History Forum / War History / US Civil War / January 2006

I am interested in finding details of what life was like for the
soldiers who manned the circle of forts around Washington DC from Sept.
1864 to June 1865. Any description of day-to-day life, including
details of disease that killed soldiers during this time. Especially

This guy had a similar collector's book for sale about Sherman a while back,
but I got outbid.  Are Grant's memoirs more interesting than Sherman's?  I
might bid on this one.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6598335912

I have completely redone my site, www.virtualcivilwar.com and would
like to invite you to visit it and check out my photography of the
battlefields and reenactments, and whatelse I have to offer.  Please
feel free to let me know what you think!  Thanks!  I hope you like it.

The Washington Times
http://www.washingtontimes.com
Grant's drinking in focus after Federal failures
By John M. Taylor

In the ACW IIRC if you were drafted in the USA army you could "buy" a
subsitute for $300. Does anyone know how much that is in present day
money? And were there enough "sellers" to go around? Could the USA have
afforded to simply pay recruits enough so that a draft would never be

The Washington Times
http://www.washingtontimes.com
Robert E. Lee: 'A wonderful loser'
By Melissa McIntire

Did Grant's excessive cigar smoking affect his generalship?
Did he pay more attention to lighting up than to situation reports?
Bob Kolker

I think the Union had no other choice than to put down secession. Why?
If Secession were to succeed it would destroy the geographic integrity
of the nation (as it was prior to the conflict) and create "holes". Into
such holes foreign nations would insert their influence and ...

I'm wondering if a comprehensive list of all the civil war monuments
exists? I've come across many state lists, but I can't seem to find a
comprehensive national list.
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I have seen numerous descriptions of President Grant's speeding arrest in
the streets of Washington.  Do any of you folks have an original source for
this or perhaps more details.  I'd like to research it.
Thank you,

Guys,
First, I wanted to thank everyone on these groups who recommended Joseph
Harsh's three books to me.  I've finished with Confederate Tide Rising, and
it is an excellent book.  Leafing through the two books on the Antietam