Winter at Morristown, 1779-1780

This book provides a detailed description of the Morristown, N.J., encampment of the Continental Army during the winter of 1779-80, and the various operations and combats in northeastern New Jersey between the Americans and the British, Hessian, and Loyalist forces quartered chiefly on Staten Island. I have to say that I am a big fan of the publications of this small press, which set a standard for high scholarship and outstanding graphical representation of the locales and events described. The author theorizes that Arnold's treachery actually saved the Revolution.

2,500th Anniversary of the Battle of Marathon

Above: Tymvos (burial mound) of the 192 Athenians who died in the battle.

"They took up their position, and when the sacrifices proved propitious the Athenians were given the signal and advanced on the barbarians at the run." -- Herodotus

Second Battle of Manassas

This sketch shows the battle (Aug. 30, 1862) from the Henry House Hill behind the Union center, looking northwest toward the Union right and right center on the Dogan Ridge. The Stone House is in the foreground, and Reynolds' Division is marching to reinforce the Union left. Remarkably, today, you can stand in the spot from which the sketch was made and re-imagine the scene much as it was when the artist worked it. I would hope you have the opportunity. I've never been to Manassas Battlefield when the sky was not crystal clear and the view toward the Bull Run Mountains and Thoroughfare Gap was not as distinct as suggested here.

Queen of the Confederacy

"Submissiveness is not my role, but certain platitudes on certain occasions are among the innocent deceits of the sex." So spoke Lucy Petaway Holcombe Pickens (1832-1899). As you can see, she is the subject of a book by Elizabeth Wittenmyer Lewis titled Queen of the Confederacy (Denton, Tex.: University of North Texas Press, 2002).

I haven't seen the book, but the subject sounds interesting. She married Francis Wilkinson Pickens before the Civil War and accompanied him to the court of Tsar Alexander II, where he served as ambassador. Mary Chesnut described her as "young, lovely, clever -- and old Pick's third wife." Her husband was a Unionist who was South Carolina's secessionist governor. Go figure. The Holcombe Legion was named for her, and she was the only woman to appear on Confederate currency.

An Englishman with Mosby's Partisan Raiders

Capt. Bradford S. Hoskins, 44th Foot

(image courtesy of Bob Daly, via Stuart-Mosby Hist. Soc.)

Captain Hoskins was an English adventurer who was a veteran of the Crimean War and Garibaldi's Sicilian campaign. He enlisted with John S. Mosby's band of Confederate partisans and took part in the fight at Miskel's Farm in Loudoun County, Va. (Apr. 1, 1863), and the attack on a military train near Catlett's Station, Va., on May 30, 1863. In the Federal pursuit after this attack, Mosby's men were cornered at Grapewood Farm, near Greenwich, Va. After a sharp fight, they were defeated. Hoskins was mortally wounded in the fight and captured. He and Ranger Sam Chapman were cared for by a wealthy Englishman, Charles Green, whose home was in Greenwich. Hoskins died while under Green's care and is buried in the churchyard at Greenwich.



Le colonel Armand

Armand-Charles Tuffin, marquis de La Rouerie (1750-1793)

I haven't posted much recently, since I've been busy with my book, but I thought I'd mention this book, which I picked-up yesterday as a kind of divertissement (or busman's holiday) from my daily research. Armand has always interested me, although confessedly I knew little about him (by contrast to Lafayette, his comrade-in-arms, or even Lauzun). And, what I did know of him seems unfortunately to have been colored by some of the calumnies heaped on him by, among others, his rival Harry Lee in the wake of the American disaster at the Battle of Camden, S.C. (1780). What I've found after a brief scan of the book is the portrait of a gifted partisan leader who had the entire confidence of Washington and the respect of his enemies, including Tarleton. In the painting by Charles Willson Peale that graces the cover of the book, Armand is shown in the uniform of his famous unit, Armand's Legion: blue coat with buff facings, blue waiscoat, and "Tarleton" helmet.

 

Manassas Trails (5)

On the Confederate Line at First Manassas

This photo was taken from the Confederate line, looking west across the plateau of Henry Hill toward the Henry House. The house itself marks the position of the Federal line.