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Features
Long-form reporting and research that does not sit inside a standing department — the pieces an issue is built around.
Featured in Features
“Let the Sutlers Know We Take in Washing”
Research on militarily significant roles of women in the Civil War reveals one role, that of washerwoman, that was deemed so important it was specified in U.S. Army regulations. Women willing to take on this work were offered housing,…
All Features
739 articles · 2016–2026
We Got Them Now!
On July 17, 1864, President Jefferson Davis relieved Gen. Joseph E. Johnston as commander of the Army of Tennessee. Throughout the war, Davis and Johnston held fu…
The Abolition of Slavery in Missouri
efore the Civil War, 15 of the nation’s states were Mississippi north of St. Louis. In summary, Missouri “was slave states. Seven seceded between December a regio…
Behind the Lines
Whenever I travel outside the United States, I am reminded of the impact and influence of our Civil War and its figures on other nations and cultures around the w…
A Few Thoughts on Rations
The accomplishments of Confederate forces during the U.S. Civil War, especially the continued success of the Army of Northern Virginia, are particularly noteworth…
Vision and Valor: The War Through Women’s eyes
“Enemies in War butFriends inPeace” By Juanita Leisch Jensen
The Unfinished Fight
THE UNFINISHED FIGHT: GUM BLANKET
The Graphic War
The Graphic War Fannie Palmer, Artist The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the printmaker or artist’s…
Steve Davis: Requiescat in Pace
Iwho knew Steve will have many such memories of their own. Requiescat in pace.
Ohio Civil War Show
Two hundred fifty years of American independence mark one of the most important milestones in our nation’s history, and that spirit was on full display at the Ric…
D. Scott Hartwig Receives Houston Civil War Round Table’s 2025 “Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit”
D. Scott Hartwig Receives Houston Civil War Round Table’s 2025 “Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit” HOUSTON, TEXAS—Continuing a 42-year tradition, the Houston Civil…
CWRTNY 75th Anniversary
Patrick Falci and Stan Warrick.
Blue & Gray Education Society The Guns at Raymond
The Guns at Raymond Robert Jenkins, Executive Director, Blue and Gray Education Society
Award in Publication Excellence Presented to Terry L. Futrell
About the author
A Closer Look at the Cast – Part 3
& I
Vision and Valor: The War Through Women’s eyes
“None But the Brave Deserve the Fair”
Through the Lens It Fairly Made the Earth Shake
By April 1863, Confederate forces had successfully along the engines for protection, while hay and cotton bales repulsed six separate Federal attempts to seize we…
This & That The Accomplishment of This One Object
& I
The Graphic War The Connecticut Plan
The Graphic War The Connecticut Plan The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the printmaker or artist’s…
Spared & Shared
At one time I thought I would give up and be taken prisoner. Then I thought I might get hit before I could get out of the woods on their side so I risked the gett…
An Officer and His Sketchbook
Growing up in Scotland in the 1820s, young Jimmy could never have imagined that he would one day cross the Atlantic and play a meaningful role in suppressing a re…
“Living is Not Life... if Lived apart from Nobel Strife”
Vision and Valor The War Through Women’s Eyes
The Unfinished Fight “God Bless The Russians” October 2, 1863
THE UNFINISHED FIGHT: “GOD BLESS THE RUSSIANS” Diary of U.S. Naval Secretary Gideon Welles, October 2, 1863
The Graphic War
The Graphic War Hercules and the Serpent The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the printmaker or artis…
Emerging Civil War
By Chris Mackowski, Ph.D. “Patriotism and Intelligence” vs. “Superstition, Ambition, and Ignorance”
Critic’s Corner Worthy of the Cause for Which They Fight
Critic’s o r n Worthy Of The Cause For Which They Fight e By Stephen Davis r
Behind the Lines
Iam often asked why Americans are so fascinated by the Civil War, and yet relatively few have any substantial interest in or knowledge of the American Revolution.…
A Closer Look at the Cast
In my last column, I wrote about events at Fort Sumter between South Carolina’s secession and April 12, 1861, when the shooting started. In this issue and the nex…
2025 Middle Tennessee Civil War Show
The 2025 Middle Tennessee Civil War Show, held on December 6th and 7th in Franklin, Tennessee, closed out another successful year of events, leaving dealers and a…
Vision and Valor: The War Through Women’s eyes
He Has A Great Work for Me to Do
USCC Massacre
USCC Massacre at Simpsonville, Kentucky By Charles H. Bogart
This & That Crisis in Charleston
& E
The Unfinished Fight The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company
Many American grocers in the mid-19th century began their business in the tea trade. The Antebellum United States was predominantly rural and agrarian. If food pr…
N-SSA celebrates its 75th Anniversary with History, Competition
N-SSA celebrates its 75th Anniversary with History, Competition and Camaraderie By Bruce W. Miller
Fort McAllister Southern Sentinel on Georgia’s Ogeechee River
Fort McAllister, Georgia, Historic Marker.
Vision and Valor The War Through Women’s Eyes
T Women Doctors in the Civil War his article highlights female doctors in the Civil War, describing fewer women than the roles typically discussed in “Vision and…
This & That CSS Florida: early Trials and Tribulations
& I
The Dentist, The Emperor, and the American civil war
Emperor Napoleon III of France in Coronation Robes. Artist, Franz Xaver Winterhalter.
Emerging Civil War Where Has the Time Flown?
By Chris Mackowski, Ph.D. Where Has the Time Flown? Third grade. I could hardly believe it. Wearing his favorite shirt, my youngest son, Maxwell, climbed onto the…
Critic’s Corner Harwell’s “In Tall Cotton”
Critic’s o r n Harwell’s e In Tall Cotton r By Stephen Davis
American Digger’s Antique
Antique Militaria & Americana Show
Vision and Valor: The War Through Women’s eyes
D “He Died for Me”
USS Hartford “He Died for Me”
d r o f t r a USS H Seaport n r e h t u o S n i d n E Met Ignoble gsegger By Bob Rue
Through the Lens One of the Fiercest Fights
“They Swear a Big Oath”
The Graphic War Andersonville
The Graphic War Andersonville The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the printmaker or artist’s goals.
Moment of Mercy and Reflection Cooling Down
Cooling Down Ice in the Civil War South By Richard H. Holloway
Emerging Civil War
Moment of Mercy —and Reflection
Critic’s Corner The South Won the War
Critic’s o The South Won the War. r Now Read About It. n e r Q By Stephen Davis uick: what do Winston Churchill (1874–1965), British prime minister, and Mackinlay…
Awards Announced For Excellence In U.S. Army History Writing
Awards Announced For Excellence In U.S. Army History Writing FORT BELVOIR, VA – The Army Historical Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Army…
This & That Through the Lens
& A
The Unfinished Fight
THE UNFINISHED FIGHT: HOPPIN JOHN AND LIMPIN SUSAN
The Home Of Joseph Holt
Joseph Holt was born in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, in 1807. His family was a slave-owning family who raised tobacco and hemp on their farm near the village of…
The Graphic War
The Graphic War The Army of the Potomac And the Peninsula The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the pr…
The 47th Annual Ohio Civil War Show
Each spring, history comes alive in Mansfield, Ohio, as thousands gather at the Richland County Fairgrounds for a truly immersive journey into America’s military…
Critic’s Corner The End of an Era - John S. Wise
Critic’s o r The End of an Era n (1899) e r By Stephen Davis
Connection in the Desert: Visiting Picacho Peak
Interstate 10 rockets straight through the heart of Picacho Pass, connecting Phoenix and Tucson. A freight train, stretching almost as far as I can see, rattles a…
Behind the Lines
My interest in history originated when I got interested in genealogy at a very early age, about 10 or 11. Knowing that I had ancestors who landed at Jamestown in…
The Unfinished Fight Charles Derudio
Aquestion arose about whether past indiscretions might prevent someone otherwise qualified from serving in the U.S. military during the Civil War. An individual w…
The Graphic War Imagining Emancipation
The Graphic War Imagining Emancipation The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the printmaker or artist’…
In Memoriam – Mort Künstler
Mort Künstler once said in an interview that he would prefer to be remembered as a great athlete, but he had to settle for being hailed as America’s most prominen…
Emerging Civil War Civil War to Civil Rights in Montgomery, Ala.
From Civil War to Civil Rights in Montgomery, Alabama
Critic’s Corner The Civil War: A Narrative Volume Three
Critic’s o r n e r
Behind the Lines
If Winston Churchill really originated all the famous quotations attributed to him, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations would be called Churchill’s. One expression oft…
Vision and Valor: The War Through Women’s eyes
“Armed with Needles” By Juanita Leisch Jensen
The Unfinished Fight
THE UNFINISHED FIGHT: ARMY BEANS By Craig L. Barry
The Graphic War Dodging the Draft: Offering a Substitute, A
“Satan tempting Booth to the Murder of the President.” (Library of Congress)
The Dismantling of Slavery in Maryland
Before the American Revolution slavery was practiced in all 13 British colonies which were to form the United States. In the last years of the 18th century and th…
Lincoln Forum 29th Meeting in Gettysburg
The 29th meeting of the Lincoln Forum, held November 16–18, 2024, at Gettysburg’s Wyndham Hotel, set new records for attendance, first-time attendees, and, perhap…
Fort Fisher’s New Visitor Center and reconstructed Earthworks
A Gateway to History
Fidelity: The Fighting Swearers
Bombardment of Fort Sumter by the batteries of the Confederate states, April 13, 1861. (Harper’s Weekly)
Famous Civil War Quotes
Who said it?
Critic’s Corner The Civil War: A Narrative Volume Two
Critic’s o r n e r “A By Stephen Davis
Behind the Lines
Afew fortunate people can look back on working careers spent doing what they gladly would have done for nothing. I have been one of those lucky ones. The job and…
Through the Lens My Father is Here
Confederate Gen. “Prince” John Bankhead Magruder name gracing a lake, a city, and a county. Lea interacted took command of the District of Texas, New Mexico, with…
This & That Lincoln’s Cabinet
& O
The Graphic War Ehrgott and Forbriger
Figure 1. “Fall Near The Log House,” Nep Roesler, artist, lithograph by E & F.
Riddick’s Folly Embraces Cordial Civil war Era Letter
When Mills Riddick’s ostentatious twenty-oneroom mansion with sixteen fireplaces was completed in 1839 next to the Nansemond County Courthouse, his neighbors mock…
N-SSA 150th National Competition
Special Events Highlight N-SSA 150th National Competition
John S. Clark’s Estimate of Confederate Strength, Sept. 1862
Vision and Valor The War Through Women’s Eyes
Famous Civil War Quotes
Famous Civil War Quotes Who said it? 1 strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory,
Critic’s Corner Reading Mary Boykin Chestnut
Critic’s o r Reading n Mary Boykin Chesnut e r By Stephen Davis
Charleston Free Badge
11th Known
Burnside’s Invasion of East Tennessee: A More Accurate View of
Burnside’s Invasion of East Tennessee: A More Accurate View of Troop Movements
Burnside’s Invasion of East Tennessee
John S. Clark’s
Behind the Lines
The Civil War has been declared dead more than once. That is, pundits have declared that interest in the subject has fallen off and Americans’ attentions have gon…
Vision and Valor The War Through Women’s Eyes
Vision and Valor The War Through Women’s Eyes By Juanita Leisch Jensen “Funded by Faith” The previous articles in this “Vision and Valor” series have focused on h…
Tragedies and Statistics
“A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths are a statistic.” – Joseph Stalin
The Graphic War Annie Powell and the
The Graphic War An n i e P ow e l l an d Th e G reat S e a l o f t h e Co n f e de r acy By Salvatore Cilella The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers fr…
Robbed of Reason: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Civil War
“Wounded escaping from the burning woods of the Wilderness” by Alfred Waud. (Library of Congress)
Remembering Peter S. Carmichael, PhD
M By Leon Reed any different communities—his neighbors on Tiffany Ln., the Gettysburg area, present and former constituents of Gettysburg College, and the broad c…
Emerging Civil War A Trip to New Orleans
By 8 a.m., the French Quarter feels more like a French bakery, although the smells aren’t nearly so aromatic. It’s New Orleans in July, after all. Here and there,…
Critic’s Corner
Critic’s o r n e r O By Stephen Davis
Burnside’s Invasion of East Tennessee: A History of Misinformation Part 1
Introduction Authors and historians sometimes present a tarnished view of significant historical events. Published accounts of Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside’s Aug…
Band LeaderHistorian Continues to March Forward with AEF Band
Jari Villanueva served with the United States Air Band in Washington, D.C., from 1985 to 2008 as a ceremonial trumpeter, bugler, and staff arranger. While he reti…
Atlanta Historian Receives Prestigious Award In Public History
ATLANTA, GA—The Atlanta Civil War Round Table is proud to announce that our former president and longtime member, Gordon Jones, has been awarded the Emerging Civi…
A Fighting Parson’s Deadly Aim
Deadly Aim By Joseph F. Wilson orgive me Lord, for I’m about to dispatch another Confederate soul straight into the afterlife. That thought or something similar m…
Vision and Valor: The War Through Women’s eyes
A Poignant Reminder Of The Tragedy Of The War By Jonathan W. White
This & That Governing Arkansas in the Civil War
& R
The Importance of Reputation
To be introduced by someone meant they were vouching for your character, which also put that person’s own reputation at risk. For this reason, the formalities of…
The Graphic War Kimmel & Fo st er : L i t h o g r a p h e r s , Part II
The Graphic War Kimmel & Fo st er : L i t h o g r a p h e r s , Part II By Salvatore Cilella The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War…
Stephen Lang, Jeff Shaara
Stephen Lang, Jeff Shaara Star in a Holiday Weekend Ensemble Performance at Gettysburg By Harold Holzer GETTYSBURG, PA—For award-winning actor Stephen Lang, star…
Critic’s Corner
Critic’s o r n e r Y By Stephen Davis
Civil War Conscription
Just as in modern times, armed opposition fuels volunteerism but is typically followed by conscription when increased mobilization is needed to bolster the ranks,…
The Unfinished Fight Peanuts and Parched Corn
No discussion of Southern Civil War rations would be complete without including peanuts. Period accounts suggest that when bread and meat were scarce, peanuts—a/k…
Supplying Gunpowder to the Confederate Army
These words of Jefferson Davis were written in The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, published in 1881. The following year Col. George Washington Rains…
Gettysburg Film Festival
Draws 4,000
the truth at cassvile Was Joe Johnston honest
Cassville
How Shall All These Would be Healed?
