The Backchat Blog

About this Blog

Author Robert C. Plumb has created this blog to share information, opinions, and ideas about the subject of the American Civil War.  All segments of coverage about the War – academic treatise, “popular history,” and fictional accounts – will be included if they merit coverage and discussion.  After reading this blog if you are informed, enlightened, or encouraged to discover more, the author will consider that this blog is accomplishing what he intended.

The Union “Apple Jack Raid” — December 1864

The Union “Apple Jack Raid” — December 1864

In the closing months of 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant was eager to put pressure on the Confederate supply and communication lines that he thought were vulnerable.  He wanted to choke off Robert E. Lee’s source of men, equipment, and food once and for all. Key...

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Mine Run: Tragedy Averted – November 1863

Mine Run: Tragedy Averted – November 1863

Backed by a force numerically superior to his enemy, General George Meade, Commander of the Union Army of the Potomac, felt confident that he would overwhelm Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the closing days of November 1863.  But the weather in the area...

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“Fighting Joe” Hooker … Or Was He ?

“Fighting Joe” Hooker … Or Was He ?

Joseph Hooker, born November 13, 1814 in Hadley, Massachusetts, was from a family with long time Yankee roots and whose grandfather fought as a captain in the American Revolution.  Young Joseph was accepted into the class of 1837 at West Point where he was an...

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