During one of our phone chats earlier this winter, publisher Ted Savas told me that 2023 was “the year for catching up.” COVID had such strange and long-lasting impacts on the publishing world that have continued to ripple on. As a result, Savas Beatie’s entire publishing catalogue was bottlenecked—and that meant ECW’s publishing projects were bottlenecked, too.

But 2023 is the year for catching up.

If you follow along Savas Beatie’s Facebook page—and shame on you if you don’t—you’ve seen book announcement after book announcement in January and February. Special offers. Signed editions. Fancy bookplates. Boom, boom, boom! And there’s more to come.

What does that mean for ECW?

As I write this, we have three Emerging Civil War Series books at the printer:

·     the much-anticipated To Hell or Richmond: The 1862 Peninsula Campaign by Doug Crenshaw and Drew Gruber;

·     They Came Only to Die: The Battle of Nashville by Sean Michael Chick;

·     Man of Fire: William T. Sherman in the Civil War by Derek Maxfield.

On top of that, John Brown’s Raid: Harpers Ferry and the Coming of the Civil War by Jon-Erik Gilot and Kevin Pawlak is going through its final check before getting sent off to the printer, too.

We also have two hardcovers from the Emerging Civil War 10th Anniversary Series at the printer: Civil War on the Water, helmed by Dwight Hughes, and Fallen Leaders, which I took lead on. Our The Civil War and Pop Culture volume is currently being indexed, so that’ll be off to the printer before we know it, too, and our volume War in the Western Theater is currently being laid out.

And that’s not all. We have a bunch of other manuscripts in hand, in various stages of production: Stones River, Knoxville, After Gettysburg, and Second Manassas. And (I’m scared to say it lest I jinx myself), Kris White and I are nearing completion of our long-delayed ECWS book Stay and Fight It Out: The Second Day at Gettysburg—Culp’s Hill and East Cemetery Hill, July 2, 1863. As soon as we dot our last “i” on that one, you can bet we’re rushing it straight to the front of the production line.

So, yes, 2023 is the year for catching up. We appreciate the patience you’ve shown as you’ve waited for some of these books, and we appreciate the support you’ve shown ECW, our authors, and Savas Beatie as we’ve all tried to navigate the backlog. We all wish you “happy reading”!

—  Chris Mackowski, PhD.

Editor in Chief, Emerging Civil War

Emerging Civil War historians gathered in Winchester, Virginia, over Presidents’ Day Weekend for our annual retreat. While not everyone could make it in person, those who did were able to explore battlefields, bookstores, and excellent restaurants. On Saturday, we had members from far and wide Zoom in to join those who attended in person for a day-long strategic planning session (our thanks to Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute for hosting us at their Cool Springs Battlefield campus).

We’ll have more news to share from the retreat in the coming months. In the meantime, here’s a quick look at some of our fun:

Jon Tracey (right) with the lean-in to capture colleagues Dwight Hughes, Patrick Kelly-Fischer, and Sarah Kay Bierle at the stone wall in Kernstown.

Jonathan Noyalas, director of Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute (and a good Buffalo Bills fan!), graciously offered a tour of the Cool Springs battlefield. In the background stands “The Retreat,” a home once owned by Judge Richard Parker—the judge who presided over John Brown’s trial.

Tim Talbott, Patrick Kelly-Fischer, and Dwight Hughes tower over a diorama of the Cedar Creek landscape like Godzilla-sized historians.

Jon Tracey (right) with his patented lean-in catches the crew on a Cedar Creek tour. Our usual suspects are joined here by Phill Greenwalt (center), author of the ECW Series book Bloody Autumn: The 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

Sarah Kay Bierle recently spent a day exploring Warrenton, Virginia. Check her Instagram @sarahkaybierle for some of the shared photos and local history notes!

In the SavasBeatie January Newsletter, Sheritta Bitikofer was named associate editor alongside Gordy Morgan on M. Chris Bryan's upcoming project with Savas Beattie for The Chancellorsville Papers, Volume 3(ish), a compilation of transcribed letters and recollections about the campaign. Think The Bachelder Papers, but for Chancellorsville. Also check out her latest article on the battle at Natural Bridge, Florida, the battle that “saved Tallahassee,” in the most recent publication of American Civil War Magazine. 

