New To The Blogroll

1. African American Soldiers and Sailors – A treasure trove of information pertaining to United States Colored Troops, black sailors, and enslaved African Americans who sought freedom in North Carolina during the Civil War.

2. Civil War Emancipation – This blog should be downright spectacular, considering that it is authored by Dr. Donald Shaffer, who wrote a book that made it onto this blog’s Top 12 Books: USCT Edition – After the Glory: The Struggles of Black Civil War Veterans. Dr. Shaffer’s stated purpose in maintaining his blog is to "1) commemorate important milestones in emancipation in the Civil War as their 150th anniversary arrives in the sesquicentennial; 2) discuss noteworthy publications on this subject; 3) comment on current events related to the Civil War and emancipation; 4) plus write on whatever else comes to mind that is appropriate."

3. Jubilo! The Emancipation Century – This blog’s stated purpose is to "cover the following topics: abolition, slavery, the Civil War, emancipation, the Reconstruction, and the Nadir."

4. The USCT Chronicle – Blogger Angela Y. Walton-Raji vows to "tell some of the missing stories of the Black Union Soldiers from Tippah County Mississippi, from Giles County Tennessee, from the states west of the Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas, and Indian Territory."

Also, as I hope should go without saying, Dr. Brooks D. Simpson has created a new blog called Crossroads which has leapt into the forefront of the best Civil War blogs out there (pretty astounding when you consider he launched the blog in December…overachiever). It even made the list of the Top 30 Civil War Blogs by Onlincourses.net.
 
And, while we’re on the topic of said list, I should hasten to add that this here blog was chosen to be among the top 30 as well, which is a tremendous honor.

If you had told me when I was 18 years old and devouring books like Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas and Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868 that my name would appear on a list with both of the pre-eminent historians who wrote those books, I would have told you to lay off the hash pipe and get a real job.

Now that this has become a reality, I can only be grateful for all of you who take the time out of your busy lives to read this blog.

All I can say is thank you.