The GingerBread House Emporium

04/23/2026

04/22/2026

The final resting place of the Union Army of the Potomac's cavalry commander, Alfred Pleasonton. Congressional Cemetery — Washington, D.C.

04/10/2026

12/28/2025

Lobscouse was a common part of the Civil War soldier's diet:

"Take a bit of fat pork and melt it over the fire in a frying-pan or tin plate. Break up the hard-tack into small pieces and drop it into the frying fat. Let the whole mess sizzle together until the cracker is saturated with the fat and the result is a product that looks and tastes like pie crust. It is quite palatable...

"Indigestible stuff, you say? Well, who ever heard of a soldier having dyspepsia? Of all the ailments that came along to make the soldier’s life miserable, indigestion was one of the things he never complained of. Ye dyspeptics, who swallow nostrums and patent medicines by the barrel, consider the ways of the soldiers and be wise. Go to the war and be shot, and you’ll have no more dyspepsia. Nor will you have any more even if you are not shot.”

Source: "The Young Volunteer," by Joseph Edgar Crowell, pages 72 and 73. Crowell served in the 13th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry and the Veteran Reserve Corps during the Civil War.

Photo credits:
Joseph Edgar Crowell from "The Young Volunteer," and a soldier of the 153rd New York cooking in camp during the Civil War from the Library of Congress.

12/18/2025

05/13/2024

General William Tecumseh Sherman in retirement, 1885

05/07/2024

In a haunting image from the annals of history, an unknown Southern woman gazes into the camera, clutching a cased photo of a Confederate soldier during the tumultuous days of the War for Southern Independence 🇸🇴

Was he her beloved husband? The details remain shrouded in the mists of time, but the silent narrative captured in this poignant moment speaks volumes.

It was resilient Southern women like her who, in the aftermath of war's devastation, emerged as the unsung heroes of the South. With hearts heavy with grief yet fortified by unwavering resolve, they embarked on a noble mission: to raise funds in a vanquished and impoverished land, determined to honor the memory of their husbands and fallen loved ones.

In the face of adversity, they defied the odds, erecting Confederate memorials that stood as silent sentinels, testifying to the valor and sacrifice of those who lay in unmarked graves, their names etched in the annals of history but not on tombstones.

These monuments, though humble in stature, served as beacons of remembrance, a testament to the indomitable spirit and enduring legacy of those who gave everything for the Cause of Southern Independence.

03/12/2024