Podcast
Threads From The National Tapestry: Stories From The American Civil War
Hosted by Fred Kiger · EN
History is, indeed, a story. With his unique voice and engaging delivery, historian and veteran storyteller Fred Kiger will help the compelling stories of the American Civil War come alive in each and every episode. Filled with momentous issues and repercussions that still resonate with us today, this series will feature events and people from that period and will strive to make you feel as if you were there.
20episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
090 - Rich In "Guns And Butter": The North In 1860
Sep 3001:03:11Tap to summarizeAbout this episode: The year was 1859 and future Confederate Secretary of the Navy, Florida Senator Stephen R. Mallory, trumpeted, “It is no more for this country to pause in its career than for the free and untrammeled eagle to cease its soar.” He had every reason to be optimistic, for the decade of the 1850s had brought the United States of America exceptional growth and prosperity. And, with enormous resources, there was much to look forward to: vast unoccupied lands, a network of navigable rivers, untapped riches in timber, iron, coal, copper and California gold. It is also true that in that same decade political tension had escalated but in the cold light of economics, the two sections were interdependent - perhaps inseparable. Yet there were unsettling factors at work: geography, population and its make-up, internal improvements, technology, religion, education, reform, politics and, yes, slavery and the question of its expansion. Taken as a whole, the United States in 1860, was in fact, two worlds. On the heels of our tour of the American South in 1860, we now look at that world that comprised the so-called Free States - the North. ----more---- Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: Harriet Beecher Stowe Roger Taney John Rock William H. Seward Salmon Chase Subscribe to the Threads from the National Tapestry YouTube Channel here Thank you to our sponsor, Celebrity Word Scramble. In collaboration with Fred Kiger, they have published a Civil War edition of the Celebrity Word Scramble series. Included in the book is 16 pages of Civil War facts, stories, and insights written by Fred Kiger. Get your copy of the book here Thank you to our sponsor, The Badge Maker - proudly carrying affordable Civil War Corps Badges and other hand-made historical reproductions for reenactors, living history interpreters, and lovers of history. Check out The Badge Maker and place your orders here Thank you to our sponsor Bob Graesser, Raleigh Civil War Round Table's editor of The Knapsack newsletter and the Round Table's webmaster at http://www.raleighcwrt.org Thank you to our sponsor John Bailey. Producer: Dan Irving
Transcribe →089 - Colonial Status: The World Of The Antebellum South
Aug 2901:09:48Tap to summarizeAbout this episode: Sometime in 1861, the young Georgia poet Sidney Lanier, a recent Confederate Army enlistee, attended a mock medieval tournament in Kinston, NC. Watching mounted Confederate officers dressed as knights competing for the honor of a local belle, he was moved…even enraptured. To him, the scene was a metaphor for the war itself. The South was a gallant knight battling against dark Northern materialistic forces. Defending hallowed chivalry. As Lanier put it, the Confederacy’s war had “the sanctity of a religious cause” arrayed in “military trapping.” These men, this image of knights in shining armor, this lifestyle are what most remember of the antebellum South. Indeed, what many still want to remember. But they represented only a very thin slice of Southern society. About only one half of 1% of a total population of some nine million. And unlike royalty of old, those planters… those knights were part of an aristocracy sired by property, not birth. Most of them self-made men from ordinary backgrounds whose influence was measured in the number of slaves they owned and the acreage of their plantations. Enjoying leisure and wealth, those few had the time and energy to pursue politics and, in positions of economic and political power, they enjoyed deference from the masses that made up the majority of the Southern white population. Deference which meant that majority followed the leadership and adopted the views of something they would never attain over the course of their entire existence. For this episode, we tell the story of a 19th century world filled with magnolia and cotton…populated with planters, yeomen farmers, “crackers” and the enslaved. Taken together, the completed picture of a world…a culture that in five years would truly be “gone with the wind.” This is the story of the Antebellum South on the eve of civil war. ----more---- Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: John C. Calhoun Eli Whitney Edgar Allan Poe Stephen Foster James Dunwoody Brownson De Bow William L. Yancey Subscribe to the Threads from the National Tapestry YouTube Channel here Thank you to our sponsor, The Badge Maker - proudly carrying affordable Civil War Corps Badges and other hand-made historical reproductions for reenactors, living history interpreters, and lovers of history. Check out The Badge Maker and place your orders here Thank you to our sponsor Bob Graesser, Raleigh Civil War Round Table's editor of The Knapsack newsletter and the Round Table's webmaster at http://www.raleighcwrt.org Thank you to our sponsor John Bailey. Producer: Dan Irving
