History Tavern Podcast

Historians Joan Waugh, Daniel T. Davis, Gary Gallagher, and Chris Mackowski discuss the history and memory of Ulysses S. Grant's military leadership and drinking.

While leading his men in a charge against a heavily fortified Confederate position, Chamberlain was struck in the right hip. The bullet splintered the hip bone, cutting into his bladder and urethra before it lodged just behind the left hip joint. Chamberlain endured many painful surgeries and eventually succumbed to the wound 50 years later. Dr. Matt Farina, a retired pediatric cardiologist and me...

New York Times best-selling author Chris DeRose talked about the shooting of Phillip Barton Key and the subsequent murder trial of Dan Sickles. His latest book Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America covers those events in a flowing narrative that reads as much like a modern crime drama as it does a historical work.

Civil War Institute Director Peter Carmichael talked about his book "The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies." Carmichael discussed his unique approach in analyzing soldier letters, desertion, pragmatism, and the annual Civil War Institute Summer Conference at Gettysburg College.

Author Joseph Collea talked about his book New York and the Lincoln Specials. In the winter of 1861, President-elect Lincoln traveled across New York State on his way to Washington, D.C., as the secession crisis unfolded. In 1865, Lincoln's body retraced that route before burial in Springfield. Collea covers both journeys including Lincoln's reception in Buffalo, Albany, and New York City in 1861...

Ronald Kirkwood talked about the central role the Spangler Farm played in the Battle of Gettysburg, Civil War amputations, and the environmental toll the battle took on the Spangler property.

Mark Will-Weber talked about the influence the use of alcohol had on the Civil War and the history of presidential drinking. Was secession fueled by alcohol, did Lincoln drink, did Grant drink too much, was FDR really a beer drinker? Weber talks about this and much more in this podcast recorded at Albany Distilling Company.

A special audio documentary podcast about the Battle of Gettysburg featuring authors Tom Huntington, Eric Wittenberg, James Hessler, and Garry Adelman. From the ghosts of Chancellorsville, to Buford's actions on July 1st, to Sickles decision to advance his line on July 2nd, to Pickett's Charge, and everything in between.

Recorded at the 2019 Civil War Institute Summer Conference on the campus of Gettysburg college, this episode features Dr. Rachel Shelden and Dr. Amy Murrell Taylor. Rachel Sheldon talked about her book Washington Brotherhood: Politics, Social Life, and the Coming of the Civil War. Shelden's book focuses on the personal relationships forged by Washington politicians during the tumultuous 1850s. Whi...

Author Christopher Klein talked about his book When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Ireland's Freedom. "Just over a year after Robert E. Lee relinquished his sword, a band of Union and Confederate veterans dusted off their guns. But these former foes had no intention of reigniting the Civil War. Instead they fought side by side to undert...

National University of Ireland Galway Professor Enrico Dal Lago talked about his book "Civil War and Agrarian Unrest: The Confederate South and Southern Italy." Dal Lago places the American Civil War in the global context by comparing and connecting it to the Great Brigandage in Southern Italy in the 1860s. While historians have spent years covering nation-building and social revolution in ninetee...

Naval historian Chuck Veit talked about his book Natural Genius: Brutus de Villeroi and the U. S. Navy's First Submarine. Veit discussed the history of submarines and the remarkable life of French inventor Brutus de Villeroi, the man responsible for building the U. S. Navy's first submarine in 1861.

Tim Wiles, the former director of research at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and current director of the Guilderland Public Library, talked about his time in Cooperstown, the Doubleday Myth, Troy native Johnny Evers, the story behind 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game,' the services offered at the Guilderland Public Library, and much more.

University at Albany Professor David Hochfelder talked about his book The Telegraph in America: 1832-1920. The telegraph was a "revolutionary technology" that had "far-reaching effects on American life." Hochfelder discussed Samuel Morse, the use of the telegraph in the Civil War, the rise of Western Union, and the decline of the telegraph.

Appomattox Court House National Historical Park historian Patrick Schroeder talked about Zouave units in the Civil War, the Appomattox campaign, and Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House.

Harold Holzer talked about his new book Monument Man: The Life & Art of Daniel Chester French. French was "one of America's most prolific sculptors of public monuments," creating The Minute Man in Concord, Harvard University's John Harvard, and most famously, the statue of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial. Holzer discussed French's work, the controversy surrounding public monuments, the Ph...

Author Gene Barr talked about his book "A Civil War Captain and His Lady: Love, Courtship, and Combat from Fort Donelson through the Vicksburg Campaign." Union soldier Josiah Moore met Jennie Lindsay just before he left for war in 1861. Through the course of the war, they exchanged 75 letters which Gene Barr chronicles in this touching account of their love story.

Gerrit Smith biographer Norman K. Dann discussed his book Practical Dreamer: Gerrit Smith and the Crusade for Social Reform. Recorded from inside Gerrit Smith's Land Office, the topics include Smith's activism, philanthropy, his involvement in politics, and his relationship with John Brown.

Author and Grant Cottage tour guide Robert Conner discussed his books General Gordon Granger: The Savior of Chickamauga and the Man Behind "Juneteenth" and The Last Circle of Ulysses Grant. Recorded from Grant Cottage Civil War Weekend, the podcast covers Granger's life, his difficult relationship with Ulysses Grant, and Robert's work at Grant Cottage.

Town of Malta historian Paul Perreault discussed the life and death of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth. Ellsworth was born in Malta, New York, and later became close with the Lincoln family. He gained fame touring the country with the Chicago Zouaves and when the Civil War broke out, he raised a regiment of New York City firefighters. Ellsworth would become the first officer killed during the war after be...

At the Civil War Institute Summer Conference at Gettysburg College, Round Table Podcast host Nick Thony interviewed Judith Giesberg and Susannah Ural. Dr. Judith Giesberg discussed her book Sex and the Civil War: Soldiers, Pornography, and the Making of American Morality. Dr. Susannah Ural talked about her book Hood's Texas Brigade: The Soldiers and Families of the Confederacy's Most Celebrated Un...

Mike McCarthy discussed his book Confederate Waterloo: The Battle of Five Forks, April 1, 1865, and the Controversy that Brought Down a General. Five Forks was one of the last battles of the Civil War, but Union General Gouverneur K. Warren’s battle to regain his reputation after being relieved of his command during the battle, raged for years after the war and pitted Warren against the men who re...

Author and historian Chris Mackowski discusses the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, the contentious relationship between Grant, Meade, and Sheridan, and Emerging Civil War.

Long time Capital District Civil War Round Table member and living historian Matt George discussed the 134th New York, the history of the Round Table, and his tenure as a baseball coach in the Capital Region.