Cobblestone articles from January 2009

Cobblestone archives from January 2009

The war's western roots.(United States Civil War)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The United States had been embroiled in a war of words and ideas long before either side fired its weapons in the Civil War. Americans had argued for decades over the issue of slavery and whether it should be allowed...

Warfare in the West.(American Civil War)
January 1, 2009... The Civil War in the West posed special challenges to both armies. It was hard to supply large groups of men across great distances. This meant that the size of the forces engaged in battle paled beside that of their more famous counterparts to...

Mapping it!(United States)
January 1, 2009... The United States went through enormous changes during the Civil War. The top maps offer a look at both the nation's growth in territory just before (RIGHT) to immediately following (OPPOSITE) the war. By 1865, the United States as we know it...

California's key role.(United States Civil War)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Quick! Name one major Civil war fought in California. If you guessed "none," you're right! No battle, large or small, was fought in that state between Union and Confederate soldiers. Nevertheless, although its...

Emigrants West, gold East.(Mark Twain)
January 1, 2009... Young Samuel Clemens had to decide whether he was for the Union or the Confederacy. His patriotism made him favor the Union. His childhood in Missouri, however, inclined his heart toward the South. At the start of the Civil War, Clemens joined...

Controlling inland rivers.(United States Civil War)
January 1, 2009... Control of America's inland rivers helped shape the Civil War--and ultimately pointed the way toward a Union victory. These waterways, located in what was at that time the country's western interior, between the Appalachian Mountains and the...

Tough terrain at Glorieta Pass.(Battle of Glorieta Pass)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Residents of the southern half of the New Mexico Territory were not happy, and the Confederate leaders knew it. The territory, which included present-day Arizona and New Mexico, as well as southern Nevada, had come...

Battle of Picacho Pass.
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] News that Confederate lieutenant colonel John R. Baylor had proclaimed the existence of the Confederate Territory of Arizona (see page 14) encouraged residents of the southern portion of the New Mexico Territory to...

Victory at Vicksburg.
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Union major general Ulysses S. Grant had been given a free hand by his superior officer, Major General Henry W. Halleck, to pick his own battles. Far from the big battles taking place in the East, Grant was in...

Chasing the red fox.
January 1, 2009... Old wounds opened within the Cherokee Nation when the American Civil War began. A feud dating back to the 1830s between two factions within the Cherokees--one led by Principal Chief John Ross and the other led by the Watie-Ridge...

Trouble's brewing.(Cherokees)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When President Andrew Jackson ordered the removal of the Cherokees from their ancestral home in Georgia to the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in 1830, the tribe did not know whether it should resist or...

The final engagement.(American Civil War)
January 1, 2009... By the first week of May 1865, the Civil War was drawing to a close. General Robert E. Lee had already surrendered his men at Appomattox Court House in early April, but a few Confederate forces remained in the field, including some 700...

Did you know?(facts on United States Civil War)
January 1, 2009... While North and South were fighting the Civil War, Congress was busy carving up the West, slowly but surely--first into territories and then into states: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Three states entered the Union...

Ways of the West maze.
January 1, 2009... Imagine you're a scout for the Union army, trying to find your way from the New Mexico Territory back to San Francisco, California. You need to deliver valuable information. Can you avoid the pitfalls of fighting in the West and make your way...

Caught in the crossfire.(Native Americans during the Civil War)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The sparks that started the Civil War as settlers pushed west were not extinguished once that conflict was over. Rather, as settlers and miners streamed westward, moving into and across traditional Indian lands,...

Sand Creek's story: an interview with Ranger Craig Moore.(The Past Is Present)(Interview)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A crowd of dignitaries came together in southeastern Colorado on April 28, 2007. Tribal leaders, descendants, and local residents joined with the governor of Colorado, senators, congressmen, and the director and...

Show your age.(Your Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2009... I'm 10 years old and I really like your COBBLESTONE magazines. I really like the page where you have kids send in pictures on a certain topic. Those pictures are really good, and I wonder, "How old is the person who drew that?" Could you please...

Vicksburg.(Your Letters)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jordan Ciniglio, age 9 Birmingham, Alabama

America.(Your Letters)(Poem)
January 1, 2009... America America is beautiful, America is free. We stand tall. We stand proud. Soldiers fight for freedom. Soldiers fight for joy. I live in America, so proud. Red, white, and blue-- Red stands...

Ready ... Aim ... Fire!(Your Letters)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Brooke Boyd, age 8 Birmingham, Alabama

The Red Badge of Courage.(Your Letters)(Poem)
January 1, 2009... The Red Badge of Courage A young man watches as others enlist in the army until he, too, feels the pull of war. He listened to his mother's farewell, impatient to begin his journey and off he went, waving to his mother...

