the window and was scolded for it by a fellow prisoner who wanted it himself”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/04/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_2.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 3, 1864 (“The opinion prevails that the plan to liberate the prisoners and capture Richmond is not fully developed yet, nor abandoned.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/02/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-march-3.html

Diary of Private Louis Leon: March 3, 1864 (“Left camp to intercept General Kilpatrick, who is scouting in our lines. We found out that he was already on his way to the peninsula, so we returned to camp.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-private-louis-leon-march-3-1864.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, March 4, 1864 (“A pleasant Cabinet-meeting. Chase and Blair both absent. Seward and Stanton had a corner chat and laugh about Chase, whose name occasionally escaped them”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/08/diary-of-gideon-welles-friday-march-4.html

Major-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major General William T. Sherman, March 4, 1864 (“I want is to express my thanks to you and McPherson, as the men to whom, above all others, I feel indebted for whatever I have had of success.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/10/major-general-ulysses-s-grant-to-major.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: March 4, 1864 (“And now we are getting ready to move somewhere, the Lord only knows where.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/04/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_3.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 4, 1864 (“Gen. Lee says the railroad from Chattanooga to Knoxville, being about completed, will enable the enemy to combine on either Johnston or Longstreet.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/02/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-march-4.html

Diary of Private Louis Leon: March 4, 1864 (“I am as stiff as an old man this morning from yesterday’s march on the plank road.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-private-louis-leon-march-4-1864.html