CCWP
Sabotage at City Point
Hopewell. You will arrive at a peninsula which juts out into the Appomattox River where it joins the James. During the final months of the Civil War this nowquiet…
Russia and the U.S. during the Civil War
“God Bless the Russians.” – Diary of U.S. Naval Secretary Gideon Welles, October 2, 1863 During the mid-19th century, newspapers were much more widely read than t…
Lockwoods Folly Encounter
By Joan Wenner, J.D. By December 1861, Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles was finding it difficult to purchase, convert, and arm additional ships needed fo…
First To Flee Andersonville Prison
By Joseph F. Wilson Only a handful of Union prisoners escaped Georgia’s notorious Andersonville Prison. Nearly every successful escape occurred after September 18…
Emerging Civil War — April 2024
Sixty degrees is cold to some people, warm to others. My wife, born in the South, considers a 60-degree day chilly. When I lived in Maine, I remember many a sprin…
Civil War Times Illustrated—An Appreciation
By Stephen Davis Bruce Catton, Virgil Carrington Jones, Edwin C. Bearss—all are Civil War authors familiar to many enthusiasts of America’s greatest conflict. The…
Chris Mackowski Receives Houston Civil War Round Table’s “Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit”
HOUSTON, TEXAS— Continuing a 41-year tradition, the Houston Civil War Round Table (HCWRT) has awarded Christopher W. Mackowski, Ph.D., the Frank E. Vandiver Award…
To A Man Up A Tree
To A Man Up A Tree “Had I been supplied with four Whitworth guns I firmly believe you might have slept in New Bern that night.” – C.S. Gen. James Johnston Pettigr…
John McElroy’s Andersonville Memoir (1879)
During one of the intensely hot days of last week, more than three hundred sick and wounded Yankees died at Andersonville. We thank Heaven for such blessings. A c…
Georgia On My Mind
Some of the 500 tables of dealers and displays at this show. DALTON, Ga.—Georgia was on everyone’s mind as the 29th Annual Chickamauga Civil War Show kicked off o…
The Southern Historical Society Papers
In their writing, historians have a way of being oblique. But they can also be quite direct, as when Prof. E. Merton Coulter once declared that when the Southern…
The Rosenthals of Philadelphia
The Rosenthals of Philadelphia The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the printmaker or artist’s goals.…
John Newland Maffitt—USN, CSN, ‘Prince of Privateers’
In 1861 plans were being formulated for joint Union army maneuvers and naval operations in eastern North Carolina. The Navy Department had considered coastal Nort…
Gettysburg Foundation Announces Leadership Change
GETTYSBURG, Penn. —The Gettysburg Foundation Board of Directors announced Jaunary 4, a leadership change for the Gettysburg Foundation. At the start of the new ye…
The Confederate Reader
Richard Barksdale Harwell (1915–1988) was a distinguished librarian, bibliographer and historian. Dr. Harwell—he was awarded an honorary doctorate from New Englan…
Huddy and Duval and the Militia
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the printmaker or artist’s goals. From its inception as a nation…
Atlanta Round Table Honors Jeffry Wert
ATLANTA, Ga.— At their November 12 meeting, the Atlanta Civil War Round Table’s members honored historian Jeffry D. Wert with the prestigious 2023 Richard Barksda…
“Sea Monster” Seen in North Carolina
By Joan Wenner, J.D. In the Journal of a Secesh Lady, an educated diarist Catherine Ann Devereux Edmondston of Halifax County, along the Roanoke River in northeas…
Marketing: The Marriage of Photography and Lithography
Marketing: The Marriage of Photography and Lithography The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print…
M. Jeff Thompson Surrenders in Northeast Arkansas
M. Jeff Thompson Surrenders in Northeast Arkansas “He is a witty fellow, and is continually talking about impossibilities.” – Lieut. Col. Charles W. Davis to Maj.…
Hollywood Meets History 30 Years Later
Seated: Ron Maxwell (director), actors Stephen Lang and Tom Berenger, with other cast and crew for the Gettysburg 30th Anniversary celebration. (All anniversary p…
CWRT Congress Sustainability Conference Was a Success
For two days in late August, substantial forces came together in the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside around Gettysburg in a struggle that was to have serious o…
A Great Southern Poet
Centuries ago, biography developed as an art form—an admiring narrative of the life and times of a noble man whose course in life could inspire later generations.…
The New York Times Times Machine
The increasing number of digitized Civil War-era newspapers provides researchers with another tool to gather information from primary sources. This month’s column…
The Last Surrender in the Cis-Mississippi
– Yogi Berra The American Civil War did not end all at once. By the spring of 1865, it was clear the end was near, but how the end would come was far from certain…
Reflections on a Busy Summer at Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute
Reflections on a Busy Summer at Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute MCWI and Fort Collier Civil War Center Team Up for Summer Fellowship This su…
Photographers and Lithographers: The Lost Cause Part III
Photographers and Lithographers: The Lost Cause Part III The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the pri…
How a British Newspaperman Got the Nickname of “Bull Run”
How a British Newspaperman Got the Nickname of “Bull Run” A number of Englishmen came over to witness the Americans’ civil war, and their travels almost always to…
Events — November 2023
The show will be held on Saturday November 4 from 10-4 at the Elks Lodge on Rt. 50 In Fairfax, Va. Admission is $5 per person. Vendors are welcome. Information an…
Confederate Fort Fisher Undergoes Major Facelift
Confederate Fort Fisher Undergoes Major Facelift By Chris E. Fonvielle Jr. Fort Fisher has not seen this much ongoing construction since the Civil War. The Confed…
Tin Cans
Tin Cans The canning of food to prevent spoilage was not a new technology during the Civil War, it dated back to the early days of the 19th century (at least in E…
The War Before the War, Part 4: The Reflections of Ulysses S. Grant
The War Before the War, Part 4: The Reflections of Ulysses S. Grant This column, the final of a four-part series, will look at the Mexican War from the perspectiv…
Photographers and Lithographers: A Fragile Co-existence Part II
Photographers and Lithographers: A Fragile Co-existence Part II The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and…
Fort Boreman: Defender Of Parkersburg, West Virginia
Fort Boreman: Defender Of Parkersburg, West Virginia By Charles H. Bogart Parkersburg, West Virginia, is located at the junction of the Kanawha River with the Ohi…
Events — October 2023
Nov. 18, Pennsylvania. Remembrance Day in Gettysburg
Clifton, Headquarters With A View for Both Sides in 1864
Clifton, Headquarters With A View for Both Sides in 1864 By Carl L. Sell Jr Situated on a knoll in the northern part of the Shenandoah Valley, the Clifton estate…
The Graphic War — September 2023
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the printmaker or artist’s goals. Every century since the Middle…
Raphael Semmes’ Memoirs of Service Afloat During the War Between the States (1869)
One of the pleasures of—and reasons for—reading the memoirs of participants in important events is to get at their recollections, ongoing thoughts and ruminative…
Partnerships provide visitors to Civil War Trail sites with significant upgrades
Partnerships provide visitors to Civil War Trail sites with significant upgrades Two of Strasburg’s Civil War Trails sites received significant upgrades late last…
Edward and Henry T. Anthony & Co.
Edward and Henry T. Anthony & Co. Civil War researchers have become familiar with famed wartime photographer Mathew Brady, but the names Edward and Henry T. Antho…
Ulysses S. Grant Boyhood Home and Birthplace Site Awarded the Ohio History Connection History Leadership Award for 2023
By Professor Earnest Veritas Special Correspondent to – Western Theater –
Gen. George Thomas
mentioned for being a Virginian who fought for the Union, there were other Southerners who
Events — August 2023
Nov. 4, Virginia. Seminar & Tour
Confederate History Atop A Mountain
By Joseph Wilson Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains are a familiar destination for many folks who enjoy hiking remote trails in pursuit of the numerous beautiful wat…
Are You Going To Run Like Sheep?
Are You Going To Run Like Sheep? “I give captured slaves their freedom on the ground that they became captured captives and therefore subject to my disposal inste…
Appomattox 2023 Was a Successful Observation of Lee’s Surrender
By Professor Earnest Veritas Special Correspondent to – Western Theater –
AI as a Civil War Research Tool
AI as a Civil War Research Tool This writer admits he can not explain all the workings of the latest buzz in the tech world: ChatGPT, OpenAI, etc. However, one re…
Taking the Oath: Alcohol Use in the Civil War
any traditional folksong or ballad, there are a variety of versions with different interpretations. Robert Burns wrote a version in 1782 that is certainly not a c…
Ohio Civil War & WWI & WWII Show
Ohio Civil War & WWI & WWII Show Our History ~ Not Forgotten MANSFIELD, Ohio—The “Ohio Show” is a true testament that our history is not forgotten; thousands of g…
Ninth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge
Ninth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge www.emergingcivilwar.com
Events — July 2023
Martinsburg Pike, Winchester, Virginia. Event is free and open to the public. No pre-registration required. Questions: [email protected] or 540-665-4501.
A Grand Sight to Witness
A Grand Sight to Witness Longstreet was “sitting on his horse like an iron man with his spyglass to his eye, coolly watching the effect of our shots. Limbs of tre…
The Union Refugees
The Union Refugees The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. When first…
ShipIndex.org
Shipindex.org home page header.
Military Courts and Courts-Martials – only a ‘skeleton of direction’ to Guide Rulings
Military Courts and Courts-Martials – only a ‘skeleton of direction’ to Guide Rulings By Joan Wenner, J.D. In the Civil War, notwithstanding 'command responsibili…
Jon Meacham and Jonathan W. White Win Lincoln Prize
On April 11, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History awarded the prestigious Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize to historians Jon Meacham and Jonathan W. White…
Jeffry Wert to Receive Atlanta Round Table’s Harwell Award
Jeffry Wert to Receive Atlanta Round Table’s Harwell Award The Atlanta Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that Jeffry D. Wert has been selected to recei…
Events — June 2023
plus costume competitions and historical lectures. The largest Civil War live-fire event in the country. Free admission, large sutler area, and food service. For…
Sherman’s March
Sherman’s March The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. Perhaps the m…
Military Plans vs. Civilian Elections
Banks suggested that “the only speedy and certain method” to implement the Ten Percent Plan would be to hold a special election for state officials under the curr…
Federal 12-Pounder Canister
Top plate Solder seam
Faces of the Civil War
and instructor who remains a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, and the Georgia Association of Historians…
Events Section — May 2023
May 28, Pennsylvania. Original G.A.R. Decoration Day of Service
Civil War Impressionists Association Claims Rocking Horse a Winner
By Bob Ruegsegger In 2022, the Civil War Impressionists Association made a highly favorable impression at Jamestown Settlement’s annual Military Through the Ages…
William Gregg and Essays on Domestic Industry
must be, of course, a longer time, and the curing of oily meat, such as pork, is more difficult than that of beef, venison, or mutton. To cure meat in the sun han…
The Atlanta Appeal Justifies Fort Pillow
The Atlanta Appeal Justifies Fort Pillow At the time of the war, Memphis’s four leading newspapers were the Appeal, Argus, Avalanche and Bulletin.1 After Federal…
Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861–1865
Shiloh results
Execution of Sioux Indians
Execution of Sioux Indians The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. Ev…
Events Section — April 2023
Admission $25. Free parking. For more information visit www.chicagocivilwarshow.com or call Zurko Promotions at 715-526-9769.
Back to Normal—Annual Civil War Show a Success!
Back to Normal—Annual Civil War Show a Success! DALTON, Ga.—The 28th Annual Chickamauga (Dalton) Civil War Show held February 4th and 5th at the Dalton Convention…
Winslow Homer “The Sharpshooter”
Winslow Homer “The Sharpshooter” The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goa…
Soap
a meat packing industry before the Civil War. As a result of being located in Ohio, Proctor & Gamble became a major Federal supplier of soap and candles during th…
Leading the Way!
Leading the Way! Make history in Goldsboro this spring. “They led the way,” is the title for the newest Civil War Trails sign in North Carolina which was recently…
Aquia Landing and the RF&P Railroad
by Paul T. Scott Today, Stafford County, Va., has a serene waterfront park again known as Aquia Landing after having been named Aqua Po in a 1960 naming contest.…
A Mortifying Affair
A Mortifying Affair “The time is at hand when, if an attempt can be made to capture the enemy’s forces at New Berne, it should be done. I can, now spare troops fo…
A Feisty Red-head Has Her Say
Georgia (“Little Washington,” as they call it), when Sherman’s Yankee hordes swept across Georgia in their march to the sea. Judge Garnett Andrews’ estate, “Haywo…
USS Casco – A Spar Torpedo Boat of the Potomac Flotilla
by Joan Wenner, J.D. The USS Casco, first of particular class of twenty 1175ton light draft monitors was built at Boston. When launched in May 1864, it was found…
NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey Historical Publications
publications listed have a ‘Related Charts’ box. Click on this box to open a new page containing maps and charts accompanying the report, for example, this Cedar…
Thousands gather for Remembrance Day
by Leon Reed GETTYSBURG, Pa.—Living in Gettysburg can be confusing in November. Some people talk about “Dedication Day;” others talk about “Remembrance Day,” ofte…
Publisher’s Note
In the current world of supply chain issues and prices going through the roof at every turn, we are diligently looking at ways to keep our costs down while contin…
No Confidence
Louis T. Wigfall. The Johnston family stayed in Wigfall’s Richmond home during his convalescence. The Confederacy did not have any political parties to structure…
Lincoln Forum’s 27th Gathering
by Leon Reed More than 350 Abraham Lincoln scholars and aficionados gathered at Gettysburg’s Wyndham Hotel on November 16-18 for the Lincoln Forum’s 27th annual s…
Coquettish Confederate Spy Celebrated as the Siren of the Shenandoah Valley
by Bob Ruegsegger Maria Isabella Boyd was born to a prosperous family with strong Southern ties in Martinsburg, Va., a part of the Old Dominion strategically situ…
Close to Home
the Sabbath School who fell. Twenty-four names are inscribed here, names of men who prayed together in this single Methodist Church. Other surfaces list the other…
41st Annual Central Virginia Military Antique Show
HENRICO COUNTY, Va.— The 41st annual Central Virginia Military Antique Show was held on November 12, at the Richmond Raceway Complex. Formerly called the “Capital…
35th Annual Franklin Civil War Show
35th Annual Franklin Civil War Show The Largest Civil War Show Under One Roof!
USS Jamestown Served U.S. Navy for More Than Six Decades
by Bob Ruegsegger Long before the sloop of war USS Jamestown saw Civil War service with the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the three masted ship-rigged warship had…
New Stories for Summersville's Civil War Trails Sites!
The Summersville, W.V., Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) completed a project to update the two Civil War Trails sites in Nicholas County. These sites are netw…
Cornbread
Cornbread “The food we get on the road is sufficient, and good enough to sustain life; it consists of pork or bacon and bread made from Indian corn.” – Lt. Col. A…
Coach Vince Dooley: An Appreciation
Coach Vince Dooley: An Appreciation by Stephen Davis Legendary University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley passed away on October 28. He was ninety years of…
Children and War
Children and War The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. Throughout t…
To colorize or not to colorize?
