Civil War Soldier Shelters

In movies set in the Civil War, you can bet that a camp scene will show up somewhere in it. It might be early in the morning just as a hazy, blue dawn is creeping its way across the sky, or in the evening when men huddled around campfires and talked low about their fears…

Ode to Earthworks

During our latest adventure to Virginia, my husband and I got to tour through many of the major battles from the final years of the war. Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, North Anna, and Petersburg. At each one, I lost my mind over the preserved earthworks around every corner. I just about cried when I saw…

Zouaves: Foreign Elite in America

In some of my other articles, you may have read a word I throw around a bit. Zouaves. Pronounced “Zoo-ah-v-s”. It’s one of those odd, foreign things that one might think is a typo. It’s not. It’s French, and completely correct within its context when I talk about the Civil War. It’s just one of…