We Once Met by Chance


Book Description

We Once Met by Chance: Four Life Stories During the American Civil War follows four peoples lives during the American Civil WarJohn S. Mosby, Charles Russell Lowell, Laura Ratcliffe, and James Robinson. Col. John S. Mosby was a Confederate officer from Virginia, assigned to lead guerrilla activities outside the city of Washington. His mission was to keep the Union soldiers stationed there rather than fighting in the field against the army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. Charles Russell Lowell of Massachusetts was a Harvard graduate from a prominent abolitionist family. He joined the Union army, eventually becoming the colonel of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry. He was sent to Virginia to capture or kill Mosby. Laura Ratcliffe was a young Southern lady living in Northern Virginia. She supported her home state of Virginia during the war in any way she could, including spying for Colonel Mosby. James Robinson was an African-American man living with his family in Manassas, Virginia. The land that he owned and lived on would become the central part of the battleground for two of the major battles during the war. We Once Met by Chance is the story of the Civil War from the perspective of these four individuals. Readers learn about their lives, their families, and their aspirations during these tumultuous four years in American history.




Taming the Elephant


Book Description

Taming the Elephant is the last of four volumes in the distinguished California History Sesquicentennial Series, an outstanding compilation of original essays by leading historians and writers. These topical, interrelated volumes reexamine the meaning of the founding of modern California during the state's pioneer period. General themes run through all four volumes: the interplay of traditional cultures and frontier innovation in the creation of a distinctive California society; the dynamic interaction of people and nature and the beginnings of massive environmental change; the impact of the California experience on the nation and the world; the influence of pioneer patterns on modern California; and the legacy of ethnic and cultural diversity as a major influence on the state's history. This fourth volume treats the role of post–Gold Rush California government, politics, and law in the building of a dynamic state, with influences that persist today. Provocative essays investigate the creation of constitutional foundations, law and jurisprudence, the formation of government agencies, and the development of public policy. Authors chart the roles played by diverse groups—criminals and peace officers, entrepreneurs and miners, farmers and public officials, defenders of discrimination and female and African American activists. The essays also explore subjects largely overlooked in the past, such as the significance of local and federal government in pioneer California and early struggles to secure civil rights for women and racial minorities.




Bear Flag and Bay State in the Civil War


Book Description

The Second Massachusetts Cavalry included the only organized group (5 companies totaling 504 men) from California to fight in the east during the Civil War. Led by a young Boston aristocrat, Colonel Charles R. Lowell, these men began their wartime careers in Northern Virginia in 1862, clashing with the partisan rangers of Major John S. Mosby, in a deadly world of guerrilla warfare. In August of 1864, the regiment was assigned to Major General Phil Sheridan's Army of Shenandoah and served through all of the battles in the victorious campaign to clear the valley of Confederates, witnessing the final surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. This account tells what these men from California and Massachusetts accomplished, how they communicated, and how they viewed themselves. The book contains three appendices that list the battle casualties of the regiment during its largest engagements. Photographs and a bibliography are also included.




The Nature of Sacrifice


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A biography of Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., 1835-64.




Gettysburg's Southern Front


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On June 14, 1863, US Major General John Adams Dix received the following directive from General-in-Chief Henry Halleck: “All your available force should be concentrated to threaten Richmond, by seizing and destroying their railroad bridges over the South and North Anna Rivers, and do them all the damage possible.” With General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia marching toward Gettysburg and only a limited Confederate force guarding Richmond, Halleck sensed a rare opportunity for the Union cause. In response, Dix, who had lived a life of considerable public service but possessed limited military experience, gathered his men and began a slow advance. During the ensuing operation, 20,000 US troops would threaten the Confederate capital and seek to cut the railroads supplying Lee’s army in Pennsylvania. To some, Dix’s campaign presented a tremendous chance for US forces to strike hard at Richmond while Lee was off in Pennsylvania. To others, it was an unnecessary lark that tied up units deployed more effectively in protecting Washington and confronting Lee’s men on Northern soil. In this study, Newsome offers an in-depth look into this little-known Federal advance against Richmond during the Gettysburg Campaign. The first full-length examination of Dix’s venture, this volume not only delves into the military operations at the time, but also addresses concurrent issues related to diplomacy, US war policy, and the involvement of enslaved people in the Federal offensive. Gettysburg’s Southern Front also points to the often-unrecognized value in examining events of the US Civil War beyond the larger famous battles and campaigns. At the time, political and military leaders on both sides carefully weighed Dix’s efforts at Richmond and understood that the offensive had the potential to generate dramatic results. In fact, this piece of the Gettysburg Campaign may rank as one of the Union war effort’s more compelling lost opportunities in the East, one that could have changed the course of the conflict.




California Historian


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Social Studies Review


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The Pacific Historian


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Prologue


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