Content I’ve written about various historical topics and mysteries. Representative articles include:
Chicago’s Lost Graveyard: Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park wasn’t first intended as a park. In the nineteenth century, it was the Chicago City Cemetery.
Chicagoland’s Haunted Cemeteries
Chicago has a rich history of ghost stories. Several of the area’s most notable hauntings derive from its historic cemeteries.
The Cooperstown Myth
The late Major General Abner Doubleday was being lauded as the inventor of baseball at the turn of the century. Doubleday himself, however, would have known as well as anyone that the story was an utter fabrication.
Five Major Civil War Battlefield Blunders
The Civil War featured several prominent battlefield blunders. The resulting casualties have made these battles case studies in bad military judgment.
Greenland: The Lost Viking Colony
What happened to the Norse settlers of Greenland? A millennium later, we can still only guess.
Reflections on the Origin of Veterans Day
World War I was supposed to be the war to end all wars. Nearly a century later, the losses are still almost impossible to fathom.
The Southern Revolution: The Battle of Camden
In the summer of 1780, Horatio Gates took command of Continental forces in the southern colonies. It proved to be a costly choice. The Battle of Camden decimated both an army and a reputation.
The Southern Revolution: The Battle of Cowpens
The Battle of Cowpens marked the successful beginning of an unconventional but effective campaign against the British in the southern colonies.
The Southern Revolution: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse
The Battle of Guilford Courthouse proved a victory that Lord Cornwallis could not afford and ultimately led to his abandonment of the Carolinas.
The Southern Revolution: The Battle of King’s Mountain
King’s Mountain proved to be an unlikely—but crucial—turning point in the American Revolution.
The Southern Revolution: The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge
The battle at Moores Creek in 1776 may seem like a local skirmish. To the British, however, it signalled the end of royal authority in the Carolinas.
The Southern Revolution: The Battle of Yorktown
Although it would take two years for Britain to formally recognize American independence, the allied victory at Yorktown marked the end of British rule in the colonies.
The Southern Revolution: The Charleston Campaigns
Charleston was the site of major defeats for both the British and Continental armies during the American Revolution.