The ongoing debate whether to colorize photography or not will continue long after this article was published. Using artificial intelligence, computer software ca…
The Warrior, The Savior, and The Humorist at the Governor John Woods Mansion
by Professor Earnest Veritas Special Correspondent to – Western Theater – On August 13, last, the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County, Ill., held a most…
The Salmon P. Chase Papers: Journals
The Salmon P. Chase Papers: Journals “I have neglected to write not because I have had nothing to record, but because I thought I could not spare the time require…
James I. Robertson's “The War in Words”
by Stephen Davis James Irvin “Bud” Robertson (1930-–2019) was known across the land to Civil War enthusiasts in the same league as Ed Bearss and maybe a few other…
Events Section — November 2022
Before making plans to attend any event contact the event host. Nov. 5, Virginia. Seminar & Tour
Bureaucratic Infighting
“I must have a safe conduct from the War Department or Grant will shoot me.” – J.C. Van Duzer In late fall 1862, in the first of several efforts to take Vicksburg…
Augustus Tholey, Civil War lithographer
Augustus Tholey, Civil War lithographer The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artis…
The Sad Fate of Captured Union Sailors
The Sad Fate of Captured Union Sailors by Joseph Wilson Few Union sailors serving aboard ship gave much thought to being captured. Boys enlisted in the U.S. Navy…
National Archives Civil War Cartographic Ship Plans
Work continues at the National Archives to digitize additional records from the American Civil War. A peek inside the Cartographic Research Room – https://www.arc…
McCormick CWI Offers New Interpretive Program & Shares Findings
New Interpretive Program Debuts at Fort Collier Earlier this year Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute (MCWI) forged a partnership with the Fort…
Fort Hamilton, Currier & Ives, 1860
Well before the war began, Currier and Ives were capturing, in many colorful lithographs, the natural environment, buildings, bridges, parks and particularly the…
Elmira Prison Camp May 1864
Elmira Prison Camp Shootings at Union Civil War prison camps like Elmira were not unusual. Conditions at Elmira were overcrowded and the usual targets were unarme…
USS Iron Age Search for Clone CSS Tacony
by Joan Wenner, J.D. Historians note that the Confederate Navy demonstrated very well how an inferior naval force could hold off a vastly superior one. One exampl…
Stephen Davis Wins Awards
their 70th Season— Stephen Davis Wins Awards Celebrating Civil War Round Table of New York
Philadelphia’s Cooper Volunteer Saloon Revisited
Philadelphia’s Cooper Volunteer Saloon Revisited The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker…
Deo Vindice
Deo Vindice When I interviewed Scott Thompson for last month’s column, I saw, among the numerous items decorating his office walls, an image of the Great Seal of…
Confederate Uprising on the SS Maple Leaf
by Joe Wilson Fifty Confederate officers marched out of a Union prison in New Orleans on June 2, 1863, and boarded the SS Cahawba waiting in the harbor. A jovial…
Confederate Fort Names Change proposal
Confederate Fort Names Change proposal On May 24 the commission to consider renaming installations currently named after Confederates released its initial report.…
Chronicling America Maps and Visualizations
In previous installments of this column, researchers have read about various Civil Warera newspapers now digitized and available via different websites. One of th…
Chattanooga Antique Militaria & Americana Show & Sale
Chattanooga Antique Militaria & Americana Show & Sale Annual event better than ever!
9th Annual U. S. Grant Symposium in St. Louis
by Professor Earnest Veritas Special Correspondent to the -Western Theater-
1863–1864 Saw Russian Squadrons and Fancy Balls in America
1863–1864 Saw Russian Squadrons and Fancy Balls in America by Ivan Agyeyev and Yuriy Kirpichoff The American Civil War broke out 160 years ago. The Russians were…
Wheeling, W.V., Receives New Civil War Trails Signs
Wheeling, W.V., Receives New Civil War Trails Signs Last month three new Civil War Trails signs were installed in Wheeling. This effort was the result of a contin…
Sarah Emma Edmonds Was a Self-Made Man
by Bob Ruegsegger When Sarah Emma Edmonds was seventeen years old, she ran away from her Fredericton home in New Brunswick, Canada. Emma’s father had wanted to ma…
Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes
Brady search page. Mathew Brady: the man behind the men behind the lenses! During the Civil War Era, Mathew Brady, the preeminent photographer in the United State…
Houston Civil War Round Table’s “Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit” Presented to Dr. Timothy B. Smith
HOUSTON, TX, June 13, 2022—Continuing a 40-year tradition, the Houston Civil War Round Table (HCWRT) has awarded Timothy B. Smith the Frank E. Vandiver Award of M…
Cooper Saloon: Philadelphia
Cooper Saloon: Philadelphia The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. L…
Civil War Impressionists Association Offers Visitors a Plethora of Historical Impressions
by Bob Ruegsegger The Civil War Impressionists Association’s shared immersion in Civil War research and studies has inspired individual portrayals of a host of pr…
Albert Castel: An Appreciation
Albert Castel: An Appreciation Quick! Name a prominent historian of the Western theater! If you didn’t think of the late Albert Castel, you’ve been drinking too m…
A Lost Diary Finished by Both Finder and Loser. And Both Survived
This amazing story is about a lost diary that turned into competing reports about Gettysburg, a capture that brought an enforced tour of Confederate Prisons, an e…
Ulysses S. Grant Association Annual Meeting At the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library
by Professor Earnest Veritas Special Correspondent to The – Western Theater – The Ulysses S. Grant Association held its annual meeting March 3-5, 2022, at the Uly…
Tracing Sherman’s March to the Sea: The Last of a Four-Part Series
Tracing Sherman’s March to the Sea: The Last of a FourPart Series “If they are not punished in this world, God will surely punish them in the world to come.” – Ca…
The Atlanta Intelligencer Covers the War
by Stephen Davis The study of Civil War journalism has come a long way in the last few decades. That’s especially true regarding Confederate newspapers. Fifty yea…
Ohio Civil War, WWI & II Show MEGA Historical Event
MANSFIELD, Ohio— Bursting with Civil War, WWI, and WWII enthusiasts for a weekend packed with so much to see, two days were needed to enjoy all the special featur…
New Antietam Institute Holds Spring Symposium
A new Antietam Institute, formed by a group of local historians and guides less than a year ago, held its first spring symposium on April 23 at Shepherd’s Spring…
Emerging Civil War — June 2022
I’ve often wondered what went through the minds of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee as they slugged it out for the first time in the Wilderness in May 1864. Fro…
Claudius Crozet
VMI’s First President and his Blue Ridge Tunnel Today by Joan Wenner, J.D. Claude “Claudius” Crozet was born in 1789 near Lyons, France, and educated as an engine…
Civil War Alphabet Quiz – Y as in... June
Civil War Alphabet Quiz – Y as in... June 1. J.E.B. Stuart mortally wounded here 2. Confederates reused 1781 British fortifications at this town in 1862 3. USN tu…
“A Moving Mass of Blue Coats” Tracing Sherman’s March to the Sea: Part Three of a Four-Part Series
“A Moving Mass of Blue Coats” Tracing Sherman’s March to the Sea: Part Three of a FourPart Series Last month, after traversing the state of Georgia with the Right…
The Tragic Order of Major John D. Barry
The Tragic Order of Major John D. Barry “The trees and bushes were all cut to peses [pieces] with balls and grap[e] shot.” – Letter home from Pvt. Thornton Sexton…
Robert G. H. Kean’s Inside the Confederate Government (1957)
“An essential Confederate narrative,” David Detzer calls Robert Kean’s wartime diary. He judges it as “a good companion with that of the war clerk John B. Jones.”…
Emerging Civil War — May 2022
For all sorts of reasons, I have a militant aversion to banning books. As a writer, a former journalist, and someone who teaches in a School of Communication, I’m…
Women’s History Month at Weston Manor
Civil War Trails, Inc. has teamed up with the Historic Hopewell Foundation, Inc., and the City of Hopewell, Va., to launch a new Civil War Trails sign at Weston M…
Wilmer McLean’s Civil War
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. The McLean family’s home in V…
We Are Not Here For Plunder
“It looks like fate, twice Texas makes me a rebel.” – C.S. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston In March 1862, U.S. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s “Army of the Tennessee,” was pr…
Ulysses S. Grant’s Birth Weight
Ulysses S. Grant’s early life is not well known. The accepted narrative regarding his birth weight was penned by Albert Deane Richardson as a gigantic ten- and th…
The Importance of Reputation
To be introduced by someone meant they were vouching for your character, which also put that person’s own reputation at risk. For this reason, the formalities of…
The Civil War, Tariffs, and Baltic Trade
In Copenhagen, behind the double steel doors of special room No. 11, Danish National Archives, there are 60 meters of shelving containing 700 logs of the Sound To…
Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute Celebrates Completion of Two Projects
Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute (MCWI) prides itself on creating opportunities for students in Civil War Era Studies to engage in research a…
Historic Burger & Brother D-guard Bowie Knife
This knife is extraordinary for several reasons. First, it has the “BURGER & BROTHERS RICHMOND VA.” maker’s mark stamped into the blade. Second, it is a pattern h…
Civil War Events
fought and bivouacked. There are three nights of activities and two days of tours. Friday we will be visiting by charter bus Elm Springs, St. John’s Church and po…
William Sartain’s Civil War
William Sartain’s Civil War The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. P…
The 27th Annual Chickamauga Civil War Show and Sale
DALTON, Ga.—The show held January 29th and 30th at the Dalton Convention Center kicked off the 2022 season for Mike Kent and MK Shows amid great expectations for…
John S. Mosby on Slavery and the Civil War
Letter from John S. Mosby to Samuel Chapman, 1907 “Washington, D.C., June 4, 1907. Dear Sam: I suppose you are now back in Staunton. I wrote you about my disgust…
Four Years in Rebel Capitals
Four Years in Rebel Capitals It’s not often that one catches Douglas Southall Freeman in an error, even a slight one. In The South to Posterity (1939), Dr. Freema…
American Digger 2022 Lowcountry Show Better Than Ever
American Digger 2022 Lowcountry Show Better Than Ever MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C.— The annual Lowcountry Antique Militaria & Americana Show has been an annual tradition…
Two Mules For Valverde
U.S. Col. Edward R.S. Canby had been monitoring Sibley’s advance from Fort Craig. Before the War, the pair had served together in Utah and New Mexico. Both men kn…
Jackson’s 1861 Railroad Caper Was More Than A Myth!
by Carl L. Sell Jr. Imagine capturing, destroying, and moving train engines and cars along a 44-mile stretch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Maryland and Virg…
Franklin County, Penn. Joins Civil War Trail Program
Franklin County, Penn. Joins Civil War Trail Program Earlier in December, a new Civil War Trails sign was installed in the Chambersburg Square. The sign, located…
Camp Stanton, Charles County, Maryland, added to the Civil War Trails program
Camp Stanton, Charles County, Maryland, added to the Civil War Trails program In December 2021, a new Civil War Trails sign was installed at Serenity Farm near Be…
Bull’s Run
Bull’s Run The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. No student of the…
Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute Celebrating Publication Anniversary & Partnership
When I came to Shenandoah University in January 2017 as director of the McCormick Civil War Institute (MCWI), I believed there was a glaring need for an annual pu…
Quincy (Illinois) Civil War Symposium III
Quincy (Illinois) Civil War Symposium III by Professor Earnest Veritas Special Correspondent to -Western TheaterThe third annual Quincy Civil War Symposium was he…
Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships
List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801–1947. NARA Navy log web page. Ahoy researchers! Last month, this column featured The…
Lincoln Forum's 26th Annual Symposium
by Leon Reed Special Correspondent to Nearly 300 Lincoln scholars and enthusiasts gathered in the days preceding Dedication Day at Gettysburg’s Wyndham Hotel for…
Glorious Victories April 3 and 9, 1865
Glorious Victories April 3 and 9, 1865 The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist…
Admiral Stephen B. Luce – from Civil War to Naval War College
by Joan Wenner, J.D. Recent inductions into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I., included a man with Civil War service. Stephen B. Luce navigated t…
40th Annual Central Virginia Military Antique Show
40th Annual Central Virginia Military Antique Show HENRICO COUNTY, Virginia—The 40th annual Central Virginia Military Antique Show was held on November 13, 2021,…
Wallace Diary
by Bob Ruegsegger Before the Civil War, Elizabeth Curtis Wallace enjoyed a modest literary career. She wrote a host of articles for Norfolk, Suffolk, and Elizabet…
The Fate of a Mill and a Community
Sarah Kelehear, an Interpretive Ranger at Sweetwater Creek State Park, has degrees in biology and environmental science. Her work at Sweetwater involves teaching…
The Civil War Diary of Gideon Welles
“Father Neptune” navigated through the American Civil War, serving as Navy Secretary in President Lincoln’s cabinet. Thankfully, Gideon Welles also kept a diary,…
Emerging Civil War — December 2021
Don’t worry about “sounding smart,” I told my students; instead, I asked them to tell me what they want me to know as though we were friends sitting at the dinner…
Civil War Santa
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. The Victorian and thus, our v…
CVBT Says Goodbye to Sarah Kay Bierle
Sarah Kay Bierle. Sarah Kay Bierle has spent the last two years at CVBT where she focused on digital communications, historic research, and virtual and inperson e…
A Military Mystery
“That cursed Ball’s Bluff haunts the souls of our chiefs” – U.S. Brig. Gen. Alpheus S. Williams On Saturday evening, February 8, 1862, U.S. Gen. Charles P. Stone…
Top Ten Biographies/Autobiographies of Lesser-Known Figures
1. His Autobiography, Poems, and Comic War Papers. James M. Dalzell Cincinnati, OH: Robert Clarke & Co., 1888. From his home in Caldwell, Ohio, slightly more than…
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…
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…
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 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…
Savas Beatie Authors/Readers Gather at Gettysburg
GETTYSBURG, Penn.—The leading trade publisher of Civil War and other military history books, Savas Beatie, sponsored their 3rd Gettysburg Meetup from August 12-15…
Highly Respected Norfolk Physician Hanged for Murder
On October 23, 1863, Dr. David Minton Wright was taken to a gallows erected in the middle of the old Norfolk Fairgrounds racetrack outside town and hanged. Federa…
Emerging Civil War — October 2021
“Not too bad for three idiots sitting on a porch.” That was the judgement passed down by the wife of co-founder Kris White when Emerging Civil War turned five. Th…
Emerging Civil War Celebrates 10th Anniversary
SPOTSYLVANIA, Va.—More than 165 Civil War scholars, writers, and enthusiasts gathered August 6 through 8 at Stevenson’s Ridge conference center in Spotsylvania, V…
ECW Honors Keeney with Stevenson Award
Emerging Civil War has selected Sarah Keeney of Savas Beatie, LLC, as the recipient of this year’s Brig. Gen. Thomas Greely Stevenson Award. The Stevenson Award i…
ECW Honors Gibbons Backus with Upton Award
Emerging Civil War has selected Paige Gibbons Backus as the recipient of this year’s Emory Upton Award. The Upton Award is presented to a member of the Emerging C…
ECW Honors Gary Gallagher with Award for Service in the Field of Civil War Public History
Emerging Civil War has selected Dr. Gary W. Gallagher as the 2021 recipient of the Emerging Civil War Award for Service in the Field of Civil War Public History.…
Civil War Digital
Civil War Digital During the early days of the sesquicentennial, Chet Hearn and Mike Marino started the Civil War Digital website: https:// www.civilwardigital.co…
Atlanta Round Table Resumes Field Trips
Like many retired people, John Miller is as busy, if not busier, than he was when he was working. The retired civil engineer, after careers in the Navy and the De…
America in 1857
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. The decade of the 1850’s in A…
Fantastical Surrender
Fantastical Surrender The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. There w…
Events — September 2021
9100 for room reservations. The 2-1/2-day tour cost is $430 and will cover two dinners, two lunches, maps, and bus transportation. The GBA Tour will cover the ope…
Emerging Revolutionary War — September 2021
By Phill Greenwalt Across the United States, July 4 is celebrated as the Independence Day, the day in 1776 that President John Hancock, president of the Continent…
ArchiveGrid
ArchiveGrid Researchers seeking primary documents from the CivilWar period will benefit from using ArchiveGrid as a starting point in their quest for more informa…
Union Volunteer Saloon
Union Volunteer Saloon The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. The Un…
Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute Launches Cool Spring App
Nearly two years in the making, Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute (MCWI), in partnership with the University’s Center for Immersive Learning,…
Popular Driving Trail Expands into Virginia
Popular Driving Trail Expands into Virginia Civil War Trails Inc., in partnership with King George County Economic Development and Tourism are excited to announce…
Lawrence County, Missouri, Grist Mills and Distilleries
Lawrence County, Missouri, Grist Mills and Distilleries by J. Dale West, P.E. Grist mills provided flour and cornmeal, essential commodities to households, prior…
An Interesting Blend of Fact and Fiction
An Interesting Blend of Fact and Fiction This month’s column will continue to examine the accounts of women who, in various ways, served, or claimed to serve, the…
Soap
Soap One subject neglected in the study of mid-19th Century material culture is soap. Since the colonial-era soap was produced in America primarily on the farm. I…
Thinking Bayonets: Camden Expedition Part III
Thinking Bayonets Camden Expedition Part III “I cannot conceive what ‘political and military points of view’ are to be obtained for the Confederacy by abandoning…
Ohio Civil War Show: A Real Crowd Pleaser!
