Booo! Scary Halloween costumes

Just for fun, I decided to Google "Civil War" and "Halloween."

Never mind any history, or related events.

Almost all of the searches pointed to costumes. Southern belles, Union officers tunic, etc.

This one really cracked me up. A Civil War Mustache and Sideburns.

That is too much fun!

Note: Uniform not included.

Good news for battlefield preservation

Among the sites saved as a result of a program approved by Congress are historic properties at Antietam and South Mountain, Md.; Champion Hill, Miss.; Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and Manassas, Va.; Chattanooga and Fort Donelson, Tenn.; and Harpers Ferry, W.Va. • Read the article

Wilmington, N.C., remembers hero

Maj. James Riley was a leader in the Civil War who eventually surrendered Fort Fisher to the Union in order to save the lives of his men. • Read the article

Listening to the 'The March' on CD

I'm in the middle of a long drive from Texas to Durham, N.C., and then back home to Atlanta.

We're been listening to the audio version of E.L. Doctorow's novel "The March." The book, published a few years ago, is a compelling account of Gen. Sherman's March to the Sea.

The story is told through the ideas of turncoat soldiers, freed slaves and a populace who saw their way of life go up in smoke, literally.

The portrayal of Sherman is interesting. This, from a New York Times review: "True to this rather minimizing metaphor, Doctorow doesn't spend much energy probing Sherman's inner self or itemizing his thoughts and feelings. Instead, he sets Sherman's body on a horse, gives him a broadly recognizable face and a head full of practical military wisdom, and sends him off into the story to wreak havoc as befits his temperament and training."

I'm about a third of the way through. the book. The audio has made me think about the people who went through all of this 145 years ago next month. So far, I heartily recommend "The March."

Lincoln and the role of New York City

Abraham Lincoln visited New York City only five times in his life, and only once as president, yet the growing 19th-century metropolis played a central role in burnishing his enduring public image.

That's the point of a new exhibition, "Lincoln and New York," that opened Friday at the New-York Historical Society on Manhattan's Upper West Side to celebrate the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth.

The exhibition runs through March 25.

• Read the entire article