Video - 155th Anniversary of the Battle of the Crater

Today marks the 155th anniversary of the Battle of the Crater, and I wanted to share a video Mark and I made with a good friend of ours, Aaron Rowland, who is a ranger at Petersburg National Battlefield.  In it, we discuss the battle and the woman soldier whose body was discovered there.

Click [HERE] to read an earlier post I wrote about this topic.

Video: Jennie Hodgers's Name Etched on the Illinois Monument, Vicksburg National Military Park

Next time you visit the battlefield in Vicksburg, find the name of "Albert D. J. Cashier" on a tablet inside the Illinois monument.  That is the male alias of Jennie Hodgers who served throughout the war in the 95th Illinois Infantry.  In this video, I show you where it is.  How many more such names do we gaze upon that are actually hidden women?

Until next formation....rest.

Women Soldiers and Suicide

I tried to compose this post weeks ago.  But other projects kept coming up, and I had to put this one aside.  And then in the matter of a week, I learned that two friends lost their sons to suicide.  The younger one was only sixteen.   They  both succumbed to depression.  I still hurt for them.  My thoughts soon turned back to this post, and I immediately dismissed it as one that needed to remain hidden.  But it kept creeping back into my consciousness, and I relented.

The following women did not meet their fates on a battlefield as others did.  As a matter of fact, only one of them may have encountered the enemy at all.  Instead, the foe these women faced was within themselves, and they either perished by their own hand - or nearly did.  Their stories are tragic and should be told.  We should remember them not completely out of pity, but because they provide us with a connection to our own flawed, mortal, and often wounded psyche.

Video: Watch Mark and Me on the Tony Tone Show

Video: Follow in the Footsteps of a Female Participant in Thayer's Assault at Vicksburg

Today is the 156th anniversary of the Federals' second assault at Vicksburg and the last before Grant laid siege to the river city. During this assault , Brigadier General John M. Thayer attacked a Confederate fort across challenging terrain. Check out the video Mark and I made in which we navigate Thayer's approach. Interestingly, a woman soldier serving in the 3rd Missouri Infantry (US) was among the Federal element of Woods' brigade providing support.

We made this video in October 2018 prior to the release of my book, Behind the Rifle. But now that it's out, you can read all about "Charles Junghaus." She is buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery.

Until next formation....rest.

My Interview for Mississippi Public Broadcasting

Recently, I was interviewed by Karen Brown about my book, Behind the Rifle, for the Mississippi Edition segment of Mississippi Public Broadcasting.  You can listen by clicking on the link below:

http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/mississippiedition/mississippi-edition-thursday-april-25/

My Interview on the Y'all Show

Yesterday, I was interviewed by Jon Rawl for the radio show, Y'all. Based out of Tennessee, the show covers a range of topics from food, travel, outdoors,sports, history, and more: all with a Southern focus of course! I have not listened to it yet, so I'm not sure how goofy I sound. 😃


Y'all Show - Masters Preview; Civil War Women; Southern Food Fests

And Now For Something Completely Different: Ringwraiths at Sudley Springs Ford

One of my favorite photographs from the Civil War was taken by George Barnard at Manassas in March 1862. 

Library of Congress:  LC-DIG-cwpb-00954

There's just something about this photograph that depicts children and Federal cavalry staring each other down at Sudley Ford.  The tension is palpable, and a viewer is quickly immersed with the unknown.  What transpired between the children and troopers?  What was said?  Regardless of the subsequent events, one thing for sure is that the lives of these individuals would be changed forever in the coming days, months, and years.   Specifically, the innocence of the children would be stolen by one of the most profound tragedies in American history that was the Civil War. 

[HERE] is a post containing then and now photos of the area.  And in [THIS BLOG POST] one researcher identified the children as belonging to the Thornberry family. 

The troopers are unknown, but for whatever reason, when I saw this photo for the first time, I couldn't help but thinking of them as the Ringwraiths in The Fellowship of the Ring and the scene depicted as "Flight to the Ford."  

Supplement to My Article "Hidden in Plain Sight" (Military Images, Spring 2019): JANE PERKINS

In a previous blog post, I shared a teaser video in which I revealed that I had discovered an individual in a photograph who may have been a woman.  Based upon my research of military documents, newspapers, and soldiers' letters and diaries, I developed a theory as to who this person possibly was, if she were indeed a woman.  And so Mark and I tag teamed on an article about this photograph and the possible woman soldier it contained.  It has been been published in Military Images magazine (Spring 2019).  Visit the Military Images magazine website by clicking [HERE] to learn how to purchase this magazine.

Cover for the Spring 2019 Edition of Military Images Magazine

Trailer for "Behind the Rifle"

I hope you enjoy the trailer I made for my book, Behind the Rifle:  Women Soldier in Civil War Mississippi.