Ohio Civil War Show: A Real Crowd Pleaser! MANSFIELD, OHIO— Following the unfortunate cancellation of the 2020 Ohio Civil War & WWII Show due to the Covid-19 pand…
Nineteen Questions about Juneteenth
Nineteen Questions about Juneteenth By Edward T. Cotham, Jr. Celebrated on the nineteenth day of each June, Juneteenth has become an increasingly prominent celebr…
Federal City Brass Band Embraces Spirit of the Mid-19th Century
Federal City Brass Band Embraces Spirit of the Mid-19th Century by Bob Ruegsegger The Federal City Brass Band re-creates American music, playing original instrume…
Confederate Cartridge Box with Georgia Plate
Confederate Cartridge Box with Georgia Plate By Shannon Pritchard TheConfederatemanufactured cartridge box shown here is easily distinguishable from its Yankee co…
A Few Good Women
A Few Good Women “I do not believe in using women in combat, because females are too fierce.” – Margaret Mead In several previous columns I have relied on newspap…
Libby Prison “From the Inside.”
One of the more unusual Civil War prints is Major Otto Boetticher’s view of Libby Prison from the inside, especially its dimensions. Most 19th century prints were…
Instructing the “Stupids”
In the early months of the Civil War the basics of military life were often difficult to grasp for many volunteers, a situation that caused a Springfield, Mass.,…
F. M. Mills’ Confederate Cartridge Box
The cartridge box shown here could not be identified as Confederate except by the CS “Breckenridge” style belt plate attached to it as a cartridge box plate. Ther…
Eponymous Weapons and Other Necessities
Several army and navy officers, before or during the Civil War, developed weapons that were used in the war and which bear their names. There are also eponymous i…
Who was Cornelia Phillips Spencer?
Part 1 of 2 “There is as yet too much to be forgotten—too much to be forgiven.” – Cornelia Phillips Spencer of North Carolina by Joan Wenner, J.D. We know from th…
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant Grant in Mississippi! The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant reside at Mississippi State University in Starkville, home of the Ulysses S. G…
Noted, or a Quick Glance
Noted, or a Quick Glance My paternal grandfather was a brick manufacturer, a practical and down-to-earth occupation for a practical and down-to-earth man. He was…
Emerging Civil War — April 2021
For only lasting 28 days, February sure seems like the longest month. The days are getting longer, it’s true, but the accumulated darkness of long winter nights s…
Core Mausoleum Stands in Self-Tribute to Confederate Phoenix
Core Mausoleum Stands in Self-Tribute to Confederate Phoenix by Bob Ruegsegger At the end of the Civil War, Corporal John Core’s dream for Southern independence v…
Confederate Currency
Confederate Currency “In Richmond when the cash was low and promises were all the go. Then rapid, constant was the flow of the paper currency:” – Richmond Daily E…
Brunswick CWRT Helps With Placing Interpretive Signs at Fort Caswell
Helps With Placing Interpretive Signs at Fort Caswell by Mike Powell The Brunswick CWRT is the nation’s largest Civil War Round Table. Before the virus pandemic w…
An Unknown Artist
An Unknown Artist The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. Throughout…
The Lincoln Archives Digital Project
The Lincoln Archives Digital Project Readers will recall the introduction, last month, of the Lincoln Archives Digital Project. (lincolnarchives.org/) This month,…
MK Shows and Dalton Convention Center Set the Bar for 2021 Events
Publisher’s Note: People photographed in this article were asked to temporarily remove their protective masks for photo ops. DALTON, Ga.—As the Chickamauga (Dalto…
Lee and Jackson as Fund Raisers
Lee and Jackson as Fund Raisers The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goal…
Keep the Champagne!
Keep the Champagne! “If I did not know it before, I was destined to learn how necessary it was to have a great man at the head of a government, to serve people in…
Charles Dickens
“The Northern onslaught upon slavery is no more than a piece of specious humbug designed to conceal its desire for economic control of the Southern States.” Charl…
American Digger’s Antique Military & Americana Show & Sale
MT. PLEASANT, S.C.—Jan. 2-3, 2021. How will the 2021 show season be in this new year of COVID and political upheaval? It will be very good, if the first show of t…
A Pop Quiz
A Pop Quiz I have written previously on Edward Porter Alexander and his two fine memoirs. The first one was published decades after the second one, but that story…
Transcript of the Emancipation Proclamation
January 1, 1863 By the President of the United States of America: A Proclamation. Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thou…
The Lincoln Archives Digital Project
Researchers will benefit from Lincoln as a President.” Given the vast sources available, now the magnitude of sources, rangand in the future, at The Lincoln ing f…
Lincoln’s Home
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. Imagine today someone display…
Blue and Gray Education Society Donates Historical Signage for Fort Branch
HAMILTON, N.C.—Saturday, November 28, saw the fulfillment of over two years of effort, running through the idea, then planning, and finally the installation of si…
The Language of Life
The Language of Life by Richard Blumberg Did music play a role in the American Civil War? John Stewart of the Kingston Trio and Cumberland Three replies, “Music w…
Sixth Street Wharf
Sixth Street Wharf The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. The Sixth…
Civil War Provost Guards
Civil War Provost Guards by Joan Wenner, J.D. America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroye…
Brentmoor, Warrenton Home of the Gray Ghost, Fades Back into History
Brentmoor, Warrenton Home of the Gray Ghost, Fades Back into History by Bob Ruegsegger Brentmoor, also called the Spilman-Mosby House, was built for Judge Edward…
“Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and a Gentleman…”
During the Civil War President Lincoln put the nation’s capital under military rule (martial law), fearing that otherwise crime and sedition would flourish. The o…
Wedding Rings
While the wearing of wedding rings by married women has been traced back to ancient times, it is only in the latter part of the last century that more than a smal…
Rousing Rendition of an Abolitionist Legend
The Good Lord Bird is a new Showtime mini-series centered on the life of John Brown, told through the eyes of Little Onion (Henry Shackleford), a young black man…
Never-Before Seen Scrapbook Sheds New Light—Provides Valuable Insights
In the heated days following the fall of Fort Sumter and President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops, northern governors raced to declare their full support and pr…
More on Buckshot
This column follows up on Joe Bilby’s mentioning buck shot at Gettysburg (October CWN) so we decided to provide some additional outstanding details. This article…
John Brown
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. Currier and Ives published tw…
Civil War Alphabet Quiz - H
Civil War Alphabet Quiz - H H as in...December 1. Confederate submarine 2. US Navy vessel sunk by #1 3. Admiral Farragut’s flagship 4. Mississippi Union supply ba…
Wayne Wolf’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Wayne Wolf’s Top Ten Civil War Books While every historian may choose different volumes as their favorites depending on their specific interests, I feel the follo…
Stephanie Hagiwara’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Stephanie Hagiwara’s Top Ten Civil War Books It would be challenging for me to decide which of the many Civil War books I have read are my favorites. Instead, I a…
Ronald S. Coddington’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Ronald S. Coddington’s Top Ten Civil War Books 1. Four Years in Secessia by Junius Henri Browne. O.D. Case and Company, 1865. A war correspondent for the New York…
Robert M. Browning Jr.’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Robert M. Browning Jr.’s Top Ten Civil War Books In Alphabetical Order: 1. Why the South Lost the Civil War by Richard E. Beringer, Herman Hattaway, Archer Jones,…
Richard Blumberg’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Richard Blumberg’s Top Ten Civil War Books 1. Attack and Die: Civil War Tactics and the Southern Heritage by Grady McWhinney and Perry Jamieson. University of Ala…
Publishers Note:
We have heard from many of you that since the outbreak of Covid-19 and the current state of civil unrest that many cities across our nation are experiencing, ther…
Paul Taylor’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Paul Taylor’s Top Ten Civil War Books Picking ten favorite Civil War books out of hundreds or even thousands is no easy task. Here are ten that are not necessaril…
Noah F. Crawford’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Noah F. Crawford’s Top Ten Civil War Books 1. For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War by James M. McPherson. Oxford University Press, 1997. One of…
Marc Ramsey’s Favorite Books
Marc Ramsey’s Favorite Books I have been reading books on the American Civil War since I was 10 years old, when my Aunt Connie gave me my first one for Christmas,…
Jonathan W. White’s Top Ten Civil War Kids Books
Jonathan W. White’s Top Ten Civil War Kids Books Many of us wish that Americans, especially young Americans, knew more, and cared more, about American history. On…
Jonathan A. Noyalas’ Top Ten Civil War Books
Jonathan A. Noyalas’ Top Ten Civil War Books From the age of five, when I toted a copy of Bruce Catton’s 630 page Picture History of the Civil War to Mrs. Pyzowsk…
John Michael Priest’s Top Ten Civil War Books
John Michael Priest’s Top Ten Civil War Books (in no particular order) 1. The Bachelder Papers, 3 vols, edited by David L, and Audrey J. Ladd. Savas Beatie, 2020.…
John D. Fowler’s Top Ten Civil War Books
John D. Fowler’s Top Ten Civil War Books Choosing the top ten books in Civil War historiography is a daunting task. Well over 50,000 books have been published on…
Joe Bilby’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Joe Bilby’s Top Ten Civil War Books The following is a list of my current favorite American Civil War books. There are some classics here, as well as more recent…
Gould Hagler’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Gould Hagler’s Top Ten Civil War Books Some 100,000 books have been written on the much-studied American Civil War. My top ten? How can I decide, even from the ti…
Fort McHenry
Fort McHenry The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals. One of the more…
Eric J. Wittenberg’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Eric J. Wittenberg’s Top Ten Civil War Books 1. The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War text by Bruce Catton and the coolest maps ever. American He…
Digitized U.S. Patents
Search results from National Archives. Patent: “To secure the exclusive right of a thing to a person; as to patent an invention or an original work to the author;…
Clifford Roberts’ Top Ten Civil War Books
Clifford Roberts’ Top Ten Civil War Books These lists are personal by nature. 1. With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln Stephen B. Oates. Harper & R…
Civil War Alphabet Quiz - G
G as in...November 1. The stolen train engine involved in the Great Locomotive Chase 2. U.S. Navy vessel with railroad iron plating 3. This brigadier held Culp’s…
Chris Mackowski’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Chris Mackowski’s Top Ten Civil War Books The entries on my list are list appear in alphabetical order by author’s last name. 1. The Civil War: A Narrative by She…
Chris E. Fonvielle Jr.’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Chris E. Fonvielle Jr.’s Top Ten Civil War Books Jack Melton’s request to list my top ten favorite Civil War books is the most challenging assignment since writin…
C. Michael Harrington’s Top Ten Civil War Books
C. Michael Harrington’s Top Ten Civil War Books 1. Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War by Richard Taylor. D. Appleton & Company,…
Between the Lines
Between the Lines Of all the many cruelties of war, one scene that evokes the most pity is, perhaps, the image of wounded men trapped between the lines, suffering…
The Eagle’s Nest
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and most importantly, the print maker or artist’s goals. Once the wa…
Secession – As it was in 1860
While a discussion of the legality of Southern secession may not be a politically correct topic today, any historians examining the issue of secession must use th…
Perspectives on Sharpsburg – Phase Three: The Final Crisis
The savage back-and-forth struggle at the north and center ground to a halt by early afternoon. On the right, Confederate numbers were much reduced as troops were…
Lincoln Forum to Host “Zoom Symposium” in November, Then Return to Gettysburg For In-Person Forum in May 2021
The Lincoln Forum, compelled to postpone its 25th annual symposium at Gettysburg because of the COVID-19 pandemic, has announced it will host a oneday, live sympo…
Emerging Civil War — October 2020
What are you doing these days to take care of yourself? The coronavirus pandemic has of course forced all of us to adopt new habits to protect our health, but I’m…
Civil War Alphabet Quiz - F
F F as in Fort, a second go around for the letter F 1. This fort defended the last open Atlantic blockade runner’s port 2. Fort where Grant got his nickname of “U…
A Question of Treason?
