Honors and Accolades
2013 A.M. Pate Jr. Award in Civil War History from the Fort Worth Civil War Round Table, for “outstanding original research” on the Trans-Mississippi theater of the war.
2013 recipient of the Jules and Frances Landry Award from LSU Press for the “most outstanding contribution to the field of Southern studies” in a book published by the Press during the year.
Book Reviews
Civil War Talk by Lisa Murphy – “engrossing…informative, and engaging.” “Five stars for a superb book. And an extra star for telling a forgotten tale of Black soldiers in Milliken’s Bend—a narrative that evoked strong emotions 160 years ago, and still can today.” Murphy does an excellent job of succinctly and accurately summarizing the main points of the book.
Civil War History – “Barnickel’s study just might resuscitate public memory of this forgotten battle, for she has produced a well-written, thoroughly researched, and informative book.” (Vol. 61, no. 1, March 2015, pp. 96-97)
H-Net Review by Brian M. Jordan – “Barnickel excels by situating the fight at Milliken’s Bend in the longer history of slavery, emancipation, and white racial anxieties.” “An impressively even-handed chapter unpacks the ‘tangle of fact, fiction, and half-truths’ surrounding the fortune of the white and black prisoners.” Reviewed with Kevin Levin’s Remembering the Battle of the Crater, Jordan calls both books “impressively researched, well-written,” and “excellent.” (July 2014)
Journal of the Civil War Era – “Barnickel devotes much of this book to developing the cultural context of the battle…. allowing the author to suggest the most probable course of events.” (Vol. 4, no. 2, June 2014, pp. 318-321)
Register of the Kentucky Historical Society – “superior to many Civil War battle studies” by describing the social context and significance of the battle. (Vol. 112, no. 1, Winter 2014, pp. 134-136)
On Point – Journal of Army History (print edition) – “a significant contribution;” an “exceptional book;” a “well-researched study” and “a must-read”. (Winter 2014, p. 52)
Civil War Monitor – Kevin Levin’s review, with a thought-provoking question at the end. (Nov. 2013)
Civil War Times – “Stellar.” “This account should go a long way to give [the battle] the recognition it deserves.” (Dec. 2013)
Civil War News – an “impressively researched work.” “Thanks to Barnickel’s fine study, Milliken’s Bend may now finally assume its proper place in Civil War history.” (Oct. 2013)
Civil War Book Review – “one of those books which furthers our understanding of the war”; “Barnickel should be commended…. well researched and well written….Scholars and students of the Civil War era alike will find merit in this work.” (Aug. 9, 2013)
Civil War Books and Authors – “an exhaustively researched gem and a model for future combined battle and memory studies.” (May 13, 2013)
Soldier Studies – “an excellent scholarly work…” (May 5, 2013)
Appearances
East Side Storytellin’ #84, East Nashville, TN – June 7, 2016 – entire program available as podcast; Track 1 is author Linda Barnickel talking about and reading from Milliken’s Bend; Track 10 is a Q&A with author Linda Barnickel and musician Tanya Montana Coe.
Southern Festival of Books, Nashville, TN – Oct. 12, 2013 – full session on C-SPAN BookTV
“Slaves, Contrabands, Soldiers, Freedpeople : Research and Resources from a Historian’s Perspective,” Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society annual meeting, Nashville, TN – Oct. 11, 2013
McKay Books, Nashville, TN – Weds. Sept. 25, 7pm – Map
150th Anniversary Coverage! June 7, 2013
Too much to list, here – Follow the link above!
View the webcast of Milliken’s Bend author Linda Barnickel in a double bill with Allen Guelzo, author of the best-selling Gettysburg: The Last Invasion, recorded at Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago on May 21, 2013, part of their Virtual Book Signing series.
Interviews and Expertise
Featured expert, “If you see an all-black American flag, what does that mean?” [Did it originate with the Confederacy?] Verify, WUSA9, Nov. 9, 2021
Guest on “Shay-Renae and Friends” podcast (March 10, 2014)
Guest on “Civil War Talk Radio” podcast with Gerald Prokopowicz (May 7, 2014)
Guest on “Call Flo” on WFLO, Farmville, VA (Feb. 27, 2014)
Guest on WRKF in Baton Rouge with Jim Engster (Feb. 24, 2014) – (Full show in one file – Milliken’s Bend begins at approx. 40 min.)
“Milliken’s Bend: A Forgotten Civil War Battle” Q&A on HistoryNet (Feb. 24, 2014)
Guest on KYW-AM in Philadelphia with John Ostapkovich. (Feb. 15, 2014)
Guest on “What’s the 411?” with Sharon Kay from Fisk University, on Jazzy88 – WFSK (Feb. 12, 2014)
Guest on The Morning Show, WGTD, Milwaukee (Feb. 4, 2014) – Full interview available. Warning: Very large file!
Guest on KBMS-AM, Portland, OR (Feb. 2, 2014)
Guest on Frankie Boyer Show on Lifestyle Talk Radio Network (Jan. 23, 2014)
“What’s the Story” in Southern Writers magazine (Jan/Feb. 2014)
Guest on Big Blend Radio’s Happy Hour Variety Show (Nov. 20, 2013), hosted by Nancy Reid and Lisa Smith. Hear their freewheeling discussion on subjects as varied as frightful similarities to slavery within the Union army; the chaos of Northeastern Louisiana during the Civil War; and a side trip to Lynchburg, Tennessee. (Begins approx. 1 hr. 36 min.)
Guest on Studio Tulsa KWGS-FM 89.5 NPR affiliate (Aug. 22, 2013). Full interview available.
Quoted in “Photographic Artifacts of Black Civil War Troops” by Eve M. Kahn, New York Times, (online Feb. 21, 2013; hard copy edition, page C28, Feb. 22, 2013)
Guest Writing
Ancestry.com blog (Feb. 27, 2015) – “Restoring Slave Families Using USCT Pension Records”
Rediscovering Black History blog, National Archives (Dec. 2, 2014) – “The Chaos of Emancipation”
Front Line Blog, Civil War Monitor (June 3, 2013) – “Friends Across the Color Line”