Transcribe →088 - Death In The Trenches: The Siege Of Petersburg
Jul 31, 202501:11:45Tap to summarizeAbout this episode: From June 18, 1864 until April 2, 1865, the Union Armies of the James and Potomac laid siege to Peterburg, Virginia - the all-important supply and communication center for Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and Richmond itself. After 45 days of constant bloodletting in the Overland Campaign, the contesting forces began what would mirror warfare five decades later - miles and miles of trenches, denuded landmarks and death not so much by rifled muskets and artillery but disease. This is the story of the Confederacy’s long, slow descent into darkness. This the story of the siege of Petersburg. ----more---- Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: George Gordon Meade Wade Hampton III Benjamin Butler Philip Sheridan John B. Gordon Gouverneur Warren Additional Resources: First Battle Of Deep Bottom - July 27-29, 1864 Siege Of Petersburg - Actions August 18-19, 1864 Siege Of Petersburg - Actions October 27, 1864 Siege Of Petersburg - Actions March 29-31, 1865 Siege Of Petersburg - Actions April 2, 1865 Subscribe to the Threads from the National Tapestry YouTube Channel here Thank you to our sponsor, The Badge Maker - proudly carrying affordable Civil War Corps Badges and other hand-made historical reproductions for reenactors, living history interpreters, and lovers of history. Check out The Badge Maker and place your orders here Thank you to our sponsor Bob Graesser, Raleigh Civil War Round Table's editor of The Knapsack newsletter and the Round Table's webmaster at http://www.raleighcwrt.org Thank you to our sponsor John Bailey. Producer: Dan Irving
Transcribe →087 - Modernizing War: Science And Technology In The American Civil War
Jun 26, 202501:04:24Tap to summarizeAbout this episode: GPS, drones, laser-guidance—all modern marvels that have served mankind in both peace and war. Nothing new, for there were creations and adaptations for a conflict contested in the 1860s; enough so that that confrontation has been called, by many, the first “modern war.” This is the story of enterprising inventors and engineers and their ideas and machines—their taking theory and making it practical. The ongoing marriage between innovation and war, this is the story of Science and Technology in the American Civil War. ----more---- Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: Joseph Bailey Henry Pleasants Richard Gatling Samuel Morse Horace Lawson Hunley For Further Reading: Trial by Fire: Science, Technology and the Civil War by Charles D. Ross Subscribe to the Threads from the National Tapestry YouTube Channel here Thank you to our sponsor, The Badge Maker - proudly carrying affordable Civil War Corps Badges and other hand-made historical reproductions for reenactors, living history interpreters, and lovers of history. Check out The Badge Maker and place your orders here Thank you to our sponsor Bob Graesser, Raleigh Civil War Round Table's editor of The Knapsack newsletter and the Round Table's webmaster at http://www.raleighcwrt.org Thank you to our sponsor John Bailey. Producer: Dan Irving
Transcribe →086 - Sowers Of Dissent: Fire-Eaters Louis T. Wigfall And Edmund Ruffin
May 29, 202501:21:14Tap to summarizeAbout this episode: Revolution and civil war require explosive issues and impassioned men more than willing to make change and, if necessary, to do so violently. This is the story of two such Southern men. This is the story of fire eaters Louis T. Wigfall and Edmund Ruffin. ----more---- Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: Nathaniel Macon Roger A. Pryor John Brown Sam Houston P. G. T. Beauregard James H. Hammond Subscribe to the Threads from the National Tapestry YouTube Channel here Thank you to our sponsor, The Badge Maker - proudly carrying affordable Civil War Corps Badges and other hand-made historical reproductions for reenactors, living history interpreters, and lovers of history. Check out The Badge Maker and place your orders here Thank you to our sponsor Bob Graesser, Raleigh Civil War Round Table's editor of The Knapsack newsletter and the Round Table's webmaster at http://www.raleighcwrt.org Thank you to our sponsor John Bailey. Producer: Dan Irving
Transcribe →085 - And The War Began...: Fort Sumter Revisited
Apr 30, 202501:31:19Tap to summarizeAbout this episode: It takes a cast to put on a play and our story this day is filled with characters that emoted passions raging from reasoned deliberation to knee-jerk and violent. And not only for the chain of events that led to the first confrontation of the American Civil War but throughout and even beyond the four-year long conflict. Men and women caught in the cross-hairs of history or those that created them. This is the story of the characters and events that led to momentous drama in Charleston Harbor. This is the cast and story of Fort Sumter Revisited. ----more---- Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: Robert Anderson James Buchanan Winfield Scott Robert Toombs Mary Boykin Chesnut Abner Doubleday For Further Reading: The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War by Maury Klein Mary Chesnut's Civil War by Mary Chesnut Subscribe to the Threads from the National Tapestry YouTube Channel here Thank you to our sponsor, The Badge Maker - proudly carrying affordable Civil War Corps Badges and other hand-made historical reproductions for reenactors, living history interpreters, and lovers of history. Check out The Badge Maker and place your orders here Thank you to our sponsor Bob Graesser, Raleigh Civil War Round Table's editor of The Knapsack newsletter and the Round Table's webmaster at http://www.raleighcwrt.org Producer: Dan Irving
