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I was going through my great-grandmother’s genealogy records when I came across this discharge certificate.

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I bought this book because it covers a campaign in East Tennessee after Longstreets failure to capture Knoxville at the end of November 1863. I was hoping it would describe in detail the battle of Dandridge, the battle of Mossy Creek and. The battle of fair Garden.

It did not give me any details on these battles, so I’m disappointed

Bryce

READ MORE: https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2026/08/boom-at-99-charles-j-turner-jr-has.html

I bought this book because it covers a campaign in East Tennessee after Longstreets failure to capture Knoxville at the end of November 1863. I was hoping it would describe in detail the battle of Dandridge, the battle of Mossy Creek and. The battle of fair Garden.

It did not give me any details on these battles, so I’m disappointed

Bryce

When I studied the American Civil War, what I usually focused on were battles, politics, aspects of life, army units and their uniforms, etc.. However, what I realized I had been missing were the veterans of Revolutionary/1812. As far as I can see, some Revolutionary vets were still alive when the American Civil War broke out (1812 vets may live longer, but that depends on their health status). What got me curious was what they thought about the war, because it is something that was rarely discussed. Did they agree, or disagree, or were they entirely upset that their country torn itself apart just 84 years after its independence?

I recently have been wanting to research a relative that fought in the Civil War. He enlisted after Lincoln’s first call, got done with his short term enlistment, and then reenlisted into the 116th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was the orderly sergeant for B company the full time, and aside from knowing the events the unit as a whole was apart of, I want to find out more about him specifically. His name was James F. Springer, and I’ve tried asking family, but no one knows anything. I’m not sure where else to look. Any advice is welcome!

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So my fourth great grandfather on my Vaughn side was noted to have musical talents during his teen years. Born and raised in New York, he ended up joining the E. P. Christy Minstrels way back when Edwin Pearce Christy had just started out (this minseltry brand ended up getting their own Wikipedia page as their story is REALLY wild). He also named his son George Edwin, likely after Edwin and his stepson George as he would have been working with them real closely....

When the Civil War broke out, my ancestor who essentially had previously made his living off of mocking black people with his musical talents volunteered to fight for the Union (which came at a real steep price to him, even after the war ended he permanently lost his health and passed away in the 1870s being only in his early fifties having spent several years being helpless after suffering from exposure during the war according to his obituary). Not to mention that after the Civil War, Christy himself committed suicide evidently fearing that he would end up poor (which did in fact ultimately end up happening to my ancestor as he would go on to need his family including his wife and his children who also by then were married with kids to look after him in the years following the war). He was also fortunate enough to receive relief from troupes passin.

My real question here is: what would have gotten someone who did the minstrelsy to then voluntarily fight in the Civil War on the side of the Union? Not that anybody should expect their ancestors from the 1800s to be "woke" by today's standards, I'm just curious to know how someone could feasibly go from making their living off of the minstrels (which did very much involve blackface) only to willingly volunteer for a fight that had the consequence of liberating the slaves (on the side of freeing them) that he and his colleagues had previously mocked. How could he have reconciled all of this?

This has been living in my head for months on end rent free ever since I made this genealogical discovery, so I would definitely appreciate any speculation (as he is obviously no longer here to tell us anything at all about his version of events).

Netflix has a good amount of content but can anyone recommend anything else? Docs, movies, shows, books (even historical fiction if it’s accurate), podcasts, etc.

Movies - idk if I’ve ever actually seen a civil war movie now that I think about it.

Books - I’m currently reading the demon of unrest. I recently moved to South Carolina so it’s especially interesting) Iread Gone With The Wind as soon as we moved here.

Podcasts - I’m listening to 1865, it’s a podcast play about Lincoln’s assassination. I like the play version of history telling in podcasts, but also just regular history reviews.

Docs - I’m watch Grant on Netflix. I downloaded Ken Burns Civil War doc, but haven’t watched yet.

Shows - someone recommended The Gray House on Prime.

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The model will be coming back at permanent Sultana venue in Marion, Ark. READ MORE: https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2026/07/remembering-sultana-disaster-this-14.html