It has been quoted that treason; the only offense defined by the Constitution, can be difficult to prove and is rarely prosecuted against U.S. citizens, although…
What Robert E. Lee Means to Me
One of my favorite historical characters lived during the War Between the States. His name was Robert Edward Lee and he was born on January 19, 1807. Although mos…
Virginia Center for Civil War Studies Civil War Sources
Civil War Sources page at Virginia Center for Civil War Studies. The Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, currently operating under the guidance of Paul Quigley…
Ulysses S. Grant: Migraine and Drunkenness – A Reconciliation
Introduction Allegations of drunkenness followed Ulysses S. Grant from his 1854 posting at Fort Humboldt in the Pacific Northwest to this day. There is a dissonan…
Research Press Journal
I have mentioned Research Press Journal in this column before. It is a British publication, but there is a lot to learn in its pages for Americans, especially bec…
Perspectives on Sharpsburg, Phase Two
Stern necessity bade us be satisfied with simply holding our ground. – Col. Risden Bennett At the end of last month’s column we left the Confederates at the north…
Emerging Civil War — September 2020
My car’s thermometer reads 76 degrees when I set off into the woods. The Chancellorsville History Trail leaves the parking lot across from the visitor center and…
The Gatling Gun
When I was a little kid, walking up Broadway in New York City with my father and best friend Ron, I saw something in a store window on lower Broadway that made me…
In Memoriam
In Memoriam The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and most importantly, the print maker or artist’s goals.…
Fishing Creek Confederacy in Pennsylvania 1864
It was early May and I planned a trout fishing trip to the Bloomsburg, Penn., area to do some trout fishing in upper Columbia County. My wife Nancy, also my outdo…
Civil War Publication Survey
Published with permission from Mike Movius, President, CWRT Congress, www.cwrtcongress.org. This survey was conceived as more of an informational instrument than…
West Point
West Point The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and most importantly, the print maker or artist’s goals.…
The Study’s Of Gettysburg
The Study’s Of Gettysburg by Mike Shovlin In this current time period of watching how individuals react to the change of their lifestyles, jobs and lack of basic…
Lincoln vs. McClellan, 1864
Lincoln vs. McClellan, 1864 According to the Franklin Repository, Chambersburg’s Republican newspaper, the presidential contest in 1864 presented a clear choice t…
Isaac Hollis & Sons (formerly Hollis & Sheath)
Isaac Hollis & Sons (formerly Hollis & Sheath) The English Gun Trade has families that overlap and intertwine over the course of the decades, and in some cases ce…
In Memoriam to Homer “Mac” McArthur Cole
In Memoriam to Homer “Mac” McArthur Cole “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” – Stonewall Jackson’s last words. On May 11, 2020, H…
Gettysburg Foundation Appoints Five New Members to Board of Directors and New Chair of the Board
GETTYSBURG, Pa.—At its May meeting, the Gettysburg Foundation Board of Directors welcomed five new Directors, honored three Directors with emeritus status, and ap…
From The Lowcountry — July 2020
This year we did not publish a separate Gettysburg section due to the cancellation of all of the events in Gettysburg and the COVID-19 impact on the town. Instead…
Everything Looks Bright for Us
Mary Louise Thompson Head Qrs. 2nd Division, 23rd A. C. Camp near Mosely Hall, N.C.2 April 1st, 1865 Long after I had written you my usual daily letter last night…
Amid The Shriek Of Death
Amid The Shriek Of Death “Ah!” said I to a friend, “how is it possible you live here?” “After one is accustomed to the change,” she answered, “we do not mind it;…
The Volunteers in Defence (sic) of the Government Against Usurpation
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and most importantly, the print maker or artist’s goals. Allegorical…
The Devil On A Run
“Any army marching tonight must be made up of a set of damned fools.” – Confederate Officer On April 17, 1861, the Richmond, Va. Convention passed an Ordinance of…
Portraying Mary Todd Lincoln – America’s First, First Lady
As a young girl growing up in Lexington, Ky., Mary Ann Todd dreamed of living in the Executive Mansion—the White House. She was vivacious, welleducated, and ambit…
How Schuylkill County Filled Its Draft Quota
On April 15, 1861, President Lincoln called for 75,000 militia to subdue an insurrection by “combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of…
Fold3: Civil War Stories
Researching ancestors who fought in the American Civil War just got more engaging with the launch of ‘Civil War Stories’ from Fold3. While the service requires a…
Fact or Fiction? Black Confederates
This article deals with a very inflammatory topic, that has been the subject of great debate, but attempts to present some source cited documentary evidence and i…
Civil War Alphabet Quiz - D
1. Standard naval gun at start of Civil War 2. John Hunt Morgan’s second in command who also commanded President Davis’ escort during flight from Richmond through…
A Few Thoughts on Rations
The accomplishments of the Confederate forces during the Civil War, especially the continued success of the Army of Northern Virginia, are particularly noteworthy…
The Land Tells the Story
It’s a quiet location, tucked back from the busy road. A place where—with a little imagination—it’s evening in May 1863 and two generals are meeting for their fin…
The COVID-19 Economic Impact: a Trade Show Promoter's Perspective
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs....' is the opening line of the immortal poem 'If' by Rudyard Kipling. Published in 1910 and still…
Stirring Up Dry Bones
The fact is the Government is getting to regard the Monitor in pretty much the same light as an over careful housewife regards her ancient china set – too valuabl…
Our Generals in the Field
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and most importantly, the print maker or artist’s goals. Our subject…
Lost Yankee Gold in Pennsylvania 1863
Legend has it that sometime in the latter part of June 1863, a pair of Union supply wagons departed Wheeling, W.Va., entered the state of Pennsylvania loaded with…
Civil War Era Abolitionist, Orator, and Recruiter Resurrected
Frederick Douglass “dropped dead in the hallway of his residence” on Anacostia Heights in Washington, D.C., on the evening of February 20, 1895. Douglass’ death w…
Brunswick Civil War Round Table A standing ovation at Hatch Auditorium
Union Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant received a standing ovation from a near capacity audience of 597 following their performance at the T…
A Revolutionary War
As the war was prolonged, it inevitably accomplished a revolutionary change in the status and outlook of the colored folk who comprised about an eighth of the pop…
The Strange Case of John Forney
Early last year two “This and That” columns peeked into the Valley of the Shadow archive to see the different ways newspapers in Staunton, Va., and Chambersburg,…
Richmond Burning
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and most importantly, the print maker or artist’s goals. To every Ci…
Identified Knife / Fork Combination
Dear John: I am writing seeking assistance about how to discover the value of a Civil War era folding knife. I have included some photos of the knife and the hist…
Digitized Civil War Maps at the National Archives
Roads the Army of the Tennessee took while approaching Atlanta. In January this year, the National Archives announced release of digitized maps from US File Unit…
A Terrible Blunder
“… You had better get away from here quick. The Texans are whipping our men in the canyon like hell, have driven them nearly through the canyon and pretty soon wi…
New Dixie Catalog, Instructing the “Stupids” & Multiple Loading
If you were a black powder fan back in the 1930s into the early 1950s, you were pretty much on your own. You had to either find a shootable original gun or go to…
John Henry Myer: Pursued by War
When war threatened civilians directly, they had three essential choices: stay, temporarily flee, or permanently relocate. Circumstances sometimes dictated which…
Confederate Imprints
Imprint: “…an indelible distinguishing effect or influence;” is one definition Webster offers. Duke University defines Confederate Imprints as: “… items printed i…
Civil War Events — March 2020
Join us for a lecture on South Mountain Communities during the Civil War, at the Shippensburg Historical Society, 52 W. King St., Shippensburg. 10 a.m. Free, dona…
Black Confederates: Truth and Legend
The Civil War was a fiery prism at the center of American society. Every life entered the prism at its own angle and was refracted in its own way The lives of Sou…
25th Annual Chickamauga Civil War Show and Sale
DALTON, Ga.—The 25th Annual Chickamauga Civil War Show and Sale went off without a hitch on February 1 and 2 at the Dalton Convention Center in Dalton, Ga. The we…
Tools for Searching the National Archives Online (Part II)
In the December 2019 installment of this column, readers learned of the recent online enhancement offering Optical Character Recognition (OCR) searches of the var…
Selective demolition of modern additions at the historic Warfield house
GETTYSBURG, Penn.— Selective demolition work has begun at the historic Warfield house near the intersection of Millerstown Road and West Confederate Avenue. Contr…
Lincoln Forum Presents 2019 Achievement Awards to: Michael Beschloss, Sidney Blumenthal, and the ‘Looking For Lincoln’ Heritage Coalition
GETTYSBURG, Penn.—The Lincoln Forum has presented its three annual achievement awards. The 2019 honorees are leading presidential historian Michael Beschloss, Lin…
Kinsley Leadership Center Opens at the Historic Spangler Farm & Field Hospital Site
On Friday afternoon, October 4, the Gettysburg Foundation hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the Kinsley Leadership Center. It is housed in the renovated fa…
Franklin’s Middle Tennessee Civil War Show
FRANKLIN, Tenn.—The 33rd Annual Middle Tennessee Civil War Show is now in the history books and it was a great one according to Show Promoter Mike Kent of MK Show…
Civil War Events — February 2020
St. only. There will be a lunch for the participants at 12 p.m. After the parade participants are invited to return to the Union League for refreshments and enter…
Tools for Searching the National Archives Online
Tools for Searching the National Archives Online Last month in this column, readers learned of the recent online enhancement offering Optical Character Recognitio…
The Yacht Rebecca
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and most importantly, the print maker or artist’s goals. When is a C…
Lincoln Forum Has Largest Attendance And Most First-Timers Ever
Over 350 Lincoln scholars and enthusiasts gathered from November 16-18 at Gettysburg’s Wyndham Hotel for the 24th annual Lincoln Forum Symposium. It was the best-…
In Memoriam: James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr.
History is the greatest teacher you will ever have,” James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr. often told his students. If history is the greatest teacher, many of them might…
Harpers Ferry Civil War Round Table
HARPERS FERRY, W.Va.—At its September 11 program, the Harpers Ferry Civil War Round Table marked 40 years of educational meetings. Pictured, left to right, are th…
Emerging Civil War — December 2019
Whenever I invoke George Santayana in front of a Civil War group, I get a lot of “Amens.” “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it,” Santayana said…
Cherry Bounce
So as the Yankees say after every defeat, I retired in good order...Alas, I am a woman approaching forty, and the offering proved to be a bottle of cherry bounce.…
Augusta CWRT
In September I presented at the regular meeting of the Augusta Civil War Round Table, an incredibly well-run organization. Their success provides a great example…
These People Are All My Neighbors
These People Are All My Neighbors “[The Militia] dread the jeers and sneers which they must encounter from the Army more than they do the bullets of the Yankees.”…
Events Section — November 2019
Hotel Gettysburg, 1 Lincoln Square. Room left of front desk. Friday 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Free Admission – Civil War and More: books; Sullivan…
Descendants Steal Spotlight at Civil War Talk
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va.— Ben Trittipoe and Marti Hall Sell stole the show at a recent Civil War program about historic houses and Civil War activity along the Blue Ri…
Confederate Biography, A to Z
Confederate Biography, A to Z For this issue, publisher Jack Melton asked some of our regular columnists, “What’s on your rolling tray?” The idea came from Michae…
“Grant and Twain: The Men and the Memoirs” Plays in Quincy, Illinois
“Grant and Twain: The Men and the Memoirs” Plays in Quincy, Illinois By Professor Earnest Veritas Special Correspondent to the -Western TheaterThe 300 people in t…
Prang and Company: Sheridan’s Ride October 19, 1864
Prang and Company: Sheridan’s Ride October 19, 1864 The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and most importa…
Hurricane Dorian
This issue was finished early due to hurricane Dorian. The coasts of Florida to South Carolina were under a hurricane watch and were ordered to evacuate. I apolog…
Events Section — October 2019
Welcoming ceremony: 12:15 p.m. Ride departure: 1 p.m. Open to all interested riders. Rain or shine. Registration $10. For information, www.gbpa.org and www.abatep…
Emerging Civil War — October 2019
are just renditions of a previously made map and do not include the locations and troop movements actually mentioned in the text.
Emerging Civil War Presents Annual Awards
Emerging Civil War Presents Annual Awards Emerging Civil War presented its 2019 ECW Awards at its annual Symposium earlier this month in Spotsylvania, Virginia. A…
California Beer
California Beer In 1864, during Sherman’s “March to the Sea,” his invading army lived on the bounty of the farmlands they marched across. For every story of subsi…
The United States Christian Commission and it’s Coffee Wagons!
Professor Veritas had the pleasure of having coffee from the United States Christian Commission coffee wagon and interviewing Chaplain Alan Farley. The Professor…
Emerging Civil War — September 2019
As I write this, we’re heading into the home stretch in advance of our Sixth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge (Aug. 2-4, 2019). In a way, th…
Crossing the Hooch without a Hitch
After being repulsed at Kennesaw Mountain, Sherman reverted to his tried-and-true tactic of maneuvering to his right, threatening Johnston’s communications and fo…
Critic’s Corner — September 2019
So they’re talking about removing the seventh U.S. president from the twenty-dollar-bill because he was a slaveowner. What about taking the face of the eighteenth…
Betcha haven’t seen this one!
Quick! What’s this view—a photograph taken by one of the Civil War’s most prominent cameramen? Chances are that you’ve seen a slightly different view of this same…
Accessing the Official Records Online
Circling back to March 2016, and the focus of the first installment of this column, this month we update readers on an additional online tool for searching the Of…
A Delaying Action
“the rebels are coming in bunches.” – U.S. Cpt. Heber S. Thompson By September 1863, U.S. Gen. William Rosecrans’s Army of the Cumberland had driven C.S. Gen. Bra…
“If Farragut had only been here…”
Blockade duty during the Civil war usually proved to be deadly dull… weeks of boredom, punctuated by moments of pure excitement. The following, recently discovere…
The Scholarship of Confederate Nationalism
In January 1862 a Georgian serving in Virginia wrote home about the sunny prospects for the Southern Confederacy. “I have no more idea that the Yankees will whip…
Sometimes Readers Send Us Research Questions….
Publisher’s note: From time to time one of our regular columnists receives an e-mail from a reader who writes, “Hey, I liked your recent article, and it prompts m…
Henry G. Heidebrink
Recently Kent Masterson Brown, President of the Lexington, Ky., Civil War Roundtable challenged the membership to write an article about their Civil War relative…
Going Paperless
An errant tee shot from the Atlanta Country Club’s 13th hole will transport the ball a century and a half back in time. The ball will fly out of bounds, out of th…
Exploding Walkers, .31 caliber mold and Rebel Henrys
I know a guy who uses a reproduction Colt. 44 caliber Walker six gun for plinking and wild hog hunting. The gun has performed reliably for him over a number of ye…
Betcha haven’t seen this one!
Francis Trevelyan Miller’s Photographic Views of the Civil War (1911), vol. 3, p. 135; Lamont Buchanan, A Pictorial History of the Confederacy (1951), p. 243; Wil…
Tweaking Clio’s Nose: Ward Moore’s Bring the Jubilee
I think I learned the word funky from Rockford (James Garner) back in the ‘70s. Well, something definitely funky is going on when one reads the first sentence of…
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post Beginning print in 1821 out of Philadelphia, on the same press Benjamin Franklin used to rollout his The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1728, t…
Sharpshooters
Sharpshooters While there are serious and legitimate disputed interpretations and reinterpretations of history, the past, especially in the popular view, has prod…
Haversack
Haversack As soon as we had stacked arms, I left for the city to replenish my haversack, which had become rather flat…On entering town I passed by the abandoned C…
The Confederate Roll of Honor: Not quite a medal or a badge, but…
The Confederate Roll of Honor: Not quite a medal or a badge, but… Publisher’s note: Last month Steve Davis reported on a Confederate Medal of Honor recently besto…
Snuff
Snuff “Most of the Southern women chew tobacco or ‘dip snuff’ as they call it.”– Thomas P. Nanzig, From Shiloh to Surrender with the 18th Wisconsin The differing…
Lincoln Forum Announces Roster For 2019 Symposium: “The Leader. The War. The Legacy: Lincoln At 210”
Lincoln Forum Announces Roster For 2019 Symposium: “The Leader. The War. The Legacy: Lincoln At 210” Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss to Deliver November…
George Washington and the Impending Crisis
This column highlights prints from the Civil War, discusses their meaning, and most importantly, details what the print maker or artist was trying to achieve. If…
“A Note On Privateers”
April issue’s “Through the Lens” including some discussion on legitimate privateers versus high seas robbers was surely very interesting to many readers. Not all…
The First of May 1865 or Genl. Moving Day in Richmond, Va.
