History Commons^™

History Is Good Drama: Bbc’S “Copper”, Valerie N. Merlina

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

BBC America’s programming covers a wide range of genres, presenting characters, and settings that appeal to viewers around the world. In 2012, BBC began airing Copper, a period drama set in the ethnically diverse, crime and disease-ridden Five Points neighborhood in New York City in the late-Civil War years. The title, taken from the slang term for a police officer, centers on police detective work in the rapidly growing urban center. The characterizations, as well as the situations presented are not far off from historical fact. For various reasons, many of the characters have returned to the Five Points, …

A Jaded Romantic: Uncovering The True Nature Of Ambrose Bierce, S. Marianne Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Ambrose Bierce, 1842-1913?, has become renowned in the Civil War world for his sharp-witted and cynical short stories that frequently feature ghastly death and the terrible irony of survival. His life has become somewhat of a caricature, used by historians such as Mark Snell and Gerald Linderman to demonstrate the utter disillusionment of the common soldier and the retreat into hibernation in an attempt to escape the trauma experienced during the war. This view of Bierce fails to capture the complexity of the man and his war experience. Rather than a skeptical realist, Bierce demonstrates the characteristics of a jaded …

Commemoration, Past And Present: An Interview With Emmanuel Dabney In Three Parts, Part Three, Valerie N. Merlina

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Emmanuel Dabney, one of the Civil War Institute Summer Conference speakers, is a park ranger at Petersburg National Battlefield. At the Summer Conference, “The War in 1864,” he will give a lecture titled, “Catching Us Like Sheep in a Slaughter Pen”: The United States Colored Troops at the Battle of the Crater. In anticipation of the Institute, Emmanuel Dabney answered questions on intepretation, Petersburg, and the future of the Civil War. This is the final installment in a three part series. [excerpt]

Complicating History: An Interview With Emmanuel Dabney In Three Parts, Part One, Valerie N. Merlina

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Emmanuel Dabney, one of the Civil War Institute Summer Conference speakers, is a park ranger at Petersburg National Battlefield. At the Summer Conference, “The War in 1864,” he will give a lecture titled, “Catching Us Like Sheep in a Slaughter Pen”: The United States Colored Troops at the Battle of the Crater. In anticipation of the Institute, Emmanuel Dabney answered questions on intepretation, Petersburg, and the future of the Civil War. His responses will be posted in a three-part series. [excerpt]

Spotsylvania Undercover: An Interview With Dr. Keith Bohannon, S. Marianne Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Dr. Keith Bohannon, one of this summer’s Civil War Institute Conference speakers, is an Associate Professor dealing in the subjects of the American Civil War, Reconstruction, Southern U.S. History, and Georgia History at the University of West Georgia. During the upcoming Institute Conference, Dr. Bohannon will be speaking on Sherman and the Atlanta Campaign and giving the tour for the Wilderness & Spotsylvania battlefields. [excerpt]

“The Scorpion’S Sting”: Dr. James Oakes And The 2014 Lincoln Lyceum Lecture, Megan A. Sutter

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The annual Lincoln Lyceum Lecture took place on Thursday, March 27th at 7:30pm in Gettysburg College’s Mara Auditorium. This year’s Lincoln Lyceum guest speaker was Dr. James Oakes, two- time winner of the Lincoln Prize for his books The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass (2008 Prize) and Abraham Lincoln and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics and Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861 -1865 (2013 Prize). He has previously taught at Princeton University and Northwestern University and is currently the Distinguished Professor of History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. …

Clark Gardner: The Curious Case Of Mr. Rich And Mrs. Gardner, Brianna E. Kirk

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The story of Clark Gardner, his double amputation, and his pension records are still surrounded by two other clouds of ambiguity concerning his neighbor and friend, Edward A. Rich, and Gardner’s wife. Rich relayed information to a special examiner about the nature of Gardner’s injuries. He claimed to know Gardner before the war began, revealing that Gardner had running sores on his right leg prior to enlisting in the 10th New York Heavy Artillery. This made the amputation he received in 1879 a result of this pre-existing condition instead of the sickness Gardner claimed to acquire from Staten …

Everyday Sesquicentennial: Ghoulish Capitalism Takes Root, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Nothing was happening in Gettysburg in the spring of 1864.

