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Features
Published: 5/1/19
“Gibraltar of the James”
The letters of a Union sailor bring to life the valuable service performed by the formidable ironclad warship USS Onondaga and its crew.
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Published: 5/1/19
How the West Wasn’t Won
Henry H. Sibley’s 1862 invasion of New Mexico signaled Confederate plans to create a western empire. Or did it?
Published: 12/1/18
Meade’s Council of War
The 1861 edition of U.S. Army Inspector General Henry Lee Scott’s Military Dictionary defines “council of war” as “an assemblage of the chief officers in the army, summoned by the...
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Published: 12/1/18
Letters to Julia
Ulysses S. Grant’s correspondence with his wife, Julia, during the Civil War provides insight into his deep affection for his family.
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Published: 12/1/18
When the Abolitionists Went to Charleston
During the Civil War’s final days, a group of northerners traveled from New York to Charleston to mark the conflict’s end.
Published: 10/1/18
Mr. Lincoln and the Monitor
The Union’s famed ironclad warship, USS Monitor, had a fan in Abraham Lincoln, who paid the vessel an eventful visit in the spring of 1862.
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Published: 10/1/18
“Death Comes to Us by Many a Way”
A look at the fatal dangers that Civil War soldiers, sailors, and civilians faced away from the battlefield.
Published: 10/1/18
Building the Perfect Army
If you could build the perfect Civil War army from scratch, what would it look like? Five Civil War historians give us their takes.
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Published: 6/1/13
Badge of Honor: Becoming a Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide
Think getting into Harvard is tough? Try gaining entry into Gettysburg’s elite cadre of licensed battlefield guides. Here’s a look inside the grueling guide test that so few pass, despite years—even decades—of trying.
Published: 5/1/13
The Paradox of the Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is celebrated as one of the greatest speeches in American history, yet eyewitness accounts of the event are wildly contradictory.
Published: 5/1/13
The Long Roll of Fire
The 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry marched to Gettysburg in July 1863, where they played a crucial role in repulsing Pickett's Charge.
Published: 5/1/13
Faces of Gettysburg
View the images—and stories—of a select few who were swept up in the epic engagement at Gettysburg.
Published: 5/1/13
Mad Dan Sickles
Major General Daniel Edgar Sickles was an American original—in the very worst sense. Read how "Mad Dan" turned every disaster into self-promotion.
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Published: 12/1/11
Hard Times Are Common Now
Ulysses S. Grant's determination to push the Confederates from East Tennessee during the winter of 1863-1864 resulted in a sharp—and largely forgotten—fight on the frozen ground outside the small town of Dandridge.
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Published: 12/1/11
Custer and the End of Innocence
George Armstrong Custer rose from captain to brigadier general during the Civil War only to become synonymous with catastrophic failure after his death at the Little Bighorn. What happened?
Published: 12/1/11
Black Men in Blue
Personal accounts of African Americans who served in the Union army from 1863 to 1865—roughly 200,000 strong—tell some of the most transformative stories of the Civil War.
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Published: 12/1/11
Faded Glory
As the rest of America moved on, the struggles of Union veterans became an uncomfortable reminder of the enduring costs of war.
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Published: 9/1/11
“Babylon Is Fallen.”
How the northern press reported—with shock and awe—on Sherman’s March to the Sea in 1864.
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