Podcasts and ECW Blog Posts

Podcasts

The Sailor and the Soldier at Vicksburg” Emerging Civil War Patreon Presentation with slides, September 10, 2024. Join me for a discussion of the joint army and naval operations in the Vicksburg Campaign, as well as the relationship between Admiral David Porter and General Ulysses S. Grant.


The Civil War on the Water Emerging Civil War Podcast, June 7, 2023. Join Chris Mackowski and I for a conversation about the newest Emerging Civil War 10th Anniversary book The Civil War on the Water. Learn about the adventures of the “webbed feet” of North and South, including the groundbreaking (“wavebreaking”?) relationship between the Union army and navy.


Clash of the Ironclads,” the Naval Academy History Production “Tell Me Another” podcast episodes 44/45. A discussion about the USS Monitor and the battle of Hampton Roads based on my book Unlike Anything That Ever Floated.



Blog Posts

Dwight has been contributing to the Emerging Civil War blog since December 2014 with over 90 posts. 

Click here to see all Emerging Civil War blog posts

The following are some favorite posts:

First Battle of Ironclads: Myths, Facts, What Ifs

Posted on March 9, 2021. Today is the 159th anniversary of the battle and my new Emerging Civil War Series book, Unlike Anything That Ever Floated: The Monitor and Virginia and the Battle Hampton Roads, March 8-9, 1862 is just hitting the shelves. Time for a few interesting myths, facts, and what ifs. Continue reading →


Around We Go: In the Monitor Turret

Posted on August 3, 2018. Lieutenant Samuel D. Greene, USN, had a problem. He was encased within a dim, claustrophobic, metal drum—20 feet in diameter—behind eight layers of bolted and riveted 1-inch-thick iron plates in charge of two immense 11-inch Dahlgren shell guns, each 13 … Continue reading →


The Future of Civil War History

Posted June 22, 2016. The past is a dim timescape receding into increasing darkness behind us, irregularly illuminated by the historical record. The future stretches before, obscured by an opaque screen upon which we project dreams, fears, and our perceptions of possibilities. We stand … Continue reading →


The Future of Civil War History (part two)

Posted June 29, 2016. Understanding a historical period such as the Civil War and judging it are two different processes. Understanding must come first or judging simply becomes prejudice, that is, “pre-judging.” This is as true when viewing ancestors as when evaluating contemporary people … Continue reading →


What’s In a (Confederate) Name?

Posted on July 11, 2020. Visitors to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis are engulfed in history. The magnificent grounds on the Severn River (known officially as “the yard”) abound in monuments, plaques, halls, and displays memorializing the nation’s naval heritage. Names of heroes … Continue reading →


Modern Photography: No Monuments on the Ocean

Posted on March 3, 2017. There are no monuments on the ocean, no crossroads in the great waters, no places echoing in heart and mind—Gettysburg, Shiloh, Chickamauga. But our Civil War ancestors were out there too and some of them still are. Names that resonate … Continue reading →