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Civil War

Till We Meet Again: A Farewell (For Now) from Robert Grandchamp
2 months ago

Till We Meet Again: A Farewell (For Now) from Robert Grandchamp

I have lived with the ghosts of the past for over twenty years. Since early in 2000 when I discovered that I had a great-great-great uncle, Alfred Sheldon Knight, who …
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“We got the worst of it yesterday:” A Rhode Island letter from Spotsylvania Court House
6 months ago

“We got the worst of it yesterday:” A Rhode Island letter from Spotsylvania Court House

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ranks as one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on the American continent. Fought from May 9 to 21, 1864, in central Virginia, it …
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Rhode Islanders Insist on No Compromise with the South after Lincoln’s Election
8 months ago

Rhode Islanders Insist on No Compromise with the South after Lincoln’s Election

On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the victor in a tight, four-way race for president. The country was bitterly at odds—more divided than an any point of its history. …
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Rhode Island Fails to Vote for Lincoln for President at Nominating Convention!
8 months ago

Rhode Island Fails to Vote for Lincoln for President at Nominating Convention!

I believe that one of the most remarkable (and fortuitous) events in American history was Abraham Lincoln’s nomination as the presidential candidate for the Republican Party in 1860. Early in …
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The Last Dozen: The Final Survivors of the Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers
1 year ago

The Last Dozen: The Final Survivors of the Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers

There is something special in being last, especially when it comes to being the last survivor of a particular event. From Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the Titanic to …
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General Isaac Peace Rodman, Citizen-Soldier and Martyr for the Union Cause
1 year ago

General Isaac Peace Rodman, Citizen-Soldier and Martyr for the Union Cause

At the outbreak of the Civil War, thousands of men flocked to enlist in newly established companies and regiments in the Union Army then organizing in small towns throughout the …
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Foster Boys in the Seventh Rhode Island
2 years ago

Foster Boys in the Seventh Rhode Island

Foster, Rhode Island is one of the few places in Rhode Island that maintains a Nineteenth Century charm. Indeed if the Civil War veterans of Foster were to return, they …
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“Ours was a desperate position to hold:” The First Rhode Island Cavalry at Middleburg
2 years ago

“Ours was a desperate position to hold:” The First Rhode Island Cavalry at Middleburg

On the night of June 17, 1863, a small group of men galloped for their lives out of Middleburg, Virginia. Tired, out of ammunition, and surrounded deep behind enemy lines, …
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A Kingston Woman Supports Lincoln During the Civil War
3 years ago

A Kingston Woman Supports Lincoln During the Civil War

After I published my book on the history of Kingston in 2004, a Narragansett Times reporter asked me who my favorite character in the book was. She expected me to …
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The Numbers Game: The Curious Numbering of Rhode Island’s Civil War Units
4 years ago

The Numbers Game: The Curious Numbering of Rhode Island’s Civil War Units

Firstly, I must confess that math is not my biggest strength. As a student at Coventry High School in the early 2000s, I sat through countless hours of algebra and …
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