The Front Line
Our communal blog featuring the latest in Civil War news, research, analysis, and events from a network of historians
Published: 2/15/19
A Menu of Historic Proportions
On March 6, 1865, two days after he delivered his second inaugural address to a massive crowd gathered on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, Abraham Lincoln hosted a “Presidential...
Published: 12/31/18
New Year’s Eve in Camp
War Letters of William Thompson Lusk (1911) William Thompson Lusk, 79th New York Infantry On New Year’s Eve 1862, 24-year-old William Thompson Lusk, a captain in the 79th New York...
Published: 12/17/18
Emancipation on Stage
Aaron Flacke Ron Orbach (left) plays Major General Benjamin Butler and Cornelius Davidson portrays Shepard Mallory, an enslaved man who has taken refuge in Union-held Fortress Monroe, in “Ben Butler,”...
Published: 12/9/18
The Best Civil War Books of 2018
The Books & Authors section of our Winter 2018 issue contains our annual roundup of the year’s best Civil War titles. As usual, we enlisted the help of a handful...
Published: 12/3/18
Interview: Emerging Scholars at American Civil War Museum
American Civil War Museum The new American Civil War Museum, scheduled to open in May 2019 As proud sponsors of American Civil War Museum’s upcoming Emerging Scholars program—set to occur...
Published: 11/12/18
“A Lady of Excellent Worth”
Cahaba: A Story of Captive Boys in Blue (1888) Castle Morgan prison in Cahaba, Alabama, as it appeared during the Civil War Nearly twenty years after the end of the...
Published: 10/12/18
Jackson the Magician
Virginia Military Institute Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, as he appeared in November 1862. “Oh, for the presence and inspiration of Old Jack for just one hour!” That was the cry...
Published: 10/8/18
Interview: Animatronic Lincoln at Lincoln Memorial Shrine
Garner Holt Productions The Lincoln Memorial Shrine “Reflections of the Face of Lincoln,” a new exhibit that features an impressive animatronic bust of the 16th president, recently opened at the...
Published: 9/24/18
Varina
John O’Brien Collection Confederate first lady Varina Davis, the subject of a new novel by Charles Frazier, as she appeared shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War A young...
Published: 7/30/18
“Martyrs” to Their Cause: John Brown, Edmund Ruffin, and Harpers Ferry
John Grady The old court house at Charles Town, Jefferson County, Virginia, where John Brown was tried for treason. Long before the tumult and rage in Charlottesville last year over...
Published: 7/2/18
The Best Gettysburg Books
Uncover the best books on the Battle of Gettysburg recommended by Civil War historians. Explore both nonfiction and fiction accounts of this pivotal moment in history.
Published: 6/25/18
Whither Public History?
CLAUDIO VAZQUEZ Visitors to Gettysburg National Military Park pause during a tour of the battlefield. Every one of you reading this magazine is a member of the public history world:...
Published: 5/2/18
Battlefield Echoes: MOPs, MOEs, and Chancellorsville
Library of Congress Kurz & Allison’s depiction of the Battle of Chancellorsville In the aftermath of his army’s defeat at Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee welcomed a brother of Secretary...
Published: 4/20/18
The Best Civil War Books of 2017
The Books & Authors section of our Winter 2017 issue contained our annual roundup of the year’s best Civil War titles. As usual, we enlisted the help of a handful...
Published: 4/6/18
Beyond the White Man’s Iliad
CATNAP72 / ISTOCK A statue of Robert E. Lee sits atop the Virginia Monument on the Gettysburg Battlefield. The Confederate monument controversy that has exploded in recent months raises fundamental...
Published: 3/17/18
St. Patrick’s Day in the Army
On March 17, 1863, Josiah Marshall Favill, a young lieutenant in the 57th New York Infantry, was one of many soldiers in the Army of the Potomac to observe the...
Published: 3/16/18
Extra Voices: Tobacco
Library of Congress In the Voices section of the Spring 2018 issue of The Civil War Monitor we highlighted first-person quotes from Union and Confederate troops about the use of...
Published: 3/9/18
The Eisenhower Farm during the Battle of Gettysburg
Wikipedia February 1959 White House portrait of President Dwight D. Eisenhower In the fall of 1950, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, signed a contract to purchase a...