Transcribe →084 - Return To The Confederacy's Gibraltar: Fort Fisher Revisited
Mar 28, 202501:17:31Tap to summarizeAbout this episode: Some six years ago, we chronicled the Confederacy’s Gibraltar that allowed Wilmington, NC to be the last major Confederate port open to the outside world. 72 episodes later and in the 160th year of its capture, we, again, turn our attention to the massive earthen fort and those that took part in the campaign to either storm or defend the Confederate Goliath. This is the expanded story of the fort whose fall in January of 1865 hastened, in many respects, Lee’s retreat from Petersburg, Virginia and, subsequently, the surrender of his army at Appomattox. This is Fort Fisher Revisited. ----more---- Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: Rose O'Neal Greenhow William Lamb William Henry Chase Whiting Braxton Bragg Gideon Welles David Dixon Porter For Further Reading: The Wilmington Campaign: Last Rays Of Departing Hope by Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr. Confederate Goliath: The Battle Of Fort Fisher by Rod Gragg Subscribe to the Threads from the National Tapestry YouTube Channel here Thank you to our sponsor, The Badge Maker - proudly carrying affordable Civil War Corps Badges and other hand-made historical reproductions for reenactors, living history interpreters, and lovers of history. Check out The Badge Maker and place your orders here Thank you to our sponsor Bob Graesser, Raleigh Civil War Round Table's editor of The Knapsack newsletter and the Round Table's webmaster at http://www.raleighcwrt.org Producer: Dan Irving
Transcribe →083 - A Modern-Day Moses: The Life Of Harriet Tubman
Feb 26, 202501:06:25Tap to summarizeAbout this episode: She stood only about 5’, yet, in terms of achievement and historical significance, she remains a giant. This is the story of not only a remarkable woman, but human being. This is the story of Harriet Tubman. ----more---- Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: Charles Nalle Frederick Douglass Thomas Garrett William Seward John Brown Subscribe to the Threads from the National Tapestry YouTube Channel here Thank you to our sponsor, The Badge Maker - proudly carrying affordable Civil War Corps Badges and other hand-made historical reproductions for reenactors, living history interpreters, and lovers of history. Check out The Badge Maker and place your orders here Thank you to our sponsor Bob Graesser, Raleigh Civil War Round Table's editor of The Knapsack newsletter and the Round Table's webmaster at http://www.raleighcwrt.org Producer: Dan Irving
Transcribe →082 - Resistance By Liberation: The Underground Railroad
Jan 30, 202500:46:43Tap to summarizeAbout this episode: Its mission and those who willingly took part in it dared to defy the highest law in the land. And in their desire to do what was right, they wrote, spoke and acted out against a hateful institution that remains to this day, a cross this country must bear. This is the story of brave crusaders who risked much and an organization that sought to right a moral evil. This is the story of the Underground Railroad. ----more---- Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: Elijah Lovejoy Charles Nalle Harriet Tubman William Lloyd Garrison Frederick Douglass Henry Box Brown Subscribe to the Threads from the National Tapestry YouTube Channel here Thank you to our sponsor, The Badge Maker - proudly carrying affordable Civil War Corps Badges and other hand-made historical reproductions for reenactors, living history interpreters, and lovers of history. Check out The Badge Maker and place your orders here Thank you to our sponsor Bob Graesser, Raleigh Civil War Round Table's editor of The Knapsack newsletter and the Round Table's webmaster at http://www.raleighcwrt.org Producer: Dan Irving
Transcribe →081 - Salve For The Soul: Music During The American Civil War
Dec 27, 202401:00:48Tap to summarizeAbout this episode: This is an episode about a phenomenon as old as time itself. Something that, throughout the ages, has brought laughter, reflection, made and rekindled memories and even moved men and women to tears. From stirring airs to ballads and everything in between, this is the story of that which has been described as a salve for the soul. This is the story of Music during the American Civil War. ----more---- Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: Julia Ward Howe George Frederick Root Patrick Gilmore Henry Clay Work Stephen Foster Subscribe to the Threads from the National Tapestry YouTube Channel here Thank you to our sponsor, The Badge Maker - proudly carrying affordable Civil War Corps Badges and other hand-made historical reproductions for reenactors, living history interpreters, and lovers of history. Check out The Badge Maker and place your orders here Thank you to our sponsor Bob Graesser, Raleigh Civil War Round Table's editor of The Knapsack newsletter and the Round Table's webmaster at http://www.raleighcwrt.org Special thanks to WCHL for providing the song recordings used in this episode. Producer: Dan Irving
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