Blogs About The Trans-Mississippi

Occasionally I have mentioned other blogs in my postings, but I thought it was about time that I highlight blogs relating to the trans-Mississippi in one posting. Other than my own, there are three active blogs that I am aware of that either deal with soldiers from the trans-Mississippi or relate to events in the trans-Mississippi during the Civil War. They are:

Arkansas in the Civil War—Dale Cox started this blog in January 2008. Photography is an important element on his blog, and the postings tend to be done as part of a series. There is much useful information on this blog.

Louisiana in the Civil War—Stuart Salling started blogging in January 2010 and has written almost 200 postings. Lots of primary accounts (mostly relating to military service and events) are featured on his interesting blog.

Line Bred Rebel—The newest blog in the group, Jim Morris began posting in January 2011. His blog focuses on the Courtois Hills region of Missouri; so far, the emphasis has been on primary accounts relating to the war in that region. Welcome to the world of blogging, Jim!

There is one trans-Mississippi related blog that appears to be inactive. It is

Jayhawkers and Red Legs—Matt M. Matthews began posting in August 2009, but there have been no postings since December 2010. Hopefully, Matt will begin posting again!

If you know of any blogs whose primary focus is the trans-Mississippi, then please let me know as I like to follow them.

No Halloween?

I have just finished going through a number of published accounts written by soldiers in the trans-Mississippi and found no mention of either Halloween or All Souls' Day. All Souls' Day at the time of the Civil War was mostly recognized by Roman Catholics and Anglicans, religious groups that did not have large numbers of adherents in the trans-Mississippi. It appears that soldiers in the trans-Mississippi did not sit around the campfire on Halloween and tell each other ghost stories; or if they did, it doesn't appear to be reflected in the written record. If you know of any written accounts by trans-Mississippi soldiers about Halloween or All Souls' Day, then please let me know.

In the meantime, Dale Cox has posted links to some Arkansas ghost stories on his excellent blog, Arkansas in the Civil War.