Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Things I didn’t know: Civil War edition

Life continues to surprise me, for which I am grateful. Here are some things I learned recently about the Civil War.

North_Carolina_state_coat_of_arms_(illustrated,_1876)
North_Carolina_state_coat_of_arms_(illustrated,_1876)

Life continues to surprise me, for which I am grateful. Here are some things I learned recently about the Civil War, or at least re-learned:

Life continues to surprise me, for which I am grateful. Here are some things I learned recently about the Civil War, or at least re-learned:

— “There were eight regiments of North Carolinians — four white and four black — who fought for the Union army.”

— One factor leading to the Civil War that I hadn’t seen before was that there was a major recession in the late 1850s — that is, the Panic of 1857. It hit the industrial North much harder than it did the agrarian South, and so made Southerners overconfident about their financial strength going into the war.

— Before the war, William T. Sherman briefly practiced law in Leavenworth, Kansas.

— Lincoln on Grant’s tenacity: “When Grant once gets possession of a place, he holds on to it as if he had inherited it.” (A quotation I once knew, having underlined it in Harry Williams’ book on Lincoln and his generals, but had forgotten.)

Image credit: Henry Mitchell (1876), The State Arms of the Union/Wikimedia Commons

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

More from Foreign Policy

Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.
Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America

The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.
Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense

If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War

Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.
An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests

And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.