The Front Line
Our communal blog featuring the latest in Civil War news, research, analysis, and events from a network of historians
Published: 1/6/25
A Firearm Transformed
In the first two years of the Civil War, the United States Model 1816/22 .69-caliber smoothbore musket was undoubtedly one of the most issued and most used firearms by both...
Published: 1/1/25
An Eventful New Year
Sometime in early 1865, Massachusetts officer S.R. Keenan, stationed in New Bern, North Carolina, wrote the following letter to Miss Sarah Southworth of Winthrop, Maine, to wish her a Happy...
Published: 12/30/24
The Loss of the “Monitor”
In December 1862, USS Monitor—which had garnered national attention for its engagement with CSS Virginia in the first-ever battle of ironclad warships at Hampton Roads the previous March—was ordered to...
Published: 12/23/24
A West Point Fantasy Draft
Evaluating antebellum West Point graduates based on their class performances as part of a mock Civil War commanders' NFL-style draft.
Published: 12/16/24
How a Man Feels in Battle
In its October 12, 1861, issue, The Scientific American reprinted a brief article that had recently appeared in the Philadelphia newspaper North American. In it, an editor at the North...
Published: 12/9/24
At Fredericksburg
In its February 7, 1863, issue, Harper’s Weekly published the following poem. Titled “At Fredericksburg” and published under the byline “L.C.M.,” the poem tells a poignant tale of two Union...
Published: 12/2/24
Discovering Munfordville
Plagued by my god-awful wanderlust, I pack my 8-ounce drone and head north from Nashville to Hart County, Kentucky. I figure it’s high time for a first visit to the...
Published: 11/18/24
A Helping Hand
The Civil War saw many advances in devices to aid amputees, including the practical tool known as a “knork.”
Published: 11/4/24
Lincoln and Yosemite
In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt paid his first visit to the Yosemite Valley of California, with John Muir as his guide. For three days the president and the naturalist explored a...
Published: 10/28/24
Death of a Loyal Brother
In September 1861, Byron B. Wilson, 24, enlisted as a private in Company H of the newly forming 4th Vermont Infantry. Over the time of his service, Wilson wrote home...
Published: 10/21/24
To Dig or Not To Dig
What do the battlegrounds at Gettysburg, Kennesaw Mountain, and Murfreesboro have in common? From a tactical perspective, large portions of these fighting fields resisted digging, prohibiting entrenching as a defensive...
Published: 10/20/24
Eyewitness to Ball’s Bluff
On October 21, 1861, Union forces suffered a decisive and disheartening defeat at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff. What had begun as an intended raid against Confederates occupying the Virginia...
Published: 10/7/24
All About Us
It has become fashionable among some historians and public commentators to stop using many basic terms associated with the Civil War era. Examples include substituting “enslavers” for “slaveowners,” “enslaved persons”...
Published: 10/1/24
Lincoln Prize Lecture 2024
Last year The American Civil War Museum (ACWM) presented its inaugural Lincoln Prize Lecture. The annual program takes place again this year on October 17, 2024, at their Tredegar site...
Published: 9/30/24
A Spy’s Demise
In 1865, the United States Sanitary Commission, a private relief agency that supported sick and wounded soldiers during the Civil War, published a volume of Union soldiers’ writings titled Soldiers’...
Published: 9/23/24
Extra Voices: Accidental Deaths
In the Voices section of our Fall 2024 issue we highlighted quotes by Union and Confederate soldiers about incidents of accidental deaths during the Civil War. Unfortunately, we didn’t have...
Published: 9/16/24
Decatur, Alabama: A Battlefield of the Imagination
By 9 a.m., Mother Nature has already dialed her setting to “Blast Furnace” outside the 1905 train depot in Decatur, launching pad for our visit to this northern Alabama town...
Published: 9/9/24
A Woman’s Devotion
In 1867, Sarah Brock’s Richmond During the War, a memoir of her experiences as a resident of the Confederate capital during the conflict, was published. The book documents Brock’s activities...