Kevin Honeycutt has developed an excellent website for integrating technology to teach the Civil War.  This collaborative learning project is focused around the H.L. Hunley, the famous Confederate submarine.  This website is provides an in depth look into the history of the H.L. Hunley along with providing a great collection of links, photographs and videos.  Let’s take a look at some of the different pages and sections of the site.

According to the page, the challenge for students is to “Partner up with another classroom and create a ten minute documentary telling the story of the  H.L. Hunley.”  The photos section of the website provides a nice collection of photographs related to the Hunley along with some additional links to Hunley related lesson plans. The Starter Videos Section provides links to a few videos related to the Hunley along with a great article about how Archeology Meets Technology.  Finally, the Hunley Blog page contains a place where students place their artifacts, discuss their projects, share photos along with sharing their research and findings.

There is a great quote by Kevin on the website that says, “By allowing kids to collaborate with others online we allow learners to build and flex new muscles. These muscles will serve them well for the rest of their lives!”  I could not agree more.

Here are some additional websites related to the Hunley for your viewing pleasure:

• Interactive Blueprints of the Hunley
• Son of the South website
• National Geographic site on the Hunley
• Historical Navy Ships website

UPDATED:   Check out Kevin’s Tell the Story of the Hunley PBL site

Until next time…

Thanks for staying subscribed to my podcast and I hope you enjoy listening. In this episode I talk a bit about how you can use Google Earth to teach and learn about the Civil War

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 Google Earth

Blog posts about Google Earth

History Tours Wiki

Thanks for staying subscribed to my podcast and I hope you enjoy listening. In this episode I talk a bit about a trip that my family and I took to Charleston, SC and our visit to Fort Sumter.

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Fort Sumter National Monument

Virtual tours on your iPhone

Rama is a history app for the iPhone that allows readers to walk (or drive) the most significant routes in history. When our team at Crimson Bamboo sat down to create Rama, one important aspect of how we designed the app was its possible appeal to children and use as an educational tool. Many members of the Rama team have a background in teaching, and one thing we recognized immediately is how the medium we were developing—combining the interactivity found in video games with the strong visual attraction of television—could become a strong pedagogical resource.

We are eager to connect our readers with the Civil War, and several authors have contributed tours focused on this captivating era. We asked David Potter, author of “Antietam Battlefield,” his thoughts on Rama in the classroom.   Says David:

In order to be an effective teacher, one must be able to paint a vivid picture with words that are easily accessible and relatable. In the modern world, there exists an almost endless stream of stimulation and distraction that obscure an otherwise focused mind.

One key would be to get students to become so excited about a subject that they would see it as “fun”, instead of as “work”, and try to engage that subject matter themselves, rather than wait to be told about it. This, of course, is no easy task. It is a tall order to ask for teachers to speak with the eloquence and intrigue of Ken Burns, Shelby Foote, or James M. McPherson.

Historical images help Rama authors weave their narratives

Speaking from personal experience, it was Shaara’s The Killer Angels that wove the Civil War into a palpable subject. That book transformed the Civil War from a dead historical event into the most interesting portion of our history—something crucial to my appreciation of today’s America. It is through this lens that my tour of the Battle of Antietam tries to relate history not just through words, but through trying to give history a visual and physical presence. The tour combines narrative storytelling with photos taken at the time and place of the battle, and challenges readers to compare and merge the historical image with the modern reality. It is hard to imagine another tool better for transporting readers back to the days when brother fought brother.

While the tours of Rama could never replace the role of a book, classroom, and teacher teaching the Civil War, they do present an invaluable tool for taking a student hundreds or thousands of miles (or years!) away, while sitting in the comfort of a classroom. Rama provides this unique combination of storytelling, pictures and location that is unrivaled in mobile media, and could serve as an unbelievable educational tool to help teachers more easily relate to students the story of the Civil War, just as The Killer Angels once inspired me.

