Six Gems of Forgotten Civil War History: Essays That Did Not Make it Into the Dissertation, But Were Too Much Fun to Discard

The America: War Service of a Racing Yacht -- Find out why the 'world's most famous sailboat, who gave her name to the America's Cup regatta, became a Confederate blockade-runner out of Jacksonville in the war, was scuttled in Palatka, and then re-floated to become a Union blockader. Yulee's Railroad — Florida's first railroad and the men who built and ran it. For years, the Union held both ends; the Confederates held the middle. The 1864 battle of Olustee was fought over it. The survivors of the 1923 Rosewood massacre owed their lives to it. A History of the Minstrel Show -- Was minstrelsy racist to the root, or was it just vulgar working-class theater? This essay examines the minstrel show's folk origins, outlines a typical performance, and traces its legacy in American entertainment today. The Longstreet Controversy -- Learn why Confederate General James Longstreet's reputation was destroyed between 1872 and 1890 by two still-alive falsehoods: that Lee's defeat at Gettysburg lost the war for the South, and that Longstreet caused Lee's defeat. The Evolution of Rifle Tactics -- Why didn't Civil War soldiers take cover? Learn why it took 65 years for tactics to catch up with technology: Claude Minie's invention of the military rifle. The Evolution of Indirect Fire -- Why didn't Civil War artillery shoot from behind a hill? Learn why cannons deployed in the front line to fire directly at the enemy until technology changed tactics.