Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog

Kids’ activity area in the History Center for Aransas County, challenging kids to study the contents of a Civil War soldier’s haversack. The cloth sacks at left contain rations of coffee, flour, etc.

On Thursday I had the honor of speaking to the Houston Civil War Round Table on blockade-running, and the story of the brief, violent encounter between Dave McCluskey and Paul Börner on the deck of McCluskey’s schooner, Sting Ray. We had good attendance, and lots of smart questions afterward, mostly about aspects of the topic that’s I’d had to cut or skip over, due to lack of time. Folks in southeast Texas should mark their calendars for the January meeting, on January 21, when the presenter will be the incomparable Ed Bearss, speaking on the Kentucky Campaign and the Battle of Perryville. Reservations are required, so if you’re going to attend, please contact the Houston CWRT’s Facilities Chairman, Don Zuckero, at (281) 479-1232 or e-mail him at Reservations-at-HoustonCivilWar-dot-com by 6:00 p.m. on Monday, January 18.

At the meeting I also had the pleasure of meeting Brian Matthew Jordan, whose 2014 volume, Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War, will be coming out soon in paperback. Brian recently took up a teaching position at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, and will hopefully become a regular at meetings and conferences in the region.

I also made a quick trip to Rockport, to speak in conjunction with a Civil War exhibit at the History Center for Aransas County and their new exhibit, “Civil War for Coastal Texans: Homefront & Battlefields.” I’d like to thank the History Center, the Stenson-Simpson Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Hampton Inn & Suites of Rockport-Fulton, and (most especially) Pam and Phil Stranahan of Fulton, for extending the best of Coastal Bend hospitality to me and my family.

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