David’s tour, “Antietam Battlefield”, is typically available on Rama as an in-app purchase for $1.99, but will be free to access from January 9th to the 15th. Rama is available for free download at http://bit.ly/iTunesRama. More screenshots from David’s tour and others are available at http://on.fb.me/RamaTourGalleries.

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William Bevins, Rama’s history editor, and Michael Carroll, co-creator of Rama, are both former educators. Between them, they have taught students at every level from kindergarten to college.

 I recently received a copy of Year of Disunion: A Novel of the Dawn of the American Civil War by Blythe Forcey Toussaint.  I honestly did not know what to expect from the book but I can now honestly say that I enjoyed reading the story.  While the story is about the events leading up to the Civil War it is more about the story of a family from Vermont and sisters Lettie and Roxana.

According to the back cover:

“On the morning of July 21, 1861, several hundred civilians set out to Centreville, picnics packed, to watch the battle of Bull Run. Year of Disunion is a novel that explores who these people were and what their experience might have been. The story opens in Vermont as two very different sisters, Lettie and Roxana, reunite after years apart while Roxana is enduring a near-fatal childbirth. Changes caused by the war take them to Washington and an invitation to watch the battle, along with their five young children. Things do not go well for the spectators. Visions of champagne toasts to celebrate a glorious, easy Yankee victory are shattered as dishonorable retreat drives the civilians from the field along with the soldiers. After the battle, Lettie is pursued by her abusive, wealthy husband, and Roxana travels south to find her husband, chaplain to the 2nd Vermont, who has been captured and made a prisoner of war. Events lead characters into wartime Washington, DC; Raleigh, NC; Cairo, IL; and the North Carolina Outer Banks, as they respond to the “disunion” the war brings to their lives throughout the remainder of 1861.”

The story is about Lettie running away from her husband and going to live with Roxana and her Reverend husband, Josheph.  Joseph enlists in the Union Army as a chaplain and is taken captive at the Battle of Bull Run and so the sisters pack up their family and set out in search of her husband.

Year of Disunion: A Novel of the Dawn of the American Civil War at 320 pages, is a good read and tells a very good story.  Ms. Toussaint has clearly done her research and it is reflected in the narrative.  While not a military or technical book about battle details, the story is about family and how they struggled with the events on the homefront.

Year of Disunion: A Novel of the Dawn of the American Civil War  is a bit wordy or slow in parts but it does not take away from the overall story.  I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a Civil War themed historical fiction novel.

Thanks for staying subscribed to my podcast and I hope you enjoy listening. In this episode I present a brief interview that I did with author JD Petruzzi.  I have done reviews of JD’s books here before and it was nice to talk to him in person about his works.

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JD Petruzzi’s Website

Complete Gettysburg Guide Website

Gettysburg Campaign Handbook 

My Review of the Complete Gettysburg Guide

The Civil War is an integral part of United States history that has fascinated Americans for generations. The war began one hundred and fifty years ago, but its battlefields remain some of the most popular tourist attractions in the country. Each year, thousands of Civil War enthusiasts, schoolchildren, and master’s degree students visit such sites as Gettysburg, Manassas, Antietam, and Shiloh.

Though it’s not possible for everyone to see these places in person, virtual Civil War battlefield tours provide a way for Civil War buffs and educators to bring these battlegrounds to life in a matter of clicks. Here are some of the most popular websites for Civil War battlefield tours:

The Civil War section of John’s Military History Page features maps, concise descriptions, and present-day pictures of Civil War battlefields. A bonus of this page is it offers information on both famous and lesser-known battles. The color photographs on the page give viewers a clear idea of what the landscape and buildings on each battlefield actually look like, enabling them to see the battlefields as Civil War soldiers would have seen them.

Stephen Recker’s Virtual Gettysburg site offers panoramic views of the Civil War’s bloodiest and perhaps most decisive battlefield. Users can scan the area from various angles. By accessing the panoramas of Gettysburg, viewers will gain an appreciation for the immense size of the battlefield and realize what a peaceful, rural place it was before more than 50,000 soldiers died on its soil.

