About The Western Theater in the Civil War
This is no ordinary Civil War site. This space will offer you the chance to read work by the best scholars, writers, and researchers in the Western Theater area of study (including the Trans-Mississippi). Authors of some of your favorite campaign and battle studies are featured, as are National Park service rangers, battlefield guides, respected bloggers, and up and coming historians. You can always expect to find quality content related to the most important theater of the American Civil War.
You will also find events that involve our team of writers, as well as learning opportunities with some of the most respected historians today. This allows you the chance to delve deeper into the Western Theater of the American Civil War.
Upcoming Events
Tour - United American Cemetery (OH)
Sat, Nov 07
United American Cemetery
On to Richmond! (KY)
Fri, Jul 30
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Preservation Opportunities
Support Western Theater Battlefields!
The American Battlefield Trust has several efforts that include saving ground at Western Theater battle sites. Please consider preserving our history by clicking on the links below to donate today!
Save 42 Vital Acres at Two Key Civil War Western Theater Battlefields
Save 57 Acres at Perryville and Stones River
Save Central Land at 3 Battlefields
Save 338 Acres at Four Battlefields
Save Three Civil War Battlefields
Save 42 Acres at Stones River Battlefield
Save 226 Acres at 4 Civil War Battlefields
Help Restore Battlefields to Wartime Appearances
Save 99 Crucial Acres at Three Western Theater Battlefields
Western Theater On the Ground and Digital Learning Opportunities
The 1st & 3rd Florida at the Battle of Perryville tour with Taylor Bishop
August 22nd - Park Tour Guide Taylor Bishop will be giving a special tour on the route of the 1st and 3rd Florida regiments as they attacked the Union position on Loomis Heights.
A House Divided discussion with Bjorn Skaptason
Join Bjorn Skaptason of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop and author Carl Guarneri as they discuss his recent biography of Charles Dana, Lincoln's Informant. Check out the show on Thursday, August 27.
Shiloh Discussion Group's Epic Hike
Take one of the Epic Hikes through Shiloh National Military Park with members of the Shiloh Discussion Group and author Timothy B. Smith. Click Learn More to be redirected to the Shiloh Discussion Group.
Seminar in the Woods
Annual multi-day experience at Chickamauga National Military Park. For more information click Learn More to be redirected to David Powell's Chickamauga blog.
Team
Pulling together authors and historians who have a focus on the Western Theater of the war.
Kass Cobb
Genealogist and History Enthusiast
Kass Cobb is a genealogist, history enthusiast, and college sophomore who plans to double-major in history and military history. Kass first became obsessed with history in eighth grade through a unit on the American Civil War. She began researching her family's heritage and discovered that she is a direct descendant of eight Civil War veterans. Since then, Kass has desired to share the stories of United States veterans. One of the ways she does this is by obtaining grave markers for veterans. When Kass isn't busy planning historical events for her community, placing signs at cemeteries, or researching her family's past, you'll find her antique collecting, reading, singing, and enjoying nature with her many pets.
Derrick Lindow
Blogger, Educator, and Reenactor
The driving force behind this site, Derrick Lindow is an 8th grade United States History teacher and a James Madison Fellow for the State of Kentucky. He blogs at www.kentuckycivilwarauthor.com which focuses on Kentucky’s role in the war. He has two wonderful boys and an amazing wife. Derrick is also a reenactor.
Dan Masters
Author and Blogger
Dan lives with his wife and five children (his sixth is away in the Air Force) in Perrysburg, Ohio and has worked more than 25 years in manufacturing, currently working as a plant traffic manager. He has been actively engaged in Civil War research for more than 20 years with a focus on Ohio's soldiers and their contributions to winning the war for the Union. During that time, he has published six books, more than 150 blog posts, and has had more than a dozen articles published in publications such as America's Civil War, Northwest Ohio History, the Western Tennessee Historical Society Papers, and the Maryland Historical Magazine. In 2017, he founded Columbian Arsenal Press with the aim of publishing high quality Civil War narratives. He is also a proud descendant of four Union veterans of the Civil War, two from Ohio and two from Indiana.
Richard McCormick
Blogger
Richard McCormick graduated with a B.A. in History from the University of Kentucky in 1995. He has volunteered at the James A. Ramage Civil War Museum in Fort Wright, Kentucky since 2006 and has been on the museum's Board of Directors since 2008. He also serves on the boards for the Campbell County Historical and Genealogical Society (since 2011) and the Cynthiana Battlefields Foundation (since 2016.) He has also volunteered on the committee for the annual Northern Kentucky Regional History Day, which takes place every spring. He enjoys reading and learning about the Civil War, local history and genealogy and has published My Civil War Obsession (civilwarobsession.com) since 2009.
Andy Papen
All Around Good Guy
Andy Papen is a long-time student of the Civil War west of the Appalachian Mountains including the Trans-Mississippi. He has a particular interest in Missouri's often overlooked and underappreciated role in the Civil War. A native mid-Missourian, Andy earned a degree in Accountancy from the University of Missouri and retired from Missouri State Government in 2017 after a long career with the Department of Economic Development. He currently lives in Jefferson City, and is a long-time supporter of Missouri Tiger football.
Joseph Ricci
Military Historian, Writer, and Presenter
Joseph D. Ricci is a student at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana where he is pursuing a Master of Arts degree with a focus in American Military History from 1800-1865. Joseph, or Joey, has had a lifelong fascination with the American Civil War having grown up at New Orleans’ Memorial Hall Museum and visited every major battlefield at least once. His fascination with the Western Theater centers around the 1864 Nashville Campaign which is the focus of his Master’s Thesis. Joseph hosts an internationally recognized history podcast, Home Brew History, with his friend and former classmate. He has also presented to several Civil War Round Tables and frequently travels the nation sharing his research with diverse audiences. In his spare time, he enjoys reading about both the American Civil War and the Second World War, writing, wargaming, cooking, and participating in living history events.
Stuart Sanders
Author and Historian
Stuart W. Sanders is the author of four books, including “Perryville Under Fire: The Aftermath of Kentucky’s Largest Civil War Battle,” “The Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky,” and “Maney’s Confederate Brigade at the Battle of Perryville.” His latest book “Murder on the Ohio Belle,” examines violence, Southern honor, vigilante justice, and the Civil War through the lens of an 1856 murder on a steamboat. He is the former executive director of the Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association.
Darryl Smith
Blogger and Tour Guide
Darryl Smith is a long time Civil War enthusiast, tour guide, and speaker (Walking With History LLC), blogger (Ohio at Perryville), board member for the Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation, and Regimental Color Bearer with the American Battlefield Trust. He has published a guide on the War Department Tablets at Fort Donelson as well as an expanded version of The Black Brigade of Cincinnati. A descendant of several Civil War ancestors (133rd Ohio, 35th Oho, 47th Indiana, and others), he resides in Cincinnati with his wife Jennifer.