This occasional column highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War. It discusses their meaning and most importantly, the goals of the print maker or arti…
Tea and Tea Substitutes
“If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.” The joke in the heading about tea and coffee was credited to Abrah…
Federal City Brass Band Brings Added Dimension to Military Through the Ages
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. – Plato For decades visitors have flocked to Military Thr…
Eras Gone Bullet Molds, Repro Catalogs & A Business Merger
One of the most interesting historical small arms related businesses I have come across in some time is Eras Gone Bullet Molds. Company founder Mark Hubbs wanted…
Emerging Civil War — May 2019
Twenty-one years ago, when she was four years old, my daughter Stephanie fell in love with Stonewall Jackson after a chance meeting on the plains of Manassas. See…
Lincoln and his Generals
This occasional column highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War. It discusses their meaning and most importantly, the goals of the print maker or arti…
Emerging Civil War — April 2019
Years ago, as a young writer in Goddard College’s M.F.A. program, I had a classmate who dreamed of one day being able to walk through her home with stacks of her…
Clippings from the Past
This article, “Atlanta and Nashville,” is in the Augusta Constitutionalist of February 5, 1865. It is signed “G. W. Y.” On the 7th the paper issued a correction,…
CS Marked Raking Spurs
The original pair of brass raking spurs featured here are, to the trained eye, easily recognized as Confederate. The raking style spur (rowels sideways) is a dist…
Bill Arp, So Called
Fifty years ago, a writer for the Atlanta Constitution admitted that she did not know much about a regular columnist who had written for the paper in the late 180…
Aboard the Ironclad Ram Arkansas with Naval Surgeon H.W. Macrae Washington
His earthly remains are interred near the moss-covered brick wall that marks the inner burial ground surrounding Ware Church in Gloucester County, Va. Encircled b…
“Transcends the Bounds of Sober Belief”: American Photography before the Civil War
We have seen the views taken in Paris by the “Daguerreotype” and have no hesitation in avowing that they are the most remarkable objects of curiosity and admirati…
University Chancellor Announces Resignation
University Chancellor Announces Resignation Stephen Davis (M.A., UNC-CH,1973) Chancellor Carol L. Folt of the University of North Carolina announced on January 14…
Union Generals in the Western Theater
Union Generals in the Western Theater 1. Who sent the following message to the Confederate commander at Fort Donelson: “I propose to move immediately upon your wo…
North Carolina Oval Belt Plate
North Carolina Oval Belt Plate By Shannon Pritchard The North Carolina “NC” oval waist belt plate is one of the very rarest and most desirable of the Confederate…
Library of Congress Civil War Photographs
Library of Congress Civil War Photographs I have been currently involved in writing captions for an absolutely fabulous group of Civil War photographs owned by th…
Lee and his Generals
Lee and his Generals This occasional column highlights prints from the Civil War. It discusses their meaning and most importantly, what the print maker or artist…
Eccentric Southern Belle Was an Incredible Union Spy
Eccentric Southern Belle Was an Incredible Union Spy By Bob Ruegsegger Elizabeth Van Lew’s neighbors thought she was crazy, and Van Lew did everything she could t…
Dalton Civil War Show Continues to Win Accolades
DALTON, Ga.—While a polar vortex threatened north Georgia early in the week, skies cleared and temperatures rose to almost balmy levels just in time for the 24th…
Winter Quarters 1862–1863
Winter Quarters 1862–1863 This occasional column highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War. It discusses their meaning and most importantly, the goals…
Walt Whitman in the Civil War
Walt Whitman in the Civil War By Joseph F. Wilson In Pfaff’s dimly lit beer cellar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, Walt Whitman sipped his beer trying despe…
Retaliation, Reprisal, and Retribution
Retaliation, Reprisal, and Retribution How the people are to live this winter God only knows. Valley Spirit, Chambersburg, Penn., August 31, 1864 Their will be su…
Musical History
Musical History 1. Even before my father’s fathers They called us rebels Burned our cornfields And left our cities leveled I can still see the eyes Of those blue…
Leech & Co. Bowie Knife
Leech & Co. Bowie Knife By Shannon Pritchard The beautiful clip point Bowie knife shown here is pure Confederate. The maker of this ultra-rare Bowie knife is the…
A Texan Writes Home
A Texan Writes Home Many of us are practicing scholars and writers, even if we’re “amateur” ones—strictly defined by the academicians as not earning our financial…
A Navy Man Writes on the Fall of New Orleans
A Navy Man Writes on the Fall of New Orleans By Bruce Allardice and Wayne Wolf Dr. Aaron Shimer Oberly (1837–1918) studied medicine at Yale University. He was app…
A Few Thoughts On Canteens
A Few Thoughts On Canteens One of the basic needs for human survival is water. You can survive longer without virtually anything else except air. Although essenti…
“…dead, dead, dead.”
“…dead, dead, dead.” By Thomas P. Lowry When this author was an Air Force doctor, he received many patients from all over the world by “Air Evac.” This miracle of…
The Valley Project: Delving into the Online Archive
The Valley Project: Delving into the Online Archive In December 2017, Ed Ayers spoke to the Atlanta Civil War Round Table on the subject of “War and Reconstructio…
The Bombardment and Capture of Fort Fisher, N.C. Jany. 15th 1865
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Lincoln Forum Presents Annual Achievement Awards
Lincoln Forum Presents Annual Achievement Awards GETTYSBURG, Penn.—On November 18, The Lincoln Forum presented its annual Richard Nelson Current Award of Achievem…
Fathers and Sons
Fathers and Sons “My son is a rebel! – I defend him not!” – U.S. Senator John J. Crittenden Both the North and South wanted Kentucky on their side. Situated betwe…
A Quaker Goes to War
By Bruce Allardice and Wayne Wolf Northern Quakers faced a moral dilemma. They were anti-slavery and pro-Union, to be sure, but their faith dictated that they pla…
The Atlanta Ponder House Story
Most of us interested in Civil War history have seen the famous Ponder House picture taken, just outside Atlanta, along the outer fortification line at the southe…
John L. Porter Designed First Confederate Ironclad Warship
Naval Constructor John Luke Porter did all that he could during his lifetime to make it clear that he was primarily responsible for transforming the charred hulk…
Hatcher’s Meeting with Lincoln
At six-feet-five, Clinton Hatcher certainly stood out in a crowd in 1861. His red hair helped make him a topic of conversation for all who saw him, including the…
Foreigners
This month’s trivia questions are based on the seminal works of Prof. Ella Lonn (1879–1962), Foreigners in the Confederacy (1940) and Foreigners in the Union Army…
After the Storm in Harpers Ferry
Responding to reports received about the capture of the U.S. Arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Va., Lt. Israel Green, USMC, stationed at the Marine Barracks in Washington…
Second Annual CWRT Congress
Second Annual CWRT Congress Increasing membership. Raising money. Connecting with the public. Attracting interesting speakers. Improving advisory and governing bo…
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States: War Papers (MOLLUS) – Michigan and Massachusetts
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States: War Papers (MOLLUS) – Michigan and Massachusetts Covering only two volumes of the MOLLUS Papers, 50-51, t…
Meg Groeling’s Favorite Civil War Books
Meg Groeling 1861: The Civil War Awakening By Adam Goodheart (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011), ISBN-13: 978-1-4000-32198, 496 pp. $28.95. Hardcover. When I read…
Juneteenth
Juneteenth By Gould Hagler Is Galveston in Texas, or Outer Mongolia? Last June I encountered a few newspaper articles on the Juneteenth holiday. One piece was in…
Garry Adelman’s Selected Civil War Photography Books
Garry Adelman From the time technology allowed for the mass-production of half-tone photographs, publishers have offered Civil War photography books. Miller’s Pho…
ECW’s Chris Mackowski Favorite Civil War Books
Chris Mackowski In alphabetical order: The Civil War: A Narrative (1958) by Shelby Foote— Historians take issue with Foote’s storytelling, but as he admitted, he…
Civil War History Comes to Life in Genesee Country Village
Civil War History Comes to Life in Genesee Country Village By Joseph Bordonaro Imagine, if you will, traveling back in time to 1862. You find yourself in a small…
Civil War Events — November 2018
Olde Colony Civil War Round Table’s annual Jubilee Dinner at the Chateau located at 48 Bay Road, Norton, Mass. The featured speaker will be Tom Clemens PhD, histo…
Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain
Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain This occasional column highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War. It discusses their meaning and most importantly, the…
Antique Bowie Knife Association Show in Ohio
Antique Bowie Knife Association Show in Ohio By John Sexton, ABKA-life member - co-author of Confederate Bowie Knives The Antique Bowie Knife Association (ABKA) h…
Two More Louisville Statues Are Exiled
On August 8, 2018, Louisville, Ky., Mayor Greg Fisher announced that two more politically incorrect statues would be removed from the streets of Louisville to an…
The New York Times and Its Use of Gatling Guns During the Draft Riots: Fact or Fiction?
One fascinating tidbit of Civil War lore maintains that New York Times publisher Henry J. Raymond obtained three recently-invented “mitrailleuses,” a new type of…
Our Heroes and Our Flags
This occasional column highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War. It discusses their meaning and most importantly, the goals of the print maker or arti…
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States: War Papers (MOLLUS) – Wisconsin
Badger State produced more than 140 papers, including accounts from the Eastern and Western Theaters, the Trans-Mississippi, and a spattering of naval reports. St…
Gettysburg Redux and the Mysterious Mr. Reader
I am writing this in August, just after returning from a family trip to Gettysburg. Living in New Jersey, I am fortunate enough to be a little over three hours (p…
Emerging Civil War — October 2018
As I-26 rolled south from Johnson City through the eastern mountains of Tennessee, I marveled at the green expanses unfolding around me. My last trip along this s…
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States: War Papers (MOLLUS) – District of Columbia
The District of Columbia Commandery published several papers over the years, and their resultant work serves as the focus of this month’s overview. Spanning 1887-…
Manners
Manners The true aim of politeness is to make those with whom you associate as well satisfied with themselves as possible. ...it does whatever it can to accommoda…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
Historians of the Western Theater Annual Conference
Membership in the organization remains open to scholars with an active and productive record in research and publication related to the Civil War’s Western Theate…
From The Lowcountry — August 2018
Time spent in Gettysburg is always fun and last week our trip did not disappoint. We would like to give a special thanks to Loring and Jean Shultz, owners of the…
Civil War Events — August 2018
While serving with the Army of the Potomac, artist Charles Wellington Reed recorded his observations and experiences of the Civil War through 700+ illustrations.…
“Marching into Dixie”
This occasional column highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War. It discusses their meaning and most importantly, the goals of the print maker or arti…
The Baton Rouge Civil War Symposium
Some in the Civil War community these days bemoan a alleged decline of interest in our pastime. To which we say, humbug. Latest evidence for me was the recent, ve…
Perspectives on Second Bull Run
I presume the enemy will not let us be quiet here. They have a large force in front of us, and are evidently determined to break through Pope and drive us out of…
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States: War Papers (MOLLUS) – Nebraska & Minnesota
This month, our series on providing index content from the MOLLUS Papers continues, with the information found in the Nebraska and Minnesota volumes, 25-31. Remin…
From The Lowcountry — July 2018
Your July issue contains the 24th Annual Gettysburg section. Please note that it is not a separate section, but rather it is included in the paper so it remains i…
Emerging Civil War — July 2018
One thing I love most about doing Facebook LIVE events for Emerging Civil War is the interactivity with viewers. As they watch, many people type in questions and…
2018 Association of Lincoln Presenters
FREEPORT, Ill.—May 19–22. Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln, and Abraham Lincoln, ad infinitum, met for a weekend of humor (LOTS of humor), histor…
Victory Celebrations
Victory Celebrations 1. After he received the report from Brig. Gen. Ulysses Grant that he had captured an important Confederate fort in Tennessee, Maj. Gen. Henr…
Stephen Recker Named the Edwin C. Bearss Award Recipient
CHAMBERSBURG, Penn.— Chambersburg Civil War Seminars & Tours announced Stephen Recker as the third recipient of the Edwin C. Bearss Award during the Bearss Sympos…
Scaring Lincoln
“We have five times as many generals here as we want, but are greatly in need of privates. Anyone volunteering in that capacity will be thankfully received.” – U.…
Prize-Winning Authors Saunders, Blight, and Ayers Highlight November’s Lincoln Forum XXIII
Two popular and distinguished Lincoln Prize laureates, 2002 honoree David W. Blight and this year’s winner, Edward L. Ayers—plus the much-discussed Man Booker Pri…
Lincoln Legens
Lincoln Legens Lincoln As I Knew Him: Gossip, Tributes and Revelations from His Best Friends and Worst Enemies. Edited by Harold Holzer. Algonquin Books of Chapel…
Appomattox 153rd Anniversary was a Success!
Despite snow (twice) and plummeting temperatures all day Saturday, the 153rd celebration at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park was a success with a t…
The President Addresses Congress
On May 2, 1864, President Jefferson Davis spoke to the opening session of the Second Confederate Congress. He addressed a number of issues facing the country, sav…
St. Luke’s Church in Isle of Wight County Offers Civil War Weekend
For over three centuries, St. Luke’s Church in Isle of Wight County near Smithfield, Va., has been a religious beacon in Southeastern Virginia. Stained-glass wind…
RB Barrel Mark
There was a recent discussion on one of the Civil War forums about a Birmingham manufactured (Tower marked) Pattern 1853 (P53) with the initials RB marked on the…
PhotoShopping: 19th Century Style Part II
This occasional column highlights prints from the Civil War. It will discuss their meaning and most importantly, what the print maker or artist was trying to achi…
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States: War Papers (MOLLUS)
As a refresher from last month, the first two volumes of the Broadfoot 1990s reprint set, unnumbered, consist of ‘Biographical Sketches of Contributors,’ and ‘Com…
PhotoShopping: 19th Century Style
This occasional column highlights prints from the Civil War. It will discuss their meaning and most importantly, what the print maker or artist was trying to achi…
Killed by Mosby’s Guerillas
The inscription on the young Union cavalryman’s grave reads “Killed by Mosby’s Guerillas.” He is buried near his home town of Littlestown, Penn., just a few miles…
Gum Blanket
We drew some new clothing today and I got a poncho. We got our gum blankets just in time as it rained all day. Civil War Diary of Alexander G. Downing, 11th Iowa…
A Southerner’s Perspective on Sherman’s March
In 1897, Englishman Arnold Toynbee was pondering his country’s Diamond Jubilee, a celebration of England’s wealth and international power under Queen Victoria. “T…
A Fair Trial
“Tell Capt. Jeffers that is not the way to Richmond.” – Lt. J.T. Wood, CSS Virginia, to an officer in the pilothouse of the departing USS Monitor Fear permeated t…
The National Tribune Civil War Index
A reviewer stated, in 1881, “The Tribune will be a power for its cause.” This praise centered on The National Tribune, which began as a monthly publication in Oct…
Inverted Belt Buckle
“Those (Confederates) wearing our army belts did so with the “U.S.” upside down…” Henry Tisdale, 35th Mass. Inf. One of the questions that comes up fairly often o…
Harwell’s In Tall Cotton
“Confederate history has survived its eras of apology, of brag and bombast, of pietistic biography, of de-bunking, of reappraisal and revisionism,” Richard Barksd…
Gone but not Forgotten
In the late summer and fall of 1864, the American Civil War was entering its final phases. To those fighting the war, the outcome was still anything but certain.…
God Bless the Compilers But Who Was N. A. Strait?
Every serious student of the Civil War begins to accumulate reference works, by purchase, borrowing, or by sitting in the library. The voluminous Official Records…
Dalton’s Civil War Show Draws A Record Crowd
DALTON, Ga.—Awesome! The only word that can be used to describe the 2018 Chickamauga Civil War Show and Sale held February 3 & 4, at the Dalton Trade Center in Da…
Waco Belt Buckle
Dear Chris, It was a pleasure talking to you on the phone and I will not mention the digging site you just found in Texas. The plethora of objects you sent photos…
To Catch a Snake
“That was a torpedo, sir! It has blown a hole in her hull under the boilers, and the water is within three inches of her fires.” – USS Montauk Chief Engineer Bloc…
The Devilish Lieutenant Bierce
BRIDE, n. A woman with a fine prospect of happiness behind her. INFIDEL, n. In New York, one who does not believe in the Christian religion; in Constantinople, on…
Lincoln Forum Leadership To Change After 24 Years, As Frank Williams Announces Retirement From Chairmanship
Forum’s Teacher and Student Scholarship Programs To be Re-Named in Honor of Frank and Virginia Williams December 1—After nearly a quarter century of consistent le…
Hot Chocolate
February 22nd 1863. Sabbath, a severe rain with wind and consequently quite dreary without. Lay in tent all day, not going out but once and then to make some choc…
From The Lowcountry
Mark Twain once wrote of the Bible that it “has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and a wealth of obscenity; and upward…
Civil War Maps: An Annotated List of Maps and Atlases in the Library of Congress
This month, continuing our look at various Civil War map sources, we dive into a helpful printed resource, which serves as a great compliment to using the Library…
Cathey and Waddey Awarded Robertson Prize
WOODBRIDGE, N.J.—M. Todd Cathey and Gary W. Waddey have been selected as the winners of the 2016 Dr. James I. Robertson Jr. Literary Prize for Confederate History…
Accepting Submissions for Edwin C. Bearss Award
CHAMBERSBURG, Penn.— Chambersburg Civil War Seminars & Tours is now accepting applications for the 2018 Edwin C. Bearss Award. Given annually, this award supports…
Spiller & Burr
Dear John: I found the gun on Facebook Market Place. I went and met the guy at Waffle House in Oxford, Ala. We took the gun inside Waffle House to look at it. I o…
Small Talk — January 2018
Prominent figures in the war said and wrote lots, and some of their statements have become famous quotations. Or, at least, the figures themselves have become fam…
Longstreet Society Seminar: The Valley Forge of the Civil War
In most annals of the war, Longstreet moved east after failing to take Fort Sanders, thereby driving Burnside’s army out of Knoxville, Tenn. The narratives say Lo…
Lincoln Scholar Harold Holzer’s Oration at the 154th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address
Some three score and seven miles from this spot—in Washington—stands a statue of Abraham Lincoln. Not that one; another one: Thomas Ball’s statue of Lincoln as a…
Gettysburg’s Remembrance Day Parade
Wet, but without a incident in spite of threats! Photo collage by Charlie J. Bury Jr.
