The Archive
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Every article indexed from the pages of Civil War News — 2551 of them across113 issues, 2016 to 2026. Each one opens the full text on civilwarnews.com.
My Ten Best Books for 2021
life at Camp Carrollton and Benton Barracks to his unit’s battles at Shiloh, Corinth, and Vicksburg. His adventures don’t end on the battlefield but continue at t…
My Ten Best Books About The Civil War’s Common Soldier
1. What They Fought for, 1861–1865 (Louisiana State University Press, 1994) and For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War (Oxford University Press,…
My Six Favorite Soldier Memoirs
In his self-published book An Epic on “Old Abe,” The War Eagle (The War Eagle Book Association, 1894), S. C. Miles, a veteran of the 8th Wisconsin, extolled the v…
My Best Books
1. The Civil War Diary of Allen Morgan Geer-Twentieth Regiment Illinois Volunteers. Mary Ann Anderson, editor, 1977. Cosmos Press, New York. Organized in late 186…
Marshall’s Lincoln
his assassination; perhaps it was the uncanny likeness; perhaps the engraving’s sheer artistic achievement by its creator William Edgar Marshall insured its accep…
Maj. Robert Beckham
Four days before his twentysixth birthday, Major Robert Franklin Beckham sighted his artillery pieces from high ground along the Orange Turnpike. After firing, he…
Letters to the Editor — November 2021
TO THE EDITOR: I feel a bit of clarification is necessary regarding Thomas Ryan’s review of Slavery in the Western States in the October 2021 issue. Referencing U…
Lesser Known Southern Memoirs by Veterans of the Late Unpleasantness
Periodically we are challenged to come up with an article which addresses a topic off the beaten path. This time we are going to take a look at some lesserknown S…
Lee Statue Removed
RICHMOND, Va.— On September 8, 2021, the Robert E. Lee statue, once the centerpiece of Richmond’s National Register of Historic Places, the Monument Avenue comple…
It’s Complicated
The seat of Alabama’s Winston County is Double Springs, a small town where about 1,000 of the county’s 24,000 people reside. Both highways leading into Double Spr…
From The Lowcountry — November 2021
The topic of removing Confederate monuments and other symbols of the Confederacy has been a sensitive subject lately. I have received so many comments and letters…
Events — November 2021
Make plans to attend the Remembrance Day Weekend Civil War Expo in its 19th year at the Hotel Gettysburg located at 1 Lincoln Square. Join Civil War & More sellin…
Emerging Revolutionary War — November 2021
Although the battle happened in August, Emerging Revolutionary War historians Rob Orrison and Mark Wilcox traveled to Camden, South Carolina, to take pictures of…
Emerging Civil War — November 2021
I’ve had the chance to hit the road quite a bit in September. Roundtables have been trying to reopen, although the COVID Delta surge has made in-person meetings m…
Donald C. Pfanz Selected as Recipient of Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT) Ralph Happel Lifetime Achievement Award in Civil War Preservation
In 1987, while working as historian at Petersburg National Battlefield, Pfanz wrote a letter to several colleagues expressing concern over the destruction of batt…
Confederate Staff and Field Officer’s Sword
Ask The Appraiser: I have a Civil War sword that I would like to know more about. Not a spectacular story really, it was purchased so long ago from my dad. He bou…
Civil War Alphabet Quiz – S as in... November
1. Charleston fort named for Rev War hero 2. US general captured by Mosby 3. Hit by sharpshooter at such a distance an elephant couldn’t be hit 4. “Old Fuss and F…
Book Reviews — November 2021
am thankful I was so fortunate as to have the opportunity to do so,” Thompson acknowledged in his 1879 introduction, realizing how the hand of fate had spared him…
Birmingham versus London Enfields
“Captain Joe Lee orders us to load and fire at will upon these batteries. Our Enfields crack, keen and sharp.” – Samuel Watkins, 1st Tenn., Company H The P53 Enfi…
An Antebellum New Orleans Retailed English Bentley Revolver
On December 4, 1852, Joseph Bentley received British Patent No. 960/1852 for a percussion revolver, and on April 4, 1854, he received an additional patent for “im…
American Battlefield Trust — November 2021
A memorial service for Edwin C. Bearss (1923–2020), initially planned for October 9, has been postponed indefinitely by the Bearss family. Rather than strictly li…
“Let ‘em Up Easy”
Fun Fest, Kingsport, Tenn., (in partnership with the Tri-Cities Civil War Round Table), as part of its 10-day celebration, has a Civil War Night every year. For 2…
U.S. Model 1842
The U.S. Model 1842 holds an odd, but interesting, place in history. It was the last .69 caliber smoothbore musket made by Federal armories while simultaneously b…
The Library of Congress Collection — October 2021
His cap appears to be a combination of a stocking cap and a fez. The large tassel is golden in color with a blue band. The bow tie may be a prop clipped onto the…