The Fall of Vicksburg

The Fall of Vicksburg

When I was 19, I knew a much older man who’d grown up in 1930s Alabama. “We didn’t celebrate the Fourth of July,” he told me. “For us, it was the day Vicksburg fell.” Vicksburg, Mississippi, fell to Union troops on July 4, 1863. The...
News From Around the South, 6/29 to 7/6

News From Around the South, 6/29 to 7/6

SOUTH CAROLINA: SC militias fought for America’s freedom – who fights for their battlegrounds? As a boy, Rick Wise was hooked on military history from the beginning. But he was never told he lived mere miles from the pivotal spot where the backcountry’s “Swamp Fox,”...
The Fall of Vicksburg

July 4, 2026

“Which is better — to be ruled by one tyrant 3,000 miles away or by 3,000 tyrants one mile away?” — Rev. Mather Byles (1706-1788) Does it really matter if the instrument curtailing liberty is a monarch or a popularly elected legislature? This conundrum,...
The Fall of Vicksburg

The Issue is Israel

The little girl had to go to the bathroom. They went into the cafe, one of a small chain, and the barista was happy to help. The father, who wasn’t really thirsty, bought a cup of coffee anyway and added a tip to thank her. A few hours later, a picture of the...
News From Around the South, 6/22 to 6/29

News From Around the South, 6/22 to 6/29

SOUTH CAROLINA: He died fighting for America’s independence at 14. He’s only just been identified Thirteen of America’s first ever veterans lie beneath a towering pine forest that was once the site of one of the Revolutionary War’s bloodiest battles, names lost to...