The Archive
All Articles
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.
Gettysburg 155th Anniversary an Event To Remember!
With everything that is going on in the world, and more specifically, that of Civil War reenacting, the hobby sorely needed a significant event under its belt. Th…
French Percussion Muskets in the U.S. Civil War
Most collectors of Civil War infantry arms are very aware of the huge numbers of U.S. Model 1816/22/28 flintlock muskets that saw combat use during the American C…
First, Farthest, Last?
For decades, the phrase “First, Farthest, and Last” has encapsulated North Carolina’s role in the Civil War. Tar Heels proudly proclaim that they were the First a…
Encyclopedia of Civil War Usage
Our questions this month are inspired by the late Webb Garrison’s Encyclopedia of Civil War Usage (Nashville, 2001), which he thoughtfully dedicated “to the next…
Emerging Civil War — September 2018
From the Editor If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a million times: Young people today don’t know American history very well. They don’t appreciate why it’s imp…
Determined Ladies Persevere
Determined Ladies Persevere “Bank failures are becoming as common and plentiful as pig tracks in the road. Some dozen or more were reported in one day recently.”…
Civil War Events — September 2018
Follow the trail of President Lincoln’s assassin from Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. to his death near Port Royal, Virginia. Relax and enjoy the history and s…
C. Chapman Carbine
Mr. Sexton: We are in possession of, and know this is, a very rare C. Chapman Civil War era 24 inch carbine with the # 14 in several places. It is in good to very…
Brandy Station the ‘Ideal Place’ for Event
CULPEPER COUNTY, Va.— Our group of reenactors aspired to recreate the sights, sounds, and smells when the 8th Virginia Infantry prepared to march north in June 18…
Book Reviews — September 2018
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Battle of Franklin Carter Hill Park: New Acquisition to Battle of Franklin Carter Hill Park Acreage
FRANKLIN, Tenn.—Another key piece of battle ground from the November 1864 Battle of Franklin landscape will be acquired thanks to the fund raising efforts by of F…
Antietam in 1937, A Last Pass at Multiple Cylinders, Charlie Hahn
Bolt Action Rifles at Antietam? So, the Battle of Antietam was a testing ground for bolt action repeating rifles forty years before they were adopted by the U.S.…
A Confederate Cavalry Shotgun
When the Confederacy was threatened with invasion by Federal forces in 1861, so many volunteers flocked to her standards that many were turned away for lack of ar…
“The Sting of the Mosquito Fleets”
This is not meant to be a technical article on the sometimes overlooked contributions of a virtual class of quick, shallowdraft “Mosquito Fleets” utilized by both…
We Will Burn First
“If he [C.S. Gen. Richard Page] understands military science, he ought now to surrender at once.” – NY Times, Aug 24, 1864 By August 1864, the Federal blockade ha…
Veteran Reenactors Still Bring History to Life at Endview Plantation
For more than 25 years, reenactors and living historians have gathered at Endview Plantation in Newport News to bring history to life through battle reenactments…
Unprecedented Excavation of Surgeon Pit at Manassas National Battlefield Park Shows the Aftermath of Battle
While working on a utility project in Manassas National Battlefield Park in 2014, the National Park Service stumbled upon something remarkable: a battlefield surg…
The Civil War Trivia Quiz Book
A delightful surprise while I was recently in Baton Rouge was when a member of the Baton Rouge Civil War Round Table gave me as a gift William Terdoslavich’s The…
The Civil War Rifles of J. Henry & Son
The gunmaking firm of J. Henry & Son was established by William Henry in Lancaster, Penn., prior to the French & Indian War. During that era, Henry produced arms…
Stonewall Jackson – America’s Most Uncelebrated Humorist
“You may be whatever you resolve to be” are the inspirational words inscribed over the Stonewall Jackson Arch at the entrance to the Virginia Military Institute b…
Richard Barksdale Harwell’s The Union Reader
“Though historians’ interpretations of the war have changed from generation to generation, shifting according to the emphasis of an outstanding historian or accor…
Perspectives on Second Manassas
After a severe struggle the enemy gave way in great confusion on the left of the pike, and by direction of the general commanding I moved forward with this divisi…
News Briefs — August 2018
The Civil War courts-martial databases will be in new hands. The Index Project, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit is the aegis under which Beverly and Tom Lowry read and…
More Revolver Notes and the oval “NJ” Buckle
Two More Revolver Cylinder Stories Bear with me as I add another couple of footnotes to the extra cylinders versus multiple revolvers story. Yes, I know, I am bea…