Garry Adelman Honored With Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Award in Massachusetts
The Civil War Roundtable of Central Massachusetts sponsored Garry Adelman for the 2017 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Award, presented by the CWRTCM and Boston Roundta…
Franklin Civil War Show & Sale Huge Success!
FRANKLIN, Tenn.—The 31st Annual Middle Tennessee Civil War Show (also known as The Franklin Show) scored big again this year to cement its reputation as the natio…
Fighting Was Our Business
“I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game” – Abraham Lincoln At the start of the Civil War, Kentucky declared its neutrality. By Sept…
Evacuating the Stockade and the Asylum
I am at a loss to know where to send the prisoners from Florence. In one direction the enemy are in the way. In the other the question of supplies presents an ins…
Civil War Photography – Discoveries and Explorations
CHARLESTON, S.C.—The Civil War provided a number of “firsts” in American History. These include the war being the first extensively photographed. Of note are the…
CWRT Congress
Can sharing information and ideas among Civil War Round Tables make them better, stronger, and more successful? That was the topic of the first Civil War Round Ta…
A Conversation with Grady McWhiney
For many in the Civil War community, Grady McWhiney is a familiar name. Longtime university professor, author of numerous books and articles, Dr. McWhiney had est…
“Oh, I’m a Good Old Rebel”
This occasional column will highlight prints from the Civil War. It will discuss their meaning and most importantly, what the print maker or artist was trying to…
Steam into History Hosts Civil War Weekend
Visitors have been flocking to New Freedom, Penn. At Steam into History, they purchase tickets that allow them to experience railroad travel as it would have been…
Report on the Conduct of the War
“I hold it to be our bounden duty, impressed upon us by our positions here, to keep an anxious, watchful eye over all the executive agents who are carrying on the…
Franklin Civil War Round Table Celebrates its Tenth Year!
FRANKLIN, Tenn.—The Franklin Civil War Round Table (FCWRT) recently hosted a dinner banquet with entertainment provided by period musician and singer Bobby Horton…
Confederate Scarf
Dear John: My mother-in-law had this Confederate Civil War scarf and when she died, it was sent to me. She was English and none of her children have any idea how…
Chasing Lee
“I would sooner sacrifice my commission than my men” – U.S. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren On Nov. 25, 1863, on the eve of the first nationally recognized Thanksgiving…
Charleston’s Rich Civil War Photo Legacy Comes Alive During Image of War Seminar
The first photographs of the Civil War were taken at Charleston, S.C., which became one of the most-photographed cities of the war era. So Charleston was the dest…
Why We Read, Why We Write
Despite the title, I do not purport to speak for anyone, much less everyone, else in or out of the profession, but I can say that History is special to me. I enjo…
What's Hot, and What's Not, in the World of Civil War Books Today!
A while back, as we were packing up far too many unsold books from a Civil War show, in order to take them back to our shop in Richmond, my good friend Rusty came…
What to do with the Jefferson Davis Statue in the Kentucky Capitol's Rotunda
In 1936, a statue of Jefferson Davis was placed in the Kentucky Capitol Building Rotunda during a period of heightened Klu Klux Klan activity and increased enforc…
Was President Grant a Naive Victim?
Although most modern biographies attribute the Grant Administration’s reputation for corruption to venal advisors who took advantage of the President’s innocent n…
University of Tennessee Press Publishes Western Theater
The University of Tennessee Press has always had a strong list in Civil War studies. Appropriately, given our location, our leading-edge scholarship has concentra…
Shotguns and Bayonets
“Dear Sir, there is one hundred and fifty double-barrell shotguns here, all in good order. Shall I send them to have the Bowie knife attached to them? Price is se…
Hunley Mystery NOT Solved Yet: Researchers Continue Investigation into What Really Happened
Researchers Continue Investigation into What Really Happened CHARLESTON, S.C.—Recently, Duke University issued a press release claiming one of their students disc…
Confederate Bowie Knife
Confederate Bowie Knife Dear John: I have been trying to do some research on a James Conning Confederate knife that I have. From what I gather he only made the Bo…
Augusta CWRT
“I’ve seen small round tables. I’ve seen large round tables. But I’ve never seen a Gwen Fulcher Young round table.” And so began my presentation to the Augusta Ci…
The Wars after the War: Close Calls for Hancock and Custer
The second in a series on Union officers who served in the Indian Wars By Gould Hagler Nearly every American has heard of George Armstrong Custer, even if most kn…
The Founding of the Civil War Round Table of Atlanta
By Hank Segars The Civil War Round Table of Atlanta, founded in 1949, remains one of the foremost historical societies in North America and the roll of early foun…
The American Heritage Short History of the Civil War
By Stephen Davis The American Heritage Short History of the Civil War Bruce Catton begins his American Heritage Short History of the Civil War with a look at Amer…
Silver I.D. Pin
By John Sexton Silver I.D. Pin Dear John: I was curious if you could give me more information on my most recent (and only) find. I found this piece metal detectin…
Peterboro Emancipation Day Gathering
PETERBORO, N.Y— Families, friends, presenters, and supporters of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark gathered from across the state and country to…
Papers of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts – Part One
Papers of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts – Part One “Our principal object in writing the foregoing pages has been to draw a few of the military…
New Projects at Moccasin Bend
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and Friends of Moccasin Bend Announce Construction of Orientation Plaza and Park Trails at Moccasin Bend NPS Ce…
Marietta’s Root House Event
MARIETTA, Ga.—William Root House Event was on July 8. The SVR, SUVCW, Department of Georgia & S.C., Confederate Sons and the 30th Ohio (Recreated), went to the ai…
Civil War Round Tables are Organizing for Growth
By Wally Rueckel For several years many Civil War Round Tables have been losing members or, even worse, are no longer in existence. This is sad because we are los…
Civil War Round Table Attributes Growth to Quality Speakers
SOUTHPORT, N.C.—The current season of monthly meetings of the Brunswick Civil War Round Table ended recently with a standing ovation for returning guest speaker,…
Charlotte CWRT
By Matthew Borowick Charlotte CWRT Many round tables meet throughout the year; others skip December because of the holidays, while others take the summers off. I…
Wreath Laying Ceremony Honors Confederate Commodore John Randolph Tucker
Wreath Laying Ceremony Honors Confederate Commodore John Randolph Tucker By Bob Ruegsegger John Randolph Tucker’s illustrious naval career began as a 14-year-old…
Small Talk — September 2017
Small Talk By Stephen Davis 1. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates attacked and overran a Union fort on the Mississippi, Apr. 12, 1864, half of whose garrison w…
Recipient of Ed Bearss Award Announced
Recipient of Ed Bearss Award Announced CHAMBERSBURG, Penn.— Chambersburg Civil War Seminars & Tours is pleased to announce Thomas J. Ryan as the 2017 recipient of…
Old Timey Music
“I don’t believe we can have an army without music.” – Robert E. Lee Just south of Nashville, the City of LaVergne, Tenn., celebrated a milestone anniversary last…
North Carolina State Seal
Ask The Civil War Appraiser By John Sexton North Carolina State Seal Dear John: My name is Anthony Amick. A couple months ago my wife bought me my first metal det…
New Bern Historical Society Honors Volunteers
New Bern Historical Society Honors Volunteers NEW BERN, N.C.—The strength of any non-profit organization comes from the time and commitment of its volunteers. Mor…
Getting More Young People Interested in the Civil War: Some Suggestions
Getting More Young People Interested in the Civil War: Some Suggestions By Chris Mackowski During a recent panel discussion at the Gettysburg Heritage Center, sev…
Conservation of a Rare USCT Banner
Conservation of a Rare USCT Banner By Jessica Hack With his issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln not only decreed that all…
Confederate Military History – Extended Edition
writers to avoid political issues. In volume one, Evans and two other authors dispatched with many of the political topics. In addition to Evans, who wrote a sect…
Come Retribution: The Confederate Secret Service and the Assassination of Lincoln
By Stephen Davis Come Retribution: The Confederate Secret Service and the Assassination of Lincoln Joan Wenner’s fine article, “Confederate Secret Service” in our…
10th Annual Major Jonathan Letterman Medical Excellence Award
Dr. Frank K. Butler. Dr. Butler, has served as a Navy SEAL, as an innovator and leader in Navy and civilian dive medicine, and, most importantly, as the driving f…
We Have Cotton, But…
We Have Cotton, But… By Gould Hagler The fourth of a series on shortages of consumer goods in the Confederacy. “Melanie, by rare luck, had come into possession of…
Ransom!
“Tall, black columns of smoke rose up to the very skies; around it were wrapped long streams of flames writhing and twisting … gigantic whirlwinds would lift clot…
Elmira Prison Camp
By Craig L. Barry Elmira Prison Camp In July 1864 the first Confederate Prisoners of War arrived at Elmira, N.Y., Prison Camp, sent from Maryland’s infamous Point…
Does Copyright Manipulation Distort Our Perspectives on Civil War History?
By Philip Leigh According to Steve Schlackman’s “How Mickey Mouse Keeps Changing Copyright Law” in the Feb. 15, 2014 edition of Art Law Journal, copyrights last f…
Development of grounds next to Nashville Fort opposed
Development of grounds next to Nashville Fort opposed By Gregory L. Wade NASHVILLE, Tenn.—A scaled down proposal to build a multi-use development along the perime…
Small Talk — July 2017
We’re always glad that our “trivia” column elicits thoughtful corrections. One such is mailed to us by Ora Eads of Nashville, who refers to our first quiz of this…
CSA Two-Piece Buckle
Mr. Sexton: Thank you for your response. I am attaching the photos for your perusal with this email. My friend said that the CSA emblem seems to be soldered onto…
The Light At The End Of Rat Hell
“I shall never forget the night when I first emerged into the open air. Just as Capt. Phelps had helped me from the tunnel the guard sang out not twenty yards fro…
The Death And Burials Of The Rt. Rev. Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk, C.S.A.
How many Confederate generals were killed in action? Fifty. How many Confederate chaplains lost their lives in the service? Forty-one. How many Episcopal bishops…
Small Talk — June 2017
In our last quiz (May issue) we erred and strayed like lost sheep. We asked how many Southern state capitals were occupied by Union forces during the war. Our ans…
Port Of Columbus Flags Restoration
In the previous article of this series I described a group of very small (1' x 3') Confederate Bible flags, and their treatment. As our projects range from one en…
Ketchup
National Ketchup Day is celebrated in America on June 5. The reason for recognizing ketchup in such a way results from the popular stereotype that it is “the quin…
Gary Gallagher To Receive The Houston Civil War Round Table’s Vandiver Award
HOUSTON, Texas—The Houston Civil War Round Table proudly announced today that the renowned Civil War historian Gary W. Gallagher is the recipient of this year’s F…
Fighting The Forces Of Darkness
Light! Light! Light! Blockade or No Blockade! Natchez Daily Courier, Apr. 4, 1862 In the first two articles of this series we explored the ways in which the peopl…
Confederate Secret Service
Intelligence gathering during the Civil War by both sides had the same goals; basically determine as best as possible each other’s activities, and disrupt or enti…
Civil War Union Secret Service
Unique to the Civil War was the creation of ‘secret’ intelligence gathering by both sides. Previously highlighted was the Confederate ‘secret service’ and now we…
The Graphic War — May 2017
The 19th Century was the age of the print and the printer. By the 1840’s, old techniques such as etching, engraving and wood cuts were joined by lithography. As p…
Mosby Ranger’s Saddle Bags
This wonderful pair of russet saddle bags has a name neatly painted on the body underneath the black patent, waterproof outer flap: “George Washington” in period…
Go Shoot All The Yankees!
“Boys, give ‘em the best you’ve got! We ain’t dead yet!” Bill Hoel, pilot USS Cincinnati It was dangerous to travel the Mississippi River before modern flood cont…
From The Lowcountry — May 2017
The dog days of summer are fast approaching and we are very busy getting ready for the many activities and events that it one of our favorite times of the year. I…
From Hell To Paradise
The Civil War was an extraordinary time, filled with extraordinary stories, and few were more extraordinary than that of Dorence Atwater. In 1864 he was at Anders…
Fort Lincoln: Guarding The Largest Prison Camp In The North
Before the Civil War, Point Lookout, located at the confluence of the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay on the southernmost point of Maryland, was a summer resort.…
Civil War Events April-Aug.