On a more personal note, Sheritta has been working hard to get as much of her degree program out of the way before this summer because she'll have her hands full with a new member of the Bitikofer household. With an estimated due date of July 3, she and her husband are excited to welcome this little one into the world. With some luck, the baby won't be late to the party like J.E.B Stuart, and they can brag that their first child was born during the 160th anniversary of Gettysburg/Vicksburg.

Neil Chatelain has had quite the busy February, including presentations for the Inland Empire Civil War Round Table, the Civil War Round Table of Central Louisiana, and the Louisiana Historical Association. Besides that, he published the article "Ship Island, Mississippi: Versatile Key to the Gulf" in the Winter 2023 issue of Civil War Navy Magazine. Finally, he was presented the 2023 Lone Star College Faculty Writing Award for his paper "Postwar Identity Crisis of the Confederate Navy's Officer Corps" published in the October 2022 issue of US Military History Review.

Bert Dunkerly will be speaking to the Loudon County, VA, Civil War Round Table in mid-March. He is also excited to be going to explore French & Indian War sites next month, his first true love. He's working on a book project on that. 

Meg Groeling is getting into the last turn on her ECWS books on Walt Whitman. She has also been enjoying some cemetery walking. She and her husband, Robert, found a tombstone for a USCT soldier. “His family came to Hollister, CA,” she says, “and stuff has been done on the Griswald colony, but nothing has been done about the soldier himself. So, thinking that might be the next project.”

Steward Henderson, Chris Mackowski, and Kris White offered presentations on Saturday, February 18 for the Chambersburg Civil War Seminar. They each spoke about different aspects of the Overland Campaign.

Dwight Hughes and Neil Chatelain are beginning a new addition to the Emerging Civil War series tentatively titled Theaters of Naval Civil War: An Overview. For students and enthusiasts of all interests, this volume will provide a high-level view of naval operations on both sides including interactions with land campaigns along with strategic, tactical, technological, and leadership attributes. Next month, Dwight is headed for back-to-back Monitor talks at the Milwaukee and Chicago CWRTs.

Brian Matthew Jordan published a review of David Prior's recent collection on Reconstruction and empire in the latest number of the Journal of Southern History. He heads to Emory Upton's hometown of Batavia, New York, to deliver a lecture on March 1 as part of Derek Maxfield’s Historical Horizon’s Lecture Series. Brian will talk about his book Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War. 

Derek presented to the Hershey, PA, CWRT on Feb. 16 via Zoom about his first book Hellmira: The Union’s Most Infamous Civil War Prison Camp—Elmira, NY (Savas Beatie, 2020). He is not-so-patiently awaiting the release of his new book, Man of Fire: William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War, which has gone to the printer and is expected to be available by mid-March 2023. 

Chris Kolakowski has been named Chair of the Wisconsin America250 Commission. For details, see this link.

Chris Mackowski’s book The Battle of Jackson, Mississippi, received an excellent review from The Strategy Page, which is published in conjunction with the New York Military Affairs Symposium. Reviewer Julius Haukser summed up the book thus: “Most authors lift the ‘fog of war,’ the better to make their conclusions; Makowski keeps it in place, which actually results in a greater understanding of what the soldiers and civilians of the time knew and what they did not. I highly recommend this book and his website for any ACW reader.” You can read the review here.

Mackowski also appeared with co-editor Frank Scaturro for a book talk sponsored by the American Civil War Museum (ACWM). They spoke about their edited essay collection Grant at 2000. You can watch their talk at the ACWM’s YouTube page.

Tim Talbott attended the Longwood University/Appomattox Court House National Historical Park Seminar in Farmville, Virginia, and the American Civil War Symposium in Richmond. He has also been researching for a two-part post for the ECW blog on African American camp servants who became USCT soldiers. 

Jon Tracey spoke about Camp Letterman and medical care after the battle of Gettysburg for the Wilmington, Delaware CWRT in February. In March, he speaks at the Hampton Roads CWRT on the realities of Civil War medicine.

Kris White and Chris Mackowski will head off to Vicksburg, Mississippi, in early March to film the last episode in a series of virtual fields for K-12 students being produced by the American Battlefield Trust. Previous stops have taken them to Boston, Charleston, and New Orleans. Look for the team to record some segments for a Trust video swing, too!

