Civil War reenactors portraying Union Army artillerymen fire a cannon at Fort Pickens, Florida. Photo courtesy of the National Parks Service. Public domain image. https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery-item.htm?id=f542dd79-817a-4cbc-a15e-fe86ba00eb48&gid=29D48948-1DD8-B71C-070A-F9F53A420D29. Our story begins on August 9, 1862 at the Battle of Cedar Mountain. The day… Read More ›
19th Century
Slavery in Flushing, New York
It’s well known, or at least it should be, that New York, and New York City specifically, were actively involved in the bartering of human chattel for two hundred years. It began with the first bold yet tremulous ventures of… Read More ›
New York City’s War against Dogs, 1811-1894
“Broadway, New York. From the Western Union Telegraph Building, looking North”. Hand-colored lithograph, published by Currier & Ives (1875). The New-York Historical Society. People have a certain conception of what the past was like. They like to think that things… Read More ›
Martello Towers within the United States of America
Martello Tower #74, located in Seaford, England. Public domain image, Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Martello_Tower,_Seaford.JPG. Introduction General George S. Patton once said “Fixed fortifications are monuments to man’s stupidity”. That was certainly true in the 1940s with aerial bombardment and long-range heavy… Read More ›
Prince Frederick Augustus
Here is a portrait of Prince Frederick Augustus (1763-1827), the younger brother of Britain’s King George IV. This is how he would have looked at or around the year 1815, I think. It’s thanks to him that the British Army,… Read More ›