Mr. Lincoln.(Your Letters)(Poem)
January 1, 2009... Mr. Lincoln He became the Leader of our country, and its liberator, too. He fought the Civil War, always standing firm and true. With one purpose he drove on, like a rock he stood through it all, never...

The Civil War in the West.(Books To Read)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Civil War in the West by Douglas J. Savage (New York: Chelsea House, 2000; www.chelseahouse.infobasepublishing.com/), a volume in the Untold History of the Civil War series, offers a good introduction to the western front, the battles...

The Causes of the Civil War, The Civil War in the West (1861-July 1863), and The Aftermath of the Civil War.(Books To Read)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Causes of the Civil War, The Civil War in the West (1861-July 1863), and The Aftermath of the Civil War by Dale Anderson (New York: World Almanac Education, 2004; www.waebooks.com) are just three volumes of an...

River to Victory: The Civil War in the West, 1861-1863.(Books to Read)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... River to Victory: The Civil War in the West, 1861-1863 by James R. Arnold and Roberta Wiener (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Lerner Publishing Group, 2002; www.lernerbooks .com) takes readers on a journey to the western battles during the first half...

Why Fight? The Causes of the American Civil War.(Books to Read)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Why Fight? The Causes of the American Civil War by Corinne J. Naden & Rose J. Blue (Austin, Texas: Steck Vaughn Publishers, 1999; www.steckvaughn.harcourtachieve.com) reminds us that sometimes a clearer picture of a historical turning point is...

Don't Know Much About the Civil War.(Books to Read)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Don't Know Much About the Civil War by Kenneth C Davis (New York: Harper Paperbacks, 2004; www.HarperCollins.com) makes learning about this critical conflict fun and informative. Although it covers more than just the war in the West, this book...

Ethan rates it ...(Digging Deeper)(www.civilwar.com)(Product/service evaluation)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ***** Imagine dodging bullets, trekking under a hot, burning sun, not sure if you'd live to see the next day. Thanks to www.civilwar.com, understanding something so unbelievable is possible. With the help of a...

On the web.(www.history.army.mil/books/amh/AMH -14.htm and www.guidon.com/westcvwr.html)
January 1, 2009... www.history.army.mil/books/amh/AMH -14.htm is an on-line chapter from Winning the West: The Army in the Indian Wars, 1855-1890. This excerpt provides helpful background information describing what happened in the West after the Civil War,...

Sand Creek National Historic Site.(Places to Visit)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sand Creek National Historic Site, Kiowa County, Colorado; www.nps.gov/sand. See the article on page 39 for more information about this newest National Park Service locale.

Vicksburg National Military Park.(Places to Visit)
January 1, 2009... Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi; www.nps.gov/vick. Visitors can see earth and log fortifications as well as a cave similar to those dug by ordinary citizens during the 1863 siege. There's also a 16-mile auto tour,...

From the archives.
January 1, 2009... For more on the Civil War, try these COBBLESTONE issues: The Battle of Gettysburg (COB8807) Navy and the Civil War (COB0401) Cavalry in the Civil War (COB0212) The Battle of Antietam: September 17, 1862 (COB9710) The...

Bury the hatchet.(Say What? exploring the origins of words and sayings)(United States Civil War)
January 1, 2009... The four long years of the Civil War took a terrible toll on the nation. And even before it began, issues of slavery and states' rights were sources of continual controversy. Rather than see brother fighting against brother, its too bad...

Persuasive speaker.(Dr. D's Mystery Hero)(preacher Thomas Starr King)(Column)
January 1, 2009... You'll need to "dig deep" to figure out this month's mystery hero, but he's one of many lesser-known Americans worth remembering. And in this case, it's even more important to learn about him now, since he'll soon lose a position of honor in...

Brain ticklers.(United States Civil War)
January 1, 2009... Give your brain a little tickle to see how well you read and understood this issue on the Civil War in the West. If you believe the answer is false, give yourself the ultimate test and see whether you can explain why it is false. Answers are...

A final word.(United States Civil War)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After taking our "western" perspective into account, do you still think of the Civil War as a fight simply between the North and the South? How has your perspective shifted?

Cartoon connection with Ebenezer & The Colonel.(Cartoon)
January 1, 2009... If you want to know about THE CIVIL WAR in the WEST, you should talk to ME! Huh? My great-great-grandpappy saw it all! Before the war began, he left Missouri to travel west with the STAGECOACH. In Nevada, he helped a fellow...

Horse power.(Creature Feature)(horses during the American Civil War)
January 1, 2009... Both the North and the South relied on horses to fill a number of roles during the Civil War. At first, horses were used on scouting and patrol missions and as mounts for the soldiers who guarded supply lines. Gradually, horse-mounted units...