Portraits of Blue & Grey: The Biographical Civil War Podcast

After Shiloh, Sherman got the opportunity to try his hand in civic administration as the military governor of Memphis. And it was from Memphis that he embarked on a mission, with good friend U.S. Grant, to solve the riddle that was Vicksburg. After months of frustration, Vicksburg fell in July, 1863. The Sherman - Grant team's next test, which they passed with flying colors, was to save the Army of the Cumberland besieged at Chattanooga. Now commanding Union forces in the West, Sherman then set off on a perilous campaign deep into the heart of Dixie, as he tried to capture Atlanta - and save President Lincoln's hopes for reelection in the process.

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In Part 2A of our portrait of John Brown, we pick up in the aftermath of Bleeding Kansas and follow John Brown as he recruits, fund-raises, and prepares for his game-changing raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. We look at the political situation going into the raid and see Brown continue to build a reputation as the nation's foremost militant abolitionist.

Though we had originally intended to finish up the series with this episode, it ended up a little longer than originally planned, so it will released as Part 2A today and Part 2B in the near future. Thank you to everyone for your patience and support. Email any questions or comments about the show to [email protected].

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The CSS Alabama continued preying on Yankee shipping throughout 1863, prowling off coasts from Brazil to South Africa to Singapore. The success of the raider, skippered by wily Captain Raphael Semmes, inflamed Anglo-American tensions to dangerous levels. But shrewd diplomacy by the Lincoln administration eventually convinced John Bull to turn his back on the rebels, leaving Semmes and the Alabama with few ports capable of providing much-needed maintenance and repairs. After a long-shot voyage to France, the Alabama sailed into her climactic confrontation at the Battle of Cherbourg in 1864, where the USS Kearsarge brought a dramatic conclusion to the famed cruiser's career as the world's most successful commerce raider.

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After the outbreak of the Civil War, the Union blockade crippled Southern commerce. Hoping to ease the pressure on blockade runners (and turn the tables on Northern shipping), the Confederate Navy contracted with British shipbuilders to construct commerce raiders - warships designed to prey on merchant shipping while evading opposing naval vessels. Denounced as a pirate in the North, Maryland-born Raphael Semmes captained the most effective commerce raider, the CSS Alabama, as the ship terrified Union merchant vessels and frustrated the Union Navy. Semmes quickly became a hero in the South and earned a reputation as a daring commander throughout the world. In Part 1, we look at the clandestine construction of the Alabama and the beginning of her career as the most successful commerce raider in naval history.

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Part 3 of our portrait of Ulysses Grant sees Grant come to the rescue in Chattanooga before being summoned east for his showdown with Robert E. Lee. Email us with any questions or comments about the show at [email protected].

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