That's not quite true. There was tons happening in the first few weeks of April 15 decades ago. But that "tons" was not massive or earth shattering. A dozen men and women died. Another handful of men and women found new lives in each others' arms. Life continued in this place just as it had a year before. It continued on in spite of the new cemetery, in spite of the war, in spite of the rebel arms and heads poking out of gardens alongside the budding spring flowers. Life …

Of Causes And Casualties: Safeguarding The Legacy Of The American Civil War, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

750,000 and rising. 2.5 percent of the population. Greater than all other American wars combined. No matter how one describes them, the casualties incurred as a result of the American Civil War are nothing short of astounding. To those who study this devastating conflict, the numbers of the fallen can seem old friends, as the cost of great battles such as Antietam or Gettysburg are burned into memory. Yet is it possible that disproportionate emphasis has been placed on the bloody toll of the Civil War? [excerpt]

Special Collections Roadshow At Gettysburg College: William B. Mccreery’S Pow Memoir, Megan A. Sutter

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Episode Two of Special Collections Roadshow at Gettysburg College explores Colonel William B. McCreery’s Prisoner of War memoir and uses the text as a segway to discuss Libby Prison and POW experience. Filmed and edited by Val Merlina, ’14

Folly At Fredericksburg: A Wound To The Pride Of The 127th Pa, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

After three months in Washington, the Dauphin County Regiment was at last headed south. Resentment in the ranks at the last-minute transfer had been replaced by enthusiasm for the coming battle. At last, the men were to see the fight they had enlisted to join. [excerpt]

War Beyond The Battlefield: From The Potomac To The Rappahannock, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

“Be careful what you wish for.” Had the volunteers of Dauphin County’s 127th Regiment heard the old adage before marching off to war in the summer of 1862? Undoubtedly. even if they had, it was far from their minds as they drilled and waited and guarded the perimeter of Washington. These men had enlisted to fight, but now they found themselves consigned to guard duty for their first three months in the Army. Their fortunes would soon change, however, for better or for worse; unbeknownst to them, the Battle of Fredericksburg lurked in their future. [excerpt]

Warriors Of Dauphin County: The 127th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

When Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin charged the men of his state to enlist in July 1862, he was desperate for soldiers to fill the federal quota set for Pennsylvania. Heeding the call, William Jennings – citizen of Harrisburg and then the Adjutant of Camp Curtin – approached the governor to proffer his services to state and nation. Curtin acceded; if Jennings could form a regiment, the ambitious young officer would be granted its colonelcy. [excerpt]

Prisoner Experiences: Memoirs Of Libby Prison, Megan A. Sutter

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Numerous books have been written on the contested topic of Civil War prisons and prisoners of war. Scholars struggle with who to blame for the outrageous and horrible conditions of the prisons. Some speculate that the Southerners were crueler to their captives while others say the opposite. As well, scholars question whether the conditions of the Southern prisons were better or worse than the prisons in the North. [excerpt]

Wartime Reminiscences: The Story Of William R. Tanner’S Civil War Service, Brianna E. Kirk

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Veteran war stories are some of the most fascinating windows into the past that students of history can experience. With World War II veteran numbers quickly diminishing and the risk of these accounts of history being lost, the importance of collecting and passing on veteran stories to future generations is vital. Such was the case with those who fought in the Civil War. As the twentieth century approached, droves of veterans began disappearing from the pages of history. The need for those veteran stories from America’s bloodiest war to be recorded and published became not only important to the veterans …

Special Collections Roadshow At Gettysburg College: 37th New York Infantry Kepi, Valerie N. Merlina

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Val Merlina uses a Civil War kepi as a gateway to discuss immigrant culture in America during the 1860s.

