Boutwell (2025)
Book Reviews
“Boutwell” goes beyond rescuing a historical figure from obscurity; it seeks to understand its subject on his terms.
A New Look at America’s Greatest Conflict
Current Issue
The Making of a General
Vol. 15, No. 1
Before he became the Union’s top soldier, Mexican War veteran turned store clerk Ulysses S. Grant needed to find a way back into the army.
Recent Posts
Civil War Veterans, Part 2
Photo Essays
Continue your journey into the lives of former Civil War soldiers with the second installment of our “Civil War Vetreans” photo essay series.
Gendering Secession (2025)
Book Reviews
Melissa DeVelvis has carefully mined her sources in “Gendering Secession.”
Smoothbore vs. Rifled Muskets
Commentary
A look at the military philosophy of Colonel George Willard, whose advocacy for the use of the smoothbore (not rifled) musket in battle flew in the face of contemporary thinking.
Hell By The Acre (2024)
Book Reviews
“Hell By the Acre” presents a compelling narrative of one of the Civil War’s deadliest but most understudied clashes.
Extra Voices: Please Write!
Firsthand Accounts
Read comments from Union and Confederate soldiers about their intense desire to receive news from family and friends back home.
Featured Posts
A Civil War Baseball
Articles
A look at a baseball used by soldiers of the 17th New York Veteran Volunteer Infantry that sold at auction for $41,825 in February 2014.
A Lesser-Known Gettysburg Hero
Battles
Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain of the 20th Maine Infantry earned the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg. So too did his regiment’s color sergeant, Andrew Jackson Tozier.
The 1864 Project Trailer
Featured
We’re excited to announce that the Monitor’s first-ever podcast series is launching later this month. The 1864 Project is a 7-part series that focuses on a vitally important year during the Civil War—1864. Listen to the trailer for more.
The Civil War’s Epidemics
Featured
Why was the Civil War was the United States’ deadliest conflict? Historian Jonathan S. Jones offers his take.
McClellan’s Culture of Command
Commanders
Discover the strategic choices of George McClellan’s command during the Civil War and how they shaped the outcome of significant battles.
A Hospital Steward’s Story
Featured
Read Union soldier James Kendall Hosmer’s account of the “soul-touching” time he spent as a hospital steward aboard the steamship “Iberville” in 1863.