ECW Multimedia

On the Emerging Civil War Podcast in February:

• ECW historians Chris Mackowski and Kris White talked about the Civil War history around Mobile, Alabama.

• We caught up with Joe Ewers of the 2nd South Carolina String Band. The boys have been enjoying retirement and yet enjoy more success than ever!

• We highlighted a new exhibit by historian Nick Sacco at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site that explores the history of slavery in St. Louis and situates Grant and his family in that larger story.

• We talked with Kevin Levin of Civil War Memory about the current state of Black history, which has come under political fire of late.

• We visited with Steve Phan, chief of interpretation at Camp Nelson National Monument in Kentucky, about the road to freedom for former slaves who found their own “new birth of freedom” by enlisting in the U.S.C.T.

The Emerging Civil War Podcast is available through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever fine podcasts are available. You can also subscribe to our podcast through Patreon, where we are now also offering exclusive bonus content for subscribers. For as low as $1.99/month, you can help support ECW. Proceeds go toward defraying the production costs of the podcast.

In February for Patreon-only content, we featured a video tour of Charleston’s Liberty Square.

On the ECW YouTube page, we hit a number of sites around Mobile, Alabama. Chris Mackowski introduced the trip. Kris White talked about the battle of Mobile Bay and Fort Morgan. Mike Bunn, site director at Historic Blakeley State Park, showed us around the battlefield and the new USCT Heritage Trail. Kris White visited Magnolia Cemetery.

We also commemorated the campaign for Forts Henry and Donelson with a visit to Fort Henry, a walk along Fort Donelson’s river batteries, and a stop at the Dover Hotel.

Plus, Chris Mackowski mailed out a slew of copies of his newest book, Grant at 200, and shared his adventures prepping and mailing the signed editions.

Finally, we featured video versions of our podcast interviews with Chris/Kris, Joe Ewers, Nick Sacco, Kevin Levin, and Steve Phan.

2022-2023 Speakers Bureau

If you’re looking for a speaker for your Civil War Roundtable, look no further than the Emerging Civil War Speakers Bureau. Our brochure features all the ECW historians who are available for speaking engagements. You can read their bios and see their lists of talks, complete with descriptions.

And as a bonus in this updated edition, ECW co-founder Kris White is back on the circuit. His availability is limited, but if you’re interested, nab him while it’s hot!

You can find a copy of our speakers bureau online (and also available for download) on the ECW website.

March

1: Jon-Erik Gilot, “Dangerfield Newby’s Fight for Freedom,” Great Stone Viaduct Winter Lecture Series, Bellaire, OH

9: Dwight Hughes, “Unlike Anything That Ever Floated: The USS Monitor, the Virginia, and the Battle of Hampton Roads,” Milwaukee Civil War Round Table, Milwaukee, WI

10: Dwight Hughes, “Unlike Anything That Ever Floated: The USS Monitor and the Battle of Hampton Roads,” Chicago Civil War Round Table, Chicago, IL

11: Chris Mackowski, "A Season of Slaughter: The Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania Court House," Civil War Roundtable of Louisville (KY)

14: Kristopher D. White, “The Ides of May: The Wounding of James Longstreet,” Richmond (VA) Civil War Roundtable

15: Chris Mackowski and Frank Scaturro, “Grant at 200,” Civil War Talk, virtual event

16: Jon Tracey, “The Realities of Civil War Medicine,” Hampton Roads (VA) CWRT

28: Meg Groeling, “First Fallen: The Story of Col. Elmer Ellsworth,” Baltimore Civil War Round Table (VIRTUAL) 4:30 p.m. PST

29: Chris Mackowski, “The Rise of Grant,” Friends of Hanley Library Speaker Series, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, Bradford, PA

April

4: Chris Mackowski, Brunswick (NC) Civil War Roundtable

11: Dave Powell, “Tullahoma,” McHenry County CWRT, Woodstock, IL

14-16: Chris Mackowski, American Civil War Roundtable of the U.K. Annual Conference

14: Dwight Hughes, “From Shenandoah to Seeadler: The Legacy of Civil War Commerce Raiders in WWI,” Falls Church Military History Forum, Falls Church, VA

15: Dan Welch, “Last Road North, Carnegie Civil Symposium, Carnegie, PA