Notation And Memorandum: Special Artists And Their Portrayal Of The American Civil War, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

As the first war to see the extensive use of photography, the American Civil War was brought home to civilians in hundreds of photographs portraying camp life or the aftermath of battles. Due to the nature of nineteenth century photography as well as safety concerns, however, photographers were not able to capture scenes of actual combat for their viewers. This task fell instead to men known as Special Artists or “Specials,” hired by the illustrated periodicals of the day to travel with the armies and sketch all manner of events associated with the military, including battles as they progressed. [ …

Mocking A Perilous Prediction: Currier And Ives’ Political Cartoons, Megan A. Sutter

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Currier and Ives’ political cartoons, while comical, also represent the general undertones of the time as well as people’s feelings regarding this era of political controversy. The election of 1860 was an incredibly important one because, not only were there numerous political and social divides, but the South had threatened to secede. The political cartoon “The Irrepressible Conflict” or “The Republican Barge in Danger,” released in 1860, gives historians a good understanding of the reactions to not only Seward’s speech but also the wariness of Lincoln’s nomination and eventual election. [excerpt]

Satirizing Strife: Currier And Ives Political Cartoons, Megan A. Sutter

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Currier and Ives’ prints were a large part of the media during the Civil War era. Not only were Romantic prints sold and hung in people’s parlors, but cartoons were also very popular. It is important to remember that Currier and Ives’ goal was not to produce fine art, but to make a product that was attractive to middle-class consumers. Thus, political and social cartoons became a way to attract customers. They tried to stay away from controversial topics; however, their Darktown series was one of their best-selling series of the day. Today, the Darktown series is rarely displayed and …

A Living Image: Newspaper Sketches In The American Civil War, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Photography: the ability to capture a moment in time exactly as it appeared, to then preserve it for posterity, even mass produce it for a wide viewership. A relatively new concept by the beginning of the American Civil War, photography quickly came into its own in the hands of such legends as Matthew Bray and Alexander Gardner as they sought to document the furious storm which had swept over the land. Photographs of the Civil War are prolific, and for many the memory of the conflict is intertwined with black-and-white photographs of unsmiling men and corpses bloating in the sun. …

Realization: Reflections On The 150th, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Though my own musings have led me to doubt the traditional interpretation of the Battle of Gettysburg’s military importance, I still hold Gettysburg to be the greatest battle of the American Civil War, without question worthy and deserving of continued study. In order to reconcile these two points of view I pondered further, attempting to unearth other, less-thought-of reasons for the importance of the Battle of Gettysburg to the course of the American Civil War. [excerpt]

Examination: Reflections On The 150th, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Gettysburg, the first three days of July, 1863. An epic clash of titans sways back and forth across the fields and hills of this small Pennsylvania town. The two armies who fought here left in their wake over fifty thousand men broken in three days of combat, and the significance of their actions to the course of the American Civil War has rarely been doubted. The Union’s victory at Gettysburg put a halt to Robert E. Lee’s second invasion of the North, an invasion that could have broken the Northern civilians’ will to continue prosecuting the war. The crushing repulse …

Commemoration: Reflections On The 150th, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

There is nothing quite like residing in the town of Gettysburg during the years leading up to the sesquicentennial of the great battle fought here in 1863. As a devoted student of that great internecine conflict known as the American Civil War, I had applied to Gettysburg College in 2011 with the full knowledge of what was to come only two short years in the future, and could not have been more excited for it. [excerpt]

Stuff White People Like #1863, Joseph Stephen Slowinski

SURGE

There I sat: sun burning my neck, sweat pouring down my face, watching grown men play at death. I’d been meaning for years to get to Gettysburg to see the reenactment, and this past July, I was lucky enough to be there for the 150th anniversary of the battle. And so there I was, sitting in a grandstand in the middle of a farm in rural Pennsylvania, surrounded by fellow white people, watching a Confederate soldier get shot in the back for pretending to desert in the face of the Union cavalry. He flopped to the ground in front of …

The Unsung Vigilance: A History Of Sentinel, Austin W. Clark

Hidden in Plain Sight Projects

At risk of over using a popular cliché, there are objects everywhere on the Gettysburg College campus that are “hidden in plain sight.” For some objects, it is easy to stay hidden in this manner. Though we as college students and faculty pass them each day, they are simple plaques embedded in the cement paths we walk on, or the porticos of the academic buildings we enter without even thinking. Yet for other objects, it remains a perpetual mystery as to how even the infamously dense mind of the modern young adult could fail to, at least notice. The sculpture …