CivilWarAlbum.com prides itself on featuring modern photos of Civil War battlefields, and does so quite comprehensively. The site hosts panoramas of famous and obscure battles alike. It also features detailed maps of nearly 80 battlefields. These maps are particularly helpful, providing students with insight into the strategies and tactics of both the Union and Confederate armies.

Virtual Civil War battlefield tours can also be found at the National Park Service’s web site, which includes virtual tours of Fort Donelson, Tennessee; Fredericksburg and Petersburg, Virginia; and Wilson’s Creek, Missouri. The National Park Service has provided funds for other virtual Civil War battlefield tours as well. The Museum of the Middle Appalachians will begin hosting a virtual tour of the Battle of Saltville, Virginia next year.

Virtual Civil War battlefield tours are a practical alternative for history-lovers who wish to explore Civil War sites but don’t have the time or financial resources to travel to them. They’re also ideal for teachers who can’t take their students on physical field trips to Civil War battlefields. Whether individuals are seeking to learn about the Civil War out of personal interest or as part of a curriculum, they can now experience some of its key locations almost as vividly online as they could in person.

Thanks for staying subscribed to my podcast and I hope you enjoy listening. In this episode I discuss a recent trip to Middletown Virginia for the annual Battle of Cedar Creek reenactment, an interview with a Civil War embalming surgeon and an interview with Ranger John Hoptak.

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Battle of Cedar Creek reenactment

Antietam National Battlefield

Ranger Hoptaks’s blog

The Battle of South Mountain book by Ranger Hoptak

Thanks for staying subscribed to my podcast and I hope you enjoy listening. Just a short episode today to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

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Today is Thanksgiving and it is a holiday steeped in tradition. I wonder how many of you know that it was Abraham Lincoln who, on October 3, 1863, proclaimed “the last Thursday of November” as Thanksgiving Day. Another interesting bit of information is that a lady by the name of Sara J. Hale, the Editress of the “Ladys Book”, wrote a letter to President Lincoln on September 28, 1863 and asked him proclaim that day in November as a National Thanksgiving Day. I have included a copy of Lincoln’s proclamation at the end of this post.

In addition, I thought it would be interesting to show the following Alfred Waud sketch from the Library of Congress. This is a sketch of a Union camp on Thanksgiving in 1861. If you look closely you can see a soldier carrying a turkey and a dog waiting for him to drop a scrap. There are pots cooking over fires, and hungry men awaiting at a table on the right hand side. The TIFF version of the photo can be found HERE.

So, while you are watching the parade and eating your turkey, pause and say thanks to the soldiers not only of today but of the Civil War era, for without them, what we have to be thankful for might be vastly different.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battlefield; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed,

Done at the city of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth

By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State

——————————————————————————————

References:
The history place – Abraham Lincoln. Retrieved November 22, 2006, from The History Place Web site: http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/thanks.htm

Ever wonder how newspapers during Civil War covered the battles? Are your doing any research into an aspect of the Civil War and need a great primary source? Well, the Son of the South website has digitized versions of Harper’s Weekly online for your review. According to the website, they have “over 7,000 pages of original Civil War content, and is full of incredible photographs, original illustrations, and eye-witness accounts of the defining moments of this Historic Struggle.” They have even organized the information based on each year of the war, different battles, generals, slavery, medicine and the Lincoln Assassination. How can you use this collection in your classroom?

• Have students use this as research for a paper or report
• Have students create their own newspaper with accounts of a battle
• Have students read the July 18, 1863 and the “First Report from Gettysburg” and ask why did it take 17 days to get information out in the paper?
• Have students review and reflect on the ads in the papers
• Have students review and reflect on the cartoons in the paper and what impact they may have had on attitudes toward the War.
• Check out the sketch of the Maryland Battery at Antietam, then have students research where the Maryland Battery was located at on the Antietam Battlefield. You may even want to contact an Antietam park Ranger or two? (talk about Subject Matter Experts!)
  

Let me know your thoughts on how you can use this great resource. Until next time…happy reading!