Gordon Thorsby
The Balfour Christmas Ball, December 24th, 1862 Vicksburg
by Gordon Thorsby On Christmas Eve, 1862 the Balfour Home in Vicksburg, Mississippi put on the grandest Christmas Ball. The belles were...
top of page
Gordon Thorsby
Civil War Notes
In the peace of Antietam National Cemetery, National Park Services
Search
Gordon Thorsby
- Dec 16, 2021
- 3 min
The Boys From Atlanta, the 42nd Georgia Infantry
by Gordon Thorsby The 42nd Regiment of the Georgia Volunteers assembled at Camp McDonald, Georgia, in March, 1862. The recruits came from...
142 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Dec 13, 2021
- 3 min
John McPherson Rests on the Battlefield Where He Died
by Gordon Thorsby John McPherson was born on August 14, 1843, in New York, the son of Angus and Angeline. Both of John’s parents were...
105 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Dec 10, 2021
- 3 min
McLaw's Foreign Battalions
by Gordon Thorsby It was in March, 1865. Sherman and an army, organized in two wings and totaling 60,000 hard, experienced veterans...
44 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Dec 8, 2021
- 4 min
Cut off During the Siege of Nashville, the 29th Michigan
And the story of John C. Davis by Gordon Thorsby Please allow a bit of background on the 29th Michigan. The recruits of the 29th Michigan...
79 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Dec 7, 2021
- 4 min
Economy of Force by Ellet's Mississippi Marine Brigade
by Gordon Thorsby Economy of Force- one of the nine Principles of War of Carl von Clausewitz's approach to warfare. The principle of...
184 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Dec 6, 2021
- 3 min
They Fought Hard, They Lived Hard, Stevedores and the Louisiana Tigers
by Gordon Thorsby We rarely think of sailors and stevedores in the Confederate Army. In 1861, New Orleans was the largest city in the...
60 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Dec 3, 2021
- 2 min
Private Elias(Eli) Wellingham and the 45th US Colored Infantry
by Gordon Thorsby There were 879 men who served in the Civil War originating from or came to reside near untamed land south of Saginaw,...
29 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Dec 2, 2021
- 3 min
Three Brave Officers, and the Closest of Comrades
by Gordon Thorsby Who would have imagined that two of the three men standing would be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, that...
54 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Nov 30, 2021
- 4 min
The Last Cavalry Regiment From Michigan, the Proud Eleventh
by Gordon Thorsby Veterans were proud of the regiments they served in during the Civil War, but they were more proud of the country they...
170 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Nov 30, 2021
- 4 min
Six CSA Generals That Departed This World at Franklin
by Gordon Thorsby On the morning of December 1,1864, the bodies of four Confederate generals killed during the fighting, Patrick R....
443 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Nov 29, 2021
- 4 min
A Recruit in Company M Two Days after His Eighteenth
by Gordon Thorsby Albert Brockitt, Company M, Sixth Michigan Cavalry Albert Brockitt (sometimes Brockett, sometimes Brackett) was the...
165 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Nov 25, 2021
- 1 min
Originally Proclaimed in 1863; Thanksgiving
by Gordon Thorsby So we do not forget. The year of 1863 had yielded Chancellorsville, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Chattanooga and...
46 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Nov 24, 2021
- 3 min
The Door Left Open and a Name Etched in Glass
by Gordon Thorsby In late 1864, the fate of the Confederacy moved rapidly to a conclusion. On November 30, Spring Hill was a trap that...
118 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Nov 23, 2021
- 2 min
The Last Charge of the 6th Michigan for at Least One Man
by Gordon Thorsby It was at Falling Waters, Maryland in July, 1863, that Robert. E. Lee had almost completed the Army of Northern...
60 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Nov 22, 2021
- 2 min
What a Headstone Told Me About Its Resident, Aaron Burr Walker
by Gordon Thorsby I was once looking to start understanding my ancestry and it began in the Wildwood Cemetery about two miles west of...
66 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Nov 22, 2021
- 3 min
Book Suggestions for Gifts for the Upcoming Holidays?
by Gordon Thorsby It is about this time every year that my wife will emit an audible UGH and ask for American Civil War books that I...
29 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Nov 19, 2021
- 2 min
Iowa Soldier and Last Veteran, Speaker of the House
by Gordon Thorsby The Second Battle at Corinth, MS, on October 3-4, 1862 is a mere footnote in our memories when sandwiched between such...
22 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Nov 15, 2021
- 3 min
Aboard Several Ironclads, Joseph Clougherty
by Gordon Thorsby Joseph Clougherty was a twenty-two year old man when he enlisted into the Navy at Boston Naval Yard on December 23,...
16 views0 comments
Gordon Thorsby
- Nov 15, 2021
- 4 min
The Challenge to Survive for Pvt. John Levi Maile
by Gordon Thorsby The history of the Eighth Michigan Volunteers is one of the greater stories in regimental histories. They were in just...
44 views0 comments
bottom of page