Lee and Jackson at Chancellorsville: An Insider’s Walking Tour, Fredericksburg, Va., led by Robert K. Krick (Thursday 7:30 pm—Saturday 4:30 pm) - includes 2 lunch…
Baseball In Confederate Salisbury Prison
There have been numerous stories and books written about the terrible living conditions that Union prisoners of war faced in Confederate prisoner camps, notably,…
Antique Belt Buckles
Hi John: Thanks for your time this morning. These are the buckles that have ID tags on them. I spoke with my mother and my great grandfather was George O. W. Serv…
Welcome Home Col. Burnside
Welcome Home Col. Burnside “You entirely mistake the character of the Northern people. … Not only will the North fight, but she will also triumph. The experiment…
The Lincoln Group Of New York Confers Its “Award of Achievement”
The Lincoln Group Of New York Confers Its “Award of Achievement” NEW YORK, N.Y.—Feb. 21, 2017– The Lincoln Group of New York, an organization dedicated to studyin…
Story Time With The Lincolns
DANVILLE, IL.—A capacity crowd of children, parents and grandparents in the Downstairs meeting room of the Danville, IL Public Library heard Donna and Max Daniels…
Rebellion Record
Growing frustrated with inaccurate reports found in the daily newspapers, New York City journalist Frank Moore embarked upon a mission to ascertain the facts and…
Heroes At The Crater In Petersburg
Heroes At The Crater In Petersburg By Carl L. Sell Jr. To date, there are 1,522 Medal of Honor recipients who fought for the Union in the Civil War. The Confedera…
George Washington’s Birthday Celebration At Harpers Ferry
George Washington’s Birthday Celebration At Harpers Ferry By Joseph Bordonaro HARPERS FERRY, W.V.— George Washington, our first President, and arguably our finest…
From The Lowcountry — April 2017
By Jack Melton Spring has sprung early in the Low Country. The azaleas are in full bloom a month early, and there is no shortage of yellow pine pollen in the air.…
Events Section — April 2017
7th Annual Crossroads of America Civil War Show will be held at the Beech Grove High School, 5330 Hornet Ave., Beech Grove, Indiana 46107. Quality Civil War items…
Elmira, N.Y., Civil War Prisoner Camp
By John A Punola In 1864 rising prisoner figures prompted the Union to open a series of smaller prisoner-ofwar camps; One of them was on the outskirts of Elmira,…
Ask The Civil War Appraiser — April 2017
Dear Civil War Appraiser: Here are some pictures of the pocket knife I spoke to you over the phone about. I appreciate your taking the time to look at them and yo…
From The Lowcountry — March 2017
This issue was full of articles and information leaving very little space for my From The Lowcountry column. Not that I’m complaining about having wonderful conte…
Don’t Forget Us: Erastus Winters And The Sultana
“Minnie balls would strike the ground with a dull thud near us, or go singing over our heads like bees on the wing. We were ordered to unsling knapsacks, and plac…
Coping With The Confederacy’s Coffee Crisis
Last month we considered one aspect of everyday life made difficult by war and its disruption of trade–finding soap. This time around we will consider another com…
Civil War Events 2017
Annual Major Octavius V. Catto Honor Ceremony will be held at the corner of 6th & Lombard Streets in Philadelphia honoring the great black equal rights and milita…
The Planned 1864 Revolt For A New Confederacy
In 1864 plans were discussed for a Northward thrust from the South into the Northwestern part of the Union where there was considerable opposition to continuing t…
Stephen Sears’ Young Napoleon
A good biographer has a knack for pithy characterization of his subject. One sees it throughout Stephen W. Sears’ George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon (1988).…
Robertson Prize Awarded To Rable
WOODBRIDGE, N.J.—The Robert E. Lee Civil War Library & Research Center of Central New Jersey has awarded the 2015 Dr. James I. Robertson Jr. Literary Prize for Co…
From The Lowcountry — February 2017
Larry Babits Larry Babits has considerable experience in military and maritime archaeology. After earning degrees at the University of Maryland (BA, MA) and Brown…
Fort Branch – Guardian Of The Upper Roanoke River
Fort Branch is a Confederate earthwork fortification in Hamilton, N.C., that once guarded the upper Roanoke River, its naval yards and the railroad bridge connect…
Accepting Submissions For Edwin C. Bearss Award
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa.— Chambersburg Civil War Seminars & Tours is now accepting applications for the 2017 Edwin C. Bearss Award. This award is given annually to suppo…
30th Anniversary Of The Middle Tennessee Civil War Show
FRANKLIN, TENN.—The Middle Tennessee Civil War Show finished up its 30th year in good shape, exceeding expectations with a full house of dealers and a gate increa…
118 Days
“If I live till the 4th of March I will ride to the Capitol with Old Abe whether I am assassinated or not.” President James Buchanan In November 1860, Abraham Lin…
To Strong To Fall
To Strong To Fall “I am here to defend the fort, not to surrender it.” Col. Charles Olmstead, Cmdr., Fort Pulaski Fort Pulaski was built to protected Savannah, Ge…
THE ELECTION OF 1876 IN SOUTH CAROLINA – And You Thought 2016 Was a Strange Year
THE ELECTION OF 1876 IN SOUTH CAROLINA – And You Thought 2016 Was a Strange Year By Gould Hagler Two competing bodies of men occupied the chamber of the House of…
Reconstruction Era Electoral College Fraud
Reconstruction Era Electoral College Fraud By Philip Leigh About four o’clock on the morning following Tuesday’s Presidential election The New York Times received…
Paging Through — January 2017
By Jack Melton By the time you receive this issue we will have moved our headquarters to Charleston, South Carolina. Our new mailing address is 520 Folly Road, Su…
N. K. Fairbank: The Lord of Lard
By Craig L. Barry N. K. Fairbank: The Lord of Lard “After being camped there a few days, a detail of fifteen men was called to go to Richmond, Louisiana, to watch…
Maker McElroy’s Rare ‘Lasso Knife’ Explained
Maker McElroy’s Rare ‘Lasso Knife’ Explained By Shannon Pritchard The knife illustrated here has an interesting history. It can be seen from this article, quoted…
William A. Johnson – Lincoln’s Barber And Valet
With the observance of the 153rd anniversary of the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 2016, I offer the following true story – When President-elect Abraham Linco…
Targeted Grazing At Historic Fort Negley Park
NASHVILLE, TENN.—Situated at the crest of St. Cloud Hill, Fort Negley has stood sentry over Nashville for more than 150 years. Built between mid-August and early…
Popping The Cork
“It was as deliberate an act of self-sacrifice and valor as was ever performed in our country or any other,” U.S. Lt. Walter Thorn’s superior officer In May of 18…
Paging Through — December 2016
We are relocating our office and residence to Charleston, South Carolina, during mid-December. If you contact us during that time, please understand there maybe a…
John Anderson Tobacco Emporium
The John Anderson Tobacco Emporium of New York is an interesting story in and of itself, with both a famous clientele and a whiff of scandal in the form of the un…
Franklin Civil War Round Table Recognized
FRANKLIN, TENN.—The Franklin Civil War Round Table (FCWRT) was recently recognized with a proclamation by Franklin Mayor Ken Moore for completing its 100th event.…
Dramatis Personae – Leaders In Prose And Verse
The people whose stories fill the pages of Civil War histories are an interesting bunch of characters in a drama which continues to fascinate us and will for deca…
Confederate Belt & Buckle
Confederate Belt & Buckle Dear Civil War Appraiser: Mr. Sexton: Several weeks ago I went to Savannah to help my sister clean up things after Hurricane Matthew ski…
Civil War Sea Commands: ‘The Sting Of The Mosquito Fleets’
COLUMBUS, GA.—A class of quick, shallow-draft vessels known as “Mosquito Fleets” were utilized by both sides during the Civil War for wartime naval coastline and…
Civil War Photography
Last month, we explored several of the printed sources containing photographs from the Civil War. In this installment, we will look at websites, which provide man…
Black Powder, White Smoke — December 2016
One of the best things about writing this column is the information you get in response when you write about something interesting and unusual. Reader R. J. Boque…
George H. Lomas: Patriarch, Titan, Icon, Mentor And Friend
George Henry Lomas was born on September 7, 1942, exactly, as he would recount with a sparkle in his eye, nine months to the day after the Japanese attack on Pear…
Franklin Antebellum Home Burns
FRANKLIN, TENN.—An antebellum home finished just as the Civil War ended, recently burned just outside of Franklin, Tennessee, and is considered a total loss. Bank…
Wayside Homes — A Wholesome Meal And A Night’s Repose
From its earliest days until its last the Confederacy waged a costly war which stretched the nation’s capabilities to their very limits – and ultimately beyond. I…
Ladies’ Gunboat Societies
“The cause is a noble one, the effort is sublime, and the moral effect will reach far beyond the deadly projectiles which the contemplated gunboat can send. If th…
Kentucky Civil War Governors On The Web
Starting in 2012, the Kentucky Historical Society initiated a project to gather together and post to the web an image of every document and letter that crossed th…
Why The Civil War Hypocrisy?
We of the South have borne too long and too patiently the many misrepresentations concerning us, and we cannot afford to be patient longer. There is a hope that s…
When Russia Had Our Back
When Russia Had Our Back “The Czar’s [Alexander II] spokesmen have assured me that in case of trouble with the other European powers, the friendship of Russia for…
Lighthouse Keeper At Point Lookout
In recent years, many people who have lived in or visited the keeper’s quarters at the Point Lookout lighthouse in Scotland, Md. swear they have heard movements a…
Jefferson Davis Birthplace Hosts Celebration And Church Bicentennial
In July 1885, a group of Baptist’s from a nearby church established in 1816 decided that Fairview, Kentucky would be a good place to move from their present site…
Baseball Festival Hits A Grand Slam!
GETTYSBURG, Pa.—Would you enjoy seeing people playing baseball for the love of the game? Would you enjoy seeing a game with a beautiful background of the South Mo…
1864 Confederate Disaster In Pennsylvania
On July 15, 1864, a prisoner-of-war train destined the Union camp at Elmira, N.Y., was involved in a fatal head-on crash near the sleepy town of Shohola, Pa. The…
The Lincoln Group Of New York Confers Its ‘Award of Achievement’
NEW YORK, N.Y. (April 12, 2016)—The Lincoln Group of New York, an organization dedicated to studying the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, has conferred its 2015…
Recipient Of Ed Bearss Award Announced
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa.—Chambersburg Civil War Seminars & Tours is pleased to announce Dennis Frye as the 2016 recipient of the Ed Bearss Award. Given annually, the awa…
Jefferson Davis Birthplace Hosts Celebration And Church Bicentennial
In July 1885, a group of Baptist’s from a nearby church established in 1816 decided that Fairview, Kentucky would be a good place to move from their present site…
Emerging Civil War’s 5th Anniversary
The caretaker’s cottage at the Stonewall Jackson Shrine sits behind a tall row of boxwood that obscures it from view. Visitors who come up the paved driveway circ…
Electric Map Opens In Hanover, Penn.
HANOVER, Pa.—After a fouryear project that involved asbestos removal, replacing seven miles of wires and nearly 1,000 lights, and completely reprogramming the sho…
Dyer’s Compendium
In last month’s column, we explored Selwyn Brant’s The Union Army. An equally helpful research tool exists in Frederick H. Dyer’s A Compendium of the War of the R…
Confederate Steamer Dive Continues
WILMINGTON, N.C.—The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Underwater Archaeology Branch in the Office of State Archaeology report the exam…
Confederate D-Guard Bowie Knife
Congratulations, Justin. The knife you found in your parents’ antique shop in Wadesboro, N.C. has solved a mystery as to where knife maker, W.G. Simmons, was loca…
Absurdity in the EU, Tubman on the Twenty & Jefferson Arsenal
We are seeing hysteria from all sides and viewpoints on the terrorism issue of late, but one would think black powder shooters should have no fear that their hobb…
14th Annual Forrest Homecoming In Tenn.
CHAPEL HILL, Tenn.—The Fourteenth Annual Nathan Bedford Forrest Homecoming event was recently held in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, a farming community about forty-five…
‘Ned The Horse’ Returns Home
GETTYSBURG, PA.—A popular Gettysburg attraction has a new lease on life. Ned the horse, a favorite attraction at Old Gettysburg Village on Baltimore St. for more…
The Union Army
The Union Army An often overlooked, yet valuable source in researching Federal troops, exists in Selwyn Brant’s The Union Army. Originally printed in 1908, under…
Civil War Medals of Honor
I just inherited this group of medals that were my grandmother’s father. He won the Congressional medal of honor, but I understand they are illegal to sell. What…
Civil War Dancing And More For Gettysburg
Civil War Dancing And More For Gettysburg GETTYSBURG, PA.—The years 1861 to 1865 were not all blood and mud, death and destruction. On the homefront, there was gr…
2016 Mid-South Military History & Civil War Show
2016 Mid-South Military History & Civil War Show MEMPHIS, TENN.—The 49th annual Military History & Civil War Show held on Saturday and Sunday, March 5th and 6th,…
The 39th Annual Ohio Civil War Show Attracts Thousands
MANSFIELD, OH—The 39th Annual Ohio Civil War & WWI & WWII Show is still being called a grand event! Well liked by buyers and sellers, and most importantly, enjoye…
Supplement to the Official Records
Supplement to the Official Records In an earlier installment of this column, we learned about compiling the Official Records, and discovered some documents - eith…
Paging Through
By Jack Melton We love our readers input and are looking for articles of interest for the July Gettysburg Section. If you are interested in writing an article per…
Namozine Church – A Still, Silent Witness To War
The white, two-story Presbyterian church, built in 1847 still stands. In the backcountry of Virginia’s southern, hilly farmlands, this structure, surrounded by ge…
Advantage Of Cooperation Between Civil War Round Tables
Advantage Of Cooperation Between Civil War Round Tables Cooperation between Civil War Roundtables can be a great way to boost membership and interest for all invo…
Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation And The Corwin Amendment
Abraham Lincoln has rightly been called the Great Emancipator. The slow evolution of his beliefs regarding the institution of slavery and how best to eradicate it…
My Genealogical Journey
Being involved in the Civil War industry for the past 25 years, I am often asked if I have ever traced my Civil War roots. Before last year, my answer had always…
Jamestown Settlement “Military Through The Ages” Event
JAMESTOWN, Va.—They came with their armor, weapons, tents, and cooking pots. Armies, ranging chronologically from the Roman Legions to today’s Virginia Army Natio…
Full-Throated Defender Of Hood
Upon learning that John B. Hood had been placed in command of the Army of Tennessee in mid-July 1864, Confederate Maj. Gen. William H. T. Walker, division command…
Electric Map Nears Completion In Hanover
HANOVER, Pa.—For more than 50 years, a visit to the Electric Map was one of the essential first stops before a tour of Gettysburg. Within a few months, the flashi…
Civil War Steamer Discovered Off N.C.
WILMINGTON, N.C. – The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Office of Archaeology-Underwater announced a 225foot Civil War-era iron-hulled…
The Burning Of Atlanta: What Really Happened?
The Burning Of Atlanta: What Really Happened? By Stephen Davis Big fires in American history spawn legends. Mrs. O’Leary‘s cow may not have started the Great Chic…
Sharing Speakers Makes Sense
Sharing Speakers Makes Sense If you stop to look at it, running a Civil War roundtable is exactly like running a small business. You take in money from members (y…
Point Lookout Civil War Light Keeper
Point Lookout Civil War Light Keeper By Carl L. Sell Jr. SCOTLAND, Md. — In recent years, many people who have lived in or visited the keeper’s quarters at the Po…
New York Lincoln Award Winners
By Martin Smith NEW YORK, N.Y. — The Civil ed Doris Kearns Goodwin, Garry he was Chief Historian for the al organization with offices in Los
Finding Aids for the ‘Official Records’ & Overview of ‘O.R.-Navies’
Finding Aids for the ‘Official Records’ & Overview of ‘O.R.-Navies’ Last month, we explored basic practices for using the 128-volume set, The War of the Rebellion…
Atlanta 1864 – Sherman’s Photographer
Atlanta’s passenger depot called “the Car Shed”, was completed in 1854. The forty foot-tall, 100 yardlong brick building was at the very center of the city, the p…
‘Texas’ Locomotive In North Carolina For Restoration
ATLANTA, Ga. — The Texas steam locomotive, which gained fame for its role in the April 12, 1862, Great Locomotive Chase, is undergoing restoration before it retur…
Using The ‘Official Records’
The Source By Michael K. Shaffer Using The ‘Official Records’
Researcher Says Famous Lee Image Is Postwar Lexington, Not In Petersburg
By Ron Coddington John O’Brien of Charles Town, WV, has long questioned the location of the iconic image of Gen. Robert E. Lee and Traveller. In an independent st…
New Store At Chancellorsville Receives Special Permit
New Store At Chancellorsville Receives Special Permit By Scott C. Boyd SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. - The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 8 approved…
National Geographic, BGES Publish CW Traveler’s Guide
By Kathryn Jorgensen WASHINGTON — The collaboration between a very large non-profit scientific and education institution and a small non-profit Civil War educatio…
Mosby’s Rangers
Through The Lens
Longstreet’s Sidearm
The Watchdog By Craig L. Barry Longstreet’s Sidearm
Lincoln 150th Foundation Work Ends
Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation members at their final meeting in Miami are, from left, bottom, David Lawrence, Thomas Campbell, Jean Powers Soman, Harold Holzer,…
International Match & Spencer Legend
Black Powder, White Smoke By Joe Bilby International Match & Spencer Legend
Inaugural Low Country Civil War Show
Inaugural Low Country Civil War Show American Digger Magazine’s Jan. 16-17 Civil War Show and Sale in Mount Pleasant, S.C., filled Omar Shrine Temple with close t…
Franconia Honors Native Fitzhugh Lee On Birthday
Fitzhugh Lee’s 180th birthday warrants a special cake. (Carl L. Sell Jr.)
Coster Ave. Mural Project Completed
Coster Ave. Mural Project Completed Co-owner Mark Moran, right, from Lucid Glass Studio of East Providence, R.I., and Kevin Dyer were in Gettysburg on Dec. 14 to…
Actor Richard Gere Films In Gettysburg
Actor Richard Gere Films In Gettysburg By Leon Reed GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Richard Gere was in town to film scenes for an upcoming movie, and local Civil War buffs wer…