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    “A House Divided” is a blog dedicated to news and issues of importance to Civil War enthusiasts across the country and around the world. Blogger Linda Wheeler and a panel of respected Civil War experts will debate and dissect historical issues and explore new concepts. Wheeler will also report on conferences and seminars, find little-known battlefields and sites to explore, keep track of local, national and international stories of interest to readers and provide advice on upcoming events.
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Recent Posts

A House Divided: July, 2011

Posted at 11:54 AM ET, 07/15/2011

Tony Horwitz: Given a month off this summer, which Civil War sites would you visit and what new books would you read?
By Tony Horwitz
There’s nothing like a scorching July day with clouds of gnats and 90% humidity to make you appreciate the misery that soldiers endured. The problem is... all those other tourists.

By Tony Horwitz  |  11:54 AM ET, 07/15/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 09:01 AM ET, 06/30/2011

Civil War Trust announces large-scale preservation initiative
By Linda Wheeler
The Civil War Trust, a non-profit known for its aggressive fundraising to save Civil War battlefields, is taking on it largest campaign ever with a new initiative to raise $40 million to protect an additional 20,000 acres. The program,...

By Linda Wheeler  |  09:01 AM ET, 06/30/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:41 PM ET, 06/29/2011

Harold Holzer: Given a month off this summer, which Civil War sites would you visit and what new books would you read?
By Harold Holzer
With a free month this summer--fortunately, for a guy who likes to work, an unlikely prospect as we mark the 150th anniversary of the first battle of the war--I would certainly dust off my list of neglected (by me) Civil...

By Harold Holzer  |  06:41 PM ET, 06/29/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:40 PM ET, 06/29/2011

Chandra Manning: Given a month off this summer, which Civil War sites would you visit and what new books would you read?
By Chandra Manning
Our family actually has a variation on this question planned for two future summer trips of two weeks each. My oldest child’s middle name is Douglass, and he will turn ten years old in the summer of 2016. My youngest...

By Chandra Manning  |  06:40 PM ET, 06/29/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:40 PM ET, 06/29/2011

Waite Rawls: Given a month off, which Civil War sites would you visit and what books would you read?
By Waite Rawls
As your readers can imagine, I read a lot of Civil War books. I choose some of them because of the topic, others because of the original research that went into them, and some because of the respect that I...

By Waite Rawls  |  06:40 PM ET, 06/29/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:38 PM ET, 06/29/2011

Jim Campi: Given a month off this summer, which Civil War sites would you visit and what new books would you read?
By Jim Campi
There is no better way to experience Civil War history than visiting the battlefields where the war was decided. As former Union General Joshua Chamberlain once remarked: “In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays.” I find that...

By Jim Campi  |  06:38 PM ET, 06/29/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:05 AM ET, 06/23/2011

Heritage trail honors the 54th Massachusetts
By Linda Wheeler
The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment Trail, which honors black Union soldiers from a county in Massachusetts and another in Connecticut, was inaugurated Wednesday with a reception and book signing.

By Linda Wheeler  |  11:05 AM ET, 06/23/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:59 AM ET, 06/20/2011

Brag Bowling: How novel was Gen. Butler’s decision to treat escaped slaves as contraband and did he do it for humane or military reasons?
By Brag Bowling
The problem with political generals is that, well--they tend to be political. There can be few finer examples of political generals than Benjamin “Beast” Butler, the beau ideal of pragmatic opportunists. Butler never showed any great ability as a military...

By Brag Bowling  |  10:59 AM ET, 06/20/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:57 AM ET, 06/20/2011

Frank Williams: How novel was Gen. Butler’s decision to treat escaped slaves as contraband and did he do it for humane or military reasons?
By Frank Williams
Major General Benjamin F. Butler, in command at Fort Monroe at the tip of the Virginia peninsular and surrounded by Confederate territory, set a precedent when he classified as “contraband of war” slaves who escaped to Federal lines for safety...

By Frank Williams  |  10:57 AM ET, 06/20/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:57 AM ET, 06/20/2011

John Marszalek: How novel was Gen. Butler’s decision to treat escaped slaves as contraband and did he do it for humane or military reasons?
By John Marszalek
The well-known photograph of Benjamin F. Butler, Massachusetts attorney, politician, and army general, shows him practically bulging out of his Union uniform. “Spoons” was his nickname because he allegedly stole silverware from Confederate homes. “Beast” was another name he carried,...

By John Marszalek  |  10:57 AM ET, 06/20/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:56 AM ET, 06/20/2011

Chandra Manning: How novel was Gen. Butler’s decision to treat escaped slaves as contraband and did he do it for humane or military reasons?
By Chandra Manning
Armies are not and do not behave as humanitarian organizations, but they can be momentous forces for change. When a slave-holding Confederate officer approached General Benjamin Butler for return of slave “property” under terms of the Fugitive Slave Law, Butler...

By Chandra Manning  |  10:56 AM ET, 06/20/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 09:31 AM ET, 06/17/2011

Lincoln, Lee letters on auction block today
By Linda Wheeler
Letters written by President Abraham Lincoln and Robert E Lee and opera glasses Lincoln took with him to Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865 are expected to have new owners by the end of today. Sotheby’s, the auction house...

