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In this segment, Walter Edgar and Dr. Symonds discuss some of the technological innovations the Confederacy used to try and combat the blockade. Some of these innovations include use of mines...
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In this first segment on the war at sea, Dr. Craig L. Symonds outlines the war on the coast in four parts: the legality of the blockade, whether or not the blockade worked, how effective it was in...
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Another tactic the Confederacy used against the Union was deployment of “Sea Raiders,” or privateers, whose mission was to raid Union ships in an attempt to disrupt the North's economy. Dr. Symonds...
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The Battle of Mobile Bay takes place during the 1864 election, which the Confederacy hoped to disrupt. Union Admiral David Farragut engaged Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan’s fleet, and scores...
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Dr. Symonds discusses what life was like for the typical Union and Confederate sailor during the blockade.
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News of the Confederate defeat at Vicksburg reaches the public, and Walter Edgar discusses peoples’ reactions.
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Winston Groom discusses the mishaps General Ulysses S. Grant and his amphibious force faced with their attempts to take Vicksburg. Grant applied trial and error with different methods of trying to...
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Winston Groom, novelist and author of Forrest Gump, has also written a number of well received histories, including Vicksburg, 1863. This narrative history of the Civil War’s most strategically...
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Winston Groom details the lives of both Union and Confederate soldiers during the Siege of Vicksburg. Groom then discusses remedies soldiers on both sides used to combat starvation. Starvation ended...
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In this segment, Winston Groom analyzes Grant’s mindset during the Civil War, and then briefly compares Grant to the other Union generals cycled through the Civil War..
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In the first segment on the Vicksburg campaign, Winston Groom sets the stage on events leading up to this crucial battle. He explains why Vicksburg is valuable to the Confederacy, and why the Union...
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In this segment, Winston Groom talks about how Grant’s forces had to “live off the land,” since their supplies were taken months before. General Grant takes his forces to Jackson, Mississippi, where...
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As Superintendent of Schools in Columbia, South Carolina, David Bancroft Johnson saw the need for an institution that would focus on training teachers. He received funds from Robert Winthrop and the...
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Dr. Walker talks about how women in the South were growing increasingly resentful and frustrated with the North in 1864.
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In this segment, Dr. Walker discusses how in the Up Country, attitudes were more relaxed regarding teaching slaves how to read and write.
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The Up Country faced a refugee crisis near the end of the war. People fled from the coast to escape the war, and Dr. Walker discusses how difficult it was to provide provisions and assets for them.
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Walter Edgar discusses with Dr. Melissa Walker about the sad reality of casualty lists, read daily to the townsfolk by a clergyman.
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In this first segment, Dr. Melissa Walker discusses the increasing civilian distaste for the war, as observed in letters written to soldiers out in the field. Dr. Walker also notes how civilians...
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Dr. Walker briefly summarizes what life was like in general for people living in the Upcountry in 1864.
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Dr. Melissa Walker is the author of numerous books on the Civil War and is co-editor of Upcountry South Carolina Goes to War (USC Press, 2011). She will talk with Dr. Edgar about the role of “plain...
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Civilians back home figure out ways to raise money and provide relief for not only themselves, but for the troops as well.
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Walter Edgar and Dr. Walker analyze how civilians developed solutions for relief in wake of the Confederate government’s imposed income tax, and a law known as “The Tithe.”
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In this first segment, Walter Edgar talks with Dr. Julia Stern about how Mary Chesnut’s diary has evolved with its three editions, since it was first published.
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Dr. Stern talks about Mary Chesnut’s unique style of writing; using literary analogues, letters, and her “brushes with greatness,” to recreate her memories of the Civil War in her diary.
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Julia Stern, professor of English and American Studies at Northwestern University and author of Mary Chesnut's Civil War Epic, will "unpack the way in which at levels domestic, historical and epic...
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With this final segment on Mary Chesnut’s diary, Dr. Stern talks about Mary Chesnut’s take on emancipation, and how it turned Southern societal norms upside down.
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In this segment on Mary Chesnut’s diary, Dr. Stern discusses the feuds between Joe Johnston and Jefferson Davis, along with one between Mary Chesnut and Lucy Pickens. Dr. Stern finishes this segment...
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Dr. Stern goes into the South’s reaction to the Witherspoon Murder, and how people in the South were cautious regarding the threat of slave rebellions. She then analyzes Mary Chesnut’s use of the...
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Dr. Julia Stern discusses writing her book Mary Chesnut’s Civil War Epic, and recounts meeting the descendants of Mary Chesnut, along with seeing Chesnut’s personal photo album, containing photos of...
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Walter Edgar and Dr. Stern analyze the long-lasting and prosperous relationship between Mary Chesnut, and her husband, James.