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Gordon Thorsby
Jul 7, 20224 min read
Michigan Sailors on the Tinclad U.S.S. Forest Rose
by Gordon Thorsby Forest Rose at the construction of the Alexandia Dam 1864 Forest Rose was a sternwheeler tinclad #9, with a...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jul 5, 20224 min read
An Outcome Predetermined, Second Fight at Fort Harrison at Petersburg
by Gordon Thorsby From Inside the Breastworks of Ft. Harrison (LOC) How important was Ft. Harrison? Very. It was the largest redoubt on...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 30, 20225 min read
Who Were the Dead in Rose’s Field at Gettysburg?
by Gordon Thorsby An Unknown soldier returned to SC from unknown origin Gardner's photographs after the Battle of Gettysburg documented...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 29, 20225 min read
The 14th Michigan Mounted Infantry; Temporarily
by Gordon Thorsby From Currier and Ives The 14th Michigan Infantry was officially organized in the Detroit area but only three companies...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 27, 20224 min read
A Bloody Exchange, 16th Michigan vs. Palmetto Sharpshooters at Gaines Mill
by Gordon Thorsby Map of the Battle of Gaines Mill (LOC) In four years of the American Civil War, there were hundreds of instances where...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 23, 20225 min read
Questions and Controversies Surrounding Ft. Sumter
By Gordon Thorsby Ft. Sumter (LOC) For students and historians of the Civil War, there are many questions and controversies about...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 21, 20224 min read
Four Versions of Warren's Uh-Oh Moment on Little Round Top
by Gordon Thorsby View from Little Round Top 2021 Gens. George Meade and Dan Sickles were having an animated discussion in the Peach...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 20, 20224 min read
Why was the Battle of Ezra Church so Crucial? Ask the Common Soldier
by Gordon Thorsby Picture of a Union Camp outside Chattanooga “The battle was brutal and simple. ‘They done the charging and our men did...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 16, 20223 min read
Sherman's Battle for Savannah, GA, Ft. McAllister Dec. 13,1864
by Gordon Thorsby Sherman's Commanders; Howard left, Hazen standing to his right, Slocum right of Sherman. (LOC) Knowing what happened at...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 14, 20223 min read
Struck by Lightning; the Third Michigan Cavalry Arkansas,1864
by Gordon Thorsby Disease and battle took many soldiers in four years and permanent wounds to many others. The best the soldier could do...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 13, 20224 min read
At Petersburg, Weapons of Choice; the Mortar and the Sharpshooter
by Gordon Thorsby The 13" Mortar "Dictator at Petersburg (LOC) In the middle of June,1864, Union soldiers were were living in the deadly,...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 9, 20224 min read
The Eight Sams United at Bentonville on March 19,1865
by Gordon Thorsby Major H.H. Sams in the possession of Ting (Sams) Colquhoun of Beaufort, SC "As soon as he [General Elliott] returned to...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 8, 20224 min read
Gutsy Moves by "the Prince" of Gutsy Moves, General John Magruder at Galveston
by Gordon Thorsby Attack of the Union Flotilla at Galveston. Courtesy of Harper's Weekly New Orleans was taken at the end of April,1862...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 6, 20224 min read
Who Were the 42 Unknown Soldiers of Chesaning Michigan?
by Gordon Thorsby 21st Michigan (Geo. Schanzel was in the regt.) From my youth, I have seen the dull red obelisk and have always...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 2, 20224 min read
Five Brothers of South Carolina, One Remains in the Trenches of Petersburg
by Gordon Thorsby Brigadier Gen. Mathew C. Butler, of the South Carolina Brigade James Madison Hough wrote what may have been an epitaph...
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Gordon Thorsby
Jun 1, 20223 min read
The First Boat of the America's Cup was a Blockade Runner
by Gordon Thorsby The gaff schooner America was the first American yacht to win the race for the United States trouncing 15 other boats...
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Gordon Thorsby
May 31, 20224 min read
One of the Last Cavalry Charges, Mine Creek
by Gordon Thorsby On October 25, The Battle of Mine Creek (aka Battle of Osage) was a small fight in terms of casualties. However, it was...
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Gordon Thorsby
May 30, 20224 min read
Confederate Nurse Kate Cumming, the Army of Tennessee
by Gordon Thorsby Confederate Hospital (actually Richmond VA, April, 1865.) “...From my experiences since last writing on that...
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Gordon Thorsby
May 26, 20226 min read
Evidence of PTSD Experienced by Michigan Civil War Veterans
by Gordon Thorsby Traverse City Asylum for the Insane In the Saginaw...
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Gordon Thorsby
May 25, 20224 min read
Excerpts From a Letter at Camp Lunacy; Lt. Frost of the 9th Mich. Cavalry
by Gordon Thorsby Robert Jennings Frost was 20, and from Albion when he enlisted April 29, 1863 as Sergeant in Co. G of the 9th Michigan...
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