By Linda Wheeler  |  09:31 AM ET, 06/17/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:07 AM ET, 06/16/2011

Emancipation Proclamation travels to Michigan
By Linda Wheeler
One of the most important and cherished documents in the National Archives holdings, the Emancipation Proclamation, will be on exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan from Monday, June 20 at 7 p.m. to Wednesday, June 22...

By Linda Wheeler  |  10:07 AM ET, 06/16/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 02:03 PM ET, 06/15/2011

Two Civil War Sites on Endangered List
By Linda Wheeler
A Civil War fort and a post-war soldiers’ home are two of the 11 most endangered sites on this year’s National Trust for Historic Preservation list. Also listed this year is the city of Charleston, SC which was the...

By Linda Wheeler  |  02:03 PM ET, 06/15/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 09:41 AM ET, 06/13/2011

The Confederate capital shift from Montgomery to Richmond

By John Marszalek
The Confederate capital moves from Montgomery to Richmond

By John Marszalek  |  09:41 AM ET, 06/13/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:22 AM ET, 06/11/2011

An inflated proposal: Thaddeus Lowe and the Civil War balloons
By Timothy R. Smith
Civil War balloons for spying on the Confederate Army

By Timothy R. Smith  |  10:22 AM ET, 06/11/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:22 PM ET, 06/09/2011

Country woman saves Confederate army at Big Bethel
By Linda Wheeler
Well before the better known First Manassas, there was the Battle of Big Bethel on June 10, 1861 where untested troops on both sides confronted each other in southern Virginia at a church called Big Bethel. Just hours before the...

By Linda Wheeler  |  04:22 PM ET, 06/09/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 03:22 PM ET, 06/08/2011

Western Virginia slams door on Confederate Virginia
By Linda Wheeler
This weekend marks the anniversary of an unusual chapter in the Civil War, not a battle but the radical step taken by delegates from 38 northwestern Virginia counties loyal to the Union after the state secession convention voted to join...

By Linda Wheeler  |  03:22 PM ET, 06/08/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:29 AM ET, 06/08/2011

Tennessee secedes
By Timothy R. Smith

By Timothy R. Smith  |  11:29 AM ET, 06/08/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:38 AM ET, 06/06/2011

Robert Lee Hodge: Have we preserved enough Civil War sites?
By Robert Lee Hodge
Often the critics are the people who have financially invested in historic property they want to develop. Rarely is there a non-financial motive in trying to stop the protection of a historic site. Local government is habitually the lynch pin...

By Robert Lee Hodge  |  11:38 AM ET, 06/06/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:36 AM ET, 06/06/2011

Jim Campi: Have we preserved enough Civil War sites?
By Jim Campi
America’s fascination with the Civil War has waxed and waned over the years. The scholarship that emerged from the centennial commemoration of the 1960s spurred interest in the battles and personalities of the conflict. In the 1990s, Ken Burns’ landmark...

By Jim Campi  |  11:36 AM ET, 06/06/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:34 AM ET, 06/06/2011

Frank Williams: Have we preserved enough Civil War sites?
By Frank Williams
How can the critics of battlefield preservation rationalize a position of “enough already” with urbanization consuming these “monuments” of sacred ground? Is there is no logical explanation except to support more growth? To deny the necessity of such preservation is...

By Frank Williams  |  11:34 AM ET, 06/06/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:43 AM ET, 06/06/2011

Harold Holzer: Have we preserved enough Civil War sites?
By Harold Holzer
At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, and with enormous respect for the pioneer preservationists who have safeguarded so much sacred land from development and disappearance, I do think we may have reached the time when our efforts ought to become...

By Harold Holzer  |  10:43 AM ET, 06/06/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:42 AM ET, 06/06/2011

Old oak connected to Jackson has died
By Linda Wheeler
An ancient white oak known as Jackson’s Prayer Tree has died as the result of rot, old age and high winds

By Linda Wheeler  |  10:42 AM ET, 06/06/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:40 AM ET, 06/06/2011

Waite Rawls: Have we preserved enough Civil War sites?
By Waite Rawls
The Sesquicentennial is arousing a great public interest--again--in the American Civil War, much as was done two generations ago with the Centennial and one generation ago with Ken Burns’ documentary series. I

By Waite Rawls  |  10:40 AM ET, 06/06/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:37 AM ET, 06/06/2011

John Marszalek: Have we preserved enough Civil War sites?
By John Marszalek
One of the most successful historical projects in American history has been the preservation of Civil War battlefields. Begun in the late nineteenth century, under the auspices of the federal government, first within the War Department and then the National...

By John Marszalek  |  10:37 AM ET, 06/06/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:04 PM ET, 06/03/2011

The union captures a Confederate privateer
By Timothy R. Smith

By Timothy R. Smith  |  12:04 PM ET, 06/03/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:24 PM ET, 06/02/2011

An unknown solider has a name
By Linda Wheeler
One of the unknown soldiers at the Library of Congress’s portrait exhibit of about 400 portraits has emerged from obscurity.

By Linda Wheeler  |  11:24 PM ET, 06/02/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

 

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