50FISH Dev Team
Published: 1/13/22
Word-clouding the Emancipation Proclamation
Discover the significant terms in the Emancipation Proclamation through our word cloud, highlighting Lincoln's powerful message.
Published: 1/12/22
The Cacophony of Politics (2021)
When Roy Franklin Nichols penned the final chapters of his formidable classic, The Disruption of American Democracy, he wrote that “the Democratic party seemed in desperate straits. The war which...
Published: 1/4/22
Seeing the Elephant
Union soldier Francis M. Ingram “did not enjoy the 6 of April as well as I hav enjoyed some Sundays.”[2] On the banks of the Tennessee River, the “Rebel tide...
Published: 12/28/21
Benjamin F. Butler and Military Emancipation
National Archives Major General Benjamin F. Butler What if? This is the eternal question that so often confounds students of Civil War military history, and leads to groundless flights of...
Published: 12/17/21
Extra Voices: War’s Grisly Toll
First-person quotes from Union and Confederate soldiers on the grisly impact of Civil War Combat.
Published: 12/6/21
The Best Civil War Books of 2021
The Books & Authors section of our Winter 2021 issue contains our annual roundup of the year’s best Civil War titles. As usual, we’ve enlisted a handful of Civil War...
Published: 11/30/21
Prison Tales
Library of Congress Andersonville Prison in 1864 Looking to learn more about Civil War prisons and prisoners of war? We asked historian Brian Matthew Jordan to suggest a handful of...
Published: 11/4/21
Gettysburg Photo Mystery Solved?
A look at how 3D technology may have helped solved a longtime mystery surrounding an old Gettysburg photograph.
Published: 10/25/21
The Best Civil War Novels
Library of Congress No event in American history has inspired more imaginative writing than the Civil War. Authors have made the struggle the subject of thousands of rhymes, songs, poems,...
Published: 10/18/21
Suits of Shoddy
Founded in 1818, Brooks Brothers of New York is the oldest clothing retailer in America. Even today, the name alone conjures images of fine silk neckties and Italian wool sportscoats—quality,...
Published: 9/27/21
The Five Best Books on Civil War Guerrillas
Library of Congress Two guerrillas stop a civilian rider to rob him in this sketch from a December 1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly. “This Mr. Wales is a cold-blooded killer....
Published: 9/24/21
Mr. Gridley and His Sack of Flour
The story of R.C. Gridley, of Austin, Nevada, who made—and lost—an interesting wager on a local election in 1865.
Published: 9/20/21
Unceasing Fury at Chickamauga
Read Confederate soldier W.W. Heartsills' firsthand account of his participation in the Battle of Chickamauga.
Published: 9/13/21
Extra Voices: Nicknames
Read firsthand Union and Confederate soldiers' quotes about the nicknames they gave to comrades during the Civil War.
Published: 8/27/21
Voices From the Army of Northern Virginia, Part 2
IN CAMP AND BATTLE WITH THE WASHINGTON ARTILLERY OF NEW ORLEANS (1885) Confederate gunners fire at the enemy in a postwar illustration titled “The Artillery Duel.” Artillerists created an invaluable...
Published: 7/20/21
After Fort Wagner
Read 54th Massachusetts soldier Lewis Douglass' letter about the Battle of Fort Wagner which he wrote days after the the famed fight.
Published: 7/16/21
Bully Boys
“If you want to have a good time, join the cavalry!” Detailing the early war exploits of J.E.B. Stuart’s Confederate troops, this song immortalized the daring ride around George B....
Published: 6/28/21
Voices From the Army of Northern Virginia, Part 1
Library of Congress J.E.B. Stuart leads the Army of Northern Virginia’s cavalry on its ride around the Army of the Potomac in 1862. Between